Gender Critical in Ireland Part 4

[MaeveofConnaught]

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/craicnet/4777231-gender-critical-in-ireland-part-3?page=40&reply=139277391
Last thread was full so starting a new one.

Yes MaireDeGournay you missed nothing. In no time at all the article abandons same sex marriage and becomes a litany of the persecution, abuse and neglect experienced by the T and those who are plural (the them).
However, at the end of the Hugh Lenihan podcast on the same theme Pat Leahy, political editor of the Irish Times stuck his neck out and said that there is a challenge for the left in Ireland because “the pro trans rights agenda clashes with a part of feminism concerned about women’s spaces…”
And Hugh Lenihan then said, not disagreeing at all, “you end up with a civil war within the political left…”
It felt like a lead-in for a bit of analysis but they were immediately shut down by Evan’s Bacik (the political left😉) doing the usual ‘nothing to see here’ trope, but…
I assume that both Hugh and Pat are now banned from this years Pride Parade! 🥲

Irish Independent Weekend interviews Gavan Reilly who seems to think nobody in Ireland (especially women)
noticed or cared that violent men were/are in women’s prisons and shelters! Let’s hear it for the mansplaining!

Thank you for 'taking one for the team' by reading it Puckeen!

One the subject of why we need a specialised transgender healthcare set up, I found this on the HSE website:
Women’s Health Project - WHS - Women / Trans Women in prostitution
The Women's Health Project was established in 1991, as part of the HIV/AIDS prevention strategy. The project, based in The Meath Primary Care Centre, 1-9 Heytesbury Street, Dublin 8, provides an accessible service for women / trans women involved in the sex industry. A full sexual health screening and counseling service is available including:

• HIV and Hepatitis A, B and C testing
• vaccinations,
• cervical screenings
• counseling
• contraception
• pregnancy testing
• Sexual Health Services - HSE.ie

So the HSE reckons that they already provide sexual health care to transwomen - I'm sure they find the cervical screening and pregnancy testing especially useful!🙄

So why the €770,000?

I'm gearing up to a letter to the minister, but I'm trying to distil it down to key points, there's enough material to go on and on and on, but I think I'm going to focus on: transgender is not, acc to the WHO, an illness; the HSE's sexual health service already caters for trans people; and there are so few trans people in Ireland that an initial budget of €770,000, along with the staffing, seems disproportionate.

Is there anyone left who is not banned from Pride I wonder? Then you factor in the gay men and lesbians who have given up on it , some for non political reasons. Like my gay friend who says ' it's all BDSM now' . And straight people gawping or trying to look cool.

My gay friends stopped taking part in the pride marches in recent years because the trans participants were awful to them.

Here’s an opportunity to call for a more truthful media. Closes on 23.05.2025. Takes 15 minutes to fill in. Enough voices might impact.

Have your say on public service media

Survey filled in thanks

Survey filled in too, thanks for flagging that.

Another one off the pride list…

Apologies, I see that’s impossible to read without a magnifying glass😊

I read it earlier. It's a really clear article that pulls no punches on what Pride has become.

Wow, he has well and truly peaked! Libraries Ireland borrowbox app has the Irish and Sunday Independents for anyone who does not subscribe.

He got name checked by glinner in his interview on the Ian O’Doherty podcast.
Good article, but I thought glinner sounded sort of broken. He really does not sound OK at all.

Mumsnet show a low-quality version of uploaded images by default for some reason. Here's a higher-quality image which should be readable:

ugc-assets.mumsnet.com/images/202505/vwWKU4FJiNlvIsh01DGEgmSCgqgzOf4oeKB8gxH7.jpeg

Oh that's a great article. He really has nailed his colours to the mast, hasn't he (and presumably not rainbow colours!!!)

Oh wow, what an article! I hadn't read it up to now, I heard it mentioned, possibly on a what it says in the papers on the radio, and all I heard was 'JB says straight people shouldn't go to Pride'.
Thank you so much for posting it Genesis & Puckeen, it has really cheered me up

Another positive story, from the Irish Times:
High Court grants leave for doctors to bring action over State’s transgender care policy
Prof Donal O’Shea and Dr Paul Moran challenging HSE’s referral of young people for assessment abroad
High Court grants leave for doctors to bring action over State’s transgender care policy – The Irish Times
They say they are not against 'gender-affirming care' which is a disappointment, but they point out that Irish children are now being referred to a private clinic in Antwerp, Belgium, by a non-medically trained “trans-activist”.
which is a very strong point to make, the idea of activists rather than doctors treating children should ring alarm bells with the general public.

Yes I saw the podcast and agree. But he has seemed that way for ages. As a friend of mine puts it ' they broke his brain'. I'm glad he's gone to the USA and is doing some writing for TV. When you see him in an interview you get that he is a writer and not an actor. Its just the way his mind works ; the things that make him a great writer with a gift for the absurd seem to also make it hard for him to navigate the real world sometimes.
His book Tough Crowd is a brilliant read. Especially evocative of Dublin in the 80s and early 90s.The Hot Press , Magill and that whole scene. Even as a child he lived in the world of his imagination. In the book he credits people who mentored him as a comedy writer. Now I think he needs someone to edit his X account. Maybe just bin it or do it weekly. I never go there now unless I'm redirected from some article. Meanwhile I think there is another book in him on the writing of Fr Ted , the IT Crowd etc ?

Thanks for sharing that article. Donal O'Shea has been relentless in fighting the infiltration of transactvists into Irish transgender healthcare. Along with Paul Moran, they have been the voice of reason receiving little support from the government on this
You may remember a couple of years ago there was a meeting they attended where the minutes were later altered to remove Mary Butler, Minister for Mental Health, advocating for the services of Helen Webberly.
Butler has a trans child.
This is what they are up against.

On the other hand they have always promoted gender affirming care. But I think they have used a far more cautious approach and see it as a last option and are against a medical model of care for children.
The transactvist mentioned in the article seems to be Dr. Vanessa Lacey.
Lacey has a doctorate in grief counselling and opened Gendercare, a private clinic, a few years ago. As a TENI representative, Lacey had been on a lot of sub committees for the HSE and TUSLA.

A parent of a trans identifying child who is looking for help may well look at Laceys clinic and think this is a good option as, currently, options are limited for under 18s in Ireland.

So O'Shea and Moran have been the only barriers to a complete takeover of the Irish trans healthcare by non medically trained activists
Though recently I think that O'Shea seemed to make comments supporting transwomen playing in women's sports which is disappointing,though as he didn't elaborate on it, it's hard to know his full stance on that one. I know he will refer to people by their chosen pronouns, but I would find it hard to believe that he believes anyone actually changes sex.
All in all though, I have great admiration for both of them, they know what is safe and what is unsafe and they have refused to compromise on it.

https://www.irishtimes.com/media/2025/06/10/why-is-irish-media-so-reticent-about-covering-gender-issues/
I don't think Hugh Linehan has written about this before, but this is good to see in the Times.

I think a couple of journalists are finally starting to put their heads above the parapet in their reporting.

Are Graham Linehan and Hugh Linehan related ?

I have never heard of any connection.

I'm pretty sure not, or not siblings/close. Hugh linehan's father was also a well known journalist and his mother was rosaleen linehan the actor

I thought they might be cousins ?

Very interesting piece, and doesn't seem to be paywalled? Michael McDowell has had a few pay walled pieces and Finran O'Toole has come close to getting it a couple of times. I wonder when we'll see Una Mullally's response?