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Labouring under many misapprehensions
08 November 2009 Edited by Pat Leahy
The Labour Youth annual conference took place in Dublin this weekend and, needless to say, several AOB spies - under deep cover - were in attendance. The usual mix of earnest socialism, drinking and chasing members of the (usually) opposite sex was observed, as were the usual mix of hare-brained motions. One such called for a world government:
‘‘Conference therefore calls for the dissolution of the nation state system as currently configured to be an ultimate goal of Labour Youth, in parallel with the emergence of a replacement supranational form of democracy and government."
They’d be better off trying to get elected to the students’ union.
Our favourite mot ion, though was:
‘‘Conference calls for the legalisation of prostitution.
Amendment 1: After ‘Conference calls for the legalisation’, insert ‘and unionisation’."
* Former president Mary Robinson was expressing her disappointment last week about how few women are involved in politics at a senior level in this country.
‘‘I am disappointed at the number of women in parliament in Ireland in both houses of the Oireachtas," the former president told Claire Byrne on the Breakfast Show on Newstalk.
Indeed. Of course, the situation isn’t helped by women who, having achieved high political office, then bugger off early to some other job, like . . . er, Mary Robinson.
The former president suggested that Ireland take inspiration from abroad. ‘‘When you think of Rwanda as having 56 per cent women in the parliament, the highest in the world now, half the cabinet and the chief of police, etc, we don’t have a high proportion of women in our defence forces or in our police." Yup. Things are just great in Rwanda.
* Chief beard David Begg was warning on Morning Ireland the other day that ‘‘the Establishment’’ are out to demonise public sector workers with their dastardly schemes, spoils and stratagems.
Begg has negotiated several partnership agreements. He has walk-in privileges to any office in the country, up to and including the Taoiseach’s. He is a governor of the Irish Times Trust and a director of Aer Lingus.
If he isn’t part of the Establishment, who is?
* Finally this week, some good news at last! From France comes word that the 2009 harvest in Bordeaux is promising a classic - possibly a great year - for the wines of that happy and blessed corner of the world.
Following the great year of 2005, there have been a few rum years in Bordeaux, something which may well have contributed to the global recession.
But a recent private dinner in Dublin, of such distinguished and developed eccentricity that it does not bear further description, heard news from across the sea that the residents of Bordeaux are more excited about this year than they have been since 2005. Things are looking up! Who said the newspapers are full of bad news?
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