Mayo View: A little less conversation, a little more action please!

by Paul Lawless

Over the last week we have heard from a host of high ranking politicians across the board calling on the government to bin the so-called "Hate Speech" bill.

Michael Ring urged his party to start listening to the people after the resounding rejections of the recent referenda and the appointment of a new Fine Gael leader.

The public have felt belittled and betrayed by both the Government and mainstream opposition parties for some time, as the people have not been a priority to such parties who instead focus their attention on radical government funded NGOs.

The controversial legislation, anomalously called the 'Hate Speech' bill would act as the derisional insult that the public see it as if the Government insist on pursuing this.

Passing legislation that aims to censure the public's free speech while deeming the politicians, themselves, as the referees who will determine in the future what language they will regard as 'hate speech' is dangerous.

The media, opposition politicians and especially the public have the right to hold politicians to account.

Politicians are far from perfect and have certainly done little to prove they can be trusted with such legislation that is wide open to a level of anti-democratic corruption the likes have never been seen before.

On the Tonight show this week the debate was carried out in the same fashion as before.

Peadar Toibin was the only voice against the Hate speech legislation, having to debate against not 2, not 3 but 4 proponents of the bill.

Toibin was challenged numerous times by the moderator citing that other voices from the panel needed to get their say, yet it was 4 voices to 1.

Fine Gael's Barry Ward used the same party rhetoric from the referendum playbook used with ill defined 'durable relationships' when defending the ill defined 'hate' term.

He stated that it is ill defined because everyone knows what it means.

When Mr Toibin pressed him to then define it, he could not oblige, stating, "I am not a dictionary." Where have we seen this approach before?

I wish Deputy Harris well as he enters the role of Taoiseach and I hope he changes tact but so far he has alluded to keeping the bill but just adding amendments which isn't good enough.

I am heartened to see back bench Fine Gael and Fianna Fail TDs like Michael Ring and Willie O'Dea call for a scrapping of the Hate speech legislation.

Lisa Chambers also made good arguments against the bill in the Seanad.

I was further heartened to see Sinn Fein also following Aontú's lead and calling for it to be binned.

All of these people are politicians who have already voted for this legislation. It is worrying they were willing to go ahead with it if the public didn't have an outcry.

However, Aontú are the only party who voted against this bill. That said, I do welcome their change of minds.

Crucially elected TDs and Senators are legislators and therefore words are just mere platitudes if they are not followed up with actions.

In the same regard when politicians campaign on one position in a campaign and seek praise when they admit they actually vote the other way are empty when your job is to legislate.

Deputy Ring recently told Treasa O'Malley, during a MidWest Radio interview he would leave Fine Gael if they ever went to government with Sinn Fein.

I hope he and others who have had an apparent change of mind are willing to risk losing their party whip over this matter.

The people they are voted to represent are far more important than their party leaders when their actions are out of step with the public’s best welfare.

This government doesn't have a big majority.

A small number of bench TDs have the power to stop this bill.

Our Mayo government TDs have the numbers to stop this. I call on all of our Mayo TDs and Senators to not just say what has to be said but do what has to be done and stop your party leaders from this dangerous anti free speech bill aimed at the electorate.

If you are not willing to do what it takes for the people who voted for you, please don't pretend to be with them.

(Paul Lawless is an Aontú party candidate in the forthcoming local elections in Mayo).