Wexford decides. It's Yes!

The word history is often over used.  However there is something different and special about today’s count on the Marriage Equality Referendum in St Joseph’s Centre Wexford.  It’s an old hall that was built by a local priest as a community hall at about the time of the visit of John F Kennedy to Wexford.

When Kennedy ran for election as US President he was anxious to dispel the notion that as a catholic he couldn’t be president for all the people.  In US politics there is the separation of state from church on all levels.  At the same time in Ireland the Catholic church used its influence when it needed to. 

Kennedy said “believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference”

While this might have proved attractive in the US, for any Irish politician to have repeated the same sentiments this side of the Atlantic at that time would have spelt the end of their career.

Kennedy’s ancestors came from a small village called Dunganstown. As I tallied boxes on the marriage referendum today from townlands within a stones throw of the old homestead, my mind couldn’t help but ask what would JFK think today of his descendants?

It was good to see former pupils from many years ago at the count, it can only be positive for local politics.  Few of the faces tallying were there a year ago at the local elections.  Indeed how ironic it is that Eamon Gilmore, who as Labour leader pinpointed this issue 3 years ago resigned exactly a year ago on this weekend following the reversal of the local elections of which I was one of the casualties.  There is the sense today of Wexford moving on from the last lost decade.

Many of Wexford’s villages and towns have voted strongly Yes.  There are interesting trends with a stronger No vote in the south of the county from Rosslare over to Kilmore Quay where the outcome is more balanced.  Riverchapel which is the stomping ground of Labour’s Robbie Ireton was 80 : 20 Yes. Elsewhere especially in Wexford Town where boxes from Scoil Mhuire tallied at about 60:40 in favour of the Yes while Kennedy Park, named after the late president was 70% Yes.  The official result won’t be available until later today but it’s clear from Wexford that people will separate their moral views on religion from their public tolerance of difference.  That can only be positive.  For those of us that canvased against the 8^th Amendment in 1983, Thank God we’ve lived to see this day!

Jim Walsh is no April Fool!

My jaw dropped when I read the remarks made by Fianna Fail Senator Jim Walsh.  Firstly let’s correct the suggestion that Jim has resigned from Fianna Fail.  He hasn’t. He still has his cumann card and he very much holds sway in New Ross within Fianna Fail circles.  He would never surrender his power base in that district to rival factions within that party.  He merely has resigned from the Fianna Fail parliamentary party and surrendered the whip.

Senator Walsh quotes someone he met who happens to be gay.  This person thinks that the cost of holding the marriage referendum would be better spent on providing a free HIV test for those who are gay.   Senator Walsh was keen to share this piece of wisdom in the Séanad adding that the cost of the referenda is €21M.  Senator Walsh seems to have forgotten that May 22^nd sees 2 referenda being held and that regardless as to whether the Marriage Equality vote proceeds or not, there are fixed costs involved in running polling on any day. 

But saving money wasn’t uppermost in Senator Walsh’s mind, nor indeed any interest he may have preventing the spread in HIV.  Central to Senator Walsh’s speech is an ignorance of HIV and homophobia.    It’s true that gay people can contract HIV. It’s also true that straight people can contract HIV.  New Ross is the ancestral to the Kennedy Clan.  A relative of the Kennedy’s who is a priest many years caused outrage in Dungarvan by warning from the pulpit about an “angel of death” spreading HIV as an act of revenge on the male population of West Waterford. 

Senator Walsh singles out gay men as a source of HIV.  Why stop with gay men? There are many other sectors at risk from HIV.    So if only he could tell us what the state would you do when it’s found out the result of the test?  Senator Walsh’s politics would be at home in the world that Brindlsey McNamara portrayed in “The Valley of the Squinting Windows”. 

The subtext to all this is Senator Walsh’s homophobic views.  He opposes Marriage Equality and that is the nub of his outburst.  In the past he complained that he couldn’t call gay people “fairies”. He has opposed the Children and Family Relationships Bill citing Marriage Equality as a reason.  Senator Walsh is taking advantage of the low morale in Fianna Fail and the ineffective leadership of Micháel Martin but send the subtle but clear signal to Fianna Fail voters that at heart Fianna Fail Oireachtas members reflect the old conservative ways.  There’s a certain segment of FF voters who support Jim Walsh’s view.  He is not politically on his own.  Make no mistake about that.  At least he’s said what more than a few FF people are clearly thinking.  FF are the biggest party on Wexford County Council.  Yet no councillor turned up on Sunday last for the launch of the Wexford Marriage Equality Vote Yes campaign.

With 2 months to go to polling, there’s every sign that the Marriage Equality Referendum will be a tough battle in Ireland, but nowhere as tough as in Wexford.