Speaking in the Dáil this week, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald decided to give it to the entire nation of Ireland with both barrels, dubbing the country’s past and present “ugly and dangerous.”
“The roots of sexism and misogyny run deep,” she said.
“The Ireland of religious dogma, that defined women as men’s property, that excluded women from the world of work, that relegated us as objects and confined us to domestic chores, that confined and exploited the poor and vulnerable in laundries and mother and baby homes and that stole babies from the arms of their mothers, that Ireland defined and disfigured the lives of generations of women; our grandmothers, our mothers. Much has changed. The face of misogyny has changed but it has not gone away.”
She continued:
“Today’s Ireland, our place, our daughters’ Ireland, is ugly and dangerous still, whether it is the unsolicited sexual photos, the online stalking and abuse and harassment in shops, in nightclubs, on the bus, on bicycles, at work or at college. It is the intimidation of lewd commentary and catcalling. It is the never-ending mansplaining. It is the gaslighting and the coercive control. It is rape.”
Remarkably strong language, and no doubt popular, in some circles. But the correct reaction to such demagoguery is not to cheer it, but to rebut it. No journalist committed to the truth could ever let such falsehoods go unanswered.
Now, let’s make one thing crystal clear at the outset: nobody, but nobody, denies that there are terrible atrocities that happen in Irish society today, and have always happened.
Nobody denies that depraved evils such as abuse, rape, harrassment and so on have been a reality, and are tragically a reality to this day, or that people often disbelieve women who make claims about such alleged abuse.
Take, for example, individuals who claim to have been abused by IRA members.
'Second IRA rape victim' accuses Sinn Féin of abuse cover-up http://t.co/syQqFO1dzx
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 10, 2015
In fact, I’m not aware of a country that is not plagued by such scourges. The only people who support these appalling acts are bottom feeding criminal predators, who most sane people agree should be put in cages for the safety of women and society at large.
That’s why these acts are illegal, and have been for as long as we can remember. We’re all on the same page about this.
The issue arises, however, when people like Mary Lou try to take that evil underbelly of society, and apply it to our entire country. Again, to quote McDonald:
“Today’s Ireland…is ugly and dangerous still.”
The standard here seems to be if certain evil people within a society do bad things, the society at large is evil by extension.
It’s also worth noting that, while we don’t know for sure who was responsible for Murphy’s killing, the individual who has been charged is reportedly from Slovakia – not Ireland.
The point here is not to demonise the nation of Slovakia or people from there, but to say, this story appears to have nothing to do with Ireland or Irish culture. The alleged perpetrator is not even from here, and for McDonald to try and browbeat Irish society for this crime is fairly perplexing.
With that in mind, it’s worth wondering is this a standard that Mary Lou applies evenly across all societies?
For example, according to Amnesty International, women and girls in Palestine face discrimination in law and face gender-based violence, including honour killings. As Amnesty reports:
Now, any right minded person can see that acts such as honour killings are an unspeakable atrocity against women. But would Mary Lou condemn all of Palestine as “ugly and dangerous” for women because certain individuals in Palestine indulge in this practice? I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Or take Sinn Féin itself. According to a police ombudsman report, Sinn Féin members “did not cooperate” fully with police on their investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of Mairia Cahill.
Again, would Mary Lou McDonald say Sinn Féin is an “ugly and dangerous” party because of this? Well, what do you think?
Ultimately, McDonald is quick to smear the entire nation of Ireland and its history, but would never dream of doing the same to Palestine or her own party for similar failings.
We’re to believe that the entire nation of Ireland is collectively responsible and to be condemned for these faults, but her party and hobby-horses bear no culpability for their members’ alleged actions.
The word “nationalist” – which Sinn Féin still claims – is defined as someone who likes their own country. I’m not sure that’s an accurate descriptor anymore, when the person claiming it seemingly can’t wait to denigrate their own nation.
Mary Lou may wrap herself in the tricolour when she’s raising money for the cause in America, but at home, she lets us know how she really feels about this island’s history.