‘It’s In Our DNA’

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At it’s most fundamental, it’s not a migrant crisis, its’ not a refugee crisis – this is first and foremost a human crisis.

The terms ‘migrant’ and ‘refugee’ become weighted with connotations and they have too often have become terms that we use to almost distance ourselves from the humanity of the situation and that is desperation of men, women and children taking a risk-laden journey to try to escape the horrors of terror for survival.

I mean, at it’s very most fundamental, it’s about survival. And in our own DNA we understand that because we have a history, be it in the mid-19th century, but we are actually the survivors of that and it’s in our DNA and it’s part of the reason why I think we understand it more than most.

Social Democrat TD Catherine Murphy speaking this afternoon.

Previously: ‘A Beautiful Thing To Do’

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60 thoughts on “‘It’s In Our DNA’

  1. rotide

    I look forward to tommorow where Catherine’s order at the dail bar will be transcribed so we may all enjoy it , complete with the part where she hopes the barman has a pleasant day in bold so we don’t miss it.

    1. Mé Féin

      Yes, still is. Wasn’t it in our DNA during the last recession? And actively relied on by the government?

  2. Derek

    The terms migrant and refugee have distinct meanings and definition in international law. They mean something. They are not feelings. Treating them as such allows others to undermine them actually harming those in need of their critically important protections.

    1. MoyestWithExcitement

      Yes, they are distinct words with distinct meanings which is why it’s galling to see paranoid right wing slogan chanters refer to refugees as migrants because of their *feelings*.

    2. J

      Agree. And the distinction is required as indiv. governments deal with migrants in accordance with their own immigration laws , whereas refugees have to be treated in accordance with international law.” A very important distinction which offers protection to those that require it most.

      1. Mé Féin

        Yes, the Irish in Australia and Britain and elsewhere are migrants. They are not refugees.

  3. human

    I don’t want to be forced to live next to people that want to throw gays from the roof’s of buildings…..

        1. Slightly Bemused

          No so. Certain factions who claim they adhere to a certain religion are doing that. The vast majority of adherents to that religion abhor the actions every bit as much as the vast majority of adherents of other religions.

          1. Dόn 'The Unstoppable Force' Pídgéόní

            Sorry, but you need to be really very very conscious of the massive biases in that study and not just believe because it was on the telly

          2. MoyestWithExcitement

            That’s pretty worrying, Clamps. Are you trying to perpetuate the idea that most Muslims condone terrorism and violence?

          3. human

            52% say being gay should be illegal….. Dont tell Don and Moyest…. It does not fit in the oppressor/ oppressed narrative

          4. MoyestWithExcitement

            750,000 people in America just signed a petition to boycott Target because they’re allowing transgender folk use whichever bathroom they like. What’s your point?

          5. human

            Why does Moyest make everything about America? Just more negative proof….. Your brain is short circuiting ……

          6. Dόn 'The Unstoppable Force' Pídgéόní

            OK. Here goes. This is long so apologies but

            It doesn’t fit with a representative sample narrative, or in fact, a representative sample at all human. Show me good evidence and I’m happy to accept it. Show me rubbish and I’ll rubbish it.

            From http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/channel-4s-what-british-muslims-really-think_uk_570f60b7e4b0b84e2e71d012
            “It claimed the poll’s method of only speaking to people from areas that are at least 20% Muslim “skews” the results towards more conservative communities and will “do nothing but harden attitudes on all sides.We understand the poll draws answers from areas where Muslims formed more than 20% of the population,” an MCB statement to HuffPost UK said. These happen to be some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK with a disproportionately high number of people with a Pakistani or Bangladeshi ethnicity. Choosing specifically to poll in areas that are poor and more religiously conservative, skews the results and makes it indicative of these areas and not of British Muslims nationally.”

            So, it’s a survey of recent immigrants from particular areas of the world where we know there are problems with gay rights etc anyway. All it shows is that that is retained when people move but maybe not as much as in their home country. And if they are immigrants, what was their level of comprehension of English for one?

            Also see the problems about using the word “sympathise” for acts for terrorism as other polls have shown – it’s not the same word for everyone.

            Also see not wanting gay marriage not being the same as throwing gay people off buildings. Ireland didn’t even allow gay marriage until a few months ago! There are people in society who are not Muslim and still don’t think gay marriage should be legal either. Idiots yes but not terrorists.

            Also, see
            “For instance, he describes as “alarming” the finding that only 34% of Muslims would report someone to the police who was involved with people who support terrorism in Syria. But for the survey’s “control” group – consisting of randomly selected people from across the country of all or no faiths – the figure is only 30%. And other polls have found that 94% of British Muslims would report someone they knew who was planning an act of violence to the police.”
            http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/12/what-do-muslims-think-skewed-poll-wont-tell-us. Bearing in mind that the control group who took part in this survey are themselves likely to be a particular type of person – own a phone, middle class, white etc.

            And don’t forget that polling firm got the election results completely wrong.

            So how much do you trust those results as being the stone cold truth now? Or do they actually just reflect an issue among a small population?

            Polls are super interesting insights but they are not the be all and end all.

            Results are here https://www.icmunlimited.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mulims-full-suite-data-plus-topline.pdf

          7. Rowsdower

            “750,000 people in America just signed a petition to boycott Target because they’re allowing transgender folk use whichever bathroom they like. What’s your point?”

            That’s 0.0025% of the population of the US, a very small minority don’t want people using a bathroom.

            Compare that to these numbers

            Pew Research (2010): 84% of Egyptian Muslims support the death penalty for leaving Islam
            86% of Jordanian Muslims support the death penalty for leaving Islam
            30% of Indonesian Muslims support the death penalty for leaving Islam
            76% of Pakistanis support death the penalty for leaving Islam
            51% of Nigerian Muslims support the death penalty for leaving Islam
            http://pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah/

            BBC (2007): 36% of younger Muslims in the UK believe a Muslim should be killed for converting to another religion (19% of those over 55 agree).
            http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6309983.stm

            Compare the numbers and the seriousness of what the believe.

            Now tell us again how they’re just as bad as each other.

          8. Dόn 'The Unstoppable Force' Pídgéόní

            It would be interesting to see who that UK poll actually talked to

          9. Yep

            It is important not to take polls as “fact’ Don and it is dangerous to extrapolate the findings to include every Muslim.

            Still worrying that the people in the insular communities polled answered the way they did though?

            “So, it’s a survey of recent immigrants” Where is this stated?

          10. Dόn 'The Unstoppable Force' Pídgéόní

            @Yep – yes, that is true, polls aren’t the truth, they are an indication. And based on the limited information available and the question about English ability (not to mention the question about the framing of the questions and the question about what support actually means….) there is no knowing what any of that ACTUALLY means until you ask people to explain it further. When you look at the comparisons in that report, there is more similarity than differences with the control group and the differences? They haven’t looked at those in further detail so what conclusions can you really draw? And where there are differences, they aren’t really that unexpected to be honest or as bad as I thought they would be, given how it was framed in that show.

            There is more information in the link at the end about who they interviewed.

        2. MoyestWithExcitement

          Religions are doing that? Or people who happen to be of a certain religion? I can link you to American Christian pastors calling for gays to be killed if you like?

          1. human

            please do…… and a link to the American pastors who are crucifying gays and burning them in public squares while your at it.

          2. MoyestWithExcitement

            Also, if you go to 3.30, you’ll see another yank christian calling for the mass killings of Jews.

          3. human

            Sorry so whats your point? half a dozen American pastors who quote the bible are the same as ISIS?

          4. MoyestWithExcitement

            My point is a book can’t kill you. Crazy people kill you. There are crazy Muslims and crazy Christians. American Christians murdered people in Planned Parenthood recently. The religion is incidental. Only idiots think it’s relevant.

          5. MoyestWithExcitement

            Yes, your stupid opinions are nonsense. Good man. There might be hope for you yet.

          6. Yep

            Moyest, how can you say “religion is incidental”. That statement is so wrong…It is an important factor. As certain socio-economic factors can be, but religion is “incidental?.

            To ignore the part it plays is bloody silly….

        3. Dόn 'The Unstoppable Force' Pídgéόní

          That’s like saying the Westboro Church represent all Christians when we know that are a bunch of crackpots misinterpreting the Bible so they can be nasty pieces of $%£^

          1. Dόn 'The Unstoppable Force' Pídgéόní

            I like that you are able to have a reasonable chat about things without resorting to apologist and trigger

            *pats you on the head*

          2. Dόn 'The Unstoppable Force' Pídgéόní

            No, I don’t like people like you who just troll because you don’t have an argument. How many more “TRIGGERED!!!” replies can I expect from you? It’s desperate.

    1. ahjayzis

      Obviously neither do I. But neither do the Syrian refugees, who are running away from those people…

      Syria wasn’t a fundamentalist hotbed before the war, they’re not mad rabid cave-dwelling zealots.
      I mean ISIS has to import those, they’re mostly not even Syrian.

  4. Yeah, Ok

    GRAMMAR NAZI ALERT:
    It’s so rare to see it’s/its used correctly ANYWHERE these days, even in official documents it’s wrong more often than not. What’s the deal with that?

    “At it’s most fundamental, it’s not a migrant crisis, its’ not a refugee crisis…”
    It’s/its'(?) is used right once here. Prize for the first correct answer..

    1. Cromuel

      It’s in the Irish DNA not to be able to spell ‘its’ or remember that IT ONLY EVER TAKES AN EFFING APOSTROPHE IF IT’S SHORT FOR ‘IT IS’.

  5. Timothy

    Great, well let her deal with the ‘human crisis’ by taking them all into her own home.

    1. Dόn 'The Unstoppable Force' Pídgéόní

      I don’t think anyone deserves having to live with human tbf

    2. ahjayzis

      I want to defund all health services in this country.

      If you don’t immediately take several thousand sick people into your house/apartment you clearly don’t care about that.

    3. Paul Wall

      Exactly. Those who lecture us about how we have a duty to take these people in should take the lead by housing refugees themselves. I’m sure Fergus Finlay must have a few spare rooms in his gaff.

      I wonder how Bob Geldof is getting on with his refugees…

  6. 15 cents

    well said … in front of probably about 4 or 5 TD’s yawning and lookin out the window.

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