Seanad debates

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

3:40 pm

Photo of Paschal MooneyPaschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I echo all the comments made about the sinister development in protests. I believe that Members who have been elected to the other House are intent on subverting democracy. They believe in the Trotskyite and Marxist-Leninist ideology of agitprop - agitation, propaganda and continuous revolution. They have tried and failed for the last number of years to get the people onto the streets. How many Members recall comments made by those on the hard left questioning why the people were not adopting the same tactics as the people of Greece, Spain and elsewhere? They have got the people onto the streets on this issue, however, and now that they have them there, they want to keep them there. As has been said by Senator Coghlan and others, they want to use the good people who were genuinely protesting - and every Member has defended the right to lawful protest - to subvert democracy.

What will the Government do in response to this? This is not just about the water issue. This is about a very serious threat to the democratic institutions and structures of this country. It is time for the Government to analyse what is taking place on the streets and to take the necessary action. I am afraid it will be a problem to take that action because the most recent report on Garda resources indicates that, despite I and many others thinking it is a police force that uses state-of-the-art technology to combat crime, it is a police force that in many instances still has practices that date back to the early part of the 19th century, for example, in respect of fingerprinting. There should be a debate in the House on that report and on what the Government plans to do to resource the Garda.

It is ironic and a little sad that the main party in the Government, Fine Gael, which has put itself forward since its foundation as the party of law and order, finds itself on the back foot with regard to this report on Garda resources. Irrespective of whether we have the money, the overwhelming majority of people in this country see crime as a major issue, notwithstanding the other issues that have brought them onto the streets. That is especially the case in rural Ireland. I hope there will be a debate on that report and that the Government will bring forward proposals to protect democracy in this country and ensure we do not have a recurrence of the incidents that occurred last week.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.