Making her comments on foot of a public building like the Mansion House and landmark building like the Trinity College being illuminated to mark International ‘safe’ Abortion Day, Aontú Senator Sarah O’Reilly has said
“The decision to light up the Mansion House, a public building is absolutely shocking and highly partisan.
My party made contact with the Mansion House to determine if the Fianna Fail Lord Mayor gave permission for this.
We were told that any initiative that happens under the Lord Mayor’s tenure is in his or her gift.
I am both appalled and so sad about this and I believe so many people in Ireland share my feelings.
I don’t believe this is what the majority of FF voters want; In fact I know so many who are disgusted.
There was absolutely no consultation about this, no advance knowledge and no consideration for people who hold opposing views. It is completely inappropriate that public buildings , funded by taxpayers, could be lit up to ‘celebrate’ or ‘mark’ what is opposed by a large section of our community. This is more than unacceptable, and it is high time we shouted stop.”
The grip that NGO’s have in Irish society at both political and civil level is becoming more blatant. They have been given free rein to issue their ideological diktats and are afforded a platform that most people can only dream of .
We must remember that these NGOs have not been elected to office, they have absolutely no mandate whatsoever from the public, yet they are paid billions out of state coffers, and it appears that many simply exist to influence Government policy.
It is more than ironic that Benefacts, the sole NGO set up to oversee the funding of its fellow NGO’s and ensure accountability was disbanded.
It is estimated that the Irish state shells out some €6 Billion to these non-elected quasi state agencies every year.
One of these that benefit is the National Women’s Council, who of course backed this ‘lighting up iniatitive’.
Far from being the ‘inclusive’ advocacy group it professes to be, it is deeply ‘exclusionary’. It has no interest whatsoever in offering support or a platform to women who do not share its views. It was uncharacteristically silent on the upsetting case of coercive control and forced abortion in Donegal this year. A young woman was abused by her partner and forced to abort her unborn baby against her will but not a whisper from the usually strident NWC
A National Woman’s Council that only speaks out when issues chime with its very selective, narrow agenda is not worthy of its name”
While other European counties are pulling back on the sums paid to NGO’s ,our Irish Government is ramping it up and allocating more hard earned taxpayers money to this sector .
We are living in a very polarised time, and people who raise questions or concerns often feel shut down rather than heard. This is not healthy for democracy”.
Illuminating the Mansion House actually illuminates the pernicious grip that ideologists have on our country”
