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Ryan Report Solidarity March
Read more about: Fianna Fail, Government, Ireland, Irish Politics, Oireachtas 
Today at 12.00 from the Garden of Remembrance. Sign the petition and bring a white ribbon if you are attending.
Today’s order of business in the Dail is the worst political failure I have seen:
10.30 a.m.
* Leaders Questions
* Motion re Confidence in Government (to conclude at 5.30 p.m.)1.30 p.m.
* Sos
2.30 p.m.
* Morning Business continued
5.30 p.m.
* Private Members Business (Fine Gael) Motion re Small Claims (Protection of Small Businesses) Bill 2009 (PMB) – Second Stage (to conclude within 3 Hours)
8.30 p.m.
* Matters on the Adjournment
The motion of confidence was a foregone conclusion – the Ryan report a cathartic moment for many, as a young person it certainly affected me and my view of the state. It is a terrible failure that the Ryan debate was moved. The politics could have waited.
Ya Enda has shown a poor lack of politcal thinking. He is being hammered on Joe Duffy for debating something that he is going to lose rather then deal with the March. He should have come out and addressed the March.Or even better not addressed and made sure the media saw he not addressing it. Make the headlines be Enda Stands with the people in solidarity. I think they had lost the run of the themselves after winning the election. Himself and Gilmore let the victory go to their heads.
Couldn’t believe it when he used the word “supersede” on Sunday. As in “Enda, will this get in the way of the Ryan Report debate next week?” “yes this will supersede everything that comes before the Dáil next week”.
Cian,
I agree with you – this is shameful day in Irish politics. There was all party agreement that the debate on the Ryan Report would take place today. Kenny’s decison to put down a no confidence motion was made in full awareness of that and that the march was taking place today also. Given the gravity and extent of the State’s culpability in the forced and illegal incarceration of thousands of children over several decades, it is nothing short of monstrous that puny politicians would put their petty political point scoring opportunities above their responsibility to acknowledge and make public atonement for a system of child slavery that they condoned and allowed to persist almost to the end of the last century. It says an awful lot about Enda Kenny and his suitability to ever hold any public office in this State.
Apart from which, the political stupidity of tabling a no confidence motion at this particular point in time is really quite extraordinary. Anyone with a titter of wit would have allowed a week to pass to let the government parties stew in their own juice and wait for the cracks to appear. Instead, the parties in government will be more united than ever in their determination to stay the course. Kenny has blown it.
I think the motion of no confidence shouldn’t have moved simply because it was always going to overshadow the debate on the Ryan report. But the motion of no confidence was due to be take in private members yesterday evening and this evening not in the middle of the day when the march was scheduled to take place. It was the government decision to move their own motion of confidence in itself to take place in government time that caused the Ryan report debate to be delayed not the original no confidence motion.
So sure a bad mark towards FG for moving a motion that disrupted the media focus on the Ryan report debate but a bad mark against the government for shifting the debate itself from today and tomorrow into tomorrow and Friday. That was not FG’s doing, it was the doing of the government.
I actually think a debate next week on the Ryan report will be a more productive debate, a debate this week was always going to overshadowed by the election results. Cooler heads might have a better debate on a chidren’s referendum or wharever is needed plus there might be some indication of the religious order’s audit plus the debate might get more coverage.Has the “deal” allowed the orders time to syphon off their assets before they can be seized–the march was a good idea,it keeps up the pressure.
“That was not FG’s doing…”
You’ve got to be joking! This is entirely a consequence of Enda Kenny’s decision. Worse, he knew what he was doing.
The Government could have tabled a motion of confidence in itself at another point. It was a crass reply to a crass move.
Mark, I think you sum it up rather well. Moving it was an error and the government reaction compounded that error.
So now we’re moving from one position trying to pin the blame for Enda Kenny’s political crassness on the government to one claiming that it’s the result of equal crassness by the government and the opposition. Sorry folks, that’s disingenous baloney. Small wonder that so many people are becoming increasingly cynical about all politicians! This one is down to the politician who set this particular ball rolling and who then insisted that it must ‘supercede’ everything else on the Dail agenda for this week; one Enda Kenny.
Who’s “we” and where are they moving?
I said I was surprised by his use of language in my earlier comment, nothing else. Kenny’s lack of understanding of the permeations and potential impact of certain words is something that compounds the perception of him as not a viable leader in public eye. That’s is all I was commenting upon. I never even gave an opinion on whether I thought his tabling of the motion on such a date was the right move or not. So if the “we” you refer to was me, you’re way off.
I’m not a Fine gael supporter, nor am I an FF supporter so if you’re inferring that I have some sort of leaning towards one side or the other, I’m afaird you’re very wrong.
Yes, Kenny’s tabling of the motion on such a date was heavy-handed, it shows that he is more concerned with political than human issues. But the Government, had they been more in touch with the people, could have avoided adding seven more hours of debate on the issue and given the Ryan Report some media and debate time – but they didn’t they played football with it and got childish too. Both moves were crass, both were foolish, both were selfish and both show how out of touch politicians are with the non-Dáil news cycle.
@ Simon Gilmore hasn’t let anything go to his head…this was an FG move, nothing to do with the Labour Party. We wanted the debate on the Ryan report to take precedence this week but once FG moved a no confidence motion procedurally it had to be dealt with before everything else. Would have been far more appropriate to allow the TD’s time to join the march instead of throwing silly barbs at each other across the chamber
Mark,
The ‘we’ was generic in the context of our discussion. No offence meant or intended, so apologies if any caused. And I’m not an FF or FG supporter either!
As for TDs joining the march, as Aoife suggests above, I’m not so sure about that – it was the victims’ day in which they were seeking the support of the general public, not politicians. And who wants to see politicians bandwagoning on this issue anyway when they should, by rights, have been discussing their collective responsibility for what happened in the Dail Chamber and how they propose to deal with the consequences of the State’s manifest failure to cherish and protect the interests of 165,000 of its citizen children over the best part of a century? The presence of politicians on the march would have been cringeworthy. It always is, in much the same way as when they attend the funerals of ‘important’ people just to have their presence recorded in the Irish Times the next day.
The pope and leaders of the catholic orders who have perpetrated these crimes should be tried with crimes against humanity and their assets siezed.
we have the redress then the ryan report ok now people are going to know the real truth about these so called schools.
the government now are talking about a memorial for the ( past ) is’ent that nice. a shame no one will know who those poor people were nor will many even care. and a ( bloody ) museum to rub it in too so others could what? feel our pain?
they will never feel it unless they were there. the only people it will feel it is the very people and family and friends who wear the scars from those places and to top it all to be reminded of such as well.
it always takes an outsider to decide such painful ideas thinking they are doing us a favor.
this is the answer of the government and religious orders.
have they not got it yet while they are trying to please themselves and cut costs again. the labour party said there is nothing they can do to take away the pain and suffering as so did the other parties, as they tried to show their crocodile tears.
of course there is nothing they can do because it would cost them even more to even try.
we are told to keep quiet about the redress money, well now the ryan report is out what does it really mean for us to be quiet about our redress ?. oh but we have to tell the social welfare why? why the social welfare and not anyone else, they are supposed to ignore it.
they take the redress into consideration and then see it as you have sufficient savings, and make their decisions accordingly, how are you going to prove other wise. how do i know? it already has happened to a survivor i know.
lets see where they could have at least done some good if only their hearts were true and brave.
they could have set up ideas to help survivors and their families in their present struggling lives after all they claimed there is nothing they can do to take away our pain. but at least they could try if their words are genuine and heart-full.
there are only so many survivors left and the day will come when we are gone too as age is moving on so i recommend some changes below if there is truth in the church and government after all it is the duty of both to look after their people.
what do survivors need to help them in their every day lives. has not yet been done never mind words or anything else and do what is right.
recommendation;
the living alone allowances should be given to all survivors to help support them call the allowance what you will but all survivors should be entitled to this wether alone or not as this comfort was taken from them in the first place. they live alone in hurt everyday of their lives, and the struggling survivor is reminded every day wondering if only they had a childhood what would they have been today instead of struggling to survive still.
making sure they are not homeless.
making survivors exempt from higher payments in housing rents
making sure they are clothed
making sure they are not hungry
making sure and very clear their rights as survivors so they understand them.
making sure they are getting their rights in welfare.
making sure forms are much easier for survivors to fill in
making sure there is a head office they can turn to if non or more of the recommendations are being ignored by so called government offices.
making sure the less tax for the survivor who are on low wages as they were forced to work without pay at a tender age.
making sure some kind of pension is available, and early retirement be available if in need, as survivors were forced to work from a very tender age.
so before you start patting yourselves on the back for doing nothing so far, do what is recommended here and then we may feel some comfort in your words surely you owe survivors this little sum at least as i said there are only a limited time for this left as we are much older and are fading out over time.
both government and religeous orders should get together and finance these recommendations now.
or all churchs and church run schools should be boycotted to make sure children are protected because if you cannot even try to adjust the wrongs then how can you be trusted.