So the hand-wringing has started in earnest on the run-up to St. Paddy’s Day in Washington, which will be a very different occasion this time around. Gone is Joe Biden and all his diddly-dee Irishness. In has come Donald Trump and his lack of anything-ness.
Arguably, it’s the unionists who’ll be jetting across the pond in high spirits. Ian Paisley Junior, for instance, will have bonhomie and shamrocks sprouting from him in equal measure. He and his colleagues certainly won’t feel as they have in previous years, like protestants at a wake.
But, while the unionist representatives might jet off with gay abandon (pardon the phrase), the Shinners have a bit of deciding to do. And it ain’t an easy one for them.
The SDLP got its spoke in early, as it did last year, declining an invitation before one had even been sent. Whether missing out on Paddy’s Day in the US capital is a good idea or not is definitely open for debate. But, as she emptied both barrels into her foot, SDLP leader Claire Hanna said…..
As an Irish political party we can’t in good conscience go to Washington for St Patrick’s Day this year. Ireland has a proud history of solidarity with Palestine. The values of the SDLP are simply not compatible with what we’re seeing and hearing from Donald Trump on Gaza.
Everyone is entitled to their views, of course. And there are strongly held views on both side of the Israel Palestine debate. But is Donald Trump going to sit up and take notice if Claire Hanna doesn’t weigh in for her Guinness and oysters? Hardly.
But, if the First Minister, the Economy Minister and the Finance Minister from Northern Ireland or the North of Ireland don’t show up, it would be seen as an enormous snub. It would also be foolish in the extreme.
So don’t talk about it for long, Michelle. See sense and be there. It’s not about Palestine. It’s about economic development in our own neck of the woods.
Up The Workers
Ah, you’ve gotta love the Labour Party, don’t you? Sooner or later, it always reverts to type.
There they were at the weekend (well, one of them) willing death on local pensioners and cyclists. Now, a bunch of them are calling for a four-day working week to be considered by ministers as part of a new set of workers rights rules.
Apparently, they say, a four-day working week with no loss of pay is becoming more popular in the UK. Really? There’s a surprise. Wonder why.
Proponents of the scheme say – wait for it – that people are happier and less likely to suffer from burnout when they work fewer days. Good God, do they pay people to come up with theories like that?
But let’s consider the words of two of the MPs concerned…….
Peter Dowd, the Labour MP who put forward the amendment, said that with things like artificial intelligence enabling people to work more efficiently, the benefits “must be passed back to workers”.
“A four-day, 32-hour working week is the future of work and I urge my party to back this amendment so we can begin a much wider transition.”
Maya Ellis, Labour MP for Ribble Valley, said: “Data shows that working four days leads to greater productivity than five.
“That means in public organisations for example, that we can get through a higher volume of tasks, creating the increase in capacity we so desperately need to see in our public services.”
Neither Maya nor Peter, we imagine (but haven’t checked) have ever tried to run an actual business. Then again, are there many in the Labour ranks who have?
Shoulder To Shoulder
Good to see big Gavin Robinson enjoying the Scotland v Ireland game over at Murrayfield on Sunday afternoon. As photographs so, it shows how far we’ve come.
Back in the day, the chances of a DUP leader being at any kind of sports fixture on the Sabbath would have been non-existent. That was the day to sit at home reading one’s good book, not indulging in fripperies like sport. There are still some in the party who might baulk at the very idea, but they’re a lot fewer and further between in these enlightened days.
And to venture out on a Sunday to support an Irish team wearing the green. Now that would have been a complete anathema for the other big man who used to lead the party.
Pity that Gavin couldn’t quite bring himself to wear an Ireland rugby hat instead of the curious Civil Service rugby club one he opted for, with its wee Ulster flag in the middle. His good lady wife, Lindsay, had no such qualms. But then she doesn’t have to answer to the remaining zealots in the DUP.
Still, who cares about headwear? We can see why he might have done it. Progress is progress and it’s to be warmly welcomed.
Missing In Action
Meanwhile, the Irish team that Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were watching are sweeping all before them in the opening games of the Six Nations. They’ve brushed both England and Scotland aside with consummate ease. The hapless and coachless Welsh are next and then it’s the French. But, as England showed on Saturday, they’re beatable despite their fearsome reputation.
Mind you, Gavin Robinson’s hat was about the only Ulster link on the day at Murrayfield. This was one of those Ireland teams with absolutely no players from the grim North, neither on the starting line-up or the replacements.
It’s happened before but it’s rare and it’s always a bit sad. After all, we all belt out the song about the four proud provinces of Ireland, don’t we? Pity that only three of them were represented on the pitch in Edinburgh.
Can’t blame the coaches, mind you. Messrs. Easterby, O’Connell & Co are unlikely to be rushing to pick any Ulstermen for this campaign. Not on their current form.
It’s All In The Brick
A gem of a story reaches us from London, where a new exhibition at the Science Museum is entitled ‘Stories Of Queer Communities, Experiences & Identities’.
A self-guided tour (which we must do next time we’re in London), it includes a display of Lego bricks, beloved of many of our kids and many of us in our younger days.
But did you know that Lego bricks reinforce the idea that heterosexuality is the norm? Nope, nor did we. What’s more, they are anti-LGBT and promote the ridiculous idea that there are only two genders. What? A wee plastic brick can do all of that?
One of the signs at the Lego display reads:- ‘The top of the brick with sticking out pins is male, the bottom of the brick with holes to receive the pins is female (yes, we get the drift) and the process of the two sides being put together is called mating’.
Good grief, we never thought of it that way when we were playing with Lego. But it will be hard to shift the idea now. Oh, and it’s ‘heteronormative’ accoding to the LGBT folk. Whatever that is.
The tour was created by the Gender and Sexuality Network, a group of staff and volunteers who say they are “committed to creating more visibility and inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community in the Science Museum”.
Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns at charity Sex Matters told The Telegraph: “People expect to be informed, educated and inspired when visiting the Science Museum, not to have dubious claims rooted in gender ideology forced on them.”
Jesus wept, these are Lego bricks, dear.
Oh, Look, Mum….What’s This For?
We also loved the tale of the family from the south who arrived at their rented holiday house up in this part of the world to find bloodstained furniture and a room full of sex toys.
The poor soul had booked the five-bedroom, £300 a night house in an unspecified location around here for a week’s holiday for their extended family, including four young children.
He said that they were met by a bloodstained mattress, unsecured medication and a master bedroom full of sex toys and bondage gear.
His five-year-old son, excitedly exploring, was the first to open a bedside cabinet in the main bedroom to find the toys and medication, said the hapless visitor.
“We quickly moved the children into the kitchen, where we found an open bottle of nicotine vape liquid on a worktop, and checked the other bedside cabinet and wardrobe. These contained even more items including ropes, whips, penis enlargers, handcuffs and opened tubes of lubricant.”
Dear me, we hope the kids are OK after their experience. Could have been worse though. They could have found the Lego.