The pot, the kettle and Fine Gael’s fundamental political beliefs
■ Let me begin by saying that
I am not a hard-line repealer by any means; rather someone who, on balance and following considerable thought, will be voting Yes in the forthcoming referendum.
Despite this, I respect the right of others to hold a different opinion, and indeed to express such an opinion in the public sphere. With that said, I can’t help but challenge John Bruton’s opinion piece on May 15 (“Why I would urge everyone to vote No in the referendum”). Specifically, I take issue with the contention that one of the three fundamental beliefs of the Fine Gael political tradition is “a society in which every person counts”.
Fine Gael is free to believe this in the same way that I’m free to believe in the tooth fairy; in neither case does such belief confer truth. There are currently almost 10,000 people homeless in Ireland – Ireland, lest we forget, which is the fastest growing economy in the European Union by quite a margin. The numbers of people languishing on hospital trolleys has inconveniently hovered somewhere between 500 and 700 over the last number of months. We are yet again in the grip of a housing crisis that excludes average earners from the market, instead favouring foreign vulture funds looking for a quick buck. I could go on.
Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prizewinning economist, has said the true test of one’s citizenship is the ability to participate fully in society without shame.
Fine Gael in power has continued to visit shame on members of our society as described above. Given this, it is repellant to use the party’s supposed political ideology as a battering ram to visit continued shame on the women of Ireland. If the pot could scream any louder of the kettle’s blackness, we’d go deaf. Rob McDonnell