One Republic Swims Against The Current.

TheyGaveTheirHeart
ToAGalwayGirlVille

The Republic of Ireland has a new president.

Her name is Catherine Connolly and she is an unabashed progressive and peacenik who believes in both empathy and compassion:

...As a teenager, Connolly became active in her community, volunteering with two Catholic lay organisations - the Legion of Mary and the Order of Malta.

This involved bringing meals-on-wheels to elderly people and cleaning their homes.

"The joke was that I was out saving the world and not doing the housework at home," she recently told podcaster Síle Seoige...

{snip}

...The mother of two was in her early 40s when she entered elected politics in 1999.

She recalls being encouraged to stand for the Labour Party by the outgoing President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins and his wife.

Her main reason for getting involved was an ambition to address Ireland's housing shortage which she has described as the "defining social crisis of our time".

Connolly served 17 years as councillor in Galway, including a one-year term as mayor of her native city...

{snippety}

...Connolly is an outspoken critic of Israel's actions in Gaza and has vowed to use her presidency to be a "voice for peace" in an increasingly uncertain world.

She opposes the increasing militarisation of Europe and has warned against a "building consensus" to weaken Ireland's policy of military neutrality.

She told BBC Talkback that when she canvassed voters, Gaza was "top of the list of their concerns" and was raised more often than any other issue, including Irish unity...

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Lawyers, Guns and Money front pager Eric Loomis has a couple of thoughts:

One of the most remarkable political stories in my life is the transformation of Ireland from the most church dominated and one of the most conservative nations in western Europe to a secular nation with no time for the world’s bullshit...

{snip}

...The Irish remind me of the many ex-Mormons I have known in my life (this happens when you are from the West) who have been lied to their whole lives, know it, are angry about it, and have no time for your nonsense. Given how the Catholic Church treated the Irish people over the centuries and the sexual exploitation of children endemic to it, it’s like a national waking up and a determination to never go back to the old ways...

Interesting perspective from Mr. Loomis, and many Irish folks may actually agree with it.

However, given her own history, Ms. Connolly herself might not. 

Although, it is entirely possible  that Ms. Connolly might just take a wee bit of liberation with her brand of catholic theology.

Which would be a good thing I reckon.

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Earworm in the sub-header?....This (from the place where. apparently, everyone is a buskateer)!

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