On Friday, the 22nd of
May, the Irish citizens will vote in a referendum aimed at amending the Irish
Constitution so as to redefine marriage as being between any of two persons,
regardless of their sex. The promoters for the redefinition of marriage, are
introducing the referendum as a grass root movement. The media mentions that no
less than 80% of the Irish citizens will vote in the referendum for such an
amendment in the constitution. It is proudly announced that the big majority
for a YES vote would mark the first time that same-sex marriage legalization would
be legalized by popular vote. This would
also “mark yet another defeat for the Catholic church and the
political power it used to wield in Ireland” (trying to unjustly frame marriage as a catholic and not a societal
issue)
However, increasing concerns have been raised by the question whether this is a “home-grown phenomenon” or rather a more carefully-orchestrated and massively well-funded assault on the natural family coming from private American funding. This Monday, MEP Marek Jurek, former Speaker of the Polish Parliament , has intervened in the European Parliament’s plenary session to express his concerns on this matter. He emphasized that “free elections are not merely the fair vote count. Free elections, first and foremost, means that electoral campaign must be fair. The same stands–even more so – for referendum”.
He also sent a letter to the Chair of the European Parliament, Martin Schultz (supported by three members of the ECPM, Beatrix von Storch, Arne Gericke and Branislav Skripek and two other MEPs: Kazimierz Ujazdowski and Edouard Ferrand) showing their concern that “the integrity of the Irish referendum has been seriously compromised” and that “this attitude to democracy is contradictory to core values of the European Union”
According
to the Irish law, in particular the judgements of the Irish Supreme Court,
parties need to have an equal representation in the referendum debates. What we
observe in practice is that the armed wing, political wing and chattering wing
of the Irish elite is all behind YES Vote. The Irish police force actively
supports the YES vote, whereas it is charged with upholding the integrity of
the voting stations and the vote counting procedure. The Garda Representative
Association which represents more than 10,000 rank and file gardai in a force
of 12,800, caused a stir by
calling on its members to support marriage via an editorial in its Garda
Review magazine written by its general secretary PJ Stone
Fear and Intimidation
Fear and Intimidation
Breda
O’Brien, a weekly columnist of the Irish Times, investigates the funding of the NO and YES campaign. She observed
that each of the publically-funded parties in the Irish Parliament is actively
campaigning for a YEgS to same-sex marriage. Also members are threatened with
expulsion unless they follow the party line. Any Members of Parliament (senator or from the Lower House) who votes
against, is likely to be expelled from
his/her party. According to the newspaper Irish Independent, even politicians who harbour ‘reservations about this major
legislative change’ are not
speaking out, ‘for fear of disobeying the party’. Senator
Jim Walsh has resigned the Fianna Fáil whip over
his opposition to the Children and Family Relationships Bill and the same-sex
referendum.
A large majority of the media, both public and private, is strongly in favour by ignoring the ruling of Ireland’s Supreme Court, ordering 50/50 allocation of space to groups on both sides of the debate. Virtually the entire media are agitating for a Yes Vote, especially the Irish Times. Vincent Twomey wrote his concerns in the Irish Times in an article “Ordinary Citizens are being intimidated into voting ‘Yes’ to same-sex marriage”
He wrote: “But there is an unpleasant undercurrent, that of intimidation. People who, in their heart of hearts, cannot equate same-sex unions with marriage dear being accused of homophobia. The few who dare to express their views in public have experienced an onslaught in social media. The most intimidated of all seem to be our elected representatives. It is incredible that the political parties have imposed the whip to get their members to support the “YES”vote. All but one Senator submitted”
Funding of the YES Campaign
A large majority of the media, both public and private, is strongly in favour by ignoring the ruling of Ireland’s Supreme Court, ordering 50/50 allocation of space to groups on both sides of the debate. Virtually the entire media are agitating for a Yes Vote, especially the Irish Times. Vincent Twomey wrote his concerns in the Irish Times in an article “Ordinary Citizens are being intimidated into voting ‘Yes’ to same-sex marriage”
He wrote: “But there is an unpleasant undercurrent, that of intimidation. People who, in their heart of hearts, cannot equate same-sex unions with marriage dear being accused of homophobia. The few who dare to express their views in public have experienced an onslaught in social media. The most intimidated of all seem to be our elected representatives. It is incredible that the political parties have imposed the whip to get their members to support the “YES”vote. All but one Senator submitted”
Funding of the YES Campaign
Breda
O’Brien, also voluntarily involved in the Iona Institute, which promotes the
place of marriage and religion in society cynically answered on the accusation
that the ‘NO campaign is heavenly financed from abroad.’ She wrote an
impressive article in the Irish Times: “Breda O’Brien:
Asking questions about funding of the referendum campaign” bystating“suppose I
confessed that over the past number of years, the Iona Institute, of which I am
an unpaid patron, has received millions of American dollars to advance a
particular agenda. Those dollars have allowed us to grow from a single-person
organisation to a highly skilled, mobilised, fully professional lobbying
machine employing seven full-time staff and numerous consultants (...)
When I tell you that absolutely none of that is true of Iona because it has never received any American money and never had instant access to key politicians." Then she actually played the ball back to the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network stating that: “while journalists were targeting tiny bootstrap conservative organisations and accusing them of being American-funded GLEN, the most successful lobby group in Irish history, was swimming in greenbacks”
Between 2005 and 2011, GLEN received $4,727,860 from Atlantic Phiantropies. According to GLEN this was just half of its funding! GLEN was essentially a voluntary organization with a single-funded post working on gay HIV strategies, which was funded by the HSE, It does not provide services, but focuses on policy and legislative change. GLEN also stated in its last report “Catalysing LGBT Equality and Visibility in Ireland that “Their multi-year grant from Atlantic enabled them to ramp up their work into a full –time, highly professionalised lobby machine. It works ‘inside’ the machinery of government where it uses a ‘principled pragmatist’ model in which it consolidates support, wins over the doubtful and pacifies those who are opposed”
The other part of Yes Equality, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), got $7,727,700 (2001-2010) and another $3,829,693 (2010-2013). While channeling millions of dollars to the Yes side is illegal under Irish electoral law, the Irish Government has surprisingly not reacted.
She concluded that: “This is not Atlantic Philantropies funding a hospital or school. This is foreign money being systematically invested to change public opinion, to deliver seamlessly a YES in a referendum that has enormous consequences for family law for generations”
The Article “Twitter riles Irish catholics as companies favorite gay marriage” mentioned that Twitter’s Irish boss says a Yes victory will enhance “Ireland’s international reputation”- another way of saying that if you vote NO, you are damaging your country” and in the article “Irelands tolerant elite now demonise anyone who opposes gay marriage” describes the pressure of American multinationals with their headquarters in Ireland , such as ebay and Google, telling their employees to vote ‘Yes’ and to campaign for the referendum. “Silicon Valley’’ is fully behind Yes: Twitter, Google and eBay have all come out for gay marriage
Post-democratic era?
When I tell you that absolutely none of that is true of Iona because it has never received any American money and never had instant access to key politicians." Then she actually played the ball back to the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network stating that: “while journalists were targeting tiny bootstrap conservative organisations and accusing them of being American-funded GLEN, the most successful lobby group in Irish history, was swimming in greenbacks”
Between 2005 and 2011, GLEN received $4,727,860 from Atlantic Phiantropies. According to GLEN this was just half of its funding! GLEN was essentially a voluntary organization with a single-funded post working on gay HIV strategies, which was funded by the HSE, It does not provide services, but focuses on policy and legislative change. GLEN also stated in its last report “Catalysing LGBT Equality and Visibility in Ireland that “Their multi-year grant from Atlantic enabled them to ramp up their work into a full –time, highly professionalised lobby machine. It works ‘inside’ the machinery of government where it uses a ‘principled pragmatist’ model in which it consolidates support, wins over the doubtful and pacifies those who are opposed”
The other part of Yes Equality, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), got $7,727,700 (2001-2010) and another $3,829,693 (2010-2013). While channeling millions of dollars to the Yes side is illegal under Irish electoral law, the Irish Government has surprisingly not reacted.
She concluded that: “This is not Atlantic Philantropies funding a hospital or school. This is foreign money being systematically invested to change public opinion, to deliver seamlessly a YES in a referendum that has enormous consequences for family law for generations”
The Article “Twitter riles Irish catholics as companies favorite gay marriage” mentioned that Twitter’s Irish boss says a Yes victory will enhance “Ireland’s international reputation”- another way of saying that if you vote NO, you are damaging your country” and in the article “Irelands tolerant elite now demonise anyone who opposes gay marriage” describes the pressure of American multinationals with their headquarters in Ireland , such as ebay and Google, telling their employees to vote ‘Yes’ and to campaign for the referendum. “Silicon Valley’’ is fully behind Yes: Twitter, Google and eBay have all come out for gay marriage
Post-democratic era?
Based
on this information, I fully agree with MEP Mr. Marek Jurek when he states in
the open letter that “a climate of fear and intimidation has pervaded
throughout the campaign, creating electoral conditions that are far from ‘free
and fair’, and that this attitude to democracy is contradictory to core values
of the European Union. I am filled with apprehension that we are living in a
post-democratic era where politics is determined by the interests of large well-funded
international organizations and lobby groups which do not meet the public
interest. By support of these organisations, inequality will arise and certain
minority groups will get preferences over majority groups as we observe in the debates in the European Parliament on “homophobia”. We also notice that
by framing the opposition, by intimidation and fear, the freedom of opinion and
expression is increasingly threatened. Therefore, this referendum is not a test
of the willingness of the citizens to amend the constitution on marriage
equality, but rather a test on how far these undemocratic forces are impacting the
Irish population. The puzzle remains: will the 21st century be
characterised as a post-democratic era?
interesting links:
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