Dermot Ahern enacts Blasphemy legislation: We should have a Banquet!

I could do nothing on this yesterday, being stranded in the snowy hills of outer Mayo BUT sure there’s a thaw.

Ireland’s Justice Minister is a small man, he has criminalised blasphemic utterance because he was told to, as his colleague attacked funding provisions for protestant schools in Ireland (cos he was told to). The brave republican soldiers of the Fianna Fáil party do things because they are told. We call this a constitutional imperative and move it toward guillotined debate. Guillotined debate is rushed debate before recess which allows over-paid TDs to make soundbite statements and noises, but ignores the necessity of intellectual discourse in Ireland. The benefits of ignorance and lack of discourse are evident for all to see, bad-planning, poor infrastructure, low investment in societal needs like schools and hospitals.

The Irish media is dominated by an ex-political party called the Progressive Democrats, interestingly the govt appointed Ms Geraldine Kennedy (formerly a PD Teachta Dáil) (head of the Irish Press Council and editor of the Irish Times Newspaper) thought not to mention the Blasphemy enactment today in her newspaper, though it headlined in both the BBC and the UK Guardian Newspaper.

The Irish government and the now obsolete PD party have stitched up a generation with their unnecessary attacks on the realm of creative thought and endeavour; but more importantly they have been seen to protect the interests of the wealthy conservative religious lobbies whose access to the government ear is a thing of legend in an Ireland that pretends it’s America !

I am ashamed of my government dominated by a single party for 13 years (with a variety of props),who have attacked, destroyed and eviscerated Irish culture whilst playing to lobbies and interests who are variously abusive, insolvent, bullying and censorious.

• Historical Fianna Fáil cultural vandalism.

• The Blasphemer’s Banquet.