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As members of the Green Party, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil debate the merits of the new programme for government, the leaders of the Greens arguably have the toughest task getting the deal over the line, with two-thirds of the party’s membership needed to carry the proposal.
As the battle for the hearts and minds of the Irish green movement begins, we invited two representatives with opposing views to state their case. RISE TD for Dublin South-West, Paul Murphy has written a letter to Green Party members asking them to reject the deal, while here, Green MEP Ciarán Cuffe says this is an armistice moment that must be grasped:
WHAT CAN YOU actually achieve in politics? For an ideologically-driven party like the Greens, it is a question we consider every day. Sure, we all want to save the planet, and bring about a just transition, but what changes can you actually achieve within the constraints of Government? Opposition is easy, but Government is tough, particularly for smaller parties like ourselves.
Every vote, every amendment, and every decision is a series of compromises. The draft programme for government ‘Our Shared Future’ reflects those choices. However, from a Green party perspective, there is a lot to like.
A commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% over the coming decade would be a huge achievement, and although it still would not align with what climate science dictates, it would show the world what can be done. A commitment to retrofitting 500,000 homes to a B2 energy rating by 2030 would be extraordinary.
Timing is everything and with the arrival of Covid-19, it’s obvious now that these are not normal times. As the pandemic struck, the European Investment Bank announced that they would end financing for fossil fuel energy projects from the end of next year.
A new departure for a new normal
Some of the language in the draft programme is transformational: ending Direct Provision; providing cost rental housing; and spending €360m a year on walking and cycling. The adoption of these measures would be timely, but other measures such as the provision of free contraception for women aged 17-25, and ‘baby boxes’ to all new parents underscores the role of the state in taking care of its citizens.
A lesson from the Covid-19 crisis is that the State can and should assist its people in providing services that are needed. A focus on public health, public transport, and public housing is required as we move to a new normal dictated by these extraordinary times.
None of this will happen overnight. There are of course areas where we didn’t succeed in negotiations, but that is inevitable given the Green Party’s representation in the Dáil. There’s a lot of commitments to reviews rather than actions, but that can be the start of effecting change.
We are still in mid-crisis, and rebooting our economy within the health constraints of the pandemic will be hugely challenging. If our membership decides that we should enter Government (and the bar is set high at two-thirds support of our voting membership) there will be difficult calls to make in the coming months and years.
However, if we sit at the cabinet table we have a voice and take part in the decision-making process. I accept that if you’re in opposition you can provoke debate, and on occasion bring about change.
No time to ‘hurl from the ditch’
With interest rates the lowest in living memory, now is the time to borrow to invest in a low-carbon future. Bord na Móna announced on Tuesday that it will suspend peat harvesting activities and prioritise peat rehabilitation. Meanwhile, the EU has trebled its funding for a ‘Just Transition’ in coal and peat extraction regions. That means more green jobs.
This is an armistice moment that must be grasped. These opportunities happen at best once a decade. When the planet is burning, it is not a time to argue over the colour of the fire engine.
We can seize the opportunity of the European Green Deal, announced by the Commission last year. It lays out plans to make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050. We need to embrace this opportunity for low-carbon employment, or we can wait for a progressive political alliance that may never emerge.
As an MEP I can see that the language of politics is changing: the circular economy is now centre-stage; zero pollution and low-carbon solutions permeate our discussions, and the Sustainable Development Goals inform our debates.
There is a golden opportunity here to marry climate action with social justice, and while the text of the programme isn’t perfect, it allows us to take action on issues that we have campaigned on for years. There are commitments to more protection for renters; to enacting hate crime legislation; and a new National Action Plan Against Racism. Such measures can bring about a fairer Ireland.
There is an extraordinary opportunity to be seized now in 2020, where the Green Party can make real the ideas that we believe in, and take responsibility for changing the world. We should grasp this moment and enter government.
In the words of Barack Obama’s former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel: “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
Ciarán Cuffe is a Green Party MEP for Dublin. You can read the full programme for government here.
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To all those who argue that these celebrities shouldn’t take photographs of themselves naked if they don’t want them to be seen, or to claim that they are deserving of these photos being shared because they placed them in a digital storage, think again.
This is a basic issue of consent and these peoples rights have been violated. It makes no difference that these people are public figures, they did not give agree to these images to be used, it really is that simple.
What if you or your family? What if pictures you had taken of your children or nieces and nephews in the school play, or on the beach, in the swimming pool were shared all over the internet, would that be ok? Or would you shake your head and say, well it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have taken them in the first place.
When you store an image in “the cloud” or for instance Facebook it is no longer just yours. All these apps have in the privacy agreement that even if you delete the account the photos and data will be retained. Why in the name of jaysis would you back up images and videos of yourself having sex.
I don’t get this binary way of looking at blame. Is it ok to burgle people’s houses? Of course it isn’t. Does that mean it’s sensible to leave your front door open when you go on holiday? No, it doesn’t.
Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t deserve to have her privacy violated, but what in Santa’s name was someone that famous doing allowing naked photos of herself to be uploaded to a cloud server?
Information is backed up automatically. Some celebs stated that they had deleted their photos and yet they were still backed up on the cloud. Its great for important things you don’t want to lose but for intimate content there should be a way to avoid having them backed up and be able to discard them permanently.
On Android, my photos are constantly being pushed to Google Drive despite my turning off auto-backup. Its lazy implementation on Apple and Google’s part.
Give me a break. These stupid comparisons are laughable. Having nude photos of yourself on an online server is stupid, especially if you are a celebrity. What do you think was going to happen with them if the servers were hacked? Exactly what is happening now. I realise they didn’t intentionally upload the photos and it is a crime, but at the same time, wake up and realise how your devices work and turn off the stuff that plays with your data.
My phone has an auto-backup option to the cloud for all files and data on my phone (a lot of phones do), and it is one of the first things I turned off when I got the phone. Don’t be so naive in this day and age. These are the things you need to check. Companies LOVE you data, don’t let them have it. Keep the stuff you want to remain personal and private well away from anything relating to the internet.
@Joanna, I call bullsh!t on that. I use Android and nothing on my phone gets backed up to anything because I made it my business to thoroughly go through the phone and make sure everything of that nature was set to off. But anyways, if you are going to take intimate pictures with your phone, use a camera with its own memory card. There is no chance of a photo taken on a camera getting uploaded to anything. Phones are all too convenient and breaches of personal data are the result, as this case shows.
Call bullsh!t all you like. I definitely turned it off via gallery settings. It must have been turned back on somewhere else without my realising. Bit of a pain if you ask me.
They backed it up online because they assumed it was safe. Not everyone is computer savvy enough to know about the hacking weakness of cloud computing. A hell of a lot more people know now which is a good thing but it’s unfair to say it’s the celebs involves fault because they weren’t cynical by default regarding the cloud computing sales pitch.
@Joanna, if you definitely turned it off why is it still working? You need to turn it off by google account sync options and backup settings as well. It is a pain in the ass to find all the ways it resyncs, etc. but that’s the trouble you have to go through with smartphones unfortunately.
I have no sympathy for her what so ever, if you buy a product and you don’t understand how exactly it works, what privileges and permissions you give or the terms and conditions and save your naked pics to something you have no knowledge about other than the fact its called a cloud.
I don’t see how anyone can defend her, if you want privacy you have to ensure it for yourself and generally now If you want a “free” app the price you really pay for is your data and information.
This has been highlighted in so many documentaries and internet campaigns now at this stage it’s beyond me why someone would think ah sure I’ll save them to something I have no notion about.
Check out a documentary called “terms and conditions may apply” it’s on Netflix and it’s a good explainer of what these terms and conditions mean and the consequences they have.
If anyone has a Linkdn account check out what you agreed to in the terms and conditions and you may be shocked at how much of yourself you give away by just ticking a box to get rush through a set up.
Shouldn’t be the way, Alan. If I have to make an effort to protect my privacy then Apple and Google do not have their customers’ best interests in mind. There’s no excuse for sh!tty customer service.
Joanna, of course they don’t have your best interests in mind! They have their own, and they use your data to make tons of money. Your searches, clicks, likes, location (photos are also location tagged), etc. are all gold dust for advertising. The second you sign up for a google account or buy a smart phone your data/privacy is compromised somewhat, in these celebs case, altogether. It’s not limited to your phone either. Your web browser on your laptop or desktop is tracked as well.
Here is an interesting experiment: download and open the Firefox web browser and install an addon called Lightbeam. With Lightbeam opened in one tab, open one of your frequently visited sites in another. Click back to Lightbeam and it will show you all the third party trackers and sites that are sniffing your clicks, likes, duration of time spent on page, etc. It’s scary stuff. LOL, this page alone has 20!
If people want to make their browser more secure here are a few tips:
- Use Firefox!
- Install these addons:
– Ghostery: identifies and gives you the option to block third party trackers and sites on all web pages you visit.
– HTTPS Everywhere: enables secure https on all pages you visit.
If you want private searches:
- Don’t use google, yahoo, bing, etc!
- Use DuckDuckGo: a search engine dedicated to privacy and doesn’t store your browsing history or IP address.
- Use Ixquick: similar to DuckDuckGo but it goes one better and encrypts all your searches using secure SSL.
Just my two cents :)
@Joanna……in which case why are you using such a phone ? Just go an get a ‘brick’ phone, and problem solved.
O.o I use it for many other things the Smartphone can provide.
It’s not lazy Joanna, it’s intentional. Apple, Google etc. want to own your data.
@Joanna you wouldn’t use a smartphone or any other kind of social media or fill in an online submission form if you actually read the terms and conditions.
From the moment you created your google account to use your phone you gave google all the power to do what ever they want with your information.
It’s well known but some people like you seem to still wanna trust the multi billion profit driven companies. They wouldn’t be making a profit if they had your best interests at heart.
Accept it or get rid of it, this is what happens when people willy nilly don’t give a rats when they here of internet legislation being passed.
Educate yourself on the services you avail of. Like I said above if you have a Linkd in account look at what you agreed to when you signed up
Eh, Gary I don’t trust em at all. I’m in the software industry and know damn well. Unfortunately I need Google’s services for work and the like.
Well complaining about it now isn’t going to change anything, you and everyone else is dependant on it so they have a monopoly and it will never change unless things like this constantly happen, whether you want to believe it or not its true.
It just goes to show how easily trust these companies with their data jusy because they are a well known name.
And if you work in the software industry surely you should be capable of turning off automatic backup of your photos and what not? Says alot I suppose if you struggle with this yet depend on it at the same time.
O.o like I said, I had turned it off and it turned back on again somewhere else, probably while using Google Drive. I’m in front of a screen so much it’s hard to say.
Not sure I care for your attitude. If you were given bad service or product offline would you go “oh well! They have the monopoly and just want your money what can you do?” Or would you make a complaint as is your right as a consumer? All we can do is voice our dissatisfaction. It’s up to existing companies to listen to us before somebody else will.
I dint think it says anywhere in these terms and conditions that someone can hack youre account and steal you’re private pictures. Idiotic comment. You can’t agree in any contract to allow a crime to be commited against you and that’s exactly what’s happened these celebrities. Nice try at sounding smart but it’s never the victims fault when a crime like this has happened against them
I havent looked at these pics but im going to have to download now to see what a naked motel looks like
It’s like a normal motel without any curtains
It raises the question. How safe is cloud computing?
Antonov, I doff my hat to you! This must surely be the most inspired, subtle, and delicately nuanced pun in the history of thejournal.
I love the moral high ground that the media is taking on this. I went to thesun.ie for a laugh. Sure enough their headline is about this hacking, but scroll down the page and they have a paparazzi picture of Radamel Falcao and his girlfriend/wife/partner, further down there is a picture of Nicole Scherzinger, all of them in their beach clothes. Hypocrisy at its finest. Even thejournal does it. Was the picture of Lily Allen here (http://thedailyedge.thejournal.ie/lily-allen-wardrobe-malfunction-1625728-Aug2014/) published on this site with her permission?
As Peter Griffin would say, oh my god, who the hell cares!?
If you are dumb enough to put nude pictures of yourself on an internet connected device, you get what you deserve. Dopes and clowns the lot of them
Shane, do you use email or internet banking? If someone managed to access your account and steal money or valuable or private personal data would you be making the same arguments?
If we went by your logic we’d all be stuffing money in the mattress, women wouldn’t go out after dark, and we’d all be too petrified to cross a road.
Shane you’re dumb enough to post on the Journal through an unprotected Facebook account =P What’s Cratloe like BTW?
Cratloe is wonderful! I have nothing online I’d be ashamed of our embarrassed by.
I’ve avoided online banking as I don’t trust it so what’s your point?
Eh, what about that search history Shane? Think of all those things you typed into google.
If you’re dumb enough to own nice things you deserve to get them stolen, if you’re dumb enough to park you’re car in public you deserve to get it vandalised. See how stupid you sound
Comments on here are making me sick. Typical victim blaming decrying these women for having the audacity to callout those who stole their private data (some deleted many years before) instead of being disgusting at the misogynists who posted, stole an viewed these images instead.
Why is the journal giving this so much much publicity. Surely it’s not helping matters.
The FBI should spend their time tracking down child pornographers online not helping these rich pampered princesses.
Because they’re such a small organisation and they can only do one thing at a time, right?
They do. So do Interpol. They have sections with specially trained agents to go after child pronographers.
As for the “rich pampered princesses” – why does the fact that Lawrence is successful in her chosen field take away her basic human right to privacy? This is not far from the argument about the phone hacking. Celebrities were “fair game” and nobody gave a shit. What happened then? The journalists were held to account and then begun on the “average” persons such as the Dowler family.
If we ignore this crime for what it is – a gross violation of privacy – simply because they are famous, then it’s a slippery slope downwards when it’s fair game to post private images of anyone. Think of that when/if your phone is next stolen – images of your kids could be sold to peadophiles, compromising pictures of yourself could be posted online, text messages between you and your family/friends could be used as humous examples of autocorrect gone wrong. There is a whole host of shit someone can do to you against your wishes by a criminal act. It shouldn’t be belittled, no matter who the person is.
Anita well said and spot on !! Mike your comment is asinine !
A woman is a pampered Princess because she happens to be a well know actor? Because she happens to be rich.? Check your misogyny please. A woman, rich, famous or pampered or all three enjoys the same rights to privacy as we all do. You actually sound jealous. Sad really.
Wow, lot of support for child pornography here!
Poor Jennifer lawerence,
For the last two years she has fallen at the Oscars twice…
Next year if she’s nervous,
she should try picturing everyone naked..
She’d be back on Cloud nine straight away…
I’ve been doing a bit of probing myself, any seem to find them anywhere
*cant
Did you try turning it on and off again?
Yep, several times
Dirty cant ! Lol
If you use Facebook the death&taxes page had a link to them in their reporting of the story
Lousy and all that this is for the women involved, it might make some youngsters think twice before taking pics of themselves in the nip. I know I won’t be doing it again!
For future reference to the user of the internet. Between the hackers and the NSA any and all information is going to be accessed / hacked in some way shape or form. Nothing is secure when it comes to the internet.
… Which is probably why Mary E Winstead deleted her photos a long time ago. Future reference is not apparently enough.
Again it’s not a crime or a shaming offence to have taken these photos. It is a crime to steal them.
True Noirin but if we can educate the next generation to be more protective of their personal data in a world where we use the internet more and more at least it something.
And in the case of Mary E Winstead were she deleted the photos years ago. I think she / perhaps all of should be asking Apple. “Why doesn’t delete mean delete anymore”?
Mary e Winstead.. If you are gonna get your tats out for a camera “in the privacy of your own home” please be aware that there is a risk that some day, some one might see these pics..
So dont blame people for wanting an eyeful, cos we are all nosey..
Having said that i’ve not seen any photos of these “fabulous celebrities” cos they bore me to tears.
That’s precisely what dirty old men say to girls who wear short skirts. You can’t blame us for our nosey nature … You chose to make yourself look like that so how can I be expected to be responsible.
Actually I expect you to be responsible for your actions irrespective of how I am dressed, regardless of how easy it was to look the pictures up on the internet.
Consent – not just something required for Facebook apps y’know
Well said Noirin!
Sinead, please continue with your “slut” shaming. it’s good to know you’re a proper good girl even if you are nosy by your own admission. A peeping tom is also nosy but we do not accept his right to engage in such behaviour but you apparently do in this case simply because the medium here is digital. It’s truly sad to see some women so happy to jump on-line and to judge and shame other women and make the victim feel as if she is the guilty party. Women are disproportionately the victim of incidents like these and disproportionately impacted.
We all do a great deal in the privacy of our own homes. Privacy is a basic human need. Yet you make it sound like everything private should be fair game due to modern technology and if we fall afoul then we are to blame. We need to insist on a basic right to privacy and the consent of people to use photographs like this. This “hacker” is simply a digital sex offender and should be found and prosecuted.
Sinéad, the internet is just a tool, like any other we use. It makes things easier and faster but the same rules of human behaviour still apply, don’t you think?
So remove the camera and digital storage from the equation. Imagine the viewer is just one person who is trespassing, having hopped a high fence and is staring through a window. Do you still think she isn’t entitled to privacy, because she chose to be naked in a room with a window? Do you not think the trespasser should be prosecuted? Maybe added to a sex offenders register? What if he had done it to several women in the neighbourhood, or what if instead of just peering in he took photos and sold or distribute him to millions. What if it was your home and you were the victim? Would you sill feel the same? I’d love to hear your answer
Couldn’t have put it better John.
I would only add that anyone viewing these images is complicit and should be investigated, convicted and punished accordingly.
Why stop there Conor? They should be publicly hung and their bodies dragged through the streets. The outrage brigade are out in force today!
Whats it like up there on your high horse Sinead? Give us a break! Everyone is entitled to basic privacy, I haven’t looked at these leaked pictures because not all of us are as nosy as you wrongfully assume.
John R.. Husbands taking pictures of their wives topless is not “slutty” behaviour.. Very sad attitude
It hasn’t been widely reported, but there was a rise in twitter tag “support Jennifer Lawrence” with young women posting pics of themselves in solidarity. However from what I’ve read, this was a social engineering activity by the same people who released the photos in the first place… Kicking it off through photos of random strangers posted through faked accounts and suggesting the campaign.
Some clever-clogs did the same with a Twitter cameltoe challenge, in support of cervical cancer
Ahahaha morons gonna moron
Much ado blah blah blah……….
Fair play journal for having a link to the pictures so we can all see what the fuss is about !
Blaming the women for having these photos in the first place is classic Victim Blaming, ie. She was asking to be raped in that short skirt. Women are well used to victim blaming, it’s getting old.
When will we ever change?
This whole thing turns my stomach. These photos must be like walking into someone’s bedroom, how embarrassing for the walker. I’d be mortified to see them. And the horrific comments on Twitter being sent to these women commenting on their anatomies and by other WOMEN!
Jesus, when did the humanity leave us?
Don’t you mean model kate upton not motel
FBI – Federal Boobie Inspectors
How can people not have any sympathy towards these women? These were private photos that had to be hacked on cloud servers by some cretinous individual. Okay, yes it was a naive of them to think that it was perfectly safe to use that, but it reflects so poorly on society that there are people who refer to these women as slutty. The lack of empathy for them is sad. Take the fact that they are celebrities out of the equation. They are human beings. They are someone’s daughter, sister, wife, girlfriend. How would you feel if that was done to a member of your own family or friends.
I really hate what this has become, I think she should get over it and move on. There are endless nude pictures online of random people that have been put online in the exact same way and why is it that just because she’s famous that it’s becoming this huge man hunt and the FBI are now getting involved? I’m sorry but anyone who has a brain knows that yes there is a certain level of privacy with putting your personal data in a cloud server but the rule goes that once it’s online then it’s immediately at risk, more so than if it was just on a computer or whatever. Get over it!
It’s bad enough that these individuals have had their privacy violated, and that alone would merit investigation (just as it would for non-celebrities), but there’s an additional motivation for investigating and prosecuting in this case. If society says it’s ok for her – that she’s “fair game” – then society says it’s ok for everyone. Which it isn’t. It’s absolutely not ok. It’s completely wrong to violate a person’s privacy in this way and when someone does it they should be punished. Ideally, that should be in a court of law. However, failing that, a good old fashioned public shaming (of the perpetrator rather than the victim) would be a step in the right direction.
Yes but if someone wants true privacy they shouldn’t be putting their pics up in a cloud server. Anyone with a good grasp of how the online world works knows that once your files are online they immediately become less safe. I think it’s a lot naive of someone, especially of her celebrity to put those pics online. It’s also ridiculous to say that it’s justified that the FBI get involved because for your average person that would never happen, that’s just the truth. Yes I do agree that everyone deserves their privacy but I live in the real world and there are risks involved when you put your files in a cloud server, does anyone ever read the terms and conditions when subscribing to these things…. Probably not. If we wanted to treat every case of a breaching of online privacy in the same way as this one then the police force would probably have to expand their numbers tenfold.
Some celebs mind, some don’t it seems. For example I caught a glimpse of Nikki Minaj’s new video online recently. Pretty sure they will be using it as a training tool for proctologists. I know s*x sells but a musical colonoscopy?
some people out to give apple a bad image before their upcoming big launch on sept 9th perhaps?
See I agree with some ppl here, the way the media is reacting to this is quite funny really. If this had not been Jennifer lawerence I think the whole thing would be handled differently by media but as she the Hollywood’s golden girl at the minute it’s the crime of the century. The media loves nothing more than destroying young female celebrities for their weight, clothes etc. The media will show images often taken without consent and often showing topless celebs etc but I guess that’s ok because the media did it? I think it’s horrible what’s been done but I think that the reaction is funny. How can media out fits or people in general take the moral high ground. Think of all the sex tapes that have leaked, private ones. Rather than showing sympathy the media prefers to blast usually the women in these scenarios and turn it into a joke. There has been other occasions where pictures have leaked and depending on who the celeb is they either geT the piss taken or sympathy. So media suggests that certain women deserve better treatment than others, is that ok? Is it ok to snap sneaky pics of peope when they believe they are in a private setting and then rip them apart piece by piece, comment on their weight, skin etc etc. The problem is not this one event, its the celebrity culture created by the media because if sites like the journal really cared about the privacy of these women they would not cover the story at all
The media and the journal must know that by reporting on this they are almost definitely encouraging some people to find the pictures by continually reporting it.
It’s disgusting that these women’s privacy was invaded and it’s sick the images are out there but the general celebrity culture is no different at all and it’s time the media points that finger back at themselves and stop faking this moral high ground which they cannot justify having.
have your say