It’s amazing the things you hear if you watch TV. I’ve just come from watching the first part of RTÉ’s The Week in Politics. There were a number of politicians in the Dublin studio with Aine Lawlor, among them Martin Kenny the Sinn Féin TD, and on the wall there was a big-screen link-up with Hildegarde Naughton a Fine Gael TD.
When I switched on they were talking about the stabbing of those children and their carer in Dublin and the ensuing riots, and the degree to which the far right in Ireland was involved. The discussion moved then to Sinn Féin’s motion of no-confidence in the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner. And here’s the gob-smacking bit: Hildegarde said that Sinn Féin were “politicising” these events by calling for resignations.
Blimey. You have a matter of public violence on the main street of the capital city Dublin; you have rioting in which gardaí are attacked, their cars set alight, buses set alight, a Luas set alight. Are the people responsible for peace and justice not the ones who are supposed to prevent and control such events? That’s why they’re paid, that’s their job. Their duty is to serve the public interest – and yet Hildegarde believes that holding the top Justice minister and the top garda commissioner to account is politicising the situation?
Listen a minute, Hildegarde – you can’t politicise a situation that is already political. It brings to mind a brief TV encounter I had with Fianna Fail’s TD Niall Collins some years back in an RTÉ studio. He was part of a group who were getting stuck into Gerry Adams (who wasn’t there) about some issue, and Collins kept repeating “This has nothing to do with politics”. When I pointed out to him that since he was a politician, the person he was attacking was the leader of another political party, wasn’t it sort of risible to say the matter had nothing to do with politics? Niall glowered in my direction with the face of a man who just moments before had swallowed a wasp.
But back to Hildegarde. Look, Hildy: you are perfectly entitled to disagree with the Shinners, to argue that the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris have both been hugely effective their roles, that all the gardaí love Drew to bits and every court in the land is practically peeing itself in admiration of Hildegarde’s brilliance in keeping the wheels of justice merrily spinning. But for God’s sake, woman – don’t try to tell us that black is white, that this is no concern of politicians or police , and that the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner are irrelevant to the matter. You can take the public for fools, but please, please don’t do it in such a patently crazy fashion.
Very well spoken Jude. You can see the stick together attitude no matter how serious a situation it is.
Of course the fear of Sinfein popularity is playing hard on the political crisis.
Nothing surprises me. They want to hold on to power for another 100 years. Totally sickening
Very good jude
I to watched that one would think hildegarde was making an election broadcast very angry lady