21st Century Stupidity: Willie O’Dea On Alcoholism

Would you choose to be an alcoholic? I doubt any of us would. An addiction is something which controls you’re whole life. It’s a leech; robbing the victims of their enjoyment of life. It can be debilitating and difficult to beat.

But, according to Willie O’Dea, this isn’t the case and he doesn’t think that the 124 people in Ireland claiming illness benefits from the state due to alcohol addiction deserve the money.

Why? The  Fianna Fáil Social Protection spokesman  told The Irish Daily Mail it was wrong to pay people who were “literally indulging themselves”, adding that “If someone has a disease called alcoholism, then you don’t drink, you give up the drink.”

If we were living in the early 2oth century, O’Dea’s comments wouldn’t be that astonishing. But in 2013, with a wealth of scientific and proven information to show that alcoholism is a disease, O’Dea’s political stance is to deny those who are ill  financial help because of some cracked idea that it’s their own fault they’re sick.

” I know people who have cancer or are suffering from motor neurone disease who can’t get medical cards. They didn’t drink or bring those things on themselves and they’re the victims” he said. The Mayo Clinic states that alcoholism is a “chronic and often progressive disease”. A disease. Not something that the person asked for.

It is disgraceful that seriously ill people are facing the loss of medical cards due to cutbacks. But to link that issue with addicts receiving social welfare for an   is inappropriate and stigmatizing.

To insinuate that those who receive social welfare as they try to battle addiction are some how stealing services from terminally ill patients is disgusting. If you want to find blame in this, look to those who are responsible for cuts in our healthcare – the TD’s in the Dáil.  Not a vulnerable group in society who Mr O’Dea deems unworthy of help.

O’Dea’s comment that alcoholics should simply “give up the drink” demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of addiction and mental health issues. Should we also tell people suffering from anorexia to just eat more? Advise people suffering depression to get up and get on with it and stop moping around?

As a public figure, O’Dea’s comments are ignorant, hurtful and perpetuate damaging stereotypes. He should be ashamed of himself; I know I’m ashamed that he is a politician in my country.

Jargon Free Guide to the 2013 Referendum

Are you registered to vote? If you’re not sure, you can find out  by checking the register here.The referendum on the abolition of the Seanad is taking place on Friday October 4. If you’re mind is boggled by what this all means, never fear; we have your no nonsense guide to the vote below. 

It is important that you have your say, as disillusioned as you might feel with the political landscape of Ireland at the moment. This vote is about more than the politicians of the day and will have a lasting impact on future generations. Read up, register and cast your vote on October 4.

Photo source: John Crown

What is the Seanad?

The Seanad is one part of our current parliament system, along with  the Dáil and the President. The Seanad’s main functions lies in the creation of new laws. A new law proposed is called a Bill. This bill must then be approved by both the Dáil and the Seanad before being signed by the President. Then, it becomes an Act i.e a new law has been created. Any member of the Seanad or  the Dáil can propose a general bill dealing with a variety of matters, but financial bills or bills relating to the constitution must be proposed in  the Dáil.

When our forefathers decided what kind of political system we would have in Ireland once we had won our freedom from Britain, they believed that the Seanad would act as a cog in the wheel of the democratic process; that too much power would not be given to TD’s in  the Dáil to create new laws without a checks system from another part of the government.

Photo source: TheJournal.ie

Who is a member of the Seanad?
In our constitution, it states that the Seanad must have 60 members; 49 members are elected panel members – people from a variety of organisations including the Cultural and Educational Panel, University Panel and the Agricultural panel. The idea is that a variety of interests to the citizens of Ireland are represented in the Seanad. The other 11 members are nominated personally by the Taoiseach.

Nominee’s then must go through an electoral process no later than 90 days after  the Dáil is dissolved. So, basically every time there’s a general election, a new Seanad is created. To be a member of the Seanad, you must be an Irish citizen and be at least 21-years-old.

Photo source: rte.ie

What is this referendum about?
The referendum is focusing on two questions; should we abolish the Seanad and should we create a Court of Appeals?

If as a country, we vote to abolish the Seanad, all articles dealing with the Seanad exclusively will be removed from our constitution. All references to the “Houses of the Oireachtas” will be replaced with ” Dáil  Eireann”. The current Seanad will continue until the next general election and after that, it will be abolished.

The second question of the refrendum is whether we should establish a Court of Appeal and change how our Supreme Court makes decisions in relation to constitutional law. If a new Court of Appeal was created, it would sit at a level inbetween the High Court and the Supreme Court.  The reason for the proposal to create a Court of Appeals is because currently, there is a backlog of appeals waiting to be heard in the Supreme Court. The new Court would deal with the majority of appeals currently heard in the Supreme Court and High Court and other maters of appeal if required.

Generally, decisions from the Court of Appeal will be final, but there will be some room to send certain cases to the Supreme Court for a second appeal. The main point of relation of this court to the proposed abolition of the Seanad lies in the fact that the Court of Appeal will be able to hear cases on whether a law is constitutional or not; an important aspect if the Seanad is abolished as this will be a different method of preventing Dáil Eireann from creating and passing laws absolutely. 

So, how should I vote?

The decision on how you should vote lies with you alone. Some people will vote according to “party lines” or you can look an the pros and cons of the proposal and decide yourself. It is expected that the final tally will be close, as it was with our last referendum. There has been no public voice encouraging a “No” vote in regards to the Court of Appeals but the abolition of the Seanad is being hotly debated.

We’ve provided the main points being made for both side below:

Photo soucre: TheJournal.ie

Vote No:
– A yes vote would result in complete ministerial control
– Instead, the Seanad should be reformed, not banished
– Abolishing the Seanad would inhibit the ability to create political reform
– The Seanad definitely needs to be reformed, not abolished – if the country votes no, the government will be forced to do this
– Will provide our current and future Taoiseach with more power
– The government is trying to use the recession affecting the country to agree to abolishing an important part of a democratic goverment because it will say money
– The government will not be held accountable to scrutiny of decisions affecting Irish citizens

Fianna Fail is campaigning for “Vote No”

Vote Yes:
– The Seanad is not functioning in its current format and as a result, is wasting money
– Very few small countries, such as Ireland, have a two-chamber parliment
-If we had two houses of parliament with equal powers, stalemates could be created on policy decisions, causing delays in the political process i.e, a two-chamber government only works if one of the chambers has less power than the other
– Reduce the number of politicians in Ireland

Labour, Fine Gael and Sinn Fein are campaigning for “Vote Yes” but there is not complete agreement among TD’s within these parties 

More information is available at http://referendum2013.ie/

Government is arrogant and betrayed promises- FF

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has clearly stated that there will be no future alliance with Fine Gael in government, saying that these form of “super-coalitions” are ruining Irish society.

Photo: thejournal.ie

“Since the last election, we’ve seen what happens when a government made up of the two strongest parties takes control” Martin said. “Speculation about a coming together of the country’s two largest political parties ignores the damage being done to Irish politics… It is not good for Ireland” he added.

Martin believes that Fine Gael and Labour’s record majority was achieved by “cynical” and “negative” politics. He also said “Its dominance has led directly to a growing arrogance and ongoing betrayal of basic promises”

Martin insisted that his party remained on a course of recovery, despite polls in yesterday’s Sunday Independent which shows Fianna Fail has lost 3 points of support, down to 25pc.

However, Martin wasn’t fazed by the numbers and insisted that the party is focused on rebuilding itself and concentrating on local government and EU parliament elections taking place next year.

Brian Cowen’s Admission Over Financial Crisis

Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen has given his first full interview since leaving office – and he claims that he never saw the financial crisis coming.

Photo Source: fiannafail.ie

Speaking to TG4, Cowen said his his party didn’t believe those who warned them of the danger of collapse and that his government did not have a ‘Plan B’ in place. Cowen stated that he still stands by his decision to provide guarantee to failing Irish banks.

He also said it was “very regrettable” that ordinary people were carrying the burden of the crisis and admitted that he has a serious duty to accept responsibility for that.

The Junior Transport Minister has said Cowen’s claims are “bizzare”. The full interview will be aired on September 5th on TG4.