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Rónán Mullen Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

Rónán Mullen: Taoiseach playing the victim over nasty abortion messages

The pro-life senator has accused Enda Kenny of using spin tactics to deflect from his “deeply unpleasant” proposal to legislate for abortion under the terms of the X Case.

TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY has been accused of having “played the victim” over messages of abuse sent to him in relation to the ongoing abortion debate.

Independent, pro-life senator Rónán Mullen has responded to Kenny’s comments this morning that he has received messages written in blood and and been accused of being a murderer ahead of the government’s planned introduction of the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill.

Mullen said in a statement this afternoon that it is not unusual for such messages to be sent to members of the Oireachtas and attached a copy of a message sent to the Taoiseach and copied to other TDs and Senators including him as an example.

“I forward it because the Taoiseach is probably not going to refer to it in the Dáil. But he is referring, yet again, to alleged nasty messages which he has received on the abortion issue,” Mullen said.

The message, seen in full by TheJournal.ie, contains a litany of spelling and grammar errors and includes these sentences: “You are vile and vulgar Fenian Trash. I can only hope I live longer than the pair of you for if I do I will dig up your remains and play football with your scull.”

Mullen said that he believes Kenny’s comments this morning are a “spin tactic” designed to distract people from the government’s “deeply unpleasant” abortion legislation.

He said: “This legislation will radically change the care given to unborn children in Irish hospitals and lead to increased trauma for many women who will be affected by the abortions which some psychiatrists will certify.

“Yet the Taoiseach has on several occasions played the victim around nasty messages of an anti-abortion nature that he tells us he has received.”

Mullen insisted that everyone in the Oireachtas gets “this kind of stuff” and said of the abuse he has received: “I was called a ‘p****’ the other day in the street because of my stance.”

Taoiseach: I’m being branded a murderer and getting letters written in blood

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180 Comments
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    Mute Philip Kelly
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    Jul 28th 2012, 7:41 PM

    Congratulations and a fantastic idea.
    I only wish this was around when I was in school.
    I spent years typing in basic code from computer weekly for simple games, and there was nobody else doing it at the time and I dropped it after school. Would have taken a different path if this had been around.
    Well done, hobby today, career tomorrow.

    127
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    Mute Abi Dennis
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    Jul 29th 2012, 1:15 AM

    perhaps something like this could be done for adults too? i know id be interested

    54
    Paul
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    Mute Paul
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    Jul 29th 2012, 2:44 AM

    @Abi, I just did a crash course in scratch programming, you can download it free from scratch.mit.edu, check out a few videos on how to do it and you can look at what others have made and how they made it, and you can copy and evolve their code, ideas etc.. works a bit like Lego, the more you play with it the better you get. It’s quite basic at the start but you can do some cool stuff once you get good

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    Mute Kitta Please
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    Jul 28th 2012, 7:40 PM

    Fair f*cks to him. Also, there’s Enda Kenny, as usual embarrassing everyone like your cheesy Dad at Christmas dinner.

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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Jul 28th 2012, 8:24 PM

    Well done James. I’ll be bringing my young fella along to the cork dojo in September. he’s only 7 but already made a simple game and a calculator in Python :)

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    Mute Joan Featherstone
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    Jul 28th 2012, 8:14 PM

    Well done, I’m firmly convinced everyone has their ‘speciality’, be that an academic thing, a caring thing, or an arty thing, etc…all should be applauded in equal measure, all are of equal importance, in the greater scheme of things. This is a superb idea, fair fu.ks to you, you’ll go far and so you should’

    57
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    Mute Brian Walsh
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    Jul 28th 2012, 10:09 PM

    A simple solution to a complex problem. Brilliant. Pity this couldn’t be encompassed in the schools curriculum and genuinely teach this stuff to the kids a few times a week, not for an hour a week by someone who’s a few years from retirement and afraid of computers. He’s right, he and others like him are filling a void in our educational system that has been there for years. The trouble is now that he’s doing it, the void will still be left there.

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    Mute Stephen Kearon
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    Jul 28th 2012, 10:19 PM

    Great idea, we’ll done James.

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    Mute LittleSparrowC
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    Jul 28th 2012, 11:48 PM

    Great success story congratulations James . Great to see someone who enjoys teaching and passing on a skill that could be life changing for some of the children .maybe the next bill gates is out there amongst them. Continued success for the future

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    Mute Gary Meehan
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    Jul 29th 2012, 1:07 AM

    That picture was taken at a special sitting of the CoderDojo which took place in the Dail. We are the first country to hold a “class” in their parliament buildings as far as I gather. CoderDojo is amazing and it’s scary how much some the kids know at them. God help the lecturers in third level when the kids eventually meet them.

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    Mute Graham O'Brien
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    Jul 29th 2012, 2:07 AM

    Would love to be able to attend something like this. Shame I’m well out of school :(

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    Mute Kev Dunne
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    Jul 29th 2012, 9:25 AM

    absolutely brilliant idea and badly needed in Ireland. got to say the pic of cash-in-kenny made me sick because this stuff should be part of the everyday curriculum imo. govt are totally dragging their feet on this to the detriment of Ireland.

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    Mute Gary Meehan
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    Jul 29th 2012, 2:27 AM

    I think dojo came from the Japanese meaning of “place to learn” and then coder as in they are training to become “Ninja” Coders. I would imagine it was an interesting process picking that name.

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    Mute Robert O'Connell
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    Jul 29th 2012, 8:14 AM

    I agree this is a great idea. I think it should be kept outside the education system and sponsored/funded like a charity. This will allow the people running it full freedom to let it develop in any direction it wants. I love the idea that google has given it a facility to use. The kick a kid must get out of walking into that building like that. It gives it a real buzz feeling.

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    Mute Brian Walsh
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    Jul 29th 2012, 1:10 PM

    I never thought of it that way, I guess you have a point there Robert, I still think if these folks are giving up their time to fill a void in our education system, the least the state can do is help them, maybe with equipment or premises.

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    Mute Tony Stanley
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    Jul 29th 2012, 1:35 AM

    I have to ask, where did you get the name CoderDojo from?

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    Mute John Moriarty
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    Jul 29th 2012, 7:17 AM

    I cannot understand why you got a single down vote, why would people be against such an overwhelmingly positive idea? Does anybody stand to lose anything?

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    Mute Aengus Moran
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    Aug 2nd 2012, 1:12 PM

    people scrolling down on mobile devices tapping the thumbs up/down by accident, I suspect as much as 50% of the ups and down’s here are unintentional.

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    Mute Sylvia O'Regan
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    Aug 8th 2012, 10:36 PM

    Such an uplifting story. Well done and may you continue to grow.

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    Mute censored
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    Jul 30th 2012, 11:18 PM

    This is a great idea, and it has really taken off. Well done James!

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    Mute Anne Fagan
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    Oct 19th 2012, 12:38 AM

    Well done. A brilliant idea.
    Would work for all ages

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