Abortion in Ireland
The Irish surprisingly voted YES. Even according to the author of the blog, Ireland is no longer the introverted backward country. With this vote, it proved that it will not be controlled by Catholicism. Congratulations. But the island of Ireland is not united and the northeastern part belongs to Great Britain. How do the Irish perceive Brexit? What is the relationship between Northern Ireland and Ireland? It is during the interviews, held just before the referendum itself, that perhaps you will find fragments of the answers.
Dive deeper into the problem of Ireland vs. Northern Ireland has long been a dream of mine ever since Simple Minds released Belfast Child. Bomb explosions (the hotel that has exploded the most times in the world located in the center of Belfast), the crying, the destruction, I didn't understand what it was all about, but Belfast was to me what Syria must be to twelve-year-olds today - constant war.
The taxi driver who takes us is a local Catholic. There are still problems with Protestants, we still have walls that divide us. Is he not afraid of Brexit? No, after all, Europe will end in a moment anyway, he is absolutely sure, Europe will fall apart. It won't affect them, trade finds its way everywhere, they don't need a common market, because Northern Ireland is part of the world's third largest economy. Understand every third word he says, even if he tries to be considerate of a stranger. He's tough. better than the Irish, there are higher incomes. They went bankrupt ten years ago.
Not everyone is so comfortable with Brexit. I ask three people and they all shrug their shoulders that whatever, it's not good, you know, it's not good. The Guardian editor's article is in the same vein - the article was published on May 6th (a few days ago), so the topic is hot. Read what the British newspaper Guardian writes.
It is surprising for many with such developed tourism, but even today there are fences in Belfast. Even today, Belfast is not united, but is divided into Catholics and Protestants, who pretend that problem, but they still hate each other. Even today, there are walls and barbed wire fences dividing communities. The editor asks in the article if the border posts between Ireland will be restored after Brexit? It was here recently…
We pass through the town of Enniskillen between the lakes of Lough Eme. It has always been the center of County Fermanagh. There were many Slovak tourists in Ireland, even more waiters, cleaners, supermarket workers... In backward Ireland, Slovaks do the most menial jobs - that's sad - and it's called learning the language. But the language in a primitive community is different from that among the educated - society in Ireland is considerably divided by caste. You can see it on people's faces, on and as soon as they speak.
You won't learn a sentence in written English in a supermarket. Let's believe that today's young Slovaks will work in the IT sector in Ireland in the future. Anyway, Enniskillen is out of the question. Well, there is a beautiful castle, yachts sail along the river Erne, fishermen catch fish in the city center on such special chairs. You feel high culture. Just after the huge explosion in Enniskillen, when 11 people died, Simple Minds wrote the poignant song Belfast Child.
What does the relationship look like now, what is Ireland's love for Northern Ireland? This is best seen at this referendum, which takes place on May 25. si, what the Irish Times writes about it. Do not allow what in England. There, one in 5 children dies due to abortion. The campaign turns into a political one and attacks against England are frequent. Just as you hear Slovaks and Czechs say mostly positive things about each other, except for such little things that sting, but are not dangerous. Here it is the other way around. The Irish and the English are enemies.
Voters in Ireland have the option to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which recognizes equal rights for the fetus and mother during pregnancy. We consider the Irish to be very similar to us Slovaks for several reasons. They eat potatoes, you'll find alcohol in most social interactions, and it's a heavily Catholic country. with the former castellan girl at the castle where we live. She voted NO 35 years ago. Not because she was totally against abortion at the time. But back then, even when she was young, discussing and being in favor of abortion was unthinkable. Now he is also not totally in favor of abortion, but in the case of genetic malformations of the fetus, rape and incest, he is in favor of abortion. She is very appreciative of the discussion that is taking place now, and it is an eye-opener for herself. He does not yet know how he will vote, but he will probably dare to vote YES.
Back then in 1983 it was like Brexit now, he says. The voters thought they knew what they were deciding on, but we didn't know anything, we didn't figure it out. In the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution we created a new category of civil rights holder, the unborn embryo, and that had the same status as the mother We equated a woman with a cluster of cells and thus took away her rights. He looks at his former choice from the other side and says: Now I have more information. That is, about abortions... he adds quickly to make it clear that he continues to see Brexit as a problem.
I have a very interesting incident from Omagh, a city in Northern Ireland. On Sundays we go to church and then we go for beer. Although we are in Great Britain, Irish flags are flying here, all the guys have white shirts and green ties, a kind of uniform. They invite us for a beer, shout: Welcome to Ulster!, they are drunk but very nice, there is only one woman in the whole hall. Before 1998, the Sinn Fein political party supported the bombers or at least she didn't judge them. Gerry Adams, a clear supporter of the republic (understand the union of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland), fighting against the loyalists, rejected terror for the first time.
In August 1998, 29 people died and 200 were injured in Omagh. The bomb exploded three months after the people voted for the so-called Good Friday Agreement = laying down arms. The Real IRA (Real Irish Republican Army), also called the New IRA, was behind the attack. Now it looks like Sinn Fein in Omagh will win the election democratically. Today, Sinn Fein is headed by a woman, and perhaps that is also the reason that it is the party that shouts "yes" the most before the referendum and is therefore in favor of abolishing the harsh law. What do we do in Northern Ireland (Ulster province) next to thus the Protestants are decreasing, the Catholics are increasing and they want a more frequent connection of both parts of Ireland. When I ask about the referendum these people coming out of the churches would vote No, they are more conservative and Catholic than in the Republic of Ireland, they practically only wear green and pretend that they are the orthodox Irish. My cousin in Donegal will be voting no. We have a different law on abortion than they have in London. They announce turning to the other guys in the group. However, I always meet them in large groups, mostly men, and it is obviously not appropriate to discuss there. The boss gives orders and does not think. Slovaks are similar to the Irish in this as well. Well, it's fine with me and Ireland is miles away from Northern Ireland. In any case, the weekend referendum divides society and will be highly politicized in Ireland as well. Much is at stake, whether the Irish will lean towards civilization and progress.
The Irish surprisingly voted YES. Even according to the author of the blog, Ireland is no longer the introverted backward country. With this vote, Ireland proved that it will not be controlled by Catholicism. Congratulations. However, the problem of Northern Ireland (Ulster) remains here and Brexit will highlight it even more. Travel to Ireland, it's close. Travel! Fight against Slovak provincialism and the world will be interested in you...
Article source: https://bubo.sk/blog/referendum-v-irsku
Article author: Ľuboš Fellner