Comments

Follow the leader — 11 Comments

  1. Don’t you just love it when the electorate gives the ruling bunch a bloody nose in a referendum? Well done to all our smart Irish friends.

    Across the Irish Sea eastwards, the UK establishment still hasn’t got over losing the Brexit vote, when the great unwashed delivered the ‘wrong’ answer, indeed many UK civil servants are carrying on as if they’d actually won it – yours may also play the ‘ignore the result, carry on as planned’ approach, so keep a wary eye on them.

    Even stable and boring Switzerland, which thrives on referenda, has just stiffed its national government by refusing to raise the state pension age, amongst other unpopular proposals. They’ve got spirit too.

    It’s a bugger, this democracy thing, but a fun one at times like this.

    • It wasn’t so much a bloody nose as a slashed jugular. It think it’s an all time record rejection in a referendum [and we have had quite a few]

      The Anti-Brexit mob seem to take comfort in the fact that the margin was quite small [a couple of percentage points?], but still a majority is a majority, even if it’s by only one vote.

  2. Political analysis to begin on rejection of referendums

    (RTE website)

    Can you imagine a “Political analysis” being begun had the result been the other way? Me neither.

    • They are all now frantically “reflecting”. Maybe they should reflect on the fact that the Plain Irish aren’t as dim as they had hoped.

  3. UK media seems to be in shock. Asking no one in particular, “What went wrong?”
    As a general rule in marriage, and probably gubmint, if you think you might not like the answer, do not ask the question.
    Did your new enrichers get to vote? Or would it be rashist to ask if any of them are in a durable relationship?
    And by the way ‘n’ that, this is an excuse for showing pictures of your esteemed Teashop, Le O’Varadkar (sounds like rhyming slang, c.f. the UK’s own Chancer of the Ex Chequer). He has that smug durable face that you would never tire of whacking with a good old loy.

  4. It was all a piece of nonsense, legislation rushed through in eleven days with no pre-legislative scrutiny.

    None of that stuff should have been in the constitution anyway, constitutions are about the manner of governance, not providing prescriptions for people’s private lives.

    It would have seemed sensible to have voted just to delete the articles but the neo-liberal Varadkar tried to pull a fast one and use the amendment to absolve the government of a duty of care towards those who had paid taxes all of their lives.

    • I agree that some of the existing language is somewhat outdated but that’s to be expected. It talks about a woman’s place being in the home but I have never heard of a single court case where that statement has been used as an excuse for anything. As you say – if some find it offensive then just delete it.

  5. Was an allowance made for the women folk to step outside for a few breaths of fresh air every two hours?
    If not, then they should at least be allowed to sit by an open window now and again.

  6. Brilliant. Like Declan Kidney’s men kicking them Citizens’ Assemblies in the erm . . .kidneys.
    I reckon MyHeritage will sell a few more DNA tests in the UK this month just so us UK peeps can show their friends we got some Irish in us.

    • Welcome Andrew! I must say I gave an inward cheer at the result [I voted No and No]. I do have issues with the wording of the Constitution but it was the high-handed handling of the affair with an attitude of “we have decided what to replace and you lot just go out and vote for it, like good little children“. They are totally out of touch with the general population.

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