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MINISTER FOR CHILDREN Roderic O’Gorman has hit out at ”homophobic” attempts on social media to link him to views which purport to condone paedophilia.
It follows days of social media claims about the Green TD and his views, and linking him to high-profile UK LGBT activist Peter Tatchell, with whom he was photographed at Dublin’s Pride march in 2018.
Tatchell, who has been a human rights and LGBT rights campaigner since the 1970s, has been criticised for a 1997 letter to the Guardian newspaper about sex between adults and children.
Hundreds of other Twitter and other social media posts have been posted recent days making claims about the recently-appointed minister and his views.
An online petition was also launched calling for the Green TD to resign from his role.
In a statement posted on Twitter this morning, O’Gorman said he would not allow the claims linking him to Tatchell to stand uncorrected, saying they were “rooted in homophobia, stoked by anonymous, far-right Twitter accounts”.
“I met Peter Tatchell once and took a photo. That was the only time I have met him,” the minister said.
“I knew of him as someone who stood up for LGBT people in countries where their rights were threatened. I was surprised to read some quotes from the 90s, which I had not read before.
“Any of those views would be completely abhorrent to me. I’m glad to see he’s clarified and explained that what is being alleged isn’t his view.”
In a letter to The Guardian newspaper in 1997, Tatchell wrote about the “positive nature” of some child-adult sexual relationships, saying some of his friends had made a “conscious choice” to have sex with adults from the ages of nine to 13.
“While it may be impossible to condone paedophilia, it is time society acknowledged the truth that not all sex involving children is unwanted, abusive and harmful,” the letter said.
However, a post on Tatchell’s website from 2011 says that he does not condone adults having sex with children.
Responding to a tweet last week linking him to O’Gorman, Tatchell also claimed the original letter was edited, but he noted that he said that sex with children was “impossible to condone”.
He added: “This means I condemn and oppose it.”
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Well done lads. People homeless and good educated kids leaving the Country in the thousands and all they worry about is a prayer. Well Trump will have the last laugh on these politicians and I hope he recinds the invite for Paddys Day to them
@linda o keeffe: The opposition,that’s why they lost the election.
@Gerard Mahady: top comment 100% the invasion and erosion of our culture and land by Islam enabled by our liberal left government and opposition and sure we the people are all far right better watch what we say especially after the Garda bugging of journalists in our so called democracy freedom of speech will be a distant memory
@Gerard Mahady: They’d introduce it, if they could!
@I’m a robot Robot: we have established right wing parties only very recently. They are very inexperienced and it will take a few years for people to trust them handling our problems. It will inevitably happen where we will get an actual right wing party. Next election will definitely see a growth in right wing parties popularity. 8 years time there will be a right wing party in charge no doubt. Just look across Europe. Reform UK were established recently, and didn’t get voted in because people didn’t trust them handling the money because of their inexperience. Now Nigel Farge is favourite to be the next prime minister of the UK. (Check Paddy Power). Right wing parties are winning in Sweden, Austria, Denmark, US, Canada, Australia, NZ, Germany, Italy, Poland etc. It’s inevitable thankfully
@Joe Willis: reply meant for David
Nope!!!!
@Dman: why not?
@Darius Guppy: Why change it? The country didn’t vote for the opposition.
@Daniel Roche: Ridiculous comment and how did the opposition get elected, osmosis?
It would be much better if the state took the church to court for the hundreds of millions, still owed, to the people of Ireland for what happened to our citizens.
@Jimmy Donovan: That will get silence guaranteed Mr Donovan ,many moments me thinks.
@Jimmy Donovan:
Hundreds of Millions from where? What do you thinks the market values of cathedrals, monasteries and churches are? Mostly negative equity considering the maintenance costs.
We are facing dangerous times and this . Please don’t waste our time with nonsense. The best can can be managed are compensation schemes, which mean the we the taxpayers pay, for state negligence 50 + years ago. BTW these compensation /redress schemes should be out, they are totally abused with false and exaggerated claims
@Antony Stack: The Vatican Bank ,I believe they are quite liquid ,maybe there ,what you think before we start selling Cathedrals?
Excellent. No place for religion in politics
@FoxyBoiiYT: The opposition lost the election.
@FoxyBoiiYT: NO Place for any religion in these times. It’s easy to start a Cult!
@Daniel Roche: You must be a detective?
A prayer gets first headline over TD’s declaring any additional income & liabilities !!
.
Let us pray.
@Tom: Praying? While Homeless people haven’t a prayer of getting a roof over their head’s! Beautiful Hypocrisy Isn’t!???
Half their time is spent governing themselves, and the other half is spent solving the problems of other countries.
What a shower of wasters.
Good to see they’re focusing on the important things ffs.
At last. They are really getting something done up there…….
@Oh Mammy: yes, they have loads to do and prayer is a waste of time. They don’t need a moment of reflection either, it’s codswallop.
None of the above ideas will ever come to fruition. All I can see is the moment of reflection being brought in. As your asking a Minister to be held accountable, your making me laugh writing this. As it’s the Civil Servants who are wasting money like the OPW – Office of Professional Wasters
If that part of our culture and heritage can go so can the Irish language.
@Vincent Alexander: Religion is forced on people…NO getting away with that. Look at the Apologies the RCC had to say about Native Canadian People. And THAT is not that far back in History.
@Mick Hanna: So is the Irish language being forced on people currently.
Honestly can’t believe they pray in the Dáil. Such anachronistic nonsense
Tackling the big issues
Since they came back, they’ve elected a not so new taoiseach, had a week off, then decided to have a big hullabaloo over the. Irish language and proposed a moment of reflection to t replace a prayer. Have they done anything worthwhile since the Dail recovered?
SInn Fein in progressive vestments again. it used to be said the the quality of a government was due to the quality of the opposition. The Middle East and Ukraine are existential threats to everybody including us and this is SF’s big issue. A party which has dome it’s best to overthrow the state for 100 years so that they can start a Hamas inspired war with UK. WIle failing to notice the mayhem in the streets casued by their own failure to defend Ireland
Praise the Lord.
This is still a Christian Country..Found by..fought for by christians so hzve some respect and Say your prayers Before Dail sittings…
A BUNCH OF PAGANS THEY CANT PRAY OR GOVERN
@Thomas Brophy: Really not fair on Pagans
It easy understand why people reelected the last government because the state of this opposition is unbelievable. They continue with stupid irrelevant clap trap about the most stupid rules and regulations.
@Tim Brennan: Tim, not nice, but dim the gift that keeps on giving. Stay off the sauce, Brennan.
About time.
Form a committee to discuss the remit of the committee and which snouts are in the trough. Do anything and everything to suit the new waves of the death cult fawning hamas loving brigade.
have your say