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SCOUT LEADER KIERNAN Gildea dropped out of the race for the position of Chief Scout after receiving a nasty e-mail that made insinuations about his private life and suitability for the role.
The 58-year-old told The Irish Scouter website about the experience, saying it caused ‘a physical and mental breakdown’.
“Insinuations and threats were made in the email, which put into question my suitability to be an adult in Scouting.”
Gildea said he had always kept his sexuality ‘low key’ and the email triggered repressed guilt he had felt about being gay and threw him into a depression.
The message triggered a flood of bad feelings about myself and convinced me that I was letting everyone in my life down in the most hurtful way and that the principles that I strive to live by were all a lie.
“I had no time to think straight – I had collapsed – and it was only a few hours to voting.”
LadyPennyworth / TwitterExclusive Interview with Kiernan Gildea http://t.co/s1gIduSTTW via @wordpressdotcom@mrgaygalway @PantiBliss please read this.
— LadyPennyworth (@Lady_Pennyworth) August 19, 2015
Gildea also discussed how he had been depressed after the death of a colleague in Kenya in 1997 and the letter brought back some of those feelings:
All the years of repressed fear around being gay alongside a deep sense of guilt and responsibility for what happened in Kenya flooded over me.
However, he was quick to point out that he does not believe homophobia is widespread in Scouting in Ireland.
“I believe the overwhelming majority of people in Scouting are kind, decent people who believe in fairness, inclusivity and openness…there are clearly a small minority – a tiny minority – who do not.”
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Personally I read that as some council lads still want to be able to do favours for people by cranking planning while insisting on a strictly insane rules that force people to have tiny windows or that don’t let new buildings be new as in a new design rather than the big standard. Without the power sure they are no better than the rest of us, where’s the fun in that like.
@Peter: Maybe, but on the other side of the coin we have developers dictating planning decisions, and that can’t be good for anyone. There has to be a regulated middle ground.
@Boyne Sharky: don’t get me wrong, I think the whole process needs to be cleaned up and made simple and consistent all over the country. I have heard of people being told the house planned should be double the size while others only a mile away told to make it smaller. Currently the whole thing is based on what the planning officer likes basically which is completely insane.
How many councillors is this country can honestly say they have any expertise in urban/rural planning? Travel around any part of Ireland and you will see the consequences of this.Taclky throughfares in every city and developer led housing monstrosities everywhere to extract the greatest profit.
And they were doing such a grand job ……… !
Less brown envelopes for them. Disgusting
Farewell to Parish-Pump politics, and good riddance!
Clueless Councillors now worried they won’t be able to sort out their local friends and relatives by green-lighting dodgy developments or by blocking necessary planning permissions. No more boring white bungalows with awful columns blighting the countryside.
People seem to be jumping on the councilors side of things here. Probably correctly so. But do we really want developers to be able to build what they want where they want it?
They sold their souls 20 years ago, for more money and increased pension benifits, Cant have it both ways, Whole system needs major overhaul, not what you know, But Who ??.
have your say