“The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.”
Thomas Jefferson

Does she know the constituition is meant to protect people from the government?

A permanent referendum commission? Ah!.. The government must have discovered a new bunch of cronies looking for “jobs”
see continued revelations tomorrow: http://www.ottosbunker.com

Jobs for the boys and when they retire let’s give them a huge pension………

“Acted wrongfully” more like broke the f**king law. It just sickens me…

I think Joan should shut her mouth and do her job. She is not being paid the bloated salary that she’s on for ‘if’s’ or ‘maybes’. Get the Dept of Social Welfare sorted and keep the idle speculation to yourself.

Great– Another quango…

If its government backed it would be absolutely pointless, as this weekends referendum showed anything this government touches becomes a shambles. Very much like anything Bruton comes up with

The most dangerous place in the world is standing between Joan Bruton and a microphone and/or camera. Rentaquote.

Dear Sir/ Madam,

This afternoon as I sat on a bench in the shadow of the statue of the inimitable Oscar Wilde, I pondered for some time, to the shrill gleeful cries of playing children on that most Joycean conundrum, “the ineluctable modality of the visible “. A solitary swallow flew, as a chill north wind blew, across the square and the sky in an instance went from blue to dark grey and small sad raindrops began to fall ever so slowly one by one like teardrops from the soulful sky; as I surmised as to the character of, or in some cases lack of, of the individuals who presided within that great Monument to Palladian Architecture of a by- gone age, sans- souci ,with its uniform columns and its aging facade, intentionally opaque . Today in the cold hard light, the sad grey brick work of Chateau D’espair on Merrion Square looked all the more austere against the dark grey Dublin sky line.

It was once remarked by the wife of a former American Ambassador to Ireland , ” that the Irish had no sense of outrage “. A damming accusation indeed.

Given the paltry, apathetic, negligent turn -out for the Children’s Referendum last Saturday; and in the dim light of its having been passed , only just , in the dark shadow of the last minute Supreme court ruling of last Thursday . Which upheld Mark Mc Crystal’s challenge to the Government’s website and booklet on the Referendum as being : “not fair , equal or impartial “.

This decision the electorate was made aware of, all be it at the last minute . So in light of this please allow me to add to the damming aforementioned accusation, the accusation of a severe lack of principle, to our sadly ever growing list of character defects.

I make this accusation , as surely anyone of principle , should have on principle , voted no. Thus obliging our arrogant , astucious , disingenuous elected representatives to elect to have a second, but this time around ; a fair, equal, impartial and honest referendum, on this very important issue.

The Principle I refer to of course is not the principal , of the massive loans/promissory notes which certain unprincipled individuals allowed to be assumed , on behalf of the Irish nation. This of course, should be obvious to anyone of integrity/principle and is simply for the benefit of certain politicians and individuals of the same hew .

A lass the principle I refer to of course is a far loftier principle which I fear some individuals have no hope of ever grasping. No more , nor no less than they do the meaning of life or indeed the right to life, or the right to die . That’s for another Referenda . These subjects I am sure, some not fair , equal or impartial individuals will attempt to mislead the electorate on.

Dwight D . Eisenhower once said : “a people that values its privileges above its principles soon looses both “. None the less certain politicians in this country continue to hold on to ludicrously bench marked salaries . In a Dáil that has statistically been show to be top heavy by at least 60% . That is, based on a similar sized economy/country , per head of capita etc. Further more, to their shame certain politicians feign to have their hands tied regarding the outrageous salaries given to the senior management of the now begrudgingly state owned banks .

Sanctimoniously , these same individuals add insult to injury by paying lip service to the issue of children’s rights. They would however, appear to be breaking the law, by illegally using state funds to conduct a ,”not fair , equal or impartial “, Referendum. As a wise man once said : “when those who make the laws break the laws , then there is no law”.

These same bumbling individuals preside as our elected representatives in a state where hitherto fore there have existed ample laws to protect and safeguard vulnerable children. None the less , the rate of child homelessness is practically Dickensian in its tragedy.”Please sir can i have some more”. Indeed.

Speaking of bumbling incompetence , a principle which seems to hold true with regard to a lot of our elected representatives and I might add senior , grossly over payed civil servants is of course the Peter Principle , which states : “that in an organizational hierarchy every employee will rise or get promoted to his or her level of incompetence “.

Please Messrs , we don’t want any more of these supposed princes of politics dancing around important issues pertaining to the well being of children and most needy in our society, as nimbly as Dickens ‘ Artful dodger. The prince and the pauper, surely everyone knows that never the Twain shall meet.

Every cynical budget cut to the genuinely, vulnerable and needy in our society , has been like another thin leaf of fine gold plucked from Oscar Wilde ‘s gilded, happy prince . When will we develop a sense of out rage ? When will we acquire some principles ? Will we pluck the red ruby from the happy princes sword hilt ? Will we allow the happy prince to loose the two sapphires he has for eyes ? must the happy prince become blind , before the people of Ireland finally see the light ?

Yours sincerely ,

Denis Doyle.

Is it not time to abolish the current constitution and draw up a new relevant modern one? It would be a challenging and at times complex political social and legal process but could avoid the whole almost annual rigmarole of trying to make a silk purse from a sows ear. True periodic amendments would always be required but there are alot of issues with our current constitution that could be updated or resolved once and for all, in one big sweep.

Mmmmm…let’s all guess who might get a junket (oops, position) on such a commission!!!!!

There should be a permanent referendum commission headed by the supreme court and only the commission should be allowed provide information on any referendum and no political party should be allowed to publicly give their opinion to the people via a media posters booklets and let the public be informed by the supreme court only. maybe it would cut out vagueness from the wording,as the supreme court could check the working of any amendments for any shortcomings.

When are we gonna have a real referendum like reducing the amount of foreigners in this country. people like me and them cant get jobs becasue of em!

@ Jim Walsh……i agree with you Jim, but isn’t it pointless having more referendums when nobody gives a damn one way or another…..What’s the point of having a vote if you don’t use it, either yes or no….Is that to much to ask the citizen’s of this country….We are waiting for the children’s referendum for 20 years, and the children’s hospital for 15 years, and since we appear to be going in the right direction now, what do we get, negativity at it’s best…..