Sir, – As the news filtered out about Senator David Norris, there were cries of “witch-hunt” and suggestions of a hint of orchestration by homophobic forces underlying the revelations.
This is nonsense.
I am not anti-gay. I admire the work that Senator Norris has done and I always listen or watch when he participates in either radio or television. I don’t see anything bad in the man.
My difficulty, when I heard the news on Saturday, was that he wrote on Oireachtas-headed notepaper seeking clemency for a man who had admitted to statutory rape. I have no objection to him trying to do something for his friend. Is there any one of us that would not seek to help a friend in some way when he or she is in trouble? However, when writing on Oireachtas notepaper, he brought the State – all of us – into this.
What Mr Norris did was wrong; and it has nothing to do with his sexuality. Those who are shouting loudest on the themes of witch-hunting and who see an anti-gay conspiracy in every word said in opposition to Mr Norris are, to my mind, those who are making his sexual preference the issue and unwilling to deal with the matter at hand.
The issue today is clear; is it acceptable that a future candidate for the presidency should seek to use his elected office in this way?
There has been enough said in this country since the Ryan, Murphy and Cloyne reports to make clear that, in the area of abuse of a minor, whether today, 20 years ago or 50 years ago, the answer is a resounding “No”. – Yours, etc,
Sir,
– Forgive me if I see in all of this yet another attempt to smear the Norris campaign by a force or forces as yet unknown and at the same time a subtle swipe at pro-Palestinian activism. The source of the latter would be interesting to uncover.
Of course, I could just have a suspicious mind. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – David Norris’s letters may have been portentous and the Israeli legal
establishment will surely feel patronised by
his lecture on how we do things here, but why the furore? Has be suborned anyone, has he as an Irish politician disrupted the legal process or has he tampered with evidence? No. He inadvisedly, but honourably, outlined the character, as he knew it, of someone who was once his partner and who he had
highly respected. That is what
Christians are enjoined to do, to highlight the good in everyone, even the most seriously flawed. He may be daft sometimes, but he is human, decent and erudite. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Aside from Senator David Norris’s letter to the Israeli authorities, questions need to be answered as to why the Department of Foreign Affairs is not informed when our elected representatives make representations to any foreign authority. Surely a protocol should be put in place by the Minister as soon as the presidential election is over. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Is it too much to hope that members of the Irish legislature, such as senators, and members of the hierarchy, such as bishops, be held to the same standard in the important matter of child protection? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – An ill-advised letter written by the front-runner in the presidential campaign, in relation to a criminal prosecution of an Israeli dissident two decades ago, is leaked to the press and seems likely to scupper his campaign.
We are told that a 22-year-old blogger released this information into the public domain as payback for Senator Norris’s “outspoken criticism of Israel”. Whether or not, as also reported, the representatives of Israel were involved in any capacity, this is a disturbing principle, even within the rough and tumble of national and international politics.
Over the past decade, the state of Israel has become increasingly tone-deaf to the advice of even its friends, and increasingly aggressive in attempts to silence its critics. That its supporters should resort to shadowy tactics to punish Mr Norris for speaking out on what many consider gross human rights violations is a case in point.
More disturbing is the fact that this occurred within the context of a campaign to elect the president of a sovereign state.
Whether orchestrated by representatives of Israel or by its supporters, the cynical manipulation of democratic process inevitably recalls the recent use of stolen Irish passports by the state of Israel to facilitate its campaigns of assassination.
The violations of Irish law, neutrality, and sovereignty entailed in this have put the lives of many Irish citizens who travel in politically unsettled parts of the world at risk, my own included.
Should it be demonstrated that a foreign power is once again attempting to meddle in sovereign Irish affairs, it is to be hoped that the Taoiseach will address the matter as robustly and impressively as he did Vatican attempts to interfere with the exercise of Irish law.
Mr Norris clearly has some very serious explaining to do. However, in these circumstances, to deny him an appearance on the ballot paper would be to capitulate to those who have little respect for Irish democracy or sovereignty.
In the end, surely it must be for the Irish people to decide the merits or demerits of both the man and his presidential bid. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – On Senator Norris’s presidential campaign website, he writes: “People should judge me on my record and actions as a public servant, over the past 35 years and on the causes and campaigns for which I have fought”.
Is this to include his impassioned plea for clemency on behalf of a friend and former partner who was convicted in Israel for the crime of statutory rape of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy? Given his record and actions, I had expected him to be defending the rights of Palestinians, not ignoring them. – Yours, etc,