Clear Conscience

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00159479Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin this morning

“Well, there’s one net issue in the Referendum, and that is, should all citizens in this Republic be treated equally under the Constitution, and that’s the one net issue, everything else is extraneous to that. I listened to the spokesperson for one of the groups this morning because I was anxious to hear what was the conscience issue.

There is absolutely no fear at all that any school or religious organisation couldn’t continue to espouse its own views on any religious matter without any fear of any funding being touched in any way. So that’s a complete red herring….”

Brendan Howlin this morning, on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland

That’s all right then.

What!?

Call for conscience clause in same-sex marriage referendum (RTÉ)

(Sam Boal/Photocall ireland)

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32 thoughts on “Clear Conscience

  1. phil

    Thats very interesting…

    So you have religious organisations/institutes and lobbies that say they will campaign for a NO vote as Gays marring is against their ethos.
    Some of them also say Gay adoption is against their ethos , some quite frantic about the potential.

    So you have to wonder, well ill do, that if something like 80% + primary schools are of a catholic ethos , whats actually going on in these schools, are gay kids in those schools safe? Are they suffering from a constant narative that who they are is fundamentally wrong?

    Should civil society be concerned about this ? I know I am…

    1. phil

      Oh forgot to say that some of these orgs benifit from tax relief , because they are all inclusive, or at least supposed to be …

      1. Grosse Bite

        Yes, I agree, an excellent post, but I have one caveat;
        The level of articulation is below par. You have to read and re-read it to figure out what’s being said.

        I think I agree with it., but I’m only 99% certain.

        No offence Phil. It’s not easy to knock out something like that when you’re under pressure to be first.
        -Nice one.

        (I think.)

        1. Ultach

          I’m 99% uncertain. Let’s try to break it down:
          “There is absolutely no fear that x could do y without any fear of z happening in any way”… sorry Ted, I still don’t get it. It’s the small cows and the far away cows all over again.

          1. Ultach

            Ah, merci GB. C’est been évident maintenant. Mais, puisque tu t’appelles comments ça, je suis sure que entends ça souvent.

    2. Joe the Lion

      You need to ask this question? It’s time for all Catholic and any other ethos schools to be defunded

    3. Der

      It certainly wasn’t a safe environment for me as a young gay kid, secondary school even less so. It very literally nearly killed me.

  2. Odis

    “and that is, should all citizens in this Republic be treated equally under the Constitution” – Top LOL – who’s doing his script writing nowadays?

  3. Siobhán Yearn-Ickers

    …”Should all citizens be treated equally under the Constitution”…

    …”no fear at all that any school couldn’t continue to espouse its own views on any religious matter without any fear”…

    So the majority of primary schools’ admission policies can continue to discriminate against unbaptised/godless heathen children.

  4. well

    So basically if we legalize Gay marriage these fundies are going to try form their own enclaves where it doesn’t exist.

  5. realPolithicks

    The so called “conscience clause” is simply a legalized opportunity to discriminate, nothing more, nothing less.

    1. JimmytheHead

      Morality is a terrible excuse, I’m guessing theres some underlying profit to be made from voting No that the right wingers dont want to share with the general public. Why would anyone care if gay people can marry or not unless they were gay themsel…… GASP!!!

  6. bisted

    …Howler went native even before his other comrades but it would appear that a papal knighthood is his latest objective…

  7. dave g k

    There was a cabinet reshuffle? Has anybody told Joan Burton?

    Anyway congrats to the new Social Protection Minister.

    And who’s taken over at DPER?

  8. PaddyM

    Reality check: There is rather a large world out there beyond Twitter and the Broadsheet comment threads. Its inhabitants considerably outnumber you and they have votes. They do not necessarily share your particular set of assumptions and prejudices. To get the referendum passed you have to keep them on side.

    Announcing that the referendum is Stage 1 in the Great War on Irish Catholicism with school confiscation to follow in due course is a surefire way of losing the vote – and losing it in a landslide.

    1. Grosse Bite

      Reality check # 2;
      The ‘ NO’ side have no proper foothold, because they lack any legitimate reason that bears scrutiny.
      They’ll find it difficult to motivate their sheep to the polling station, even with the church’s backing.
      -On the other hand, the ‘YES’ side have roughly 100% support from the Gay Community, and the committed support from the vast majority of young people.*

      This is about basic Human Rights. Anyone intelligent enough to realise that will make sure they vote.
      It will be a landslide.

      (But hey, let’s not become complacent. Get out and vote. I’m straight, but I’ll be in the queue when the polling station opens. VOTE!)

      *And when I say ‘Young’ I mean under 50.

  9. Murtles

    Ehh, since when did Howlin become Minister of Social Protection? Thought Joan was still in charge of that and he was Expenditure.

  10. The Bottler

    “Well, there’s one net issue in the Referendum, and that is, should all citizens in this Republic be treated equally under the Constitution, and that’s the one net issue, everything else is extraneous to that.”

    When this referendum is passed, may we have another, Mr. Howlin on Pension Entitlements?

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