It was unexpected, but the announcement was made today. The Irish cabinet have approved a decision by Minister for Children Katherine Zappone to conduct a forensic excavation of the Tuam site: The remains of children buried in unmarked graves at a former mother and baby home in Tuam, County Galway, are to be exhumed, identified... Continue Reading →
John Waters is/is not a professional contrarian who does/does not believe that blasphemy should/should not be removed from the Irish constitution: Here is John arguing/not arguing the point back in 2009: The right to give expression to the religious concept of reality itself depends on the right to freedom of expression. If we move... Continue Reading →
You may have read that the Pope was in Ireland. He's just left. According to our bizarre national media, all went totally smoothly. This is despite the fact that attendances at the various Pope shindigs were pretty feeble, bringing to mind those that turned out for the inauguration of one President D. Trump over in... Continue Reading →
I guess most of you already know the background to this. (For those unfamiliar with this story, be assured of its international significance. Check out, for example, this New York Times feature. Or this BBC Podcast. Or just go read Wikipedia.) I'm from Tuam. This whole issue disturbs me on several levels. And the prospect... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fdW4e-p7XA;&rel=0 https://twitter.com/tvcritics/status/1002672832357203968 Every single talking point is spot on. Not just accurate, but highly relevant too. I know it's edited, but come on -- these folks are just sitting around watching TV! In a foreign country! (Kudos to @tvcritics for posting this video on Twitter.)
In the Irish abortion referendum, the 'No' side -- those campaigning against the repeal of Ireland's archaic Constitutional abortion ban -- certainly had their work cut out. The way the Constitution was worded meant they had to persuade the Irish electorate to defend all of the following: (a) forcing raped pubescent teens to carry unwanted pregnancies to term;... Continue Reading →
For: 1,429,981 (66.4%) Against: 723,632 (33.6%) Ireland votes 'YES'. Careful, logical, critical contributions carried the day, outweighing the fake news, grim posters, emotional manipulation, attempts at foreign influence, church persuasion, alt-right hectoring, and brain-dead dogmatic pseudo-morality. We focused on the facts and the evidence. We relied on experience and expertise. We decided that each person... Continue Reading →
From the Guardian's live results coverage: 11:07 Andanappa Yalagi, the father of Savita Halappanavar, who died of sepsis in Galway in 2012 after being denied an abortion during a protracted miscarriage, said he was “very happy today”. Speaking to Harriet Sherwood by phone from his home in Karnataka, in south-west India, Yalagi said: We’ve got justice for... Continue Reading →
Ha! Polls closed 10 minutes ago. The Irish Times, our paper of record, has conducted an exit poll. Get a load of this baby: WOWZERS! I had told folks to expect a decisive margin, but I had been pegging it at 60:40... Of course this is just an exit poll, but unlike pre-polls, exit... Continue Reading →
(From the Irish Times; HT @solo1y) Does this mean that Catholics who vote to repeal Ireland's abortion ban might be forgiven if they turn up to the Popefest in August? Or partially forgiven if they catch it on TV? I think it does. Spread the word. Every vote counts!
This happened last night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBepD4Mv9zw Host Claire Byrne's opening line revealed what, in retrospect, might kindly be seen as something of a naive ambition: Tonight, everything you need to know about next week's referendum on the Eighth Amendment. Wow, Claire. Everything I need to know? I mean, everything??? Let's just say that this was the... Continue Reading →
https://youtu.be/7x_FbIh70ZE;&rel=0It is well known that around 3,500 women travelled from Ireland to Britain to get abortions in 2016, which, from a population of around 4.5 million, is a rather high number.So how does this anti-abortion activist from Ireland's Life Institute play down the numbers? Well, over to her...In 2016, the stats I've studied, 3,500 women... Continue Reading →
Psychology Matters. Old pun, new content: Yes, that's me. And other people. Never forget the other people. In fact, in Ireland, tomorrow is a kind of national psychology day. There are #PsychMatters events taking place in cities around the country, including Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford, as well as Galway. The aim is to bring psychology... Continue Reading →
Cormac Ryan has been tweeting about the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and their letter to the government on the Digital Age of Consent. https://twitter.com/cormac114/status/994153428996718592 Cormac is right. The letter really is absurd. The RCPI Faculty of Paediatrics wants the Digital Age of Consent to be 16 years, but the government want it to... Continue Reading →
Is it libel if the person actually said it? Oh well. This guy has been saying stuff. A whole lot of stuff actually. Today he's been discussing the forthcoming abortion referendum in Ireland: A COUNTY councillor has defended claims that the abolition of the Eighth Amendment will lead to sex slavery becoming “normalised”. Leitrim Independent... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhF2iq_5dPc;&rel=0 This is one of Ireland's very stable geniuses. If you listen carefully to what he says in this speech, you will learn that multi-billionaire Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros wants to "smash down" the "gate" (or is it a "shield"? or is it a "walled garden"?) that is the Irish constitution's Eighth Amendment, the "only... Continue Reading →
Ah yes, I remember it well. I was twelve. A Catholic priest brought me into a private room, on my own, and showed me a photograph of a naked boy. The boy was standing on some rocks by a river bank. He was trying to spear a fish with a stick, his tiny penis dangling... Continue Reading →
Project Fear has been ongoing for some time now. Here's a poster urging the plain people of Ireland to vote 'No' to the European Union's Lisbon Treaty back in 2008: I suppose you don't really need me to tell you what happened next. The Lisbon Treaty was eventually passed, after which EU paratroopers stormed into... Continue Reading →
Guess what. Vaccines are not part of the Christian creator's divine plan for the universe. We know this because they are not mentioned -- anywhere -- in the Christian Bible. So says this lady, as reported by this website. To quote: I just decided to just Google what the Bible says about vaccinations. There’s NOTHING in the Bible... Continue Reading →
