Donie's Ireland news BLOG TUESDAY

Head of Catholic Church urges Irish people to oppose abortion law

 
 The head of Ireland's Catholic Church urged followers in his Christmas Day message to lobby against government plans to legalise abortion.

Ireland, the only EU member state that currently outlaws the procedure, is preparing legislation that would allow limited access to abortion after the European Court of Human Rights criticised the current regime.

The death last month of an Indian woman who was denied an abortion of her dying foetus and later died of blood poisoning has intensified the debate around abortion, which remains a hugely divisive subject in the predominantly Catholic country.

"I hope that everyone who believes that the right to life is fundamental will make their voice heard in a reasonable, but forthright, way to their representatives," Cardinal Sean Brady said in a Christmas message on Tuesday.

"No government has the right to remove that right from an innocent person."

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, a regular Mass goer, is bringing in legislation that would allow a woman to have an abortion if her life was at risk from pregnancy.

The country's Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that abortion was permitted when a woman's life was at risk but successive governments have avoided legislating for it because it is so divisive.

The death of Savita Halappanavar, who repeatedly asked for an abortion while she was miscarrying in an Irish hospital, highlighted the lack of clarity in Irish law that leaves doctors in a legally risky position.

Halappanavar's death re-ignited the abortion debate and prompted large protests by groups both in favour of and against abortion.

Kenny and his conservative Fine Gael party have been criticised for tackling the abortion issue and some party members have indicated that they may not be able to back the law.

Relations between the Irish government and the once dominant Catholic Church are at an all-time low in the wake of years of clerical sex abuse scandals.

Kenny told parliament last year that the Vatican's handling of the scandals had been dominated by "elitism and narcissism" and accused it of trying to cover up the abuse. The speech prompted the Vatican to recall its ambassador, or nuncio, to Ireland.

Brady, who has faced calls this year to resign over accusations he failed to warn parents their children were being sexually abused, said in his Christmas message that he wanted relations with government to improve.

"My hope is that the year ahead will see the relationship between faith and public life in our country move beyond the sometimes negative, exaggerated caricatures of the past."

The Coalition is the only game in town  someone should tell Labour

  

Colm Keaveney’s decision to vote against the Budget is clearly an exercise in nonsense politics.

The disarray in the Labour Party has reached a worrying point, according to political commentator Noel Whelan. He identified the threat posed by it, saying it was big enough to undermine the cohesion of the Government and shorten the lifespan of this Coalition.

In my view, Mr Whelan overstates his case and his judgments are unsound in certain significant respects, which I will briefly deal with. Describing the “current divisions” as “the biggest threat to party cohesion for decades” ignores the serious damage done to Labour by its involvement with Fianna Fail in government, a political episode that did serious and lasting electoral harm, something Mr Gilmore avoided, though only narrowly, in the circumstances of the last election.

Mr Gilmore’s leadership, both before and during that election, and his difficulty in finding a common platform with Enda Kenny, though less serious than the Spring decision, was really the beginning of an uneasy relationship that has dogged the party during the lifetime of this Government, and seems destined to go on giving trouble in the future.

Noel Whelan’s position in the argument about government cohesion is unacceptable, since it reflects problems within Labour and not between Labour and Fine Gael.

I refer in particular to other points made by Mr Whelan about Colm Keaveney, which follow closely on a eulogy for Ms Roisin Shortall. The fate of both these Labour Party figures has to be stated brutally. They have chosen their paths – to put conscience before party – and the sooner Mr Keaveney follows through on his break with party discipline and party membership, the better for both him and for Labour.

His position is absurd. Despite his qualities, which Mr Whelan labours overmuch, Mr Keaveney’s decision to vote against the Budget and yet to remain as party chairman, having breached the most important undertaking any deputy gives when joining a party, is clearly an exercise in nonsense politics.

I turn now to the other part of the coalition partnership. This is the performance of Fine Gael, which is showing little sign of the discord that afflicts Labour. In fact, as underlined by the tragic death of Shane McEntee, party cohesion and solidarity has been reinforced. Enda Kenny’s firm leadership of Fine Gael sets an example Labour should follow. The larger partner in the present Coalition increasingly looms over Labour, underscoring the public breast-beating and hair-tearing that is going on inside the junior coalition partner’s membership.

Enda Kenny, against the odds and against expectation in the dying days of the old Fianna Fail party of Brian Cowen and Bertie Ahern, has forged a new political movement in which his authority is as great as any of his predecessors, if not greater.

Less voluble, less opinionated, less intellectual, Enda Kenny has led a quiet revolution in Fine Gael, giving us something for which we, as a society, have never acknowledged the need. This is a party of the Right that is based in law and reform.

GUBU politics, pursued illegally by Charles Haughey as far back as 1968-69, and then espoused by him in a dreadful period of power and corruption, created a disgraceful era of authoritarianism that cast a political blight over the normal operation of political life in this country.

That has become history, and with luck will remain so. Instead, we have the refreshing spectacle of ministers and ministers of state, including excellent examples from the Labour Party, working along democratic lines for the country’s good in the most difficult political period we have encountered since the 1950s.

In a world recession, we have moved from the chaos that followed the collapse of the Celtic Tiger, and our own banking crisis, handled with ignorance and carelessness by the previous administration, to a relatively cogent set of political principles that we should all be thankful for.

Of course, there are grave problems. The dole queues, the emigration of skilled workers, the mortgage crisis, the further and closer regulation of banks, the freeing up of investment for jobs, the equalising of opportunity and of privilege within and outside the public service, and the self-governance of elected representatives over their pay and expenses, all require further and urgent attention.

But nothing better is on offer than the present administration and we should recognise this and ensure that the hiccups – for that is what they are – get tackled, leading Labour back to a more dutiful, more logical and more coherent contribution to the State’s welfare. In my view, the party is in a mess, arguing unnecessarily within itself, unsure of direction and purpose. There is no better time than Christmas to find a fresh interpretation of how we should go forward, one that puts the onus on giving rather than taking.

Piers Morgan blunder, Thousands of Americans petition for deportation

   

The petition followed a bad-tempered exchange between Piers Morgan above left and gun advocate Larry Pratt above right.

More than 31,000 Americans have signed a petition calling for British TV host Piers Morgan to be deported.

They are angry about his advocacy of gun control, in the wake of the 14 December shootings in Connecticut.

The petition followed an interview with Larry Pratt, director of Gun Owners of America, on CNN – in which Mr Morgan called his guest “a dangerous man”.

Petitions posted on the White House website only require 25,000 signatures to get a response from the government.

The campaign was started by a journalist in Texas following Mr Morgan’s CNN programme of 19 December.

The petition says the talk show host “is engaged in a hostile attack against the US Constitution by targeting the Second Amendment”, which protects an individual’s right to own guns.

“We demand that Mr Morgan be deported immediately for his effort to undermine the Bill of Rights and for exploiting his position as a national network television host to stage attacks against the rights of American citizens.”

Mr Morgan has responded, repeatedly, on his Twitter account.

“If I do get deported from America for wanting fewer gun murders, are there any other countries that will have me?”the 47 year old joked after the 25,000-signature threshold was passed.

He added: “Wanting America to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines isn’t anti-constitutional – it’s called ‘common sense.’”

Later he said in a reference to the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of speech: “Ironic US gun rights campaign to deport me for ‘attacking Second Amendment rights’ – is my opinion not protected under 1st Amendment rights?”

In the wake of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama has vowed to push for immediate and concrete gun safety proposals.

But the pro-gun National Rifle Association (NRA), which has more than four million members, has rejected the need for tighter gun control. According to the Small Arms Survey, there were 88.8 firearms for every 100 Americans in 2007.

‘Stupid man’

The Piers Morgan interview, on his nightly chat show, came five days after gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school.

Mr Pratt said tighter controls on gun sales would not put an end to similar tragedies.

“The problem occurs in those areas precisely where we have said ‘no guns’,” he said.

“Where the guns are allowed freely to be carried… we have very low murder rates.

“We only have problems in our cities and, unhappily, in our schools, where people like you have been able to get laws put on the books that keep people from being able to defend themselves.”

Mr Morgan responded: “You’re a very stupid man, aren’t you?

“You have absolutely no coherent argument. You don’t actually give a damn about the gun murder rate in America.”

He ended the combative interview by calling Mr Pratt “a dangerous man espousing dangerous nonsense” and declared, “you shame your country”.

HELPLINE URGES ELDERLY people of Ireland TO ASK FOR HELP IF LONELY

 

Older people are being urged to ask for help this Christmas if they are feeling lonely. 
The Senior Help Line has said there has been a marked increase in the number of elderly people calling with mental health problems.

The helpline, which is run by Third Age, said many callers are anxious, lonely and depressed.

Santa back home after busy Christmas Day

Santa has officially arrived back home to the North Pole.

He spent nearly 24 hours delivering more than seven billion presents to lucky children all around the world.

His last stop took him over Alaska where he then flew north and landed safely in Lapland just after 11am this morning.

Reports say the reindeers are very tired after their journey, but Santa has said he is just about to feed them and then they will take a well-deserved rest.