Celtic Tiger Might Take a Great Leap for Equality Today

This is a great moment to live in Ireland. You can see, hear, and feel the history being made. Referendum will be held today to decide what should be the age of presidential candidates. Important as well, but also the vote for Marriage equality will be cum in actum.

Posters of "Yes" and "No" side

As it is kind of obvious that equality includes the idea of similar rights for everyone, as well as similar obligations. There should only be a need to inspect why Ne Doit Pas -side seems to be steaming against equality. 

My favourite bully group, Iona Institute, has been publicly advocating against equality by saying it is inequality. Let's take a moment to look at the work of these great minds.

Reasoning is that a mother can't be a father, nor a father cannot be a mother. I don't think anyone has even tried regenderize (I don't know if that is even a word, but I'll let it be here for a while. Maybe it will grow some root) parents. On a grass root level the no-side has been vigorously handing out leaflets explaining why you should vote no in bullet points. The point seems to be that it is redefining marriage, and that even the Bible says something about something. I just fail to see what is the downside of Marriage Equality. Is there going to be a flood, or a swarm of grasshoppers raining from the skies? 

This is probably how they see themselves:

(excerpt from Iona Institute's Bible)

When I go through Iona Institute's established view points. I see this:

(excerpt from Iona Institute's legal division)

You kind of know that things have gone too far when a lobbyist group starts posting news about two heterosexual men marrying each other. It is like taking everything that you can find, and just keep throwing them at imaginary enemies. Well, why not. They seem to be in good terms with a special kind of imaginary friend. 

This is what was happening on O'Connell street yesterday:

I was too lazy to edit this video. Anyways, it seemed so appropriate that people were singing Queen. They also sang John Lennon's Imagine. 

Learning to talk like politicians - lesson learned from Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan

Ireland is having a referendum about the new fiscal treaty in two days and according to some polls the Yes side is a little bit ahead. It seems that diplomacy ain't the first thing in mind when it comes to politics. Irish Examiner quoted Taoiseach Enda Kenny that he will not "be shoved around" by Sinn Féin. ""I am not going to give a platform to somebody who I don't regard as the leader of the Opposition to [propagate] what are blatant lies and hypocritical assertions", Irish Examiner's article ends up quoting aforementioned Kenny.

On this notion, other countries should learn about Irish diplomacy when it comes to the highest form of political debating. Forget lines like "there seems to be some kind of misunderstanding" or "we still have some issues that we need to work out to get to the approvable level of compromise". You have to be strict and call your fellow companion a liar and a bully. That's how political differences are worked out in Ireland.

But also other kind of behaviour can be found in Ireland. According to the Independent, the finance minister Michael Noonan promises easier budget, if the Yes side wins. Noonan's worries seem to be concerning Ireland falling down on credit rating. There's is also a lots of worries about Ireland's public sector, growth and sustainability of the social welfare. The carrot that Noonan is offering seems a little bit obscure to me in a sense that I don't understand how economical forecasts are made in Ireland. But that's my problem.

Perhaps after next week (or next year or next decade) we will have more of that hindsight concerning what should have been voted, which in my humble opinion is the only exact science.