State of the nation

It is a sad and sobering event when a senior Minister in charge of Education comes out and proceeds to spout his confidence in a dying leader. Cowen is a ghost. He looks like he has given up and Batt O'Keeffe's words are so at odds with the mood of the country that it would be laughable if these people were not in charge of running the country.

"This fellow has bottle and has a fabulous vision. He has a virtuous vision of Ireland. It’s unsullied by selfishness or any other machination. His approach is for the common good which he’ll put before anything personal.

There’s no leader who is closer to Fianna Fáil as a party and has the interest of the party at heart more than he has. It would hurt him very much if the party suffered under his leadership. And come the next elections, I believe we can come good."

Oh yes, St Biffo. The incapable leader. The man who was minister for Finance and did nothing to check government spending. The man who has fumbling every through, has vested interests in Anglo Irish, property developments, the catholic church and maintaining a stranglehold on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Brian Cowen missed two press conferences on his latest trip to China (around the time of Lisbon 2) because he was hungover. The man was asked on national television whether he had a drinking problem.

O Keeffe

believes no one has examined how a government and a taoiseach with historically low popularity ratings has managed to survive one of the biggest political crises to have occurred since the foundation of the State.

He is wrong. People have asked that question every day. The fact is that the whip system ensures party support on pain of explusion. When threats don't work then Healy Rae gets a new hospital of Kenmare and other bribes are dispensed.

The role of the Whip is primarily that of the disciplinarian for all Government Parties i.e. to ensure that all deputies, including Ministers, attend for Dáil Business and follow the Government line on all issues.

This is why the opposition cannot win a vote of no confidence. No appeals to sense, reason or rationality works because deputies vote whatever way they are told to. Why lose the support of the party on an issue that only affects the "plain people of Ireland"?

The only way to get rid of the government is social unrest or violent action. Historically neither has been particularly effective. Of course, it would help if people did not vote for the boy from around the corner. Parochialism is one of the most corrupting influences in Ireland today. Add cronyism into the bargain and the result is a failed state. On the surface it may look ok but underneath it is rotten to the core.

I applied for disability allowance. I have a condition that is debilitating and covered in the documentation on disability. I had the testimony and reports from five doctors. I did not go to my local TD. It took twelve months and three rejections before I received the allowance. I know that I could have probably got it in three if I had asked my TD to put pressure on the Department of Social and Family Affairs. But I don't want to live in that kind of country.

The institutions of the state are corrupt and confused. The Minister for Education flaunts his feigned ignorance of the ability of the electorate to with their consent to be governed by this shower of gombeen men and women.

Blogging under pen name

The last country I started a blog in was a military dictatorship in the developing world. I blogged using my real name and all was peachy keen for a while. Gradually my posts became more political than social and I knew that I was being monitored by the government - I worked in human rights so we knew we were targets anyway.

I was arguing with a US radical feminist on HIV prevention within the sex worker population and she decided that I was a misogynistic man who was raping kids because I pointed out that her imaginings of the situation was far from the truth. Being a rape survivor myself who worked with vulnerable populations it was not particularly easy to shake off these accusations. She used my real name for her j'accuse and that scared me because there are not any other people in that country with my name. Child abuse by foreigners is taken far more seriously there than in Ireland. I was on the alert for the secret service, after a tip off, but then someone shot a journalist and my accuser withdrew her accusation and apologised, so the matter was dropped after a stern lecture from a security consultant.

Now I blog under a pen name not because I fear the Irish government but I have a residual fear of officialdom and sections within the Irish government who have different agendas.

Now, a year and a half later my heart pounds and I feel the fear I felt then when I saw my statcounter this morning.



It's weird cos I expected to see it. I wrote letters to Batt O Keeffe and Brian Cowen and they were not particularly complimentary. Logic doesn't win against PTSD. I hope that the ministers will t least answer but I'm not overly optimistic.

Justice for the Magdalene survivors

I've a new post up at GlobalComment

It’s 1967. You are fourteen and you sneak out to the cinema which has just opened. You are so excited to see the moving picture that your leg bounces up and down as you wait in line. It is a wonderful experience, and you sneak back into your house, prepared to reflect on it for days to come.

Then, you are caught and physically examined to ensure your enduring virginal state. No matter what the doctor finds, it is too late. You have disgraced your family you are sent to a Catholic laundry to work from dawn to dusk. You wash filthy clothes, make lace handkerchiefs and linen tablecloths for export for profit but you see none of the money. You cannot leave or escape. You are paid nothing. This is the story of thousands of Irish women and girls in the Magdalene laundries run by the Catholic Church until 1994.

Click here to continue reading

Another non-apology apology from the Irish Government

Batt O Keeffe has given a non apology apology in classic politician's doublespeak

In a letter to Dublin South TD Tom Kitt he expressed deep regret for “any offence caused by my use of the term ‘employees’ when referring to these women”. He added: “I fully acknowledge that the word ‘workers’ would have been more appropriate.”

As if it is not extremely offensive to refer to a group of women who were treated by slaves as employees. It is a gutless non-apology from a Minister who should resign immediately. However, I am sure that it will take a general election to remove his ass from the ministerial seat.

I am offended by his "apology" and by his use of "those women" to refer to the survivors of the Magdalene laundries. It is othering and when seen in context shows his contempt.

If Cowen had any ethics, he would fire this despicable Minister for Education.


Other posts on abuse in the Irish Catholic church and the Irish state


Church of evil
I write letters
The savage reality of our darkest days
Indemnity and the Catholic Church
The Irish Catholic church and child abuse: it's not about bad apples
Pride - the Catholic church's deadly sin
In his own words
Ratzi distressed over Ryan report
Survivors of Institutional Abuse Ireland Petition
The Magdalene Laundries
How to evade responsibility for your actions by giving a non-apology apology

Batt O'Keeffe proves his cruelty