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...

Absolutely any other party OR even an independent candidate.

No other party or independent in the ROI has the kind of history Provisional Sinn Féin has in our time.

So, if its a principled stand you're wanting to take, it actually makes ZERO sense to then vote for PSF.

If Varadkar's wording offends you, I can tell you there's worse than that with Provisional Sinn Féin! It's on the extreme end of the scale where they make Varadkar's wording look positively tame.

Yep.

That's basically what's been said! Labour, Independents & Aontú also.. However unfortunately if you vote for any of these your vote is essentially lost as they just don't have enough numbers to make up a majority.. My local labour td is fantastic & has done great work for the urban area I live...

I didn't want to quote your outrageous posts but comparison to 'Nazi Germany' is both ignorant and inaccurate, as well as utterly distasteful, given the outcome of Nazism.

At least inform yourself before putting out this embarrassing bilge.

I think the general feeling in the country is that any party including SF could not possibly be worse than FG at present. The white house gaffe with the Clinton comment, coronation carry on & bow the slow learners comments prove that Leo is not a fit representative for us a national & international scale.
FG need to get Simon Coveney back to lead asap if they want to have any hope in the next election, they are going to lose a load of seats...
Also 5 prominent TDs from FG have resigned in recent days...

Really?? They also quashed free speech, pushed their own agenda & were not tolerent of any poor people with disabilities or women's rights.
Look at recent comments made & also ideologies that are being pushed.
History has a habit of repeating itself & Ireland is heading down a very dangerous road.

My issue with this is that although 'sex' may have been added as a protected characteristic, the GRA legislation explicitly states that obtaining a certificate of gender recognition means that legally you have changed sex.

As per the wording of the legislation:

18. (1) Where a gender recognition certificate is issued to a person the person’s gender shall from the date of that issue become for all purposes the preferred gender so that if the preferred gender is the male gender the person’s sex becomes that of a man, and if it is the female gender the person’s sex becomes that of a woman.

So actually, is sex really a protected characteristic if men can identify into being the female sex under the law? It's all a bit of a mess ...

@Farmageddon exactly like Barbie Kardashian, no hormone therapy or surgery but gets put in a women's prison as he "thinks" he's a woman.. So all women have to give up their rights to safety & protection to pander to this man.
How did things get this far? And why is free speech going to be eradicated so we can no longer question how & why this is happening?
It was frightening before but Leo's new hate speech act is chilling & terrifying.

Seriously, just stop.

I'm as GC as they come. I also have reservations about the proposed incitement to hatred legislation

What I do is 1. Inform myself 2. Write objectively about the issues 3. Avoid denigration and conflation of unrelated issues.

You've thrown a whole plethora of matters at Varadkar as if they were all linked and all correct.

It's not true that the legislation will eradicate free speech. It's not true that this has equivalence to Nazi Germany & it's insulting to those who were victims of Nazism to say so. It's not true that the Taoiseach was targeting people with intellectual disabilities. And so on

Matters are nuanced. I agree with some of your wider points but you are throwing allegations about wildly & inaccurately.

Do a quick google search. Read the legislation itself. Read the commentary instead of ranting about Ireland being on a dangerous path similar to 1930s Germany. 🙄

Tell that to all the disability groups in Ireland who are very upset & hurt at Leo's comment who have felt the need to speak out.. Are you saying their feelings are invalid @EarringsandLipstick ???

Inclusion Ireland have also called the Taoiseach out on his choice of language & reminded everyone on the impact such words can have on people with intellectual disabilities.
Hopefully everyone will remember this comment when election time rolls around. In 2023 it is not acceptable.

I do think it will take a few high profile legal cases to show the impact of this. For example, if I misgender a transwoman as I do not believe that he is a woman, regardless of his feelings - does that mean I am committing a hate crime under this legislation?
I don't actually know the answer, but it will interesting to see how this plays out legally when it's actually tested in the courts.

Unfortunately comments using words and expressions commonly used against children and adults with Learning Disabilities remain acceptable and low on the list of priorities for some people.

For example, I very recently reported a post to MNHQ because it used the highly offensive term 'gurning simpletons'. I received an email response to say they were looking into it, but the post still stands. I raised it again via feedback on the moderator concerned but received no response and the post still stands. I feel very disappointed in MNHQ. It's such a hateful expression, yet they apparently believe it meets Talk Guidelines. Shameful in 2023.

@MmaRra I just hope that all the people offended by Leo's "slow learners" comment (that's he's defending & won't apologise for) their families, carers & loved ones will remember it & vote accordingly at the next election. It is unacceptable speech in 2023 or in any era for that matter. I'm glad so many groups & organisations have called him out.. Not good for him or FG on the back or the coronation fiasco.

Leo Varadkar, is a horrible, nasty man. I look after a child with intellectual disabilities and he works so hard on learning every day. He gets really pleaded with himself when he achieves something that he finds difficult. He never gives up trying. He is 1000 times a better person than Leo Varadkar will ever be. It has made me so angry reading his hurtful comments.

@caringcarer there are actually people on this thread trying to defend his words.. The mind boggles. His words show no understanding for Irish society & how he completely lacks any empathy or sensitivity.
I really hope he offers all disability groups, all children & adults with disabilities huge funding & grants at the back of this. And carers like yourself also as you are seriously underfunded. FG should step up now & cough up after this comment. It is not good enough.
Also @caringcarer remember the "slow learner" comment at election time when FG are going door to door trying to ram up the votes!
Anyone with any disability no matter how slight has to try so much harder than the rest of society to just try & live their lives.. Comments like Leo's are actually mind boggling in this day & age.

He used a phrase that was used in a political context previously, and offered that context.

The world and our understanding of what is and isn't offensive, and why, has changed a lot since the phrase was used in a political context. To be frank, it wasn't all that acceptable even back in the 90s.

Our understanding of SEN has changed a lot. We no longer use dunces' caps, for instance. We no longer use the phrase 'slow learners' either.

No, we no longer use the phrase "slow learners" in the context of learning disabilities.

But we absolutely can use it in the context of political parties with an undemocratic history as Provisional Sinn Féin.

Context itself along with intention absolutely matters otherwise nothing really makes sense. Always has done. The more things change the more they remain the same.

It's not Varadkar's problem some still seem intent on having emotional kneejerk reactions and willfully choose to ignore nuance as well.

That's not progress. It's taking three steps backwards.

@EarringsandLipstick argued the point very well.

mathanxiety yes dunce like "slow learners" is another word that is no longer used... Shame on him.
Oh how naive you are @DownNative it very much is Leo's problem! The group he targeted have votes you know, as do their families, loved ones & carers! The vast majority I'm sure will not vote FG now due to his horrible comment. It very much is Leo's problem especially as he won't apologise to the hundreds & thousands offended..
He did apologise after Matt's immature behaviour but that was only pandering to the Royals & the British government.
No apology for the poor "slow learners" who his government have failed to support.

https://twitter.com/caulmick/status/1661343812076072961

He was given the opportunity to retract & apologise here but he won't do it.

@PoussinBoussin the Taoiseach has used a term "slow learners". I am one of hundreds of thousands very bewildered & angry that a man in his position could use such a horrible term. Why does it bother you that I have posted links to support my frustrations?
You are dictating me to "stop" searching? Sounds likes FG speech to me!

Exactly @DownNative

One can object to his clumsy way of making this point - as many would be unaware of the specific political connotation.

But the level of over-exaggeration & misrepresentation of issues by OP here, and bothering to deal in fact, is really frustrating.

Again; I'm no fan of Leo's, and quite capable of being critical of him but try to do so rationally and based on some objectivity.

But he didn't. He just didn't.

He used a specific phrase - which wasn't 'slow learners', it was a quote of a phrase used specifically in a political context about the GFA.

He was commenting specifically on Sinn Féin’s policies on the Special Criminal Court, and Ireland’s place within the European Union, in an interview. The remark was using a well-known and often quoted remark of Seamus Mallon that ''the Good Friday Agreement was Sunningdale for slow learners”.

It's still clumsy given the potential to cause offence. But continuing to assert he was targeting the vulnerable is totally inaccurate and honestly quite stupid given the explanations given.

@EarringsandLipstick my misrepresentation? I'm understanding his comments the same as the disability groups & many other posters on here!
Are you staying that the disability groups who have all expressed their anger are over exaggerating? Are you belittling their feelings?
Many other posters have posted similar views to mine but you are purposely targeting me! Many include the many other mumsnetters who are disgusted by his "slow learner comments" before singling me out.