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MICHAEL LOWRY HAS told The Journal that he was telling People Before Profit–Solidarity TD Paul Murphy to “sit down with my fingers” after a screenshot of him making a gesture was shared on social media.
The screenshot of the Independent TD was shared by Virgin Media News correspondent Gavan Reilly from a video taken inside the Dáil chamber by Paul Murphy.
The TD was filming after the House was adjourned following the passing of a motion to create a new speaking slot for government backbenchers and a group of independents.
In the video, chants of “shame, shame, shame” can be heard from opposition politicians as Lowry says something to Murphy filming him and makes the gesture.
A number of opposition politicians have accused Lowry of “giving two fingers to the Irish people” in posts shared on social media.
Shame on this government and their Ceann Comhairle. pic.twitter.com/iQJpFISc3c
— Paul Murphy 🏳️⚧️ (@paulmurphy_TD) March 25, 2025
Asked if he was giving two fingers to Paul Murphy, he said he wasn’t. “I don’t think so,” he told The Journal. “I was telling him to sit down.”
Pressed again on the question – given it looks like he gives Murphy the two fingers, a gesture that has a specific meaning – he said he wouldn’t characterise it as that and he was just telling him to sit down.
“The bottom line,” he said, “is that it was outrageous for Paul to be using his telephone and his camera in the Dáil chamber. I was telling him to sit down with my fingers.”
He said he would not speak more on the issue.
The Dáil was adjourned this afternoon after the controversial speaking rights amendment passed.
After the vote was held, Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy said that one side “have, without good reason, refused to sign the teller sheet”. Therefore, the motion was carried, she said.
A number of government TDs then left the chamber while opposition TDs remained on their feet shouting at the Ceann Comhairle.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin attempted to continue with the Order of Business, but opposition members refused to resume their seats, with some shouting “shame”. Microphones were turned off as the shouting continued and the Ceann Comhairle was unable to be heard at certain points.
Murphy then adjourned the Dáil until 9am tomorrow.
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What kind of mother, regardless of ‘cultural background’, does this to her child? This is a case whereby that poor child should be taken into care.
What culture supports this?
A backward one.
Good, God fearin’ “christians” beat their kids.
http://www.amazon.com/To-Train-Child-Michael-Pearl/dp/1892112000
Quotes from said book including using a switch (wooden stick) on “willful” toddlers http://whynottrainachild.com/2010/04/20/quotes-from-ttuac/
Listening to feedback from primary school teachers, there is a country in West Africa that has a severe problem with violent discipline.
The emotional and mental damage that is being done to these children is immense.
Nigeria.
Romania, Pakistan for starters. Look outside your comfy life.
Another judge who doesn’t think child abuse is a serious crime.
Not naming the child abuser is not protecting the child infact it places the child in more danger.
It protects the child abuser not to be named.
And when instances of it are uncovered, the guilty party should be charged, irrespective of cultural background.
Stating it as happening in Ireland does not justify it.
If this was a man he would have been locked up. When it comes to women the law is definitely not equal.
Also how did this take 3 years to get to court. That is a crime in itself. What happened to the child in the meantime?
If the parent was Irish, the child would have been taken into care.
The child was but was then given back. The child is “very happy” wink wink.
@Daisy – discipline and beating are two different things. Christianity does not endorse beating children – but keep peddling that lie anyway if it makes you feel better.
Irish culture supported far worse than this.
Have we all got amnesia about mother and baby homes and all those deaths from abuse and neglect?
We are less than 20 years since the closure of the last of those homes, and every year the courts are full of cases of Irish parents who mistreat and harm their children.
What this woman did is abhorrent, but don’t fall into the complacent trap of believing that Irish people are all enlightened and humanitarian parents.
Irish culture actually……in 1960′s and 1970′s
My mother behaved exactly like the one in this article.
But not to worry, in family law its OK to have sex with your child. If the mother does not allow the abuse, she is jailed and never allowed to see the child/children again.
While readers are all going ” oh this is terrible” hardly anyone knows the Kinsey and Gardner trainings to judges etc that sex with children is now normal – as it has been for thousands of years.
Maybe some journalist might be allowed in and write on the pro incest cases…? or not?
Would the Irish people deny it, show cognitive dissonance on this matter? Most likely yes, because most cannot comprehend that the legalisation of pedophilia- aka child rape is alive and well here.
Remember the HSE/TUSLA agents have ways – Gardner Threat Therapy and ECT to force abused children into silence.
The manual on pro child rape is used all the time in Ireland.
Just proof for those who are too scared to believe what goes on in secret Inquisition courts.
Why else do these courts breach art 6 of human rights daily- Right to full disclosure?
The HSE/TUSLA excuse to the court is that mothers are too feeble minded to be alowed to read any of the reports and have copies- to rebut.
Much easier for Irish courts to break the law daily when the courts are held in secret and of course use Hitler’s words “best interest of the child”
Look at what we considered best interest of the child under Jesuit controlled industrial schools- and once again the victims were silenced during the court process a few years ago. So what is it with all this secrecy.
But then put a case like the above in the media and all flock – and are distracted by other abuse cases that we dare not mention.
Example of trainings of judges, etc in family law.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/RAG.html
Gardner on therapy with children who are sexually abused by their father
• Keep the child connected to the abuser
Special care should be taken not alienate the child from the molesting parent. The removal of a pedophilic parent from the home “should only be seriously considered after all attempts at treatment of the pedophilia and rapprochement with the family have proven futile.”
Gardner, R.A. (1992). True and False Accusations of Child Sex Abuse . Cresskill, NJ: Creative Therapeutics.(p. 537
Gardner blames the father’s abuse on the mother, who he faults for not fulfilling her husband sexually. He suggests that therapists should help mother’s of incest victims achieve sexual gratification.
• Discourage litigation.
• Encourage her to stay with her husband (the abuser)
• Blame her and the daughter for the sexual abuse by the father
“It may be that one of the reasons the daughter turned toward the father is the impairment of the child’s relationship with the mother” (pp. 579-80)
Gardner, R.A. (1992). True and False Accusations of Child Sex Abuse . Cresskill, NJ: Creative Therapeutics. (p. 585)
I used to hear a non-national family beat the cr** out of their kids where I live – it is indeed part of some cultures. Just hitting and hitting and hitting … it’s horrible. Thankfully though is is rare and it seems to lessen when they’ve been here a while. It doesn’t make the kids into nice polite people either. It’s entirely counterproductive
Judges will be giving away skiing holidays as a punishment at this rate.
So basically the judge took note that the woman eventually came to realise that this is no way to discipline your child so therefore In a small way makes if more forgivable? Beating your child until there’s marks is horrendous enough put then pouring salt on the wounds?? That raises serious questions! 2 years suspended sentence is a joke
Supernova.. I am so depressed reading this.. The effing witch doing this.. Is she genuinely sorry? I doubt it. She deserves her time in prison but the poor child deserves a mother… No easy answers here.
I’d like to think she’s truly sorry but somehow I think she’s not.. Only a mentally deranged person would do something like this. And yes without doubt this women needs prison time and some serious mental help in my view. Child should be in care
mental help has got diddly squats to do with taking your anger out on a child. the woman is evil and heartless. she deserves no Pity what so ever. unforgiveable what she has put that child through.
This has made my feel quite unwell…
imagine how the kid felt lying naked in his own shit in the bath while the person who is suppose to love and protect him takes her anger out on him by whipping him with a tree branch and if that was already enough, rubbing salt into his wounds.and leaving him there like an injured animal. this woman is so evil im sure if she looked me in the eye me i would probaly sh!t myself to. probaly the reason the kid done it in the first place
You wouldn’t see anything looking in her eye! Just lifeless evil cold eyes
She has to have some serious problems to intentionally wound and degrade her own child over, let’s face it, a minor and common problem with children of that age. Seriously, she can’t be well in the head to react in such a way.
we know what her problem is. “culture”she said it herself. one thing i learnt from my fathers beatings was that never ever Will i inflict what i went through on them. yet she uses this in her defence.that kid is in for more harm. she Will never Forget the humiliation he has brought on her by bringing this shame on her. she has no mental problems, she is just an uncivilalised savage. and living in our society is not going to change her.sope animals cannot be tamed they need to Hunt and live in the wild
What bad “mothering” does it take for a mother to have her kids removed from her. How bad does it have to get before she loses custody. How much does a kid have to suffer?
wouldnt bother with the mothering word pee, doesnt apply to her.evil heartless inhumane savage would be more suiting. sad to say this but a lot cases end with the child being taken away in a coffin.you cannot change a person like this. her culture and our society dont mix.things Will only get worse.
It’s called a pussy pass. Gets you out of all sorts of trouble.
And why does the journal have to use the PC code word “foreign national”. Why can’t you just tell us where they are from?
For more examples see: https://www.reddit.com/r/pussypass
How is it any different to the suspended sentences for rapists and pedophiles?
Because if any father did that do their child, that child would not be living with their father ever again.
@Catherine it’s no different and judges are far too lenient on them also
Sadly it all comes down to the social worker involved. There are some who should not be in the job. On the other hand budget cuts means a lot of hands are tied. This country is very backward
@hit shappens I fully agree with you on this
It is normal where she comes from ?
Where is she from, you would not do that to an animal in the zoo
Ah don’t be giving us any of this “cultural” nonsense, not being outrageously cruel to children is a universal principle, as far as I can see she’s only remorseful that she did it in Ireland.
I sentence thee to 20 hours of sensitivity training.
Like most abusers – only remorseful because she got caught.
I see it every day among abusers and most judges , social workers etc fall for it.
I feel sick after reading this for three reasons. How could a mother do something like this, how the Irish justice system can say it’s a culture thing and suspend the sentence and finally give the children back to her.
Discipline her with the same method.
And make sure that poor child never lays eyes on that harridan of a mother again.
How could a mother do something like this? Easily- Mine did and she is Irish.
We can ask the same question when a child is raped by the father – but that is deemed a lesser offence according to Irish judicial training…….because Kinsey and Gardner- 2 pedophiles claimed sex with children does them no harm.
Irish law obviously means nothing. Since when has ‘that’s how I’ve always done it’ been an acceptable defense to anything?
Irish family law judges say these words daily when they breach art 6 of human right to full disclosure.
The excuse is mothers are too feeble minded and emotional to be allowed to have full disclosure and to rebut all before the court.
You have to experience the secret courts to understand- If you do not, it all sounds insane.
tramp
This headline should have read
Mother who beat child with tree branch and poured salt onto his wounds let off with NO PUNISHMENT.
This is the truth
What a terrible decision. That child now has to spend his whole time with this lunatic of a mother. Madness!
Yes and the child will never report abuse again. Disgusting abide if trust on part of social services and justice system. Children should be cherished!
Child abuse in Irish courts is almost always rewarded. Abused children are deemed too difficult to warehouse by HSE/TUSLA.
You have to know how the child protectors and the judges are trained and the crap they believe.
This is an absolute joke!
Her suffering domestic abuse doesn’t make what she did OK or justify it in any possible way.
And now she has custody of her children again?? Madness!
Abusers get custody in over 80 % of cases. Hard to believe but its true. That will keep the abused children quiet and of course rewarding abuse leads to another generation of abusers – so lots of money for all involved and Jeyes can ask for more and more and we give it because we have not copped on to the fact that abuse, violence etc creates jobs and money.
so she did not know that whipping a child is not permitted in ireland .she must of just got off the last boat. her child is in school so she must be here a while at least
nothing to do with religon daisy. this plain and simple barbarism
ah her comment has been deleted
The brothers and nuns must have taken offence. They’ll be after me with a ruler and the leather!
thats better daisy
This is becoming so ridiculous, every day we are hearing about suspended sentences for pretty serious offenses. What does culture have to do with this? If it was an Irish Born Mother would she have gotten 2 years?? FFS…
Seriously, what culture says its ok when a small child soils themselves to beat them bloody and pour salt in the wounds?! We definitely should stop letting people from that culture into this country immediately!
“Cultural context”
Some fascinating new additions to Irish culture with the influx of immigrants.
No mention of the child being taken from her. I certainly hope he was as she’ll definitely do this again and probably even worse.
Not exactly rocket science to decipher which continent she came from.
Which continent would that be?
Give it a rest. The Irish can hardly lecture people from other continents on the treatment of children. Have you paid any attention in the last twenty odd years??
You can’t walk into a court in Ireland and claim ‘It’s part of my culture’ and expect away with it though.
Nor can you even pretend to know what continent they are from…
Logical deduction is a criminal offence Cian?
Someone contact Benedict Cumberbatch quickly before he ends up in Wormwood Scrubs.
What a horrible bitch.
I’m beginning to wonder what side of the law these judges sit. They seem to have endless quantities of compassion for child abusers, rapists and paedophiles. Is it compassion or do they have something in common? Either way they are not upholding the law of the Irish people and should not be treated as infallible. Probably in 10 years we’ll be hearing of some paedo ring which exists in the higher echelons of the justice system. Nothing would surprise me.
Judges are only Bankers for the system- it has nothing to do with justice- its all about money.
They already allow the pedos free for goodness sake- and silence the abused using pro pedo methods.
Its all documented already and many world professionals are aware of Irish courts pro pedo stance and why.
Judges are trained that sex with children does them no harm and the ones I spoke to believe it.???
So what does that tell you?
In case you think I am kidding.
I came across the pro pedo stuff in Irish court 20 years ago exactly and got gagged from speaking until recently.
http://everything-pr.com/maya-tsimhoni-lawyer-nambla/258447/#comment-89494
Gardner blames the father’s abuse on the mother, who he faults for not fulfilling her husband sexually.
He suggests that therapists should help mother’s of incest victims achieve sexual gratification.
• Discourage litigation.
• Encourage her to stay with her husband (the abuser)
• Blame her and the daughter for the sexual abuse by the father
“It may be that one of the reasons the daughter turned toward the father is the impairment of the child’s relationship with the mother” (pp. 579-80)
Gardner, R.A. (1992). True and False Accusations of Child Sex Abuse . Cresskill, NJ: Creative Therapeutics. (p. 585)
Some people shouldn’t b allowed kids!!! Poor child
9 years old…..
Actually 12 years old now so a 2003 baby……
thats not healthy to chat with yourself
Can’t believe her children are back with her. This is awful but a common occurrence. Anyone working in the primary school system will have seen this type of thing. Glad the teachers in this case were able to get the Hse to take notice as often they do not respond to schools efforts, or the family simply move school if too many questions are asked and the case is not followed up.
this reminds of the under nourished child who the social services had decided to leave with the mother only to find weeks later he had died of starvation.this is a very bad décision the judge is making
Anyone remember the case where a “west African” doctor killed an African child while circumcising him and the judge referred to the “cultural context” of the death and dismissed the charge against the “doctor”?????
Would have been racist otherwise and those “racism” quangos would protested the judge.
Sadly by the time social services do take a child far too much damage has been done
suspended? ?
I don’t care what cultural context she came from that is abuse. The sentencing in this country is a joke!! Makes me utterly sick to think what kind of a monster could think that’s discipline
Of course she’ll walk.
In this country the only offence that’ll get you behind bars is lack of TV license…
This is ridiculous! The child should have been taken off her. The poor boy. She’s not fit to be a mother. At the very very least I hope social services will do several follow ups.
Thank you. Your the first to mention follow ups! No mention of counselling or parental classes or any thing else directed by the court to educate and attempt to address the physical assault this mother committed on her own child. Essentially, “Off with ya now, and take that wee child away with ya!” “Next docket”.
No only well loved children are taken away. The abused ones are just fine in the eyes of child protectors.
I know it sounds insane but it is the pattern . Trauma is the name of this game- and well looked after children must be removed and traumatised. Of course also got to make people realise that all children are in danger of being taken for no reason.
You have to witness it to believe it. I could not get my head around it first- then a solicitor told me how the game works – Devil’s Advocate – and $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
@Derek even with social work involvement it all depends on the social worker. I’ve seen some really bad social workers who should not be in the job and others who try their best only to be told it’s all about budget. Thus country is backward
cultural context my @£$€ And as for suspending the sentence I’m furious. God knows What that poor child has gone through.
What the mother learned – only mark him where it won’t be seen. What the boy learned – the Irish state and people will not protect him.
I sincerely hope this poor child is under the scrutiny of social services (ha). That woman should not be allowed near any child without at least the supervision of a professional. Wonder where the kid was while she was waiting for trial? I suspect he was in great danger.
What a witch!
The elephant in the room is the sentence. At some point some judge is going to have to explain these sentences.I cannot even begin to understand how this verdict was justified by this sentence.It is one of many that have been passed in the last few years that to the ordinary man and woman on the street defies understanding.
When is the sentence suspended until? What date?
Disgusting
If that evil person was a man the child be taken off them rightfully but you know…women cant do wrong
Shane that is a myth . Have you worked insie this system to know that for a fact? Clearly not.
Male abusers and even pedos get custody and contact…as fathers have rights and own the children and their mothers- that is the law for the past 5000 years. If you want the proof I will give it to you.
you know? all we do is complain about things in the comments. is there any way we can actually have the action to stop all of these problems in this country? like a petition or contacting a td. i would like to know cause i feel like a useless tool complaining all the time
TD’s are not allowed to know anything about these cases in secret family law.
Judges are appointed by TD’s. No judge has ever been sacked in the history of the state.
The only one close was- and observe how he escaped.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/ahern-curtin-was-listed-as-suspected-paedophile-169664.html
If that was the kids punishment for messing his trousers, what’s going to happen to the poor kid after all this coming to light? I’d fear for this poor child being in her care again.
I can’t actually get over this kip of a country!! people are getting locked up for not paying tv licence, water charges etc and some one does this to a child and walk free!!!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
This mother had no money worth talking of .
Court is all about open wallet surgery.
Beating her own child and then pouring salt in to the wounds and making her sit isolated in an uncomfortable position for a long time in order to maximise the physical and mental torture?
And she’s set free?
I don’t know who is sicker, the abuser or the judge. Why bother with the justice system if it’s not going to get justice? it’s going to take a few cases of mob justice before the judges cop on and realise that justice not only has to be done, it has to be seen to be done.
It’s one f*ucked up culture, a few years back one Christmas Eve a Nigerian family beside the mother in laws we’re celebrating, music noise etc. At one stage there was a big of shouting and crying. Then crying got quite except for the noise of a bin lid banging. Mother/ queen bee of the house had thrown the young child in a recycling bin! No naughty step in that house! I mean that’s got learn lasting memories! These are the people this country is allowing to stay at any cost. If you question it your racist!
What justice.?
Any solicit-or will tell you there is no such thing as justice- only JUST US.
The courts are corporations – for making profit and the judge is the banker.
Its only when you spend years asking questions as to what is wrong in the secret court system , do you learn the truth- and follow the money and the wee brown envelopes to hotels and pubs near court houses.
What a joke of a sentence
Justice system failure
Is this the maternal instinct that is much lauded?
Courts are a joke lady should have got 5 years at least
@Catherine. I’ve worked with kids who have been victims of abuse. This country is backward when it comes to helping them. It’s all about money is right. Even when taken off the abusers they are not placed appropriately it have access to proper services due to budget cuts.
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