Letter to the Editor at The Times, Response to Ann Marie Hourihane, Eighth Amendment Debate is a Case of History Repeating, The Times (Irish edn.) (May 15, 2018)

Submitted: May 13, 2018

Re: Ann Marie Hourihane’s Eighth [Amendment] Debate is a Case of History Repeating, The Times (Irish edn.) (May 11, 2018, 12:01 AM)           

Ms Hourihane writes: “There is a large section of our population who are not going to discuss how they are going to vote [in regard to repealing the 8^th Amendment of the Irish Constitution] with anybody, because they know that in any logical argument they would lose.” That is interesting: I always thought it was the job of the media to hold elected officials, the government, and its ministers to account. I guess I was wrong: in our post 1984 world, it is the job of the media to hold the people and the voters to account. Perhaps she thinks it is time to (also) repeal the Irish Constitution’s secret ballot provision?

Perhaps your editorial writer could tell us how she knows, that this “section” of the population is “large,” and also how “large” she thinks this purportedly illogical segment of the population is, and more importantly, given that it is “large” and illogical, how long does she think it worthwhile to retain democratic institutions?

Where the elites deride their own citizens and their own voters, the “deplorables” will eventually take the hint. Just think—Brexit & Trump.

Seth Barrett Tillman, Lecturer

Seth Barrett Tillman, Letter to the Editor, Eighth Debate, The Times (Irish edn), May 15 2018, at 16, https://tinyurl.com/y88l9ok9 (with Lexis access) (published). 

Seth Barrett Tillman, Submitted as a Letter to the Editor, Response to Ann Marie Hourihane, Eighth Amendment Debate is a Case of History Repeating, New Reform Club (May 13, 2018, 7:08 AM), https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2018/05/letter-to-editor-response-ann-marie.html. 

A response to: Ann Marie Hourihane, Eighth [Amendment] Debate is a Case of History Repeating, The Times (Irish edn.) (May 11, 2018, 12:01 AM), https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/eighth-debate-is-a-case-of-history-repeating-lf6790swj.