Ireland the Republic of Trocaire Boxes, Moving Statues, and Obama Plaza. We’re a paradox of good values and brown envelopes, anti-imperialism and double Irish, peace and partition. 

Western culture is full of double standards, catholic guilt has been replaced with plastic remorse. We contribute to inequality and climate change every time we import fruit, fast fashion or electricity; despite how much we convince ourselves that we recycle and buy fair trade coffee.

As the world has gone global the values of equality, fraternity, and liberty have not. Being a Republic at home and part of the imperial machine abroad is a difficult concept, we balance ideology with opportunity, often choosing convenience and cheap commodities without considering the cost of production, the politics behind an avocado, or the truth behind products like palm oil.

Perhaps identifying as a Republican is difficult in a broad world dominated by globalisation. In the modern world it could be hard to stay true to our values without resorting to a life of asceticism. Closed borders choke prosperity and diplomacy is required to trade with neighbours we might not fully agree with.

However one symbol we should value, understand and remain true to is our national flag which represents unity between green and orange. It’s a symbol of peace and its meaning is honoured by our domestic actions. So whatever being republican means in the modern world, being true to our flag should be an easier undertaking. Anyone corrupting the meaning of the tricolour to broadcast nationalist rhetoric is nothing short of being a traitor to peace and ignorant to what it means to have a shared Ireland under one flag. 

Reinforcing a philosophy of hatred and bitterness towards the United Kingdom is simply forgetting the goal of self determination and forming a united Ireland. Flags at half mast are not just about diplomacy abroad but about peace at home. Being a republican can be complicated these days but the green, white, and orange are in our DNA; we need to think more about what a healthy society looks like and we should respect our flag in what we do and say in order to live up to the values it represents. ​

Politicians need to have the moral compass of Saint Brendan but the leaking scandal makes this government's ethical judgement look like a lost walrus heading from Valentia island to the coast of Wales.

We put our trust in politicians and we expect them to know the difference between right and wrong, in particular on matters relevant to good governance that the layperson isn’t expected to have in depth knowledge of, after all that’s why we let experienced politicians run the country.

So perhaps I was a bit disappointed when Michael Martin and Eamon Ryan stood up to defend the leaking of a confidential document; on the Dail record they accepted Leo Varadkar’s apology, and decided that no harm was done. Meanwhile the opposition kick-started a criminal investigation and really made it clear that not all was ok with Leo’s actions (this Dail debate is summarised in the post The Big Deal).

I’m not a legal expert, so from the outset all I can say is that I don’t know if any law has been broken. I’ve read the article in Village Magazine that calls Leo a lawbreaker, I’ve listened to the Dail debates, and I’ve done my best to find more information on the story. All I know is that during ongoing negotiations the then Taoiseach decided to release a confidential document to a group that wasn’t a party to the talks. While there’s no evidence of financial favours there is a sense of close relationships and inner circles. Is this how all governments are run? Is it normal to court special interest groups while in negotiations with trade unions? It’s clearly not what should be done and whether illegal or not there should be less tolerance for such behaviour.

I’m not going to say Michael Martin and Eamon Ryan knew that leaking this document was illegal, and that they tried to pull the wool over our eyes, nor was I expecting them to perform some sort of character assassination on a partner of government, but I do expect them to have better moral judgement.
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That’s why, if found guilty of wrong doing, it’s not only Leo Varadkar that will have to step down. If found guilty the whole leaky trinity will be in trouble, Leo Varadkar will have to step down, Michael Martin will have to step down, and Eamon Ryan will have to step down. This government will need to go back to the electorate if that happens and we will need to ask ourselves the question; when faced with an ethical dilemma do our politicians act the way we want them to, or do they hide below deck so they don’t rock the boat.  

Well it’s the 5th of November and what a feeling waking up in the normal world free of all that Trump dogma. I don’t usually treat myself to a fry but thought this is the day to pop down to the local butcher for some vegan sausages. Who knew the meat industry would have been annihilated so soon, still you got to hand it to the Make America Greta Again movement for posting in all those votes in Michigan, being free from tyranny has come at a small price and I’m thankful for the rigged election results.

As I strolled out of the estate, I passed the old playground where they’re putting up a mosque, and I thought to myself it’s a wonder we never had one of them before. Of course since the government banned teaching creationism everyone’s converting to Islam.  I shouted good morning to one of the builder chaps but he muttered something eastern European under his breath and gave me the finger. You got to love the way most countries have signed up to this worldwide open border policy, renewing passports used to be such a hassle. Personally I think Hillary Clinton did a great job introducing it, turns out you can achieve fantastic results with the right email campaign.

When I got to the butchers there was a super long queue, of course I had to get here on food stamp day. Now that everyone’s unemployed the government is handing out green new deal food tokens and it’s much harder to get the basics on a Thursday. About 20 minutes later and half way there, but I’m disturbed as it becomes clear to everyone that there’s a Mexican raping a child across the street, some people are anxious about leaving the queue for fear of going hungry but the real reason no-one goes to help is that everyone is afraid of being mixed up in one of those paedophile scandals you keep hearing about.  I ask out loud ‘why don’t the AntiFa patrol arrest these criminals’ but no one answers. Sometimes I wonder why we defunded the police and gave all our tax money to the BLM collective, they’ve spent all the money on schools and what has education ever done for anyone?  I didn’t want to think about it anymore; conjuring up things in your head that might sound like a privilege complex can get you five to ten years under the new Living with Liberal Laws.

I finally get to the counter, they’re out of chickpea sausage mush, darn, I’m tempted by the beetroot burgers but I’m going to that ‘How to Make Your Kids Transgender’ class later and I don’t want to be bloated. I settle for some black olive pudding which as it turned out worked well with my champagne fry. I settled down on my sofa shortly after to read the paper, looks like some former ISIS group has started trouble in Syria again, more of a well armed group of anarchists at this stage but hard to know where they’re getting their CIA weapons from. At least the scuffle in Iran is looking like a decent five year plan and Biden has his second term nailed down, a war time president never gets defeated.

Off to the class then, presented by the head of the local prostitution union, this free thinking ‘if you can tax it you can sell it’ model has been great for the economy. I can't even recall why drugs were illegal, is there anything wrong with recreational cocaine. Of course now that most women are making money selling themselves and having regular abortions we really do need to consider the merits of this replacement theory the left keep talking about.

After mandatory class I had to do my shift digging bird graves at the windmill farm, another species wiped out this week. The job doesn’t pay great but I’m one of the lucky ones that bought Bill Gates stock just before they suddenly banned all fossil fuels, sure it will be a cold winter and people will die, but I’m doing fine because I’m college educated and know the inside deal.  

Finally finished up for the day, and what a day it was I thought as I sat back down to watch the only channel on TV, 24/7 Clinton News Network, another rerun of Biden’s 3hr inauguration where he shares story after story about serving in Nam with Obama and the like.....but hey....at least nobody is talking about Covid, Covid, Covid