After the whirlwind election campaign in which equality, immigration or integration did not feature, we have a new government, to which I would like to extend a qualified welcome. Appointing Alan Shatter to Justice was a foregone conclusion. Shatter has a good record of speaking about equality issues while in opposition, but coupling his Justice portfolio with Defence sends the wrong message, at least at the level of public discourse. Justice and Defence wreaks of security, crime prevention, the Gardai, the military forces – all important issues, but say little about equality, which, as Vincent Browne argued in The Irish Times, this Fine Gael-Labour coalition has so far failed to embrace. Continue reading “Qualified welcome”
Blog and website by Ronit Lentin, a political sociologist, writer and an antiracist activist.