Maman Poulet

An important ruling earlier this month from the Court of Appeal in the UK to a ruling in the Employment Appeal Tribunal concerning a registrar Lillian Ladele.

Ms. Ladele took a case against her employer, Islington Council, alleging that she was harassed and discriminated against by the council because she refused to perform registrations at civil partnership ceremonies. She did not wish to perform the function due to her religious convictions.  The council had issued verbal and written warnings but had not dismissed Ms. Ladele.  She has voluntarily left her position since September.

An Employment Tribunal initially found in her favour last year but the Employment Appeals Tribunal ruled against her and she took the case to the Court of Appeal.

Masters of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger in his judegment refusing leave to appeal to the Supreme Court said

It appears to me that, however much sympathy one may have with someone such as Ms Ladele, who is faced with choosing between giving up a post she plainly appreciates or officiating at events which she considers to be contrary to her religious beliefs, the legislature has decided that the requirements of a modern liberal democracy, such as the United Kingdom, include outlawing discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services on grounds of sexual orientation, subject only to very limited exceptions.”

This ruling will be watched with interest by both lgbt rights groups and the Iona Institute and Renew and their supporters who are campaigning for the insertion of the an amendment to the Civil Partnership Bill to protect those who do not wish to perform registrations due to their religious convictions .   It is anticipated that the Government will not include such an amendment and indeed many opposition politicians are against it’s inclusion.

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Far too many Review of the Year and Top 10 for 2010 posts about at the moment for me to add to. Instead  a few reminders from 2009 and a spotlight on those who you may not hear about and possibly can do without hearing about too.

Earlier this year you remember my delight at the youngest FG candidate (at that time) issuing a press release saying he was going to knock on doors looking for votes like it was something unusual. He also said he was running for county council as well as town council well before the selection convention agreed to it being so. Simon ran a very active campaign with some unusual features

(We still have yet to discover which child sweated through the early Irish summer for the cause!)

I even had the opportunity to meet Simon when he took the opportunity to visit the blogger room at the FG Ard Fheis before the election.

Four quota’s for a town council seat and a county council seat later (highest polling candidate in the country no less!), Cllr Harris has hit the ground running having clinics everywhere and press releasing like he’s wanting to outdo Val Falvey.

Well Simon wants to be where Val is – Dáil Eireann. And this week he’s issued another stunning press release announcing his latest plan.

Highest polling County Councillor in the country and youngest member of Wicklow County Council announces his intention to run for the Dail in Wicklow at the next General Election.

This time Simon anticipates internal party democracy and notes there will be a selection convention, Enda has said there’s going to be three places on the FG ticket in the garden county and Simon wants one of them!

So in reassuring us of his intention of doing his civic duty and saving the country,  Simon says that he’s doing the decent thing – going after the Minister’s seat.

“Through my involvement in community groups, residents’ associations, charities and indeed the local authority I see the real potential that this county of ours has but I also see that potential being hampered by Government inaction and Government failure. It is not healthy for a country to have one party constantly in Government – democracy and society need a change and I want to play my part in offering people a chance to vote for that change.

“I will seek the Fine Gael nomination with one aim and one aim only – to win an additional seat for the Fine Gael Party at the expense of the sitting Fianna Fail TD, Dick Roche. I believe it is time for fresh thinking, new energy and enthusiasm in politics. This is what people across County Wicklow tell me they are looking for.

I suppose Simon couldn’t say he was after anyone else’s seat but am sure the sitting FG TD’s are looking a bit cautiously over their xmas selection boxes wondering what he’s up to! No doubt super Simon will be entertaining us all with his tireless work on behalf of his constituents in 2010!

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Over the past week or so former Ms World winner Rosanna Davison has been bizarrely selling the wares of Supreme Master Television on advertisements running on TV3 and 3E. (Supreme Master Television is available on Sky Channel 595)

The channel is all about learning healthy lifestyles and saving the word we are told by Rosanna who has a load of vegetables in front of her. (Things hard up in model land or are we seeing a Ickeism?)

Supreme Master Television is not merely cooking tips for the veggie inspired. According to their blurb

SUPREME MASTER TV is a free-to-air satellite channel broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a variety of engaging programs in English with over 40 languages and subtitles. Being the ideal television channel that brings to your life Nobility and Spirituality. Broadcasting on 14 satellites platforms across the globe.

This leads us to the Supreme Master herself Ching Hai

We will search high and low for a little love. For a little love to share with all beings in all corners of the world. Supreme Master Ching Hai, as she has affectionately become known to those who have had the pleasure to meet or work with her, leaves a message that walks the way of love. A renowned humanitarian, artist and spiritual visionary, her love and assistance has extended beyond all cultural and racial boundaries.

to millions of people around the world, including the needy and homeless, institutions of medical research on AIDS and cancer, war veterans of the United States of America, the disadvantaged elderly, the physically and mentally handicapped, refugees and victims of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and fires.

Through these works, we witness countless reminders of compassion, which is the trademark of this caring lady, and the international foundation that has grown out of her love and loving example.

Ching Hai (Wikipedia entry) comes with form – and I assume Rosanna’s agent did a bit of research before she agreed to doing the advertisement.

Ching Hai herself is no stranger to headlines. In 1997, President Bill Clinton returned a $640,000 donation from Ching Hai as part of his “Asian money� scandal. And in 2004, authorities in Florida shut down an artificial island she was building illegally in Biscayne National Park.

[Cult Analyst] Ross says Ching Hai’s followers have made her a multimillionaire, but the source of that wealth is unclear. Much of it comes from her merchandise, he says. She also dispenses large donations during international disasters, which Ross says builds her legitimacy and keeps money flowing in.

This brings me to the thing that got me interested in the first place – Section 10(3) of the Radio Television Act 1988 which states “No advertisement shall be broadcast which is directed towards any religious or political end or which has any relation to an industrial dispute.â€? If they banned the Trocaire and Veritas television advertisements one has to ask how this one got through! I’m not the only person thinking that this is a cult operation.

Here’s Ching talking about Divine Power & Breatharianism in a seminar broadcast on the channel.

So let’s see what the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland have to say – if anyone has a video of Rosanna’s advertisement I would be eternally grateful. I know that she’s not mentioning religion, devotion or otherwise but is she selling a veggie food ruse for this crowd’s operations?

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A slumber inspired rambling tangent on recent events.

We now know that TV3 didn’t believe in it or stick by whatever the press office in the Department of Finance or Government Press Office asked for before Christmas.

Some people, myself included, have difficulty in these agreements and the culture that surrounds them – ie.when a party requests another party to not say or do something or one offers something else instead to stop something else being reported or acted upon. I’ve no doubt that many journalists are asked to keep something quiet or are given something else instead to stop something being reported. There have been accusations of cosiness between political correspondents and politicians and their handlers but no real analysis of whether this is actually the case. Press offices also refuse to co-operate with journalists and attempt to kill stories in a variety of ways.

Where do these agreements lie now? Are the gloves off and a ruthless media unleashed? Is the condemnation of TV3 by many other media groups because they don’t want these agreements challenged, are genuinely outraged and have a moral compass or are people in other media organisations happy that the story is out? Looking at Andrew Lynch’s op-ed piece in the Evening Herald yesterday one could be very confused. He condemns TV3 before launching into speculation on reshuffles to come.

What other issues are not reported on due to agreements, nods and winks? And what now for TV3 correspondents in terms of their treatment by press handlers and politicians in the weeks ahead?

I’m not mentioning this because I have a problem with someone asking for personal information such as that which TV3 reported on being kept from the public. I thought the manner of the reporting by TV3 was really crass and I do think that some right to privacy should remain for people. I don’t go by the public interest angle that many are citing in the disclosure of Minister Lenihan’s health especially during a Christmas holiday and when he’s not had the time to tell family members. The contribution to the report by oncologist John Crown was also new low for Irish media.

Maybe we should be more worried about editorial influences on the way in which news is reported than the control that politicians and decision makers seek to have on the ‘news’ itself. The lack of news reporting at all is also something increasingly of concern both by those consuming and working in the sector. There’s far too much opinion and commentary and far too little news and investigative reporting (says she expressing an opinion!) The role of the licence fee and veiled and not too veiled threats made to RTE funding if they get too near the bone are always in the background when thinking about this topic.

All the above is without ever being near a journalism ethics class – it’s the views of a consumer. I expect lectures.

Eoin O’Dell nudges us towards thinking on whether the recent incident will prompt the introduction of a privacy bill much liked in some quarters of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Freelancer and author Gerard Cunningham looks at the mistakes TV3 made. Another freelancer and editor of Forth Magazine, Jason Walsh, also thinks TV3 was right but wrong and launches a defence of journalism and there’s a lot of interesting toing and froing in the comments. Deirdre O’Shaughnessy from the Cork Independent (but blogging on her own blog) writes about the dilemma’s involved and wonders on the impact on TV3.

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What the agents of the State were up to yesterday in case you didn’t notice.

The Board of NAMA was announced. One woman and no lawyers.

The Department of Finance released its regulations regarding the determination of long-term economic value for assets. Read Karl Whelan on Irish Economy for more analysis (h/t Mark)

The appointments to the new Board of the NDA were announced and a analysis of government and state employment of people with disabilities was published.

The Governments Combined Third and Fourth Periodic Report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) was published and sent to the committee.

The Minister for Education announced €250,000 funding for a primary school…. in Cork.

The Minister for Education announced €150,000 funding for the Guide Dogs project to help provide dogs for children with Autism. The Guide Dogs HQ is located in Cork.

PRSI claimants were reminded by the Department of Social and Family Affairs that they needed to have confirmed appointments to claim PRSI benefits before they are stopped as a result of Budget 2010. The Department say that some dentists have been applying for approval for treatment without clients knowledge. Tut tut. Tut at the government removing treatment cover under PRSI too!

Minister for Agriculture announces payment under REPS 4 has commenced and results of the seventh milk quota trading scheme.

The Department of the Environment published a background note on the Killarney dungcatchers – yes the jarvey’s and their nappies.

COMREG published their quarterly report. (nudges Damien)

The Central Statistics Office published a range of reports on Tourism, External Trade and Earnings and Labour Costs.

What else did I miss? And what will be published or announced today and will anyone notice it?

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New appointments to the board of the National Disability Authority have been announced just in time for the holidays when few will be noticing.

Appointments to the Board of the National Disability Authority

In  exercise  of the powers conferred on the Minister for Justice, Equality
and  Law  Reform  by  the  National  Disability  Authority Act 1999 and the
Disability Act 2005, the following named persons have been appointed to the
Board  of  the  National  Disability  Authority  with  effect from the 21st
December 2009:

Mr. Peter McKevitt, Chairman [Rehab Group Senior Manager]

Dr. Tony Bates [CEO of Head Strong]
Ms. Caroline Burrell [Green Party]
Mr. Frank Cunneen [previously chaired the Health and Safety Authority]
Ms. Tara Cunningham [Release Speech Therapy Organisation]
Mr. Colm Desmond [Principal Officer - Dept of Health]
Ms. Fiona Duignan [Policy and Projects Manager Inclusion Ireland]
Ms. Linda Grealy [Civil Servant - Representing Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform]
Mr. Shane Hogan [NDA Staff reprepsentative]
Mr. David Joyce [Equality Officer ICTU]
Mr. Des Kenny [CEO NCBI]
Ms. Mary Lavelle [Head of Counselling, Insight Counselling Centre, Fighting Blindness]
Ms. Joanne McCarthy [Senior Policy Executive, DFI]

The  term  of  office  of  the Members of the Board will run for four years
until 20th December, 2013.

The  National  Disability  Authority is the lead state agency on disability
issues  and  is  charged with promoting and helping to secure the rights of
persons  with  disabilities.  The  Authority plays a vital role in advising
Government  on  disability  policy,  research and standards and ensures the
continued monitoring of implementation of standards and services.

The parts in brackets have been added by me – anyone who has other knowledge of the backgrounds of other board members are free to leave comments. It should be added that members will probably be serving in a personal capacity rather than representing any particular grouping.

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Poll topping Fine Gael TD from Listowel Jimmy Deenihan has finally broken his silence on the Listowel sex assault case.

Today’s Irish Times reports Mr. Deenihan saying ‘Listowel was not the kind of town that would allow a woman to be ostracised.’

“Listowel is a caring, compassionate town. This girl will not be ostracised. She will get every support possible,� he said.

Pity he didn’t say something last week or over the weekend. It took local councillors a few days before they said anything and now it’s to defend the ‘good name of the town’ with a nod to the survivor but some would say it’s not a big nod as there are votes to be minded.

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John Burn’s writes in today’s Sunday Times about blogging in Ireland and asking where have all the blogs gone like there is some sort of crisis afoot, that it really matters in the state of things, or more like he wants us to think that newspapers were always right about the ‘amateurs’ and indeed are making a comeback.  He also has a chance to slag off colleagues in the mainstream who blog including Michael O’Toole for not writing frequently like it’s a crime itself!

Many in the media refuse to accept that there are people who enjoy writing and thinking about issues and don’t want to get paid for it. There are many others who like to read these opinions and statistics from Google show that people search for information on everything from news to sport to receipes to reaching out to other parents of children with disabilities. Bloggers don’t need to write everyday because they don’t want to! Yes we don’t have an editor standing over their back making us do so.  It does not matter how many there are or who is reading them. Or that bloggers give up, start again or decide to do something different instead.  How this makes us any less valid or indeed worthy of the continual jibes and comment from the mainstream media won’t be keeping me awake.

The fact is that blogs still exist and things change as technology and people’s interactions change.   Many express opinions and exchange information on Facebook – indeed I often get more comments on blog posts I write on facebook than on the blog itself. My posts are shared on facebook amongst many others who would never visit the blog.  I don’t know what Burns’ problem with niches is either.

Be it on blogs, facebook, twitter or elsewhere people are talking to each other and they don’t need to hang on to every word typed by a journalist or a columnist who is paid.  They thought Guthenberg was mad – some would like to see all bloggers and online researchers and commentators as eejits, that’s fine by me.

Damien Mulley publishes the email correspondence between himself and John Burns on what seemingly started out as a piece on political blogging in Ireland. It’s a shame he didn’t stick to writing about political blogging and the reasons that it is not as developed as in the USA or elsewhere. The party political system, difficulty in accessing information through FOI’s and control freakery of political parties about what their candidates do online, or the positive experiences parties and candidates have had in interacting with readers would all have been interesting discussions to have.

Burns refers to a ‘tipping point’ in 2008 on my blog re Sarah Palin and how we have not had one since. I’d love to know what his tipping point meter consists of.  In the next week or so I will be reviewing my year online and I think we’ll see different.

Did you read the last sentence?

An important absence in Ireland are leading players from business, the arts, education, politics and property who write honestly and revealingly, giving an insight into their sectors. Instead, the blogosphere has been left free for “amateur� commentators and journalists. While some are entertaining, not one continually demands our attention. No Irish blog is important enough to read every day. Until that changes, you’ll be getting your news and comment on paper.

It made me laugh a lot given I had read the story online and rarely get my news on paper. I know I am not alone. I now less frequently get all my ‘news’ from old school newspapers online either.

Ireland as a nation is still too small to be able to resource internet only professional media. However a joint venture between those paid and unpaid may be possible – the so called and often belittled ‘citizen journalists’ without whom people in the Sunday Times and other places would spend a lot of time not finding things out or being able to write articles about.

Last week the Huffington Post held it’s staff holiday party – the crowd was over twice the size that was at last years party, and easily three times the size present in 2007. Love the jumpers by the way!  I wonder what Murdoch bought his staff for Christmas.

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There’s a chance given the season that’s in it and that the fact that it was broadcast on Friday night that you missed Insight on UTV. It dealt with the story of  Aine Tyrell who was abused by her paedophile father Liam who is the brother of Gerry Adams. Gerry Adams knew of the abuse for the past 22 years since Aine told him when she was 14. There are currently 23 charges of rape and abuse outstanding against Liam Adams.

If you get a chance to watch it I’d recommend it for the many questions it throws up. Among them the way in which the leader of one of the political parties in the country has handled what may be seen by some as a family matter, but surrounds issues of child protection and keeping secrets akin to the legacy of abuse that many in the south are more than aware of.

The documentary outlines attempts by Aine Tyrell to get assistance from her Uncle, Gerry Adams, in locating and confronting her father and getting him to hand himself in. There are comments from Gerry Adams which jump out at me including one seeing himself as one of the victims of the situation (!) akin to Pope Benedict earlier this week sharing the pain of the victims of clerical abuse in Ireland.

The story also involves Fr. Aidan Troy, the well known priest then from the Holy Cross Parish in Ardoyne,   who in 2007 acted as a mediator for Aine’s father – Aine says that Fr. Troy urged her not to go to the police because it ‘would make a circus about who his brother is.’

Liam Adams is missing but another uncle of Aine’s believes that Adams and other people know where he is.  Many believe that Liam lives in the South, his house in Belfast is up for sale.  Aine is no longer in contact with Gerry Adams.

Former IRA member Anthony McIntyre writes that Liam Adams was being touted as a possible Sinn Fein Dáil Candidate in 1997. If this is correct then this is ten years after Gerry Adams was first made aware of the abuse.  Yet Gerry says he believed Aine from the very beginning?

I didn’t hear Gerry say that anyone who knows where Liam is should tell the police – he did say that he would go to the PSNI if he hears himself.  Am I naive in thinking that the contacts and party organisation that Adams has throughout the state surely it should not take long?  More reports of the programme are available on Slugger.

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I’ve shouted at the radio a lot today and been absolutely horrified at what I heard from Kerry, sometime mid-morning I knew it was time to find something positive to do.  So I suggested that if anyone had a bit of spare money that they usually give to a group at this time of year that they do something special with it.

It’s 26 years since the Kerry Babies case where a woman was shunned by her community and treated appallingly by Gardai, 16 years since Lavinia Kerwick was not believed and indeed people thought her attacker who was set free was found innocent but he was guilty, 15 years since another case in Kerry Mark Coughlan details on Irish Election and again in 2009 when a man sexually assaults a woman and is convicted it feels like being back at square one due to her appalling treatment by those living around her

When Joanne Hayes was going through the tribunals and horrific questioning in the 1980’s women all over Ireland got the money together to buy her flowers and roses appeared from everywhere. I’m suggesting you send money to the Kerry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre so that they can continue to help other women, sit in court rooms, listen to them and provide counselling.  I spoke to their staff today and although they don’t have an online way of donating they do have bank account details on their website and you can also send cheques. They and the survivor in this case have had a great amount of support today and I hope it continues.

So many other groups supporting women, men and children at risk in lots of ways are closing down this month throughout the country. We have to show Danny Foley and those that support him and those like him who think they can get away with it.  Most importantly we have to show the women who report sexual assaults and rapes that reporting them is important and that they will be supported.

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