Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In the House yesterday I strongly criticised President Trump's executive order on immigration and the manner in which it had been introduced. However, I am very conscious that it is easy to criticise President Trump; in fact, it is something of a global pastime. What worries me is that we do not seem to challenge other elite people in authority in the same way. Perhaps it is time to have the debate on the media for which I have often called to see how they could help and better serve us in that regard. For example, when the former President Mrs. Mary Robinson was interviewed on "Morning Ireland" this morning about President Trump's executive order, she availed of the opportunity to talk about another executive order he had introduced - the Mexico city policy. This is the policy that stops American tax dollars from being used to fund abortions in developing countries. The former President was given a completely free run to give an extremely partisan interpretation of what the move would mean on the ground. She was introduced as one being of the so-called Elders, the same Elders who had been silent on the issue of forced abortions in China and the horrendous abuses in the abortion industry worldwide. There is no question but that the Mexico city policy will save, not cost, lives. The former President does not seem to understand the principle of the fungibility of money; how, by giving money for maternal health services with which nobody could disagree, those engaged in the killing of unborn children are able to free other resources for these horrible deeds. The real issue is the way in which those on the left are never challenged on the claims they make. We have reached the point where there is no international outcry, not even a debate, for example, when people are forcibly euthanised against their will and even physically restrained as the injection is administered, as we learned happened recently in the Netherlands. By all means, let us challenge President Trump and the bad things he does, but in so doing let us not delude ourselves for one minute that we are asking the same hard questions of others in authority who are doing bad things.