Mark Tighe covered the Dermot Ahern speech in yesterday’s Sunday Times and followed up with queries to people involved in lesbian and gay activism and media and something from the Ministers Office.
I’m sure the phrase ‘prominent campaigner for Civil Partnerships’ had a few people choking over their bacon croissants 
However the Ministers Spokesman said
….The Minister supported legislation for Civil Partnerships. “That speech was 15 years ago and the minister’s view was commonly held at the time. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and anyone is entitled to change their mind. The minister’s view is that the family is fundamental to Irish life. He is fully behind the commitment made in the programme for government.
.
Well it won’t be long till the publication of the Heads of Bill then will it? Grand.
(I could highlight the lack of commonality of view in the speech, from the other ‘commonalities’ at the time – the Catholic Hierarchy’s silence during the campaign, expressions of concern from several bishops that there not be discrimination, the support from all the political parties, the Trade Union movement, most of the NGO movement including other social partners, the students movement the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe, etc. etc. Linking decriminalistion to the death of Jamie Bulger? But as I have said on more that a few occasions in the last week – this is about making sure the commitments made in the Programme for Government are delivered and I suppose you could say I’m campaigning for that!)
Wonderful that you made the front page, but the tone was a bit like the episode of Fr. Ted where the priests are made to protest about the ‘filim’ and they stand outside saying ‘careful there now’… As the journalist didn’t get an opinion from the Minister, it was unfortunate but telling, that we again had a spokesperson who spoke in riddles.
The Minister’s view at the time was not the majority position, nor was it ‘common’.But for the spokesperson to state that the Minister’s view was that the ‘family is fundamental’ and to admit there had been ‘water under the bridge’ in the 15 years intervening is contradictory. The code ‘family’ in this context means the nuclear family, and I associate this with the right wing/ conservative discourse espoused back them and since by various naysayers.
To call the (somewhat)(improved)(conditional) acceptance of lesbians and gay people as ‘water under the bridge’is rather offensive in some ways. Lesbians and gay men who have lived openly in this State (either as single people or couples) have persisted in spite of government policy and politics rather than due to their benevolence. FF is codding itself to think they or any other political party has done us much favour since 1993. The policy is one of neglect, we’re not getting an adequate level of service from government. We need to be trusted with tools to plan our own lives: in our case it is not required that the State throughs money at a social problem, rather it necessitates the implementation of some regulations/ law reform that allow us to fairly bring legal order our lives.
So instead of (again) imaginging some golden age of a nuclear family, bring some imagination into providing a solution to same-sex families … it’s actually in the Programme for Government… you just need to implement it, and be bold about what you propose!
You know Dermot, since 1993, and long before, we have had what the late Nuala O’Faolain termed “speakings-out” that served to challenge the traditional gender order, not just GLBT but a whole plethora of diverse family forms. The real issue is how we live with diversity, but the real question for you is whether FF has listended to any of that.
I think commonly was meant in the temporal sense in that Dermot Ahern held those views most days of the week except when called upon to hold other views as the situation required.
Link to article in Sunday Times pretty please? Can’t find it online.
I have been quoting your first post on this to all and sundry – nice work, and blog post of the month award surely?
It’s not available online but I’ll see you get a copy
The Sunday Times doesn’t put their Oirish content on line anymore, haven’t done for a year or more. I saw Sarah Carey bemoaning it a good while back. No one knows why we’re not to be trusted with on line content or to be left near the good silver.
http://www.tribune.ie/article.tvt?_scope=TribuneFTF&id=117849&SUBCAT=&SUBCATNAME=&DT=24/05/2008%2000:00:00&keywords=Mary%20Coughlan&FC=