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After years of insisting on the ‘Irish political elite’, Sinn Féin has become the standard-bearer for Irish political elimination.
In fact, if the cash-rich Sinn Féin went its familiar route, it would endlessly refer to itself in the Dáil as that “wealthy political elimination.”
To put it mildly, the party does not have a good reputation on social media. After the last election, when even Sinn Féin was surprised by the breadth of its success, there had to be a major cleanup of the Twitter accounts of several of its Leinster House newcomers, who had been poisonously tweeting in relative obscurity before. that they reach the big moment.
The aggression and vitriol dispensed by the enthusiastic ranks of the so-called “shinnerbots” is legendary, so much so that even people who have little time for social media and don’t indulge in Twitter are aware of this particular class of animal online.
The big surprise about the furor over TD Brian Stanley’s tweet last weekend was the fact that it was seen as a huge surprise.
“Kilmicheal [sic] (1920) and Narrow Water (1979) the 2 IRA operations that taught the elite of the British Army and the establishment the cost of occupying Ireland. Too bad they all learned so slowly. “
There is no victim / actrocity / combatant / murderer “hierarchy” in the carefully nuanced public statements of Sinn Féin’s national elected representatives (aside from the occasional unguarded slippage in moments of exuberance), but the continuing veneration of IRA murderers and criminals never far below the surface. A quick read of An Phoblacht’s “Roll of Honor” (“They Died for Ireland”) or the shorter consideration of Bobby Storey’s funeral or the recurring “mistakes” on social media or the missteps of “Up the ‘RA “prove otherwise.
Stanley’s obnoxious tweet has, of course, been removed.
Then another appeared. Just as obnoxious with his reference to Fine Gael’s newly elected (gay) dog whistle leader Leo Varadkar three years ago: “You can do whatever you want in bed, but you don’t look like a raise the next morning.” The conflicting explanations from Stanley and HQ were ridiculous.
You have now deleted your account.
Mary Lou McDonald responded by removing her understudy from Laois-Offaly and leaving him on gardening leave for a week. Now he will appear before the Dáil in two weeks and make a statement.
A whole fortnight? That is a luxury that Sinn Féin did not allow the Minister of Justice, Helen McEntee, when she demanded her immediate presence in the Chamber to explain her participation in the appointment of the Supreme Court judge, Séamus Woulfe. They were right to do that.
What’s different about Brian Stanley, who may not be a cabinet minister but chairs the Dáil’s powerful Public Accounts Committee?
As for the original tweet by the TD and Sinn Féin wringing their hands and labeling it unacceptable while cleverly dodging questions about supporting IRA atrocities, it suggests that leopards don’t change their spots.
That’s the political elimination of the rich for you.
Not everything is tweetness and light in the Dublin North constituency
Even on the subject of tweets, there was a real air of letting the sinless cast the first stone when Stanleygate (or whatever door it was) broke down. Politicians seem to be particularly stupid, given their line of work, when it comes to posting things on Twitter.
One politician who landed in trouble before the last election was Fianna Fáil senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee, whose derogatory tweets about travelers 11 years ago saw her apologize profusely for offending and meet with the traveling group Pavee Point to apologize in person. . His apology was accepted.
Now we hear that Lorraine may have been involved in a different kind of Twitter upheaval, this time with her fellow Dublin North constituency, Darragh O’Brien. They both ran in the February general election, with O’Brien retaining his seat and Clifford-Lee losing.
They don’t seem particularly close.
And not everything is tweetness and light in the Fingal way.
There has been talk among Fianna Fáil supporters that Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien allegedly blocked Lorraine on Twitter and then wrote to her asking him to unblock her. If this is the case, what did she tweet to upset him so much?
The Minister’s department received his letter on October 14 and his private secretary responded on October 16.
“Minister O’Brien asked me to acknowledge receipt of his letter and to thank him for letting him know. Since then, the matter has been resolved. “
Senator Clifford-Lee’s letter, also posted under Freedom of Information, is written on her letterhead with the entire body of the letter, between “Dear Minister O’Brien” and “Sincerely,” redacted. Which is a terrible shame.
However, the FOI record of the request lists a “letter from Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee to Minister Darragh O’Brien regarding her personal Twitter account.”
Numerous attempts by our Freedom of Information detective Sarah Burns to contact the Senator have been unsuccessful, while a spokeswoman for Darragh O’Brien said there are no further comments to make.
Intriguing.
Senator Lynn Ruane: pure gold
Going through the hoop on behalf of undocumented children
A history of earrings and bracelets.
On Wednesday, the Seanad discussed the Labor citizenship bill for undocumented children who were born and live in Ireland. Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the government will work with the party to improve the bill and “advance” it.
The legislation proposes to grant citizenship to some 2,000 children who were born and live in Ireland, but who are stateless and are at risk of being deported due to the illegal status of their parents. The minister said she supported the aim of the bill, which was “well intentioned,” but stressed that the government must take into account the “unintended consequences, of changing immigration laws at a time of great change” in context. of the Covid pandemic. and Brexit.
The contributions of the 10 speakers, all women, interestingly enough, were thoughtful and thought-provoking, especially from Senator Lynn Ruane, who introduced the jewelry element.
As he got up to speak, he delivered Seanad’s best line on the pandemic, exclaiming, “Wait a minute, a Chathaoirligh, I can’t take my mask off my hoops!”
They were impressive earrings.
Later, the college senator recalled attending deportation hearings two years ago with a mother and her two young children. While she was in court waiting for the family to hear her fate one more time, “yes, they will be deported,” she described sitting next to the oldest son who hoped to study at the University of Limerick.
“And my arm was resting on my leg, next to his arm, and we were both wearing the exact same bracelet.” They got them from an artist who gave the same style of bracelet to people who worked on projects with him.
“But it suddenly reminded me of the connection that at some point he was involved in another part of the country in something with this same artist as me, and I remember feeling incredibly connected with him at that time.”
But her bracelet kept breaking. “So remembering the idea of this perfect circle and how, you know, how love turns and how when we treat each other well and that makes love so equal between people, families, nationalities and cultures … It broke, I went and got it tattooed so I can remember that moment sitting in that courtroom, and that feeling and feeling of hopelessness that I am not going to be able to help this family in any shape or form. “
But it did: after a “great campaign” they were helped through “ministerial discretion.”
Ruane met the mother two years later “and she was unrecognizable to me. His skin glowed. His hair was beautiful. “
After the strain of an undocumented existence, she could now stand upright. “I just keep that vision with me and I think we could give it to so many people and families and take the burden off them.”
And as he spoke, the thin inked line around Lynne’s wrist shone brighter than any precious metal.
Who will blink first when Brexit negotiations approach the limit?
While a Brexit deal between the UK and the EU is up for grabs this weekend, rumors surrounding the Berlaymont are that Germany may save Britain’s blushes and switch to a last-minute deal between the two parties.
While attitudes are hardening in several European states towards what some see as a brazen attempt by the UK to skew the playing field by winning more concessions, there are suspicions that Germany is too keen on striking a last-minute deal. Two reasons are cited: the Germans hold the EU presidency until the end of the year and want to end it with a result; and Angela Merkel, who will step down in 2021 after 16 years as chancellor, also wants to come out with the Brexit situation resolved under her supervision.
The French are leading the group of countries nervous about handing over more concessions to the UK in the final phase of the negotiations, and Emmanuel Macron’s team tends towards the field that “no deal is better than bad treatment” . An electoral confrontation with Marine Le Pen is looming and it must be considered harsh on the fish issue.
Officials in the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium are also said to be concerned about concessions Michel Barnier might accept in the coming days to reach an agreement on the line. They don’t want the UK to undermine the bloc as a result of a hastily struck trade deal.
And then there is also a fatigue factor with the UK posture. This did not help on Friday when an anonymous Downing Street source revealed that the EU is trying to do something quick by filing new lawsuits at the last minute.
“Nobody in Brussels believes it, the EU is not moving fast enough to do something like that,” said a Brussels veteran. “Europe agreed to its post-Brexit negotiating mandate in February and it hasn’t moved much since then.”
The Downing Street intervention is seen as an attempt to play the blame game by attributing a poor Brexit outcome for the UK to those unreasonable and tight-fisted negotiators on the continent.
Grist to the mill for those officials in Brussels who are now talking about deserving the concessions.
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