I THOUGHT Charlie Haughey was the first person on record to use the phrase ‘an Irish solution to an Irish problem’ but apparently the history of this saying predates him.
It goes as far back as 1931 when a politician called Eamonn Cooney first used it in the Dáil.
I don’t suppose I should be so surprised that the expression has such a history because the mentality behind it has obviously existed for a long time in our society. This uniquely Irish mentality is one in which a controversial question is inevitably given an unsatisfactory answer.
This answer never really tries to honestly grapple with the problem. It’s usually timid and expedient. And often it represents a completely disappointing compromise.
I’ve been thinking about this because attempts are being made at the moment to come up with an Irish solution to the problem that is being posed by the referendum on same-sex marriage we are due to have in May.
This referendum is about extending full equality to same-sex couples in Ireland. Some people — the Catholic Church included — are campaigning for a conscience clause to be introduced to the legislation to protect those who oppose same-sex marriage from a moral point of view.
What this means is that business people opposed to same-sex marriage would have the right to refuse to provide services to homosexual couples. If this clause were introduced, they’d be legally entitled to do so.
Many people appear to see this as a satisfactory solution to a controversial question but all I can see is yet another Irish solution to an Irish problem.
The questions we will be asked in the forthcoming referendum is one about equality. Are we happy to extend the same marriage rights to homosexual couples as are currently enjoyed by married men and women? If we are, we have to give them those rights entirely. If we aren’t, they won’t have them at all.
There is no compromise mid-way between both options. People are either equal or they are not. Not even Charlie Haughey could convince me otherwise.
