Today July 1st 2010, the feast day of St. Oliver Plunkett Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland who was martyred at Tyburn in London in 1681 because he stood firm in his belief in the Catholic faith in the face of persecution, is also the day The Dail (Irish Parliament) has chosen for the final debate on the Civil Partnership bill. This bill is a direct attack on marriage and the family and undermines basic democratic principles such as the right to conscientious objection and a direct attack on the values for which St Oliver Plunkett died.
according to the Dail schedule for today the bill will be debated between 5pm and 9pm today. The entry is as follows No. 23 - Civil Partnership Bill 2009 - Order for Report, Report and Final Stages (to conclude at 9 p.m. tonight, if not previously concluded)
Fr Vincent Twomey in an excellent article in the irish Times of June 29th said
NO CHURCH-STATE controversy in recent times has raised so many difficult political and moral issues compared with those raised by the proposed Civil Partnership Bill. These include:
the nature of the family and its status in the Irish Constitution;
the rights and obligations of citizens arising from the fact that they live together in a mutually supportive and stable partnership, or plan to do so;
the rights and obligations of legislators when legislating on laws which touch on fundamental constitutional or moral issues;
the right of citizens to make conscientious objections on the basis of their moral convictions or religious beliefs; and,
finally, the rights and obligations, if any, of ordained ministers of the Catholic Church either individually (bishops and priests) or as a body(through the bishops’ conference) to express publicly their views on any proposed legislation.
Direct link to Fr Twomey's article
We appeal to all please as a matter of extreme urgency contact Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Justice Minister Dermot Ahern to express your concern, dismay and disappointment at the promotion of this agenda. Better still contact all members of the Dail.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen may be contacted at
webmaster@taoiseach.gov.ie
The contact details for the Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern are as
follows: Constituency Office: Dermot Ahern TD, 28 Francis Street, Dundalk, Co. Louth (042-9329023) Dáil Office: Dermot Ahern TD, Dáil Éireann, Leinster House,Kildare Street,Dublin 2 (01 618 3000) dermot@dermotahern.ie
All TD’s (Members of Parliament ) in Dail Eireann (The Irish Parliament) can be contacted and you can find out who your local TD's are via this link:
http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=30&disp=const
