Aibu to find this comment from Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar deeply offensive to all people with intellectual disabilities & their families. Absolutely appalling.

[55balloons]

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41143480.html

This same man is trying to rush in draconian hate speech laws in Ireland..

Many disability groups in Ireland have quite rightly voiced their disgust & despair..

These vulnerable people with intellectual disabilities are suffering enough at the hands of our Prime Minister & his Fine Gael party through severe lack of funding. How dare he make fun.
Ireland as a nation is in a very bad way...

https://twitter.com/AccessForAll7/status/1659811699032047616?cxt=HHwWgIC-rcf86oguAAAA

@EarringsandLipstick I think this tweet from Access for All Ireland sums up my answer quite nicely.

Yes, but they don't claim he's 'targeting the vulnerable'. Only you.

It's clumsy insensitive wording but as has been explained to you repeatedly, it is a specific reference to a prior comment that had relevance in his point about SF

I agree he shouldn't use it but he didn't intend it, and nor is it, a targeting of those with disabilities.

Really @EarringsandLipstick

I rest my case @EarringsandLipstick people with intellectual disabilities are vulnerable in society. Anyone with a shread of empathy or sensitivity would be aware of that.
Life is more challenging them.
As that group tweeted above "once again we are the of the joke"
It's akin to a Trump style statement & that is not the type of Taoiseach I want running my country.

You have that already.

I don't agree with any women's spaces being erased but let's not suggest that ireland is anywhere at the point of not providing your daughter a safe space.

There are outliers of course like the well known gaa picture, I think they play on a mother's and others group but happy to be corrected on that.

But ireland is a moderate country with moderate politics, its rare the status quo is changed.

You have been told several times that the words slow learner in this context is political. You seem determined to be offended and want to wield the axe of justice about some words, the same thing you don't want done to others under the speech bill. I'd call that hypocrital at best.

I'd also question any irish person who enjoyed watching the coronation but that's another thread.

Really what?

Oh don't be silly.

Final time: it's clumsy. It's outdated. It does not specifically refer to those with ID or other disabilities.

The particular & exact phrase has a now-historic meaning & that what was referred to.

I'm no fan believe me but your hyperbole is ridiculous.

I think he is nasty and very arrogant, dont know how he still there in that job

You consider the Barbie Kardashian scandal moderate? A man in a woman's prison? I don't think it's safe that a man disguised as a woman is allowed use the same changing rooms & toilets as my young daughters. That is NOT providing my young girls with a safe space. The signs on the doors are for women but the GRA is allowing men infiltrate our spaces. What party is going to reverse this?

You would question any Irish person who viewed the coronation? Well you'll be busy given they it was aired on RTE.

You better start your questioning with Leo, Matt, Michael D & Sabina who were there in person! They are Irish after all🤣🤣🤣

I agree with this, he'll drive FG into the ground if he's let continue as party leader. He's pissing off so many people and a lot of the people I've been talking to say they'll vote SF next time because they're sickened by Leo, that clown Eamonn and to a lesser extent Michéal.

The naivety of your post is astounding: the GRA law was brought in basically by stealth - if you ask most Irish people they have little idea that it even exists. This was not by accident but by design.

Additionally, the new hate crime legislation, and upcoming 'gender equality' referendum are laws designed to shore up this shitshow, so that when people actually wake up to the reality of what it means for them and their daughters, the law will not be on their side.

Barbie Kardashian and baldie GAA fetish man are not outliers as you suggest, which somehow implies they are just random occurrences - they are a natural consequence of bullshit gender ideology being pushed on us, supported by the law which none of us voted for.

Don't forget Roderic O Gorman, he's right up there with Leo!

@Farmageddon great post & sums this shitshow of a country right up. I don't know how @SnipSnipMrBurgess thinks we're moderate, Leo is bringing in a Hate Speech Act ffs which is on a par with what was in place in Nazi Germany or North Korea..

Michael McDowell a barrister and senator is very concerned about this hate bill and rightly so. Leo and Rodric are dangerous.

Nazi Germany......

Ah, I get it.

Sorry, I didn't realise I was talking with an idiot.

I'll leave you to it. Best of luck with everything though. You sound very sane and delightful.

@SnipSnipMrBurgess Slán... Pity the hate speech act isn't in place yet as I have taken offence to you referring to me as an idiot, I could ring the guards & report you!

I thought the hate speech legislation was Helen McEntee's brainchild?
In saying that I wouldn't be surprised if there were more behind her pushing for this.
Like Michael McDowell, Ronan Mullen and Sharon Keogan have also been excellent with highlighting this legislation.
Leo and Roderic are dangerous and will run this country into the ground, honourable mention goes to Simin Harris on this too.

That's why they need to go asap both of them.. Change needed at the top asap.
The hate speech act is terrifying. That's how the Nazis came to power stamping out free speech & anyone who contradicts the truth (eg a man is now a woman because he says he is!!).
History has a very funny way of repeating itself & Ireland is heading down a very dangerous road with our current fearless leader..

I have issues with elements of the Incitement to Hatred & Violence Act & how it may be applied.

It should be noted that following consultation sex was added as a protected characteristic.

The points being made by @55balloons are flawed, deeply inaccurate and offensive in parts. This poster appears to come out with ill-informed views without doing the proper research on a regular basis.

I too have concerns about this legislation but there is a way to express these clearly, cogently & factually.

@EarringsandLipstick how have I been offensive?

“I'm not getting into a political discussion on something I know nothing about.” No, you’re just going to use it as a stick to beat someone with in order to further your own gender critical agenda. It’s embarrassingly obvious. It boggles my mind that the gender critical movement will forgive any and all sins providing the person/party committing them is also gender critical.

If people are sickened by Varadkar as you say, the answer is not to go to the extreme end of the scale by voting for Provisional Sinn Féin.

Is it?

After all, they've done far worse than Varadkar in the last twenty-five years!

Seems to me there's a lot of selectiveness and a kind of widespread amnesia regarding PSF going on in the Republic of Ireland. Not just in Northern Ireland.

Excellent post, points and summary! 👏

Well who would you suggest as an alternative to Leo & FG? @DownNative the vast majority in the country are sick of them & want change as the opinion polls show.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/amp/ireland/fine-gael-falls-to-20-in-opinion-poll-increase-in-fianna-fail-support-1472163.html

Looking forward to seeing the next opinion polls especially after the shenanigans at the coronation & Leo's "slow learner" comments. This vulnerable group he has singled out will all have votes if over 18, their families, loved ones & carers too.
I hope to God every single one of them remember this comment when election time comes around.