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WITH IT LOOKING like a No vote in both the Family and Care referendums across the country, Government and opposition parties are both going to have some serious soul searching to do in the weeks ahead.
Speaking at the RDS count centre in Dublin a short while ago, Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan told reporters “obviously the case we presented didn’t win”.
He did not accept however that the direction of the votes so far means that something went wrong with his party’s campaign.
“It does look like a No vote in both the family and the care referenda. First thing to say is we will obviously have to respect this. That’s the voice of the people,” Ryan said.
“I don’t accept that our campaign did go wrong,” he said, adding that both questions were complex and there was a “myriad” of reasons people might vote No.
“To my mind, the case to update the Constitution is still there,” Ryan said.
He added however that this would be a job for the next Government.
Meanwhile, People Before Profit Solidarity TD Paul Murphy was firm in his view that there should be a rerun of the Care referendum.
He wrote on X/formerly Twitter: “Crap wording, crap campaign, crap government. This is the result. Left parties should commit to proposing a referendum recognising and supporting care inside and outside of the home and the rights of people with disabilities.”
Arriving at the RDS ahead of Ryan, Independent Senator Michael McDowell (who had campaigned for a No-No vote) was in high spirits as he spoke to reporters.
He said the Government now needs to explain why it wasted €20m on these referendums.
“The people have spoken, it’s their Constitution. They’ve made a wise decision and rejected what I consider to be foolish amendments,” he said.
Micheal McDowell at the RDS earlier. Says the tallies so far show the government is “out of touch with public opinion”.
— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) March 9, 2024
Says €20mn was wasted on these referendums.@thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/HGNXmH99yt
When asked by The Journal what the direction of the results so far says about the Government, he said it shows how they are “obviously out of touch with public opinion”.
“They should be concentrating on housing and issues like that,” he said.
Ryan rejected this idea that the Government is out of touch and said he does not believe the votes were a vote on the Government.
“It was a vote on the merits of both issues,” he said.
McDowell maintained his prediction that the final result will be 60:40 in favour of No.
Over at Dublin Castle, Aontú TD Peadar Tóibín who also campaigned for a No No said the results so far are “looking very positive”.
He told RTÉ News that the referendum was a “David versus Goliath referendum”.
Tóibín said it looks as if leaders of opposition parties like Sinn Féin and Labour are “marooned” from their support base in terms of the issues in these referendums.
“That’s a very dangerous place to be… in advance of an election,” he said.
Opposition parties
Labour leader Ivana Bacik also popped her head into the RDS earlier today alongside Labour Senator Marie Sherlock.
With the Labour party campaigning for a Yes Yes vote, Bacik said the results so far are “very disappointing”.
She lay the blame firmly at the feet of the Government however and said ultimately the blame lies with them.
It was put to Bacik by The Journal that a lot of disability advocates have said they felt betrayed by the position of political parties on the left.
Bacik said her party met with many groups representing people with disabilities and received a great deal of support from them for Labour’s position on a Yes Yes vote.
“The reality is, as we said from the start, we wanted to see a different wording here. And unfortunately, it’s not the wording the Government put forward,” she said.
On why the Government departed from the wording recommended by the Citizens’ Assembly, Ryan said it looked at all of the options but came to the view that it was not possible to accept the various concerns that had been reflected in relation to care.
More reaction to come throughout the day.
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Glad to see staff standing up for themselves. How many stories have been on here recently about staff getting attacked?
It’s a tough job that I wouldn’t like to do , especially when you don’t have ‘back up’ available and an employer who would rather pay injured staff rather than hire more!
Some areas need more staff in the public sector and this is one.
Well done the warders.There is no point in keeping the powder dry all the time and you need to come off the high moral ground every once in a while.
As for those who are upset for the poor prisoners,they have the TV
If I wasn’t happy in my job I’d find a new one.
What a stupid comment!
Staff shortages because of a moratorium on new recruits. Over 100 lads were waiting to start the job after passing medicals and 2 years of apptitude tests and exams..and nothing came of it. Time ran out for those applicants and they must start from scratch again. Joke of a system.
Maybe they should advertise the positions on Jobsbridge
Sack ‘em all
And who would it then Steve? You?
There is a reason the World Health Organisation has classed the Job of Prison Officer as the second most stressfull job after Aircraft Controller.
What most people don’t realise is that of those that initially join the Job over half will leave within the first year when they realise it is not the easy job they thought it was going to be.
The vast majority of the publics knowledge of what is involved in working in a prison comes from heavily edited documentaries and fictional films or drama series.
How many of you go to work knowing that there is a high chance of you not going home at the end of your working day because you are in A&E after being assaulted. How many of you have to be constantly aware of your surroundings and who is around you even when you are off duty and out with your family.
An Officer only recently had his car burnt out outside his home. How many of you have to worry that maybe next time it could be petrol through your letter box.
So if you think that its an easy job and that anyone could do then apply the next time they are taking on Officers and walk the walk then and only then you can talk the talk.
Forbes has a different list, they say taxi driving is more stressful, but whatever floats that chip on your shoulder. Farming is more dangerous than being a PO, chill.
Steve I will take the word of the World Health Organisation. And as for a chip I am not the one that said ” Sack them all” you were.
Muppet
That wall is very high, there’s just no escaping that.
I’d say the staff shortages were a lot worse while they were picketing…
Wouldn’t have happened in Gypsy Joes day
Tonight there’s gona be jailbreak is being sung all over the prison
Tonight there’s gonna be jailbreak, somewhere in this town, but most likely at one of the jails
@ Jack and Mick
Mick I’ve read your comments on here before always to the point with no gloss.
Don’t let the likes of this jack let you lose sight of the work you and your colleagues do.
IPS don’t care if you dont go home to your family after going through that door.
It’s cheaper to pay the claims, as an official from state claims once told me when I asked him about banning smoking in the prison’s, and that was in the presence of our general secretary.
Stay strong and focussed with all groups within , psec, osg, paso grades fight together
Rather misleading headline: Both sides ‘disappointed’ as officers picket outside Cloverhill prison
Pretty sure the lads inside dont give a damn
So, it looks like the gaffer at Cloverhill has a few screws loose……
(putting me coat on ;-) )
Press a button and turn a key – not that hard a job
You should try it sometime. Then see if you make stupid uninformed comments.
Probably shit yourself if you seen the inside of a prison Jack, and yer smart arse would belong to someone.
Please tell me what skill/training is involved? I know a lot of them and they admit they only went in because there were no other secure public service jobs left
Skills/Training. Firstly you have to know the law in relation to prisons, prisoners and anyone entering the prison. You have to know how to deal with the mentally ill, angry violent people and those that are weak afraid and vulnerable. You have to know how to defend yourself and how to deal with a riot situation. You have to know First Aid and fire Fighting. You have to know how the court system works and the different legal documents that go with it. You have to know how to negotiate in a hostage situation. You have to learn situational security awareness, how to read people by their postures and facial expressions. You have to learn to be both an authoritarian figure and social worker combined.
So Jack if you think the Job is so easy why don’t you apply. See if you have the balls to face down an inmate armed with a shiv while you are armed only with your voice and the presence you portray.
All very poetic but you do 99% of this from the other side of a celldoor – Nurses, Guards, Firefighters do this out in the real world.
And you know this how?
Kill them with shop orders & love !!
99%, wow that’s an awful big figure! How did you come up with that? Did you pull it from a dangleberry Bush? There’s no one knocking the excellent work that the Guards, Nurses and Fire Brigade do, don’t knock the unseen thankless work that is done by Prison Staff.
JackMc you asked the Question “Please tell me what skill/training is involved?”
I gave you the answer. Just because it wasn’t the answer you thought you would get because it didn’t fit
into your preconceived ideas.
No Mick, I was just ignoring your pontification. But in response if they built proper prisons we could avoid scenarios like you described, robots could do the same job. Nurses Guards and Firefighters do a job that they joined because they wanted to help people. Can you honestly say POs joined to do that? I don’t think so – it was for the money and the job security.
JackMc nobody but you has mentioned Gardai, Fire Fighters or Nurses all of which do fantastic work. And what in your opinion is a ” proper prison”?
And as for robots. How would a robot deal with an inmate with mental health issues? How would a robot stop one inmate from stabbing/slashing/beating another inmate? How would a robot deal with an attempted suicide? How would a robot man our criminal courts? How would a Robot stop a group of prisoners smashing up and or burning the prison to the ground? How would a Robot deal with the simple day to day issues that entails running a landing? How would a robot feed the inmates?
Be so good to share your knowledge of all things prison related to the rest of us mere mortals.
Ya should of never broke away from 24/7 alliance. Sound
Why?
Why?
A nd 24/7 have done what exactly for the nurses in galway yesterday?
Were the prisoners consulted?
You wouldnt believe how close to the truth you are!
Whingers
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