The Ireland that we live in.

A political rant from me for the first time in over a year.

Before I wrote this I looked back at some of the cringe worthy Blogs I wrote while I was an officer in USI and I aim not to take a juvenile and ignorant stance on my opinions and how I express them today. And I just want to point out that I am not affiliated to any particular party nor have I ever been and I doubt that I ever will. I have always voted based on individual candidates and their own merits not that of their parties.

Now over the past month or so their has been an extraordinary amount of activity that has had the media foaming at the mouth as well as many political enthusiasts and the everyday commoner on the street, so I want to give my opinions on the incidents that interested me most.

The Queen’s Visit to Ireland

Now I was away in Turkey on the week of the Queen’s visit so a lot of this went over my head as I was far more interested in the Sun and Beer while away but I did see enough before and after and saw snippets during the week to feel I can give an opinion. I suppose the first thing I have to say is that I had no issue whatsoever with the Queen coming over here. I felt it was a huge gesture and it was a way of our country moving forward.

What frustrated me in the lead up to her visit was the ignorance and downright stupidity I saw in the streets around me, in the company of my own friends and of course on Facebook. I saw plenty of people ranting on FB about how dare the Queen come here, it’s a disgrace, it’s this and it’s that. And what really gets to me is that these are the same people who support English Football Clubs, or support Celtic. The same people who if you asked them who Bobby Sands was or Michael Collins they’d struggle to tell you what they achieved or what they stood for. The same people who only know there was a Civil War in this country because the watched ‘The wind that shakes the Barley’. It’s a long time ago since those incidents happened. It’s a long time ago that our two countries fought an unholy war and it’s a long time ago that our own country fell apart as a result. I am a proud Irish Man. A very proud Irish man. I am disgusted at some of the incidents that took place especially Bloody Sunday. I will always hate the Black & Tans and the tactics they employed. But it is now more than ever a time for us as Irish people to forgive and it is now time for us to move on and stop looking at the past.

The Queen’s visit is one of the most prolific moments in recent memory and will be one that will only help our island to move forward. The Queen carried herself as would have been expected, with grace and extreme humility and the numerous gestures made during her visit were amazing.

And on a final note, I think the way our own President Mary McAleese carried herself and spoke during the visit is something we can be proud of and it is a great way for her to cement an outstanding 14 years as our President.

I think in summary I don’t for one second think we should forget our past and forget the work of  people like Padraig Pearse & James Connolly and so many more, but I do think we have to move on as a nation and this was a major step in doing so.

Obama’s Visit to Ireland

This was probably for me more exciting than the Queens visit. And while it didn’t stand for half what the Queen’s visit did, Obama’s visit had me glued to TV all day. Look firstly I know Obama has made a lot of mistakes as US president, but I also think he inherited a raw deal from George W. and I can honestly say that in my 23 years on this earth I have never seen a leader (with the exception of Eoin Hayes : ) ) deliver a speech like this man. He is by far the most charasmatic leader in the world today.

So, was his visit done in order to help his own Presidential Campaign? Of course it was. But for one day, just one day the people of Ireland forgot about the recession. For one day the people of Ireland forgot about all the little and big worries they were encountering and everyone reveled in the moments that Obama created. From standing in Ollie Hayes’ pub in Moneygall telling stories, skulling a Guinness to be fair and coming out with the great line ‘I just want you to know, that the President pays his bar tab’. To walking the street and shaking the hands of the worshipers in the crowd to the speech that lifted a Nation which had previously, been on it’s knees with one line: Is Feidir Linn. Obama made us believe that we can do it. We can turn this country around. He made us believe what we always wanted to believe and he made us believe in ourselves again. One line that I felt was completely overshadowed in that speech was this ‘Whatever hardships the winter may bring, Springtime’s always’s just around the corner’. Obama made Ireland realise that Yes We Can.

Ruari Quinn’s U Turn

I am not going to claim to know the Ins and Outs of this, I’ll just talk about what I’ve seen. Quinn has always been someone who positioned himself along with USI. He has always been someone who has been someone who prided himself on valuing the youth and in particular the Students of this country. He was a man who I didn’t and still don’t know a lot about apart from what I saw from him in my time in the Student Movement and I have to say I liked the guy.

For those of you who don’t know Quinn signed a contract with USI last year saying that if he got into Government, no increase in the Fees would occur and he would fight to reduce any increases in the meantime (Or something to that effect). Basically that the registration fee would be at 1500 euro. It now stands at 2000 euro and Quinn was yesterday asked would he be reversing the increase of 500 euro. His responses to this in my opinion, were extremely weak. So weak that I don’t even remember any of them, but it now seems as if things will not change and as a matter of fact things will get worse.

Now if I was a USI officer I’d probably go on a rant based on my mandate, I don’t have a mandate anymore so here’s my two cents. Quinn has been backed into a very dangerous corner, to be honest he made a promise that he could never keep. And I think deep down he knew that. I  don’t agree with Fees, I never have and I never will. I don’t agree that if fees are introduced they should be means tested, this doesn’t work for the grant, why would it work for Fees. Quinn should’ve been honest from the outset but instead he sold his name down the river to get elected. I have a 15 yr old brother sitting his Junior Cert at the minute and I shudder to think whether or not he’ll be able to get into Third Level. Now I have to look at it from the other side, is the current third level system we have in place sustainable? I don’t think so, but there needs to be a much bigger picture thought of here, the country is in a very bad way and we do need to invest in our future and by pricing the Middle and Lowe Classes out of Third Level we will see a much darker future ahead. I don’t know the solution but I’m not the Minister for Education who signed a deal with 250, 000 students and then turned my back on them or so it seems, but I hope he can prove me wrong.

David Norris – The President we need. 

Again I don’t know a whole lot about David Norris, I know a little about his work in gaining so much ground on the rights for homosexuals in Ireland in the past few decades and the fact that he was hated and loathed for this work and I know that he has done a severe amount of work for human rights in general. I also know that is a very flamboyant and outgoing character who’s not afraid to speak his mind and say what’s what. And it is because of this I am deeply saddened at the media backlash or whatever you want to call it that has been hit out at Senator Norris over the past week.

Norris is a tireless worker. He always has been and now things that he has said over the years are being brandished around the papers to make him look like he is Public Enemy Number 1. Norris is a realist, unlike all other politicians who want to bury their heads in the sand and keep Ireland in the 1960s and make sure that we still have that element of Old Ireland that we can be so proud of. It’s time we grew up.  Norris’ views are the views of a modern Ireland and at least he’s willing to discuss the contentious issues that exist in our country such as drug use, pedophilia, prostitution and sexual abuse. He has not once said that he would be pushing these things forward but merely giving opinion on them and he is being chastised for this. Norris is a braver man that I could ever be. He is a stringer man than I could ever be and he is now probably not going to be even nominated for President of this country because he states the fact. Well it’s funny how I talked about Ireland moving forward, the fact is if Pat Cox or Sean Gallagher said these things there wouldn’t be an ounce of the outrage and attention that Norris has gotten. And why is that? Simple, Norris is Gay. And Ireland is not ready for that and is looking for a way to stop him even getting out onto the race track let alone even crossing the finish line. It’s as simple as that and it’s a damned shame that we as a nation are still stuck in the dark ages. He speaks nothing but truth and I think (again this is all my own opinion) because he’s gay, his views are somehow cast under a different light as a result.

If he manages to get a nomination and his name is on the Ballot Paper, I will be putting my number 1 next to David Norris, and nothing next to any of the other candidates that have put themselves forward thus far. I want a President who will speak the truth, and not follow the status quo as these other jokers have. Norris would be a leader I would be proud of.

As a country we have a lot of growing up to do.  But we have come a lot further in recent times. We need to keep pushing forward and stop allowing ourselves to believe that there is no way back. It’s a dark time, but like the old say goes ‘The night is at it’s darkest, just before the dawn’, we need to push on until dawn and it is then and only then that we as a nation can take the steps that we need to and become the Ireland that we can be.