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Notes -
A follow-up to the Irish referenda. Both @Follamh3 and myself posted on this a few days back, and here's one reason why the Plain People Of Ireland voted (those who did turn out to vote) 70% "No" to both - nobody trusts the government because the reality on the ground is this.
The usual suspects try to pin the blame on anti-immigrant sentiment, the far-right, volatility, and just the yokels are too ignorant to know what's good for them. But the reality is, people see the disconnect between the fancy language about gender-neutral and inclusive, and what actually happens when support for carers and those in need of care is sought: you're not getting it, you're not going to get it. We think you're so special, we're going to have a referendum to put it in the Constitution! Also we can't even tell you if your kid will have a school place for the new term. Can you see why voters with that knowledge might just possibly vote "No" and still not be far-right gender-essentialist white supremacists?
Bad old sexist, misogynist, gendered language that asks the State to make sure that there won't be the necessity for choices such as the Lewis family say above about "It has left Greg and Celine in a situation where one of them will have to give up work to remain at home full-time with their son".
Shiny progressive new inclusive, non-gendered, non-marriage based language rejected by the backwards public:
I mean, c'mon! The Department of Education has been "engaging intensely with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in relation to the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places". That's "striving", isn't it? Nobody said anything about actually paying out money so mothers (or fathers or non-binary babas) wouldn't have to engage in labour outside the home and wouldn't be at a loss by this, unlike the bad old 1937 Catholic bigots!
While the story is sad, as a fellow (ex?)government employee, I would imagine that we might agree a shortfall of 6 or 8 spaces in a city the size of Dublin is essentially nothing. Too many open spots and you're wasting public funds after all.
The fact the spaces needed is so close a match for those provided is a near miracle of demand prediction.
Does the government wanting to change the Constitution really have any link to decisions on special needs places by the Department of Education, that gets the predicted demand right down to single digits?
If this article is representative, then 6-8 spaces in one subdivision of Dublin is about a 20% shortfall. I'd struggle to call that "good", nevermind a "near miracle".
That does put it in a worse light yes. But still dorsn't show a link with the Constitution, I would suggest. 30% was our shortfall in the English city I mentioned and we weren't worrying about anything more than funding, and trying to predict population fluctuations into the future.
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