Greens U-Turn on Civil Unions Bill?

[krayZpaving]

In a move reminiscent (if you can be reminiscent of something that only happened two days ago) of Noel Dempsey's u-turn on driving licences, the Green Party has now indicated that it will be voting against reinstating the Labour Party's Civil Unions Bill 2006.

Yes, readers, that's the same Bill the Green Party voted for last February.

Ciaran Cuffe TD, speaking on yesterday's Newstalk Lunchtime Show, said his party would not be supporting the Bill, despite their wholehearted support just nine months ago.

Here's what Ciaran Cuffe had to say at the time:

Mr. Cuffe: On a cold December day 50 years ago, Rosa Louise Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. She was arrested and put on trial for that act of civil disobedience. She stood up for equality and human and civil rights. I wish the Government had the same courage to support the Labour Party Bill.

I don't think more comment is needed.

More:
Maman Poulet on Cuffe's comments
Breaking News
Irish Examiner

[SPN]

This move by the Labour Party is more about trying to smear the Greens than it is about making something meaningful happen on the real issue.

The Greens have put Civil Unions into the PfG. We now have to advance the case for such a move in such a way that it can be done with the agreement of the more conservative elements in Fianna Fail.

If a Civil Unions Bill cannot carry the support of middle Ireland, then it will not make it through the Dail.

There are lots of good reasons for bringing in such legislation, and there are lots of other categories of co-habitating people who would benefit from a new approach to dealing with succession/inheritance/next-of-kin issues.

What Labour are doing is purely a partisan attempt to smear the Greens. They know there is no way their legislation will be adopted - if they really wanted it to be adopted they would be using a more low key approach.



People campaigning on this issue should think carefully about which approach is going to help them achieve their goal in the shortest possible time:

- The Labour approach of shouting from the ditch and deliberately creating divisions and polarisation in society

or

- The Green approach of trying to win over opponents with an agreed approach.


Think of it this way: Suppose the Labour Party were in Government today with Fianna Fail, and Fine Gael were to reintroduce this Labour Bill. Would you see it as a Fine Gael conversion to cause, or as an attempt to score points off Labour.


This tactic by Labour does nothing to advance the cause it pretends to support, and will probably actually set it back quite a bit.

Pity!

[MarD]

The Greens were wrong then and are right now. Aren't people allowed to change their mind when they see their error.

The proposed Bill is a flawed discriminatory piece of legislation. Howlin should get down of his soap box and tackle some real issues instead of this petty points scoring. The Gov have committed to bringing through legislation on civil unions so why don't the opposition get on with issues the Gov is ignoring.

[Pidge]

This is a tricky one. A huge reason why I'm in the party is because of its support for full same-sex marriage. All the same, I'll settle temporarily for civil unions, since they'll offer at least some of the rights associated with marriage.

As far as I'm concerned, though, civil unions are in the PfG, and I'm happy to get civil unions by working with FF. Otherwise, it's unlikely that we'll be able to pass anything.

[Fnarr-Fnarr]

Lets wait and see what the counter motion being put by the government is before we begin the partisan attacks.

[Rivershannon]

The Greens were wrong then and are right now. Aren't people allowed to change their mind when they see their error.

The proposed Bill is a flawed discriminatory piece of legislation. Howlin should get down of his soap box and tackle some real issues instead of this petty points scoring. The Gov have committed to bringing through legislation on civil unions so why don't the opposition get on with issues the Gov is ignoring.

Fair play to the Greens for seeing the error of their ways. Good PR exercise as well - get the reversal of principled positions out in one news cycle.
Its clear now why they prefer bicycles to cars - much handier and quicker to do a UTurn

[krayZpaving]

The Gov have committed to bringing through legislation on civil unions so why don't the opposition get on with issues the Gov is ignoring.

And here's a perfect opportunity for them to do it. Last time, they said they wanted to put it off for six months (in fact, they voted for that). Well, it's six months later, so let's go.

[Dunny]

Lets wait and see what the counter motion be

Well said..It will be good!!ing put by the government is before we begin the partisan attacks

Well said, i expect it o be good!![/quote]

[meriwether]

The Greens have put Civil Unions into the PfG. We now have to advance the case for such a move in such a way that it can be done with the agreement of the more conservative elements in Fianna Fail.

The thing is thats its difficult for Labour to judge what elements of the PFG:
-The Greens can deliver on
-Cant deliver on
-Need time to deliver the agreement of 'the conservative elements of FF'.

The Labour approach of shouting from the ditch and deliberately creating divisions and polarisation in society

So when the Greens voted FOR said motion a few months back, were they 'shouting from the ditch', 'creating divisions' or 'polarising' society?

Its becoming apparent to me that rather than providing bad government (I understand the notion of compromise) at this stage, there have been numerous perceived backtracks from the Greens on
Tara
Incinerators
Co-Location
Shell to Sea
Civil unions
Ministerial cars
Flouridation.

That the Greens actually provided bad opposition, by jumping on every bandwagon they could find.

Shell to Sea is the perfect example.

This, inevitably, has come back to haunt them, because it provides for eay targets for demonstrations of 'sell-outs' for those who want to say it.

[blucey]

so whos surprised? Fianna Glas is the ecological wing of Fianna Fail. At this juncture, they make the new PD's (PD-lite?) look semi-hemi-demi-not-totally-unattractive.

Wonder what next we will hear from them? Global warming is actually good as it cuts heating bills?