TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said there would be a “significant degree of reluctance” if Ireland established an honours system that would award citizens for their exceptional achievements.
The Private Members’ Bill entitled Gradam an Uachtaráin Bill 2023 has been put forward by Senators Sharon Keogan, Gerard Craughwell, Tom Clonan, Ronan Mullen and Victor Boyhan, and is not being opposed by Government.
If passed by the Oireachtas, citizens who are awarded the honour would be entitled to add the letters G.U. after their name.
The suffix stands for Gradam an Uachtaráin, and would indicate a person has been honoured.
Recipients of the honour would also be presented with a medal which may be worn on formal occasions, and also a lapel button.
Varadkar told reporters this afternoon that there was a good discussion about it at Cabinet today, but said:
“I think it’s fair to say there would be a significant degree of reluctance and unease about going down that route in Ireland.
Our constitution prohibits us from having titles of nobility. In fairness, no one is proposing anything like that.
“We do have Gaisce, which is the President’s Award, already. We have the Distinguished Service Award as well.
“Looking across the world and to other parts of the world, you often see people getting honours for the wrong reasons because of their connections. Then you see people – and I suppose this is inevitable in life – who later in life turn out to be undeserving of those honours.
“I’d be reluctant to go down the route, quite frankly. I think I can speak for the Government in that regard.”
The Taoiseach said that the Government did not want to “shoot the idea down” and so is not opposing the idea to allow further discussion on it.
The Seanad bill comes amid controversy across the water where UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been accused of allowing Boris Johnson to hand out rewards to those involved in the Partygate scandal, including more than 40 honours and peerages for his closest allies at the time.
A spokesperson for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said earlier today that former Taoiseach Enda Kenny had previously written to all parties in 2015 to see if they would be interested in such a honour’s system
However, only Sinn Féin responded, who said it would be in favour of such a system if it had an all-island approach.
The proposed bill is a resurrection of the previous proposal, that would see a maximum of 12 people per year conferred with the honour.
Any decision to award the honour of Gradam an Uachtaráin would be solely at the discretion of the Gradam an Uachtaráin Awarding Council.
In order to preclude the possibility of political interference, it is proposed that the serving member of the Dáil or the Seanad would not be allowed to engage with any member of the Awarding Council with the intention of influencing the making of a decision in relation to the selection of a candidate.
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