Retired journalist Michael O’Regan has appointed himself the departmental secretary at the ministry for propaganda and false history. Of late, he has been very keen to ensure that his Twitter followers vote Yes in the forthcoming referenda on March 8th. Perhaps unremarkably, O’Regan’s Twitter, sorry X posts, on the subject embodies every one of the Gaelic stereotypes including self-loathing. It is also a good example of the type of false confidence that embeds itself when prejudice occupies the parts of the mind usually reserved for knowledge-based education and reason.
Thankfully, the top two people in the world who are the subject of O’Regan’s hate, and name-calling, are dead. They are of course Eamonn de Valera and Archbishop John Charles McQuaid. Both men had an input into the drafting of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland.
Twitter/X is a place full of hate. If humans really are sentient and rational beings, then why are hatred and nonsense so appealing. Why do we want to read/watch/listen to people expressing hatred for other people and groups? Hateful comments are always a manifestation of small mindedness but prejudice keeps us from that realisation. People are keen to make fools of ourselves while others egg them on! It’s a mad, mad world.
McQuaid has, in recent times, been dishonestly made out to be a villain, mainly using the falsehood that he regally ruled over the Irish government. Anyone who knows anything about Irish history is aware that the claim is not true. He was certainly a diligent and hard-working lobbyist and like all lobbyists, sometimes his proposals were accepted and not accepted. However, he was entitled to lobby the government the same as any other lobbyist. The government were equally entitled to ignore his lobbying and did so on many occasions. In just one example, the government were particularly annoyed with McQuaid, de Valera included, when he sided with the teachers during their national strike in 1946. McQuaid was politically out manoeuvred on many occasions. There is no doubt that he was an influential figure. However, the extent of his influence has not only been greatly overstated but has entered the hallowed halls of bunkum.
I contend that the chief architect of the vilification of Archbishop McQuaid was the infamous Dr. Noel Browne. Browne is falsely lauded these days as “the man who did most to rid the country of the scourge of tuberculosis”. The truth is that Browne glorified himself at the expense of others, including his close friends and allies. He was the greatest plagiarist in Irish history. That is, a person who claims the achievements of others as his own. Those who continue to laud Browne, despite the historical evidence, are so lazy, they let others give them their opinion. Worst of all, they have not got the disposition towards truth seeking. Therefore, they are nothing more than a conduit of nonsense. (see link to Browne article below)
Those who demonise McQuaid are unaware, or perhaps more correctly, do not want to admit to his great achievements. The poor of Dublin were provided with eight million meals a year at the height of WWII when food prices soared. He gave financial help to the victims of air raids in Dublin, was instrumental in setting up clinics to treat venereal disease, and actively promoted better care for tuberculosis patients, the elderly, the physically and intellectually disabled, and sick children.
Perhaps the biggest lie O’Regan wants his followers to believe is that there is misogyny in the Irish constitution. He, and others, attempt to mislead people by leaving out key information to imply that the constitution states that a woman’s place is in the home.
The constitution does not imply, nor is it stated anywhere in the document that a woman’s place is in the home. In fact, it singles out certain women and gives them a right to stay at home and mind their children, should they choose to do so. Moreover, it explicitly guarantees the rights of such women by stipulating that they cannot be forced out of their home to work because of economic necessity. These two words are left out of every argument in favour of the abolition of this clause.
If you agree with Michael O’Regan’s interpretation of the constitution, it is because you believe the same lies and do not have the ability to use your own mind. Look things up for yourself, otherwise other numpties will give you your opinion.
Finally, O’Regan has also posted about his concern for the King of England’s prostate health. Now, it might turn out to be that brownnosing the king is one of his favourite pastimes, but Anglophilia in combination with Hibernophobia is one of the diagnostic indicators for the presence of Gaelic self-loathing.
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.” ― Daniel J. Boorstin
EJ
Further Reading…
https://www.dib.ie/biography/mcquaid-john-charles-a5755
