Brendan O’Regan
Brendan O’Regan rounds up “a flurry of election activity” and “broken pro-life promises”
There was a flurry of election activity on Thursday of last week to squeeze in as much political commentary as possible before the moratorium kicked in at 2pm that day.
On Newstalk’s Breakfast that morning, comedian Oliver Callan was particularly hilarious doing his last send-up of the main players. I liked his quip that the ‘moratorium’ sounded like a place where news goes to die! Later that morning The Pat Kenny Show featured his final political debate, this time from Dun Laoghaire, where it was good to hear Mary Hanafin (FF) making a clear statement in defence of the Eighth (Life Equality) Amendment, as did Cormac Devlin (FF) and Raymond Whitehead of Direct Democracy.
It struck me that during the media debates, Fine Gael/Labour were often challenged on broken promises but in all the interviews I heard (and I heard an unhealthy amount), I didn’t come across even one instance of a journalist challenging Fine Gael on their broken pro-life promises.
That wouldn’t have suited the desired narrative. The abortion issue was raised frequently, on Newstalk in particular, but it was always in the context of repealing the Eighth Amendment.
Another issue that wasn’t raised with the politicians was the push, especially from the Labour party, towards an increasing secularisation of education. I know many people are worried about this, but I didn’t hear anyone challenging the Labour Party on this policy and how they exercised undue influence on the system while having the support of only a minority of the electorate – drastically reduced now.
Of necessity things went quiet in the media from Thursday afternoon until Saturday morning when the media folk obviously relished getting back into it. It was a brilliant weekend for political anoraks (like myself I must confess) – more high drama than a box set of 24, with heads rolling in all directions. It was edge-of-seat stuff, almost literally, especially when seats were gained and lost in the filling of the final seats. I was particularly disappointed at ex-Fine Gael people like Lucinda Creighton, Billy Timmins, Peter Matthews and Terence Flanagan losing their seats, a case of people who honourably kept their election promises losing out to the less deserving.
Online
Also on at the weekend was the annual RE Congress in the Los Angeles diocese in Anaheim. It was great to be able to catch up on some of the events online where as usual there was live streaming and a comprehensive archive (recongress.org).
I was particularly interested in one programme, Songs of Mercy, featuring an all-star cast of American liturgical composers (Mat Haugen, David Haas, Michael Joncas, Tony Alonso and more) along with our own Fr Liam Lawton. It was an impressive mix of readings about Mercy and beautiful songs, including Lawton’s Come to Me and God of Second Chances by Haas.
The youth events were particularly encouraging. Watching a lively performance by Steve Angrisano and Sarah Hart I was reminded of Dublin’s Emmanuel concerts also on this week at the Helix and also featuring thousands of young people celebrating their faith.
With the weekend so busy media-wise, I was glad I didn’t miss the inspiring end of last Friday’s Late Late Show (RTÉ One).
It was yet another story of a baby diagnosed with a life limiting condition but this time the parents Michelle and Vin Manley had allowed their baby to come to term, when baby Jamie (aka ‘Jelly Bean’ and ‘Scallywag’) lived for a precious three hours.
But it wasn’t just those three hours that were precious. Michelle and Vin felt so gifted by having Jamie in their lives and wanted to be the best they could be during their time as Jamie’s parents, which included the months of pregnancy. They built up a touching relationship with him through regular hospital visits where they could share his development through the ultrasound scans.
Though a touching and genuine pro-life story, it was also in a way pro-choice as Michelle said there was no right or wrong choice in such cases.
Lest we got any notion that this was in fact a pro-life item (Heaven forbid!) presenter Ryan Tubridy stressed that the family were not interested in the political element of the case, were not pushing an agenda, just telling their own story.
Fair enough, but I don’t remember a similar approach in interviews with couples who opted for termination and were very much keen to drive an agenda.
Pick of the Week
An Island Parish
BBC 2, Sunday, March 6, 7.45am
Series following a year in the life of the most southerly islands of the Outer Hebrides, focusing on the work of the local priests.
The Meaning of Life, With Gay Byrne
RTÉ One, Sunday,
March 6, 10.35pm
Peter Sutherland, UN Special Representative for Migration, dubbed the father of globalisation, joins Gay Byrne.
Conversations the world over with Raymond Arroyo
EWTN, Thursday,
March 10, 5pm
Cardinal George Pell, also the ongoing violence and atrocities committed by ISIS against the Iraqi people.