The Jaundiced Eye...

Did you notice something missing from our airwaves on Tuesday last? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until the evening, I just knew there was a gap in my life – and, no, it wasn’t Cadburys chocolate, or nicotine, or caffeine – it was something which provides all us Irish people with a sense of security and that feeling of ‘all’s right with the world’. And then as I settled to read the newspaper and glanced at the headline ‘Supreme Court decision….’, it hit me. And, boy, did it hit me hard! I had not heard Marvellous Michael’s mellifluous tones all day – not even on the programme of his No. 1 Fan, Pat Kenny! What was wrong? Was our wonderful Minister for Justice abroad on a foreign junket? Had he lost his voice? Because I, like everyone else, have become so used to hearing Michael share his thoughts with us all on a daily basis – well, usually several times a day (he is as good as Chairman Mao was!) – on our radio stations and our television programmes……how could Marvellous Michael now abandon us? There had to be a grave and judicial reason.

I began to feel anxious, but as I perused the paper, I realised Michael’s extremely heavy schedule. The poor man was just everywhere, spreading the Good Word. I admired him all the more for his honesty as I read his inspiring speech at the State’s first official Holocaust commemoration. Referring to the Second World War period and the persecution suffered by the Jewish people, Michael said our State failed in its obligations

• “whether by tolerating social discrimination, • failing to heed the message of the persecuted, • failing to offer refuge to those who sought it, • or failing to confront those who openly or covertly offered justification for the prejudice and race hatred which lead to the Holocaust.”

Marvellous Michael, while castigating my parents generation for their failings, praised our 1937 Constitution as being remarkable for giving explicit recognition and guarantees to Ireland’s Jewish community. And rightly so, Michael. I wondered how my parents generation really felt about the Government policies on refugees at the time? Had they been consulted? (Michael forgot to mention that we are proud also of the contribution of our Jewish community to the foundation of our State and afterwards).

I am so glad that Michael has publicly praised our Constitution. I used to wonder had he read it at all? But I have no doubt now he will always uphold the spirit of the 1937 Constitution, also the amendments, particularly in the Good Friday Agreement, guaranteeing rights to all our citizens – not least the right to citizenship of all those born in Ireland.

We know that Michael doesn’t really mean it when he talks about bringing in a number of amendments to refugee law in the light of the Supreme Court decision – he is not going to deport the parents of the babies born here – doesn’t he know the special position of the family in our Constitution? Of course he does! And he has a good heart, too! Isn’t he always telling us that his Department gives Work Visas to about 40,000 East Europeans every year? This proves we are not racist, doesn’it it, Michael? Well, I know that silly people would make the point that the Work Visas are going to Eastern European people with white skin, and most of our asylum seekers come from African countries with different cultures. Sure hasn’t Marvellous Michael spent a lot of money chartering jet planes to take them home to the Dark Continent – not to mention on the Dawn Raids of Operation Hyphen. All of this is good for our economy. Just think of the cost of the Hyphen operation - all that overtime was a real boost to the pay packets of the Gardai and Immigration officials – never mind that very few illegals were rounded up.

I wonder did any one mention to Michael at the Holocaust commemoration about the Dawn Raids on the homes of Jewish families during the Nazi period? And I trust that no silly anarchist or bleeding heart said anything about the Direct Provision at Mosney and other places being like the concentration camps…..that would be totally wrong. We can all sleep easy in our beds at night thanks to our wonderful Minister for Justice and his knowledge and expertise on human rights and our Constitution. We can relax, stand by and do nothing while Marvellous Michael takes care of the asylum seekers and immigrants. We learned well from successive Governments since the foundation of the State when they also stood by and did nothing while millions of our aunts, uncles, grandparents, left this country for economic reasons. It didn’t do us any harm. And quite a few of our emigrants did survive over the years……And, no, our Government will not have a Minister for Justice apologising to Africans and other ethnic groups in fifty years time!

As I sat here in Donegal over the weekend, I didn’t think of the closed factories throughout the County, or our highest unemployment rate and lack of infrastructure. No, I sat back and read every word that Ethical Mary told employers at the 14th Fás Excellence through People Awards last week. It was most appropriate that Mary opened by saying “Ireland has few natural resources to exploit – our greatest resource is our people.” (Have we heard that before?) And, no, that doesn’t mean that Ethical Mary is encouraging employers to exploit our people because we are the only resource! Do you remember up to a year ago we watched Mary nightly on the news visiting far off places like Australia, Japan, recruiting workers to come here and join our labour force? Wasn’t it a good thing that her Very Best Friend Charlie McCreevy put an end to that when the sums weren’t adding up? We need Mary to stay at home and tell the employers what to do, and I am glad to hear her saying that current economic conditions have only served to highlight the importance of a highly skilled workforce. We know that the Government adjustments will not interfere with us here in Donegal – particularly those of us living outside the Spatial Strategy hub of Letterkenny. We should not complain about lack of infrastructure, jobs or medical services in South and West Donegal. Not at all! That would be short sighted of us. Let us all just move, as the Government wants us to, to Letterkenny where the Government plans all the development - spatial and otherwise. Wouldn’t Bertie, Mary, Jim and Pat be all delighted with us? They can certainly depend on us quiet people here in Donegal not raise our voices or complain.

Just think of all the opportunities for us as we flock to Letterkenny - we could build a new tourist industry taking visitors out from Letterkenny on safari – with a cash prize for the first one to spot a native in the wilds! We might even get a Bord Failte Grant for it…….