“Today, Ireland Dances On The Graves Of Little Children”

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John Waters

‘The tenor of the contest has been so nauseating that the deepest parts of my psyche had begun to anticipate this outcome.

It was little things: the frivolity of the Yes side: “Run for Repeal”; “Spinning for Repeal”; “Walk your Dog for Repeal”; “Farmers for Yes”; “Grandparents for Repeal,” which ought to have been “Grandparents for Not Having Grandchildren.”

This, like the same-sex marriage referendum in 2015, was a carnival referendum: Yessers chanting for Repeal, drinking to Repeal, grinning for the cameras as they went door-to-door on the canvass of death.

Today, Ireland dances on the graves of little children. It is a country where freedom means the right to do just about anything you please, without risk of consequences.

On the day of the vote, the media gave us a picture of our Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, grinningly dropping his vote into a ballot box, over the headline: “All the lads in the gym are voting yes.”

It is the epitaph of the country I grew up in, the only one I had to call home, this ancient land, traceable into antiquity by its piety, its valor, and its sufferings.

This fool we are obliged to call Taoiseach (Chieftain), this man without qualities—who entered the last election three short years ago as “pro-life”—has led my people into a hell beyond imagining.’

John Waters. Ireland: An Obituary

He’s taking it well.

Ireland: An Obituary by John Waters (First Things)

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118 thoughts on ““Today, Ireland Dances On The Graves Of Little Children”

    1. Cu Cullan

      Where they did actually dance on the graves of actual babies who had been starved to death. This guy, and all of them, are certifiably insane..

      1. newsjustin

        I understand the emotion, but it’s important to be factual about what did or didn’t happen in Tuam. Is there actual evidence that infants were deliberately starved to death in Tuam?

          1. Johnny Keenan

            Check out Catherine Corless interview on the Telly here.
            Episode 62 May 3rd 2018
            https://youtu.be/ZWKOH0iWfoA

            Start listening from 51 minutes in and you will get some interesting info that still hasn’t been dealt with in the public domain.
            Surely these nuns, HSE and Galway county council still have questions to answer.
            The children’s screams from beyond the septic tank are deafening.

            Fair play to Catherine.
            A true inspiration for truth honesty and transparency.

            https://youtu.be/ZWKOH0iWfoA

          2. newsjustin

            “Surely these nuns, HSE and Galway county council still have questions to answer.”

            They certainly do.
            But I don’t think making claims that aren’t substantiated is helpful.

          3. Wait For It

            God, heaven, hell, the punishment of sin, everything in every religion ever, all unsubstantiated claims. Though I am of course willing to look at any hard evidence you may have.

          1. Sheik Yahbouti

            No, you’re always the first to rush in to pooh pooh Corless, or anybody else Justin. Give us the benefit of your special knowledge.

          1. Daisy Chainsaw

            I’ll bet not 1 Bons nun “failed to thrive”. Funny how the numbers of deaths dropped dramatically when they realised they could sell the little b@astards for profit

          2. Cian

            ” Funny how the numbers of deaths dropped dramatically …”
            No. When the number of deaths was noticed by ‘Official’ Ireland the place was closed down.

          3. newsjustin

            Grown adults tended not to “failed to thrive”. In the 30s and 40s many infants died of things that would be resolved with no fuss today. I know of a case in my own family from the late 40s. A simple procedure today would have seen the child live, unfortunately in the late 40s nothing could be done and the child was unable to feed.

            But if Cu Cullen has information on deliberate starvation, I’d be interested to see it. It’s important to know what happened.

          4. Clampers Outside!

            +1

            I could give examples from my own family history too.

            if CC says he knows of kids intentionally starved, he should show the evidence or stop spreading hyperbolic tabloid nonsense on a v serious issue.

          5. Cu Cullan

            You can all read the report, George’s note from it above and the interview with Ms. Corliss. If you can’t or won’t make the connection, well, then god bless you.

          6. Listrade

            Let’s cut out any possible defence for “normal for the times”.

            That’s been the popular rationale behind the death rate. It’s wrong. It’s an average for the State and so it isn’t evenly distributed. People did die of things that are curable today, but the recorded deaths of the children are for things that were curable at the time.

            The mortality rate at the mother and baby homes is comparable to the mortality rate of the tenements, not your leafy suburb and not your country village. The conditions in State enforced care was akin to the conditions in abject poverty.

            So you start to get suspicious, because how can conditions in these nice locations lead to the similar mortality rate as a tenement with 10 or more people sharing a small room?

            Illness and disease was rife in the tenements. It spread quickly due to people sharing and living so closely. They couldn’t afford medical care. The conditions were disgusting, damp, rodents, cold, dirty. They died. The kids died a lot.

            Look at the pictures of Tuam, or any other mother and baby home and they look nothing like tenements. The conditions aren’t cramped. They aren’t rat infested. So how the hell did they achieve the same rate of death and disease?

            We know how. Numerous reports and investigations were done some even close to 90 years ago. It was discussed in the Dail. As we have today, it wasn’t any main party, but a few “rogue” TDs who raised it (about one a decade).

            I’m glad we can discuss religion again, especially with children, because I’m tired from tip toeing about the subject the last few months. But here’s why Tuam/Mother and Baby homes are relevant to the recent vote. All that guff about loving children equally, the biggest lie is that the child shouldn’t be punished for the “sins of the father”.

            For the those not in the know “sins of father” is a nice way of saying a dad crept into his teenage daughter’s bedroom, raped her and she became pregnant.

            The irony is that the church did punish the child because of their father. Did so up until 1996. “illegitimate child” “rape baby”. Not child, not human, not a living thing. They were classified and punished based on their father. They were denied medical care. It’s alleged they were used in medical trials without consent. They were physically, psychologically and sexually abused. They were sold.

            They were not viewed as being worthy of humane treatment and that is the starting point for all this. We know from reports that medical care was denied to sick children. It’s not murder, but it is gross neglect.

            But we also know that some deaths were faked so that the baby could be trafficked for profit.

            We have TD visits from the worst periods for mortality. Records of Dail debates about the conditions, about the abuse. What happened? The State changed the law to exempt the M&B homes from having to comply with the abortion legislation. It allowed them to sell human beings.

            When your asking what happened, remember that the mortality rate was comparable to those living in some of the worst poverty conditions in Europe, and then ask if there is a reasonable reason why that might happen in a wealthy “care” environment.

            Then what about the “mass graves”? We have loads right? All over the shop. Did we have mass graves for those who died in the tenements, or did we manage to give them a burial?

            Mass graves are last resorts. When the death rate is so high and the deaths coming so fast we have no option but to dig a pit and bury people on mass. Well that and wars and genocide (but same principle really).

            The death rate at the M&B homes at its peak was 50%, but that’s spread across different homes, some better than others, even so, is it going to be that many deaths that the only course of action is to open a pit and put the bodies in?

            If the deaths are coming that thick and fast that you had no option but to resort to mass burial, did nobody think to say anything?

            Or is mass burial another indication of the value placed on these children, the ones being punished and sold for the sins of their fathers. Were they buried in a pit or septic tank or wherever because their lives weren’t valued as anything more than how they were conceived.

            We have contemporary records. They were ignored, the state continued to force mothers and children into the care.

            See contemporary records of mothers of illegitimate children being refused delivery in a hospital by the health service, being refused a midwife for a home delivery and having no option but to go the the M&B home for a safe delivery of the baby. But the caveat is that they have to sign an agreement to give ownership of the child to the nuns first and then stay in the home for a fixed period to pay off her debt to them for stealing her child and delivering it when she had no other choice.

            The thing is, as Cu Cullan has stated numerous times, all this information is there. The historical records are there. The investigations. The Dail Debates. The statistics, but for some reason people don’t want to look into them and prefer to stick to a line that it’s all supposition and we’ll never know.

            (TLDR) For the record then:
            1. Mortality rate at M&B homes was the same as mortality rate in Dublin Slums
            2. We have contemporary records of M&B homes refusing medical treatment for sick children
            3. It’s called gross neglect, it was rampant
            4. The State knew and the only thing it did was give more funding and more power to the M&B homes and exempted them from legislation to facilitate human trafficking.
            5. “Mass graves” were only a thing when death rates are so high and fast there is no other option (famine or plague) or when you want to dehumanise those you dump (war and genocide)

          7. Cian

            @Listrade: “The State changed the law to exempt the M&B homes from having to comply with the abortion legislation. It allowed them to sell human beings.
            I assume this should say adoption? Or am I missing something?

        1. Wait For It

          It is important to be factual.Explain to me again about the guy in the sky with the beard.It’s important to know what happened.

          1. Roisin

            Listrade, I think you should post this somewhere where it could be made shareable as I think it’s incredibly important for people to read. Thank you.

  1. martin

    John Water’s promised he’d leave Ireland if the country voted YES.

    So, has he booked his plane tickets yet?

    1. mildred st. meadowlark

      I hope someone holds him to hysterical promises. He won’t be missed.

      1. realPolithicks

        Everything about the guy is hysterical, he almost seems to be having some kind of breakdown.

    1. Christopher

      Me too! I would say rest in peace to that Ireland he pines for but a part of me hopes its suffering in hell for all the poo it put it’s people through.

    2. Junkface

      Agreed! He’s a sanctimonious bell end.

      He can sod off to the Island of no Craic now for all I care

  2. RuilleBuille

    It was worth voting YES alone in order to hear this whinging bigot cry his tears.

    1. phil

      Its terrible I know, but thats exactly how I feel too….

      and if there is a hell and we are all going there, you can be sure that John will be there with us …

      1. ahjayzis

        It’s not terrible. Don’t feel bad about it. This guy and his chums got their jollies from the misery of their fellow men and women. It’s guilt-free loveliness to see their own dogma come back and bite them on the ass.

    1. Junkface

      And don’t forget the Cannibalism! Thats what the Romans saw when they first set foot on our Island. They called it Hibernia because of the cold and never really came back

  3. scottser

    see what i mean about the triumphalism?
    i am so finger-to-nose, nyah-nyah-ing john waters right now. stick your piety,valor and sufferings up your bottom.

    1. CoderNerd

      Triumphalism against Waters is allowed.
      Fupp him and the high horse upon which he sat, denouncing all and sundry while playing the victim.

  4. DeKloot

    “All the lads in the gym are voting yes.” This some sort of sly dig at Leo’s sexuality?

      1. DeKloot

        No. That’s my point. Why would he sneer at Leo in such a fashion if not to make an inference about the ‘lads in the gym’. But then who knows what’s in his head? His heart is full of bile so that tells us a lot…

        1. samwise_gangee

          It’s a bit like that youtube video where Mark Zuckerberg asks Alexa to play a good Nickelback song and finds there are none…human after all.

          it’s a very casual thing to say and it’s an attempt to show modern he and just like the rest of us he is…odd statement for a man who later said it was a silent revolution.

        2. Sir Adolf Von Bratwurst

          I thought the all the lads in the gym comment from Leo was banal but thats Leo isn;t it. hes a lightweight. he will be doing a triathlon with eoghan murphy this weekend.

    1. Kingbot

      I think you are reading too much into it squire. It seemed to me a dig at the herd mentality that he was always bitching about.

      1. DeKloot

        That’s kind of it with him. Was it an innocent, yet bitchy remark or something more targeted and nasty? I’m inclined to go with the latter given the kind of fellow he is and the company he keeps.

  5. Jasper

    Dear John,

    Romantic Ireland is dead and gone

    It’s buried in Tuam, Cloyne, Raphoe, Ferns… and on, and on, and on

    But please, do send us a postcard

  6. Operatick

    I really love that the ‘Most Popular’ tag on that First Things site is Pornography.

  7. Murtles

    Surprised he didn’t walk out half way through writing this in a huff. “Ya boll icks ya Waters, you told me, you, yourself we’d write about you, me, yourself….”

  8. Rugbyfan

    …………..and shut the door on your way there John
    By the way didn’t Darcy of RTE say he’d leave if Enda became Taoiseach? Could have saved RTE a lot of money if he had.

  9. SOQ

    I glanced at that bottom line and it read John Waters. An Obituary but I knew that was too good to be true.

  10. postmanpat

    It’s always “deeply” this and “deepest” that with religious types. Just move to Rome you irrelevant clown.

  11. Friscondo

    Water’s is such a drama queen. I’m delighted for him. Go away John, you’re irrelevant.

  12. neil

    “The tenor of the contest has been so nauseating” he says, before going on to list various blatant acts of people being happy while campaigning. U ok John hun?

    1. mildred st. meadowlark

      And so you should be. Gather your resolve, rotide. You’re in for a wild ride.

          1. Bertie Blenkinsop

            Apropos of nothing….

            David Mitchell about Victoria Coren….

            ” In 2007, he went to a film premiere and met “funny, bright, sexy, nervous and confident” Coren and, “pretty instantly”, he knew. After a few dates, though, she ended it: her father had just died, she might have just met someone else, the timing was bad and so on. For the first time in his life, being alone made Mitchell feel lonely. As chance would have it, this period coincided with his rocketing public profile and interviewers began asking questions about his love life. So he played up the persona of the “dysfunctional loser” to keep enquiries at bay. But playing that role became, he admits today, “increasingly painful”. And then Coren came back. “I waited three years. Isn’t that weird? Aren’t I odd? I can’t explain it other than to say I couldn’t do anything else,” he writes. “If only I’d known I just had to wait three years… I would gladly have suffered 10 times as much.”

          2. mildred st. meadowlark

            You’re far too good for me Bert. I don’t deserve a true diamond such as your fine self.

  13. FortyCoats

    “Run for Repeal”; “Spinning for Repeal”; “Walk your Dog for Repeal”; “Farmers for Yes”; “Grandparents for Repeal,”

    Illegal Parking for Social Cohesion?

  14. Spud

    I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to… eh

    Actually, nah… fupp off!

  15. Lord Muck

    John should be sitting in a garden with the sun on his contented face at this stage of the game, instead he’s carrying on like a dishevelled, embittered lunatic who steals cutlery from bewley’s before returning to his bedsit that stinks of uncle ben jars and dolmio bolognese to obsess over yesterday’s damp newspapers…

  16. Sheik Yahbouti

    Think I’ll take me a trip to Tuam and have a good ol’ dance on the graves of little children. Oh wait, I don’t have to travel that far, plenty in Dublin.

  17. martacus

    In the run up to the Marriage Referendum, Waters badly lost a TV debate and a week later gave a speech to the Iona Institute entitled “Ireland and the End of Debate”. Now he’s on the losing side again and is declaring the death of Ireland. If something fell out of this lad’s pocket he’d write an op-ed with the headline “THE ERA OF TROUSERS HAS ENDED”.

  18. Sheik Yahbouti

    Hey, refugees – c’mere. We can offer you “piety, valor (sic) and suffering”.

    1. Lush

      Yes, the spelling and the date format of the piece made me think it was more targeted at our helpful American friends. Says it all really; he knows where his fanbase is.

  19. RepealerBertie

    “It is a country where freedom means the right to do just about anything you please, without risk of consequences.”

    He’s talking about the women riding isn’t he? That’s what this was all about after all.

    1. Sheik Yahbouti

      Some of the dirty trollops actually enjoy it -or so Bertie Blenkinsop told me.

  20. john

    Hey John, what have you to say about the former adoption society St Patrick’s Guild?

  21. Elron

    So we are officially in hysteria now. All this whooping, crying and lynching of heretics. Especially the crying.

  22. Joe

    Let’s stop giving this chap a platform, the vote last Friday was proof he’s not in touch with the public. He’s had his time.

  23. Brianwalshpictures

    Genuine question – Did he actually say at any point he’d emigrate if the 8th was repealed? I haven’t really been following his rabid bellendity of late.

  24. Dinny Do Well?

    Why give the likes of Waters and Co the oxygen of publicity by publishing anything related to them? That they have the oxygen of oxygen is more than enough.

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