Why David Norris is not fit for Office

Why David Norris is not Fit for Office

As the Presidential Election Nominations loom large in Ireland, one man has emerged as the leading contender, namely, Senator David Norris. Norris born in Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo was elected to the Seanad in 1987 as an Independent. In 2011 he announced his intention to stand as a Candidate in the upcoming Irish Presidential elections. Most Irish people recognise him as a prominent Civil Rights Campaigner and his eloquent grasp of the English language has gained him an ever increasing following among certain corners of the Irish nation. From a position of indifference to his Campaign, I have become increasingly incensed. It was these feelings that have led me to write this article on the reasons why I believe David Norris is not fit for this position.

Speaking, in February 2007, Norris said in relation to the upcoming Seanad elections ‘I will not bank on providence being able to resist temptation in my case because, over the years, I have been a deliciously naughty boy and providence might decide it is about time I got a smack so I refuse to tempt providence in the way Senator Ryan so unwisely did.’(1) I hope this article provides a small contribution to that ‘smack’ you speak of.

Norris came to my attention when it was reported by the Times that he had called the leaders of the 1916 Rising Terrorists. This was remarkable in my opinion as the President of Ireland would oversee the centenary commemorations of the Easter Rising; an event which inspired the very formation of the State Norris wants to preside over. After further investigation it appears the Times has retracted its story and issued an apology to Norris. I am aware of this as Norris proudly stands holding the aforementioned letter of apology while standing in the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin. The video showing this is posted on Norris’ own site norrisforpresident.ie. This same video deals with the issue of Ireland joining the Commonwealth. Norris who is attributed by some with this idea states that this too is nonsense and that he does not advocate Ireland rejoining the British Commonwealth. ‘It was suggested that I was advocating rejoining the Commonwealth, Nonsense.’ What he did do and makes ‘no apology for it’ is launch a book entitled ‘Ireland and the Commonwealth: Towards Membership’.(2) Both these issues may have been a hindrance for his campaign and he clearly deals with both in a believable fashion but has he? An article published in the Belfast Telegraph in May 2010 quoted Norris as saying ‘It would produce very useful cultural, financial and political contacts for this country and among other things would enable Irish athletes to compete in the Commonwealth Games, something which I am sure they would welcome.’(3) Norris claims he promotes a discussion on the issue, the website promoting Ireland joining the Commonwealth, The Reform Group, states ‘Norris helps with book launch.’(4) So we have Norris giving advantages of joining the British Commonwealth in the Belfast Telegraph article which is advertised on the Reform Group website so I assume no retraction will occur in this instance, we have him at the launch of the book on Ireland joining the Commonwealth and yet the idea of advocating Ireland joining is ‘Nonsense’. It seems to me, if I or anybody else attended a book launch, I would be largely in favour of the contents of the book but sure Norris stands in the Garden and refutes the claim so it must be false.
So if this is not enough can we read between the lines. This is an extract from an article in Gscene Magazine entitled Face to Face with Senator David Norris, the interviewer describes the contents of Norris’ Georgian house ‘I sat in front of a roaring fire and looked around his sitting room full of photos of the great and the good, including a signed one of The Queen and Prince Philip and pictures of his many friends and lovers.’ When asked if he planned to run for the Presidency he stated that Aras was formerly known as Vice Regal Lodge and that ‘’If I run for President my slogan will be – Put a Queen back into the Lodge,”(5)

We have Norris commenting on its former name, that’s fine he knows its history and why was it called this, yes because it was the summer residence of the Viceroy. The Viceroy, being the representative of the British monarchy in Ireland. By the sheer presence of a signed picture of a foreign monarch he must have little or no issues with monarchy. Therefore how does this equate with the men who fought in the GPO against the British Monarch and the incumbent Viceroy in the Vice Regal Lodge. If we are still reading between the lines on his stance on the brave men who fought against oppression in the pursuit of freedom, let us look at our national anthem, Amhran na bhFiann. It was sung by those very men in the GPO and yet Norris would like it to be changed. In the Seanad in February 07 he stated ‘Without going over that too much, all national anthems can be contentious. The British is a comparatively mild one. The tunes are usually fairly nice. Our own could do with being reviewed, including the line “Le guna screach fé lámhach na bpiléar”. It comforts me that most people do not speak Irish and do not know what they are singing.’(6) Furthermore Norris in his blog comments on a ‘Republican’ ball he attended, basically it seems to cause friction, ‘I delighted them by singing the National Anthem in Irish but they were less impressed by my encore which was God Save the Queen.’ (7)This man is not in touch with the ideals of the men of 1916 who fought and died so that God Save the King/Queen would no longer ring out over Dublin.

In recent days Helen Lucy Burke reissued an article which was published in 2002 in Magill Magazine. Within this article Norris discusses some issues including child abuse; I will not give credence to any points made by Norris in this article because the context is vile. The article is freely available on the internet and is worth a look if you have the stomach for it. Norris on his own website refers to this article and states, ‘Miss Burke and I engaged an academic discussion about classical Greece and sexual activity in a historical context; it was a hypothetical, intellectual conversation which should not have been seen as a considered representation of my views on some of the issues discussed over dinner.’(8) Well Mr. Norris are these the kind of conversations you have over dinner because as President you may have to attend a few State Dinners representing the Irish people and I for one would not like this issue to be discussed intellectually. I might not be as intellectual as you and certainly not as knowledgeable on Classical Greece but I feel the Irish people need to progress not regress to the dark ages and it does not take a genius to work out child abuse is vile. Since the reissue Helen Lucy Burke has been attacked from all sides in the media, she is being accused of mounting a smear campaign. Is it not in the interest of Irish voters to be able to make an informed choice on who should represent them, is this not Democracy? I admire Helen Lucy Burke for fighting against the tide.

On the 4th March 2010 David Norris on his twitter account tweeted ‘Just recorded a piece for a wonderful pop band called the Josephs. It’s called the Boot Boys Bible, see you on Top of the Pops.’(9) I searched for the band the Josephs and listened to this song. You can find it on their MySpace page. Listen to the live version and make your own mind up as to whether it is an appropriate choice for a potential Irish President. I assume Norris is trying to attach himself to the younger voter scene by being ‘in’ with the crowd, but it is degrading and certainly not the action of a future President. The Josephs have really hit the big time with such hits as ‘Heroin Kills Stick to Pills’. This gives an insight as to the mentality of the band and the title says more than the song ever could. However Norris has at least been forthright on his policy on drugs. In the Seanad in October 2007 he stated ‘This is an unpopular thing to say, dangerous and difficult politically, but I believe it to be true. It is time we open a debate as to whether certain drugs, how many or even if drugs should be legalised. I happen to believe they should be and that this is necessary.’(10) So we have debates on whether drugs should be legalised and Ireland joining the Commonwealth to potentially look forward to.
The next big thing I am sure that will go hand in hand with climate change in the near future is population control and Norris even has a view on this. Again in the Seanad in March 2009 Norris states ‘That does not mean that I do not hold my colleagues in high regard as I hold them in very high regard just as in the same way I support population control. I do not think anybody should have more than two children.’(11) This seems to me a breach of civil and human rights but that may just be me. Norris further adds in February 2008 before the Seanad that ‘Since I graduated from Trinity College, the world's population has doubled and it is now four and a half times larger than it was in 1900. We cannot ignore that fact. I applaud governments such as China for trying to face up to this problem.’(12) China facing up to the problem of an increasing population is the adoption of a one child policy. In essence this results in baby girls being aborted as a boy is a necessity in the eyes of the parents. The boy carries on the family name, a girl may marry into another family and the name is lost. Have a look at this policy’s impact on China and women in China, and think of the horrific stories of ‘illegal’ babies being snatched from their parents because they were in breach of the one child policy. China is not a role model to base our country on. Not to be flippant on such a serious point but the irony of Norris’ viewpoint may hit him when he realises his literary idol James Joyce was the eldest of ten in his family and we may not have had Ulysses etc if not for his siblings who contributed to his works. ‘Every detail of his family life became verbalized and stored away in his mind as material he might put into his books. "Ulysses" was selected from sacks of notes of things that might go in. Every detail had to be recorded with what may seem obsessive accuracy. When writing "Ulysses" James Joyce would write to members of his family in Dublin to check on the exact position of a house or some trees in a street.’ (Stephen Spender)(13)

It seems if Paddy Power is right and Norris becomes the next Irish President we have a few good years to look forward to. Many may say Ireland deserves what is happening to it and sometimes I agree but the ordinary Irish person does not. They as in the case of the banks are left to pick up the pieces. So before we have seven years of the above please consider other options and do not be swept up in the media hype. Ireland can recover economically it has before but the Irish brand which is loved across the world cannot be further tarnished. In 2012 we may have a Papal visit and yes it may be criticised, but in a largely Catholic population even if it is in name only may be offended and deeply hurt if our President welcomes Pope Benedict with the pet name he has given him Pope Benedict NAZINGER.(14) In 2016 we have the Centenary of the 1916 Rising which will be marked with a commeration outside the Abbey Theatre. Yes the Abbey Theatre not the GPO because if Norris had his way the Abbey Theatre would be re situated to the GPO.(15) I struggle to find the merits in this and the loss of the iconic GPO would be a loss too great to bear. It is our Lincoln Memorial, our Washington Monument and yes even our US Constitution as it is on its very steps that our founding fathers proudly read the Irish Proclamation.
Please say No to Norris becoming Irish President.

References
(1) Mental Capacity and Guardianship Bill, February 2007-http://blogger.senatordavidnorris.ie/2007_02_01_archive.html
(2) Ask David- http://www.norrisforpresident.ie/askdavid/ask-david-views-on-1916-and-the-commonwealth
(3) Republic of Ireland Should rejoin Commonwealth, says Senator- http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/ireland-should-join-commonwealth-senator-14814353.html
(4) Senator David Norris helps with Dublin launch of ‘Ireland and the Commonwealth’-http://www.reform.org/site/2010/05/14/senator-david-norris-helps-with-dublin-launch-of-ireland-and-the-commonwealth/
(5) GScene Magazine, Face to Face with Senator David Norris- http://www.gscene.com/features/Face_to_face_With_Senator_David_Norris.shtml
(6) Order of Business 21st February 2007- http://www.senatordavidnorris.ie/blogger/archive/2007_02_01_archive.html
(7) My Memories of the Trinity Ball-http://www.senatordavidnorris.ie/news.htm
(8) Ask David-http://www.norrisforpresident.ie/askdavid/magill-magazine-2002
(9) David Norris Twitter Account- http://twitter.com/#!/sendavidnorris
(10)Statements on the National Drug Strategy October 2007-http://blogger.senatordavidnorris.ie/2007_10_01_archive.html
(11) Private Members on Seanad Reform March 2009-http://www.senatordavidnorris.ie/blogger/2009/03/private-members-motion-on-seanad-reform.html
(12) Private Members Motion on the Millenium Development Goal February 2008- http://www.senatordavidnorris.ie/blogger/2008/02/private-members-motion-on-millennium.html
(13) All Life was Grist for the Artist, Spender- http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/01/09/specials/joyce-ellmann.html
(14) GScene Magazine, Face to Face with Senator David Norris- http://www.gscene.com/features/Face_to_face_With_Senator_David_Norris.shtml
(15) Move Abbey to GPO not duck pond-Norris, Independent October 2009-http://www.independent.ie/national-news/move-abbey-to-gpo-not-duck-pond-norris-1903835.html