Gay Pride and the Gardai… July 11, 2012
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Culture, Irish Politics.trackback
Here’s an interesting exchange from the Seanad last week…
Senator David Norris: I support the proposal that a bridge over the River Boyne be named for former President, Ms Mary McAleese. Such a gesture would be particularly appropriate given that bridge-building was the theme of her Presidency.
Last Saturday the annual Gay Pride march took place in Dublin. The Irish Times disgraced itself as usual with the three photographs it published of the event. Colourful and entertaining as they were, if the same was done to any other group, the newspaper would be picketed and subjected to severe abuse. It is a disgrace for a national publication to treat such a matter with so little gravity, especially given the very serious political issue that arose in the lead-up to the event. I attended the opening at Dublin Castle and listened to the addresses given by the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Garda Commissioner. I spoke at the dinner hosted by the European Gay Police Association, a very important meeting attended by some 300 members of police forces from 26 countries spanning three continents. When members of this group visited Áras an Uachtaráin, an attempt was made by the Garda Commissioner to prevent the gardaí involved from wearing their uniforms. This was only overcome after a second meeting involving the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors. That is very strange.
At the conference we were told that one of the problems was the way in which the grapevine was used by members of the Garda. The Commissioner succeeded in his efforts to prevent Irish officers from wearing their uniforms at the parade on the basis that they would be off duty. However, being off duty is no impediment to the wearing of uniforms by gardaí participating in the homophobic event that is the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York. Likewise, no objections were raised when off-duty gardaí escorting the remains of St. Thérèse of Lisieux wore their uniforms. When it is a gay issue, however, gardaí, alone among the police force representatives of 26 countries, are apparently not allowed to wear their uniform. These gardaí are facing discrimination in their own country.
Will the Leader confirm whether, as I understand it, the Garda Commissioner also attempted to prevent the foreign representatives from wearing their uniforms in the parade? Second, in the light of the grapevine situation, which is highlighted by a brilliant academic paper by two women from DCU, is it the case that a verbal message was sent by the Commissioner’s office to all assistant commissioners advising them not to attend the conference and, moreover, to advise their chief superintendents and superintendents that they would be better employed in their own divisions and districts? It is a fact that no assistant commissioners attended the conference, nor any operational chief superintendents or superintendents. These are very serious questions and I ask that they be answered factually and on the record of this House rather than sub rosa. These serious concerns place the disgraceful exhibition by The Irish Times in context,—–
An Leas-Chathaoirleach: I The Senator should not display a newspaper in the Chamber.
Senator David Norris: —–with that publication refusing once again to take these matters seriously and instead choosing to trivialise them in a reprehensible and insulting manner.
An Leas-Chathaoirleach: As the Father of the House and an experienced Senator, Senator Norris is aware that it is inappropriate to display newspapers in the House. I call Senator Noone.
Senator David Norris: I did not mention any name. Did I?
Senator Terry Leyden: There is only one Commissioner.
The pedant in me … Norris’s remarks make clear that the issue went way beyond the pride parade.
A Garda Commissioner trying to prevent gardaí wearing their uniform to a reception hosted by the President, in Áras an Uachtaráin? WTF?
Actually, that’s very true. Should I rework the title of the post?
Nah, as I said, it was the pedant in me.
This is pretty disgraceful and it’s very hard to see the Commissioner as being motivated by anything other than homophobia in this instance. Defenders of his stance will have to explain why, if he’s correct, 25 out of 26 countries have got their approach to this issue wrong and we’ve got ours right. If he tried to prevent the foreign representatives wearing their uniforms, it’s an extraordinary lack of good manners on his part to say the least. Good to see they passed no heed on him even if our own chief supers and supers did.
What was Norris objecting to in the Times as a matter of interest?
A couple of comments. I was on the Pride march. As is usual there were a lot of people on the march in various types of fancy dress. I didn’t see the Irish Times photos but I think Sen Norris is reaching a bit in criticising the IT for featuring photos of some of those people. That’s what newspapers do.
As it happens, among the friends I was walking with was a former London policeman. He is Irish and was very annoyed that the Commissioner had instructed Gardaí not to wear their uniforms on the march. I argued that the Commssioner had a point – cops in general shouldn’t wear their uniforms when they are off duty or involved in public demonstrations of any kind. We spoke briefly to an off-duty Garda who was on the march and he wasn’t too bothered by the order to wear civvies – he had a kind of one step at a time attitude.
However, the Senator has a point too – there should be consistency and clarity. It should be the same rule for Pride and for the Relics of St Theresa and for the CAHWT demos and so on.
But it’s also a different thing when cops are abroad. It should be ok for a group of guards to march in uniform in the New York St Pats parade and for a group to march in a Pride parade e.g. in whatever European city the European Police LGBT group is next meeting in.
Finally (!), the Commissioner was out of order completely in telling Gardaí not to wear their uniforms to the dinner of the European group.
I take your point about the Commissioner’s point but the accumulation of all the other slights and intended slights makes it seem less likely that the uniform ban was a matter of cherished principle rather than act of meanness.
And of course it’s questionable whether there should be any official recognition of the St. Patricks Day Parade in New York given the continuing ban on a gay presence in the parade, something which always looked pretty reprehensible but which these days seems absolutely antediluvian.
It’s pretty obvious that the Commissioner was adopting a nod and wink approach to let it be known he regarded the entire event with distaste. I’m sure he has been congratulated by those who would share these views and felt heartened by his robust stand for traditional values.
Hope you enjoyed the Euros by the way.
Yep, overall I’d say you are right about the Commissioner.
Really enjoyed the Euros. Gdansk is a lovely town. Hoping to go back there with the missus soon.
All the speculation after was who is going to retire. I see the Duffer said (when he was over visiting our boys in the Leb) that he’ll never retire – he’ll play his way down the divisions to Leinster Senior League! Good man Duffer. Hopefully Robbie and the others will say the same and the boys will magically reinvent themselves and qualify. Giving Paul Green the chance to light up the Maracana with his silken skills in summer 2014.
Phoenix has a piece about this today.
After noting Varadkar’s remarks on the ban on same sex marriage [my terminology, not theirs or his], they continue:
Some Spanish police, out of uniform, joined an anti-austerity march in Madrid today along with uniformed fire brigade personnel and civil servants.
Indo: “Firefighters, police in plainclothes and civil servants have attempted to march on the Spanish parliament in a protest over austerity measures, only to find the way blocked by police in riot gear.”