Vote Yes and the Gangs will be goners
Posted by Maman Poulet on 14 Jul 2009 at 12:12 am | Tagged as: Irish Politics, Lisbon
or something…
I have been wondering about how I’m going to write about Lisbon II. Well while I continue wonder Lucinda Creighton has started the ball rolling on the spurious/less than obvious or sane reasons to vote yes or no to Lisbon. I’m sure between now and October 2 we’ll have many more.
“Deputy Lucinda Creighton, Fine Gael spokesperson on European Affairs, today called for a Yes vote on the Lisbon referendum to enable Ireland to work with our EU partners in the flight against gangland crime.
“Crime is a cross-border issue, and we need to pass the Lisbon Treaty to give EU governments the power to work together to fight crime. I have welcomed much of the Government’s recent legislation to deal with gangland crime but it can only work as part of a wider strategy, and as part of a European strategy. The Government can pass as many laws as it likes, but national legislation is limited by national borders.
Crime is now globalised. Money-laundering, arms-dealing and drug-smuggling don’t recognise borders. The Criminal Assets Bureau has done Trojan work but it can’t touch Spanish bank accounts. The Government has passed legislation to seriously curtail access to handguns within the State, but gangland criminals are free to fly over to practise their shooting in Central European firing ranges without a bother. Much of the cocaine and heroin trade in this country is controlled by Irish gangland criminals operating with impunity from Spain. We cannot tackle these problems alone.
“But because of the current voting arrangements, we cannot tackle these issues at EU level either. We have failed to implement the EU-US extradition and mutual legal assistance agreements. The European evidence warrant has also been stalled. We have failed in our task to step up cross-border co-operation and, in particular, combat terrorism and cross-border crime.
Is Lucinda going to propose sending Dermot Ahern to Brussels to be a commissioner to bring in the directives needed to protest us from non existent blasphemy, spying on emails and take away juries because more juries aren’t being intimidated but he says they are?
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The “curtailing of access to handguns within the State” only applies to _licenced firearms holders_ who have been deprived of several international sports as a result for no reason whatsoever bar the media scaremongering over the sport of target shooting.
One slow news day, one silly season story, and then politicians whose careers aren’t doing so well like Deasy and De Burka start playing to that scaremongering in the media and then of course the Minister thinks “better to get a timeslot on the radio than to do the job I’m paid for” and we get the Criminal Justice (Misc.Provisions) Bill which says that law-abiding people, each personally vetted by a Garda Superintendent (and who have to jump through a long series of hoops including house visits, character references, and so forth), can’t have a fullbore pistol anymore. Unless they had one before November last year when the Minister first jumped for a piece of airtime. And they can’t do anything that looks like “combat training”… unless they do it in full military getup with replica firearms (which look, weigh, feel, sound and operate almost identically to the real thing) or with paintballs or something similar.
Because, obviously, the drug gangs all have licences for their guns. Which they got from their local Garda Superintendents. And will hand in once the new law is signed in and commenced.
If it hadn’t done as much damage, it’d be funny…
Other than some sort of attempt to have a go at Lucinda, I fail to see the point of this entry.
If you wish to challenge what she says, then fire away, but you don’t. It might be more enlightening if you did. Why does Lisbon make no difference in the area of crime?
And this is why I support Labour… does Lucinda know that Trojan is an American brand of condom, she’d be laughed out of it across the pond!
I would have thought gangs are *very* local, not global, and able to act with impunity because Min for Finance has significantly cut Garda funding (after being MOJ where funding was more ample, Lenihan is a kinda poacher turned gamekeeper as Deputy Snip). Now we’ve just MOJ Nero Ahern who is just off in his weird little world of his own, bless. Crime is just escalating, and I don’t think Lisbon matters a jot, Lucinda, you’re just offending my intelligence!
BTW: am I the only one who’s offended by civil partners having to state their in monogamous relationships? Very green-cardish! Also, hat tip to the Sunday Trib, did anyone notice that the 2004 Civil registration act barred same-sex marriage? A British sociologist Rosie Harding put it well, dogs should be registered, not people… Coming next in the Fianna Glas moralising legislative agenda… the Underpants Checking Bill 2010 to verify you’re a “good gay”.
Meantime, people cannot get basic services and the country is going to hell. Sorry… what’s Lisbon all about again? Our salvation is a local solution too!
The change to handgun legislation sounded pointless alright and Mark there has pointed out why.
I wish FF and FG would just merge and leave space for real opposition.
As Lucinda is such a fan of an EU army, I wonder does she have a brigade of Blueshirts on stand by to force a Yes vote.
Back in the day, it used to be a joke say to check under your beds for Blueshirts. Are they now going to criminalise anybody who has the cheek to exercise their democratic right and vote No.
“And this is why I support Labour… does Lucinda know that Trojan is an American brand of condom, she’d be laughed out of it across the pond!” My God you’re right and they think rubbers are a form of contraceptive too instead of an eraser for removing pencil marks! Vote Labour, throw our own odd little culture out the window and homogenise completely with the Americans. Cos they’re grrreat!
Also, if people aren’t going to at least make a minimal effort at being in a monogamous relationship then what’s the point in giving them rights for being in a partnership? Sounds like a tax dodge to me.
[...] on from the abortion issue which has raised its head early in the debate, Suzy has picked up on a Press Release by Lucinda Creighton TD (FG) who could have titled her PR a little [...]
It wasn’t a vote Labour rant Daniel nor anything about Americana!
My take on monogamy is that it is up to any couple to choose who/ how they want to shag, and the government has no place being a “one couple, one coitus” enforcer! Getting into a civil partnership is hardly a tax dodge, I’m worth about €7K per annum to my partner as a hausfrau and that’s a bargain compared to the cost of a Bank Director a Minister to the exchequer! The old one being f***ed there is the taxpayer if we’re still talking about monogamy!
Partnership is about recognising my relationship of 20+ years and how *we* choose to live, how we want to order our financial affairs, etc. If you want to talk tax dodges, then we should ask about how much money *we* have lost because the State regards us as strangers in blood… we’re due a big effing refund if you wanna pursue that one!
Come on Sean, what was all that guff about Trojan’s for if not an ode to Americana? You brought it up not me.
I’ve said it elsewhere I’d prefer to see the state get out of the marriage business and leave it as a recogniser of contracts only. If people want group partnerships, time defined, or open ended that’s up to them. But if people are saying they want it to be marriage then that does imply monogamy as a goal if not necessary one that’s always achieved.