Asking the questions

Last week at a sitting in Dáil Eireann, TD Carol Nolan of the Rural Independent Group asked a question to the Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien about the state’s capacity to deliver housing for its own citizens in light of the enormous rise in inward immigration occurring at this time in Ireland. She asked if the Minister for Housing had done an assessment on this issue, as she was aware that 1,500 immigrants are arriving into Ireland now every month.

She acknowledged that this was ‘a difficult and sensitive issue and that we needed to tread carefully to avoid blame being targeted at those who least deserved it’, but still Deputy Nolan said that we had to look at the issue ‘ as not doing so would never allow us find a meaningful solution to what is already an overwhelming crisis’.

This was a very simple question from Deputy Nolan to Minister O’Brien, put in as sensitive and as compassionate a way as possible, but instead of answering the question that Deputy Nolan had asked, Minister O’Brien decided instead to deflect and misconstrue Deputy Nolan’s words and insinuate that she was some kind of racist for even asking the question.

This is a prime example of a huge problem which we have in today’s society in Ireland. When somebody (even a politician in the Dáil whose job it is to ask questions) asks questions which might lead into what some might perceive to be a difficult topic or issue, that person is totally shut down and branded as some kind of danger to society. We, as a nation and society, must stop going down this road of political correctness and cancel culture. We must be able to ask questions and have mature open debates on issues which have huge implications for our people and country, no matter what the issues may be about.

On huge issues over the last few years, such as economic and

social lockdowns, bodily autonomy, segregation, climate change, large scale immigration, sovereignty, our nation’s neutrality etc., anybody who has spoken outside of the government and main stream media narrative on these issues has been criticised, demonised and ostracised completely out of society. This is in no way good for a healthy democracy. It is hugely detrimental to our democracy when citizens with genuine concerns are treated like this for asking genuine questions about their concerns.

Un f o r t u n a t e l y though, this bashing of people with different opinions is not only happening in Ireland today, but all across the western world. We must always have different voices and opinions allowed heard on all issues in our country and these voices and opinions must be aired equally on our airwaves by the media, so that the people of Ireland have all the information on these issues at their disposal so that they can make up their own mind on all issues.

On that note, I would like to thank the Rural Independent Group and their TDs for being one of the only groups in the Dáil over the last few years with the bravery and courage to put their neck on the line and ask the questions of the government which needed asking and for being a genuine opposition to the government, when the supposed opposition parties were going along with every damaging decision like a bunch of nodding donkeys.

I would also like to take this opportunity

to thank you and your paper for facilitating freedom of speech and allowing open debate on TheAvondhu newspaper on these very important issues, at a time when many print media outlets do not.

Thanking you, Peter O’Donoghue,

Kilworth.