Should Enda Kenny resign as leader of Fine Gael

gandalf

Right one topic that hasn't made it on here and I'm surprised it hasn't is Enda Kenny and his "N*****r" remark.

Do you think he should resign?

Personally I do. Considering the increase in race related hate crimes in Ireland I think it was irresponsible of him to make such remarks even if they were in jest. I think Fine Gael are damaging themselves even more with every day that goes by with Mr. Kenny still in charge.

So come on, vote in the poll and fire up your opinions here.

Gandalf.

BuffyBot

Bit of a stupid remark for the leader of the Opposition - can you imagine if Iain Duncan Smith said that in the UK? He'd be fed to the wolves.

He should go, I don't think he will though - the party is in enough turmoil without another leadership change.

dahamsta

I missed the story and I can't find it on the web: What exactly did he say?

adam

Typedef

Unfortunately Mr Kenny will probably gain support from elements within Irish society who on the face of it are "all in favour" of equality, but always seem to miss the ammendum "so long as they don't live near me".

Biffa Bacon

On the basis of his remarks, I don’t think he should resign. As I understand it, he wasn’t trying to get cheap laughs from the use of the word “n****r”, but was just laughing at the shock he and his friends got from the Moroccan barman’s casual dismissal of an African statesman. He has also had the decency to apologise and acknowledge his poor judgement.
Now on the other hand, he’s obviously a fool and should resign on that basis. His anecdote was the type of thing you’d only laugh at if you were completely pissed. His political judgement is non-existent.
I voted No though so as not to cloud the issue.

Bateman

The use of the word; irreleveant of the context is disgraceful, and so as not to cloud the issue of whether or not his party approve of the use of the word, he should resign.
I can't imagine Iain Ducan Smith, or anyone else outside Ireland for that matter, being so stupid and getting away with it.

bonkey

Originally posted by Bateman
The use of the word; irreleveant of the context is disgraceful,

No, it is only disgraceful when used in context.

For example :

"The use of the term n****r is disgraceful and racist".

Would you say that this sentence is, in itself, disgraceful?
If so, then you would maintain that (for example) any dictionary or thesaurus which contained the term is also disgraceful?

If not, then context is most assuredly important.

jc

frea

Do any of you know what he said exactly... I suspect not...

I will reserve my judgment until I hear what he said and in what context.

Bateman

You censored the word, thus making the pooint for me that it is simple (in type as well as in speech) to convey this words without actually saying it.

The context was a joke. In that context, or I repeat any other, it was wrong to use the word.

Elmo

Wouldn't Enda Kenny Resigning make Fine Gael look kinda stupid????????

Paddies, ****ing Stupid Paddies!!!!!!!!!!!!

bonkey

Originally posted by Bateman
You censored the word, thus making the pooint for me that it is simple (in type as well as in speech) to convey this words without actually saying it.

I think youll find that I never claimed otherwise

In that context, or I repeat any other, it was wrong to use the word.

Then please explain why mypost would have been wrong had I chosen not to censor the word? Or why dictionaries which include it or wrong.

Explain what is wrong with the sentence :

"The term ****** is highly offensive".

Why is it wrong to use the term in this context? Please - I'm dying to hear your explanation.

Alternately you can admit that context is relevant. Of course, if the context isnt relevant, then maybe you could explain why you felt it necessary to explain the context in your last post?



jc

Typedef

Originally posted by frea
Do any of you know what he said exactly... I suspect not...

I will reserve my judgment until I hear what he said and in what context.

He was relating a joke about a cocktail drink called a Lumumba and he cocked up.

Patrick Lumumba the first Prime Minister of the Congo who was assassinated in 1961.

mike65

If he went it would be a victory for PC facism and the Sindo (who went big on this for party polical reasons) & Tony O'Reilly.

C'mon now, do we want that?!

John Waters, who I either heartily agree with or want to kill, spoke on this yesterday on Today FM and I had to agree with every word
he said.

Mike.

Shane

and this is why the government is to afraid to tackle the issue of immigration... as soon as they say a word on it, they're branded racist. fair enough, ****** is a "strong" remark, but get over it. he didn't advocate violence or hatred. and moving on to another issue on "racism" see my next post, in my opinon, Dublin is more racist than it thinks...

sceptre

Originally posted by frea
Do any of you know what he said exactly... I suspect not...

Basically he was relating an incident that happened to him in Morocco. He was at a cocktail bar and noticed a "Lumumba" cocktail and asked what it was named after (presumably uspecting it was named after Patrice Lumumba, Congo's first elected prime minister in October 1960, assassinated in 1961)

The barman just sneered and said "named after some n****r that was killed dans la guerre"

He was trying to make some reference to the things people do and how they're remembered or not and people who are disdainful of people's achievements if they've a different outlook but managed to make a balls of it.

He realised what he'd done fairly sharply and asked the journos present not to write anything about it. Oddly enough, smelling a story, some decided to write about it. That's about it really.

Slutmonkey57b

Clearly the joke was not taken out of context - the joke itself was racist, Enda Kenny's repetition of it was just pure crass stupidity. If he couldn't reliably have brought up whatever point he was supposedly trying to make regarding people's perception of other's achievements based on their race (as seems to be the argument in his favour) he should never have attempted it in the first place.

Anyway I'm so interested in Irish politics since when was Enda Kenny leader of Fine Gale? And who is he? What happened to Noonan?

Cork

Enda Kenny's repetition of it was just pure crass stupidity

Michael Noonan resigned after our recent election. His partys (FG) representation in our parliament fell.

It looks that Mr. Kenny is a suitable replacement to continue this trend.

hmmm

Like Biffa says, he's a fool. You can debate the 'merits' of his joke, but jeez how stupid do you have to be to even make a joke like that in the position he's in.

I wouldn't want someone that clueless as Taoiseach.

swiss

Sorry for dragging back this thread but I didn't really look into the matter until I saw various articles relating to it in last weeks Sunday Independant. I'm honestly surprised that people are so offended because he used the word 'nigger' in relation to an anecdote he had to relate. I'd like to turn to satire to highlight my point.

http://www.evilgerald.com/Issues/Issue23/10kenny.htm

A visibly rattled pol corr recounted the nightmare incident. "He told this story, I suppose you could call it an anecdote - if you're a sick bastard like him. In this story some black guy called another black guy a "nigger".

With journalists now calling for a crackdown on holiday anecdotes, Kenny's future looks uncertain, even though all are agreed he is not a racist. "Hounding the few politicians who are not racist and have an awareness of central African politics and history out of Irish political life is a great idea," beamed an unnamed source.