[ad_1]
When they did not complain loudly about the Coalition’s latest Covid-19 communication errors while putting most of the blame on Fianna Fáil Taoiseach and the Minister of Health, members of the Fine Gael parliamentary party discussed other issues related to the pandemic in your weekly. meeting.
Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan took command on behalf of inter-county GAA players, saying high-level GAA teams should be given the same elite athlete status enjoyed by their rugby and rugby counterparts. football.
Some of O’Donovan’s colleagues were so paralyzed by his performance that they forgot to press the mute button.
The Limerick County TD spoke about the mental health benefits associated with the sport for both fans and participants. “Especially for those of us fortunate to be from the winning counties in all of Ireland last year,” he said deliberately, getting lyrical about the exceptional throwing prowess of the powerful men of Treaty County.
At one point he told Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys: “Heather, the next time Monaghan is in an all-Ireland final, the pandemic will be over.”
Some of O’Donovan’s colleagues were so paralyzed by his performance that they forgot to press the mute button. As the boast continued, an unidentified male TD (name withheld by snitch) muttered loudly, “He’s talking shit!”
The interjection, it was later agreed, led to a rare moment of unanimity in the ranks.
Sisterly love
International Women’s Day falls next month, and Fine Gael is celebrating the occasion with the release of a reprint of Proud to Serve: The Voices of the Women by Cumann na nGaedheal and Fine Gael 1922-1992.
Tánaiste and party leader Leo Varadkar are set to do the honors on March 9 at an online event that will feature a panel discussion with Justice Minister Helen McEntee and former Justice Ministers Frances Fitzgerald and Nora Owen . The moderator will be County Meath Councilor Yemi Adenuga.
The book, by Maria Hegarty and Martina Murray, tells the stories of the 28 TDs, senators and MEPs elected between 1922 and 1992.
On its front, the Tánaiste writes that the 28 stories of TDs, senators and MEPs elected between 1922 and 1992 “are both inspiring and enraging. We will be inspired by their courage and devotion to public service, and we will be enraged by some of the obstacles they faced and the barriers that prevented other women from becoming involved in national politics. “
The book “is an eloquent reminder that gender inequality is a deeply ingrained cultural problem and that it has prevented our party, our politics and our parliament from reaching their full potential. It is evident that we need a change of culture ”.
After last year’s general election, Varadkar was accused of lip service to the need for more women in national politics when only three of the party’s 13 nominations to contest the Seanad elections were women.
“The 2020 general election was very disappointing for Fine Gael in general and also when it comes to the representation of women. Many TDs, senators and prominent candidates were not elected, and among them were many exceptional and capable women, ”writes the Tánaiste, noting that he selected four women as Fine Gael nominees for the Taoiseach’s Seanad list.
“I look forward to the day when 50 percent of our TDs are women, and that would give Taoisigh in the future a larger pool of people to choose from, and a government where half of the ministers are women.”
Vaccination one more time
One of the women featured in the book is Margaret Collins O’Driscoll, the first female member of Cumann na nGaedheal in Dáil Éireann. She was elected in 1923 and served as a TD for Dublin North for 10 years until she lost her seat in 1933. She became involved in politics after the murder of Michael Collins, her younger brother, and was elected on the first try.
It seems that the disinformation squad and the “anti-vaccines” have always been with us. In 1928, it was smallpox. Now it’s Covid-19
Margaret was the principal of a national school for many years in Cork before moving to Dublin in 1921 with her husband, Patrick, and their 14 children. He continued his teaching career in the capital.
We were struck by a fascinating excerpt from his contribution to Dáil in 1928 on the subject of vaccines. Speaking from “an ordinary woman’s point of view”, she strongly opposed an amendment to the vaccination bill that proposed “a conscience clause” for people against the practice.
It seems that the disinformation squad and the “anti-vaccines” have always been with us. In 1928, it was smallpox. Now it is Covid-19.
“I believe that the House would be criminally guilty if they let this clause of conscience pass, thus leaving the young children of the present, as well as the unborn children of the future, exposed to a disease as terrible as smallpox,” he told the House. .
“Congressman JJ Byrne spoke like a family man. I speak as a family woman, and I can mention here that my family is divided into two figures. All my children have been vaccinated. The process did not cause them any pain. I was there myself when the children were vaccinated. They didn’t even cry during the process. After vaccination they were sick for a couple of days. But what are the negligible effects that a child can suffer after vaccination compared to the terrible effects that children can suffer from this terrible disease of smallpox?
“I have read some of the objections that were raised in the early days against vaccination. Representative Byrne’s theories seem as ridiculous as many of the objections that were raised when Dr. Jenner first discovered the effects of vaccination. Vaccination was prophesied to brutalize children; The vaccinated children were said to have the face of an ox; that abscesses arose to indicate the extension of the horns, and that the face of the affected person was gradually transmuted into a cow’s face and the voice into the bellowing of bulls. There seems to be as much sense and logic in some of the arguments that anti-vaccines have put forward in this House as there is in the objections I just mentioned. I call on the deputies to think about their responsibilities with the children of this country and to oppose this measure ”.
Norris in the house
Senators were delighted to welcome Senator David Norris back to the chamber on Friday as he returned to his Upper House duties after two cancer surgeries.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t in the House for the last month, but I was in the hospital with a couple of operations for cancer, which I think were a success,” he informed his colleagues during the agenda.
Senator Trinity tells us that he is back in pink after his stay at San Vicente Private Hospital, where he had two tumors removed. “I cannot speak highly enough of the medical service: the nursing staff were lovely, the food was excellent, and the consultant, Mr. David Quinlan, was very friendly.”
He’s still getting back into the swing of things. “I could sleep for Ireland right now.” In which case, it might be suggested, there are worse places it could be than the Seanad.
“I am happy to be back and happy to be alive. But of course, I was always glad to be alive, ”he says, reminding us that he underwent a liver transplant in 2014 after the discovery of a cancerous growth. “I enjoy every breath of fresh air and I enjoy every tweet from the birds in the garden.”
The Seanad is now sitting on Mondays and Fridays each week, as their hours have changed dramatically due to the pandemic. “The problem with Covid is that it would bore a saint,” declares Norris, father of the Upper House.
He says he’s determined to stay, as he wants to be the longest-serving senator of all time. “An old man named Barniville, damn it, he has the record. I have another two years to get over it. “
That would be Professor Henry Leo Barniville, a surgeon who served the Irish Free State Seanad and then the new Seanad Éireann for nearly 36 years until his death in 1960.
Media Baron Michael
Goodbye Denis O’Brien, who left the Irish radio scene this week after three less-than-stellar decades as a media mogul.
So in the week that the DOB comes out, MHR arrives.
So is. Michael Healy-Rae announced his presence as a media investor with a new listing added to his already considerable entry on Dail’s Register of Interests.
The new record has just been published and makes for a rather boring read for anyone wanting to confirm their opinion that Irish politicians are rotting away with money and property. The vast majority of them are not, although with a TD base salary topping € 100,000 later in the year, they are not worried about exactly where their next meal will come from.
The entries of two Kerry deputies attract attention.
Norma Foley lists her occupation as “high school teacher”, adding to complete “currently on a career break”. I bet she now wants to take a break from her career to travel Asia and find herself instead of taking time off to become a Minister of Education.
As for Micheal Healy-Rae, in addition to listing five occupations (postmaster, politician, farmer, gas station owner, and plant rental) and three management positions and 21 land and property declarations, he has only a meager entry in shares: “New York Times Co: Media.”
Last year it featured “Null over amount” in the same category. Members of Oireachtas are required to declare share values above a threshold of € 13,000.
Mind you, you’re only in a penny’s place when it comes to stocks and shares. Fianna Fáil’s Sean Haughey has a bewildering basket of investments on his list that begins with Larchfield Securities, the Haughey family holding company, and continues to a list of gold-plated top-of-the-line companies, including Google’s parent company, Alphabet, Alibaba in China, Amazon, Bayer, CRH, Glanbia, Pernod Ricard, Rolls Royce, Kerry Group, Amazon, Pfizer and Walt Disney.
[ad_2]