This week, the Oireachtas Children’s Committee resumed their meeting with representatives from social media companies, including Meta, TikTok, and Twitter, to talk about child protection measures and the role of artificial intelligence on their platforms. Despite their smooth explanations prioritising child safety when interacting with their platforms, the political representatives remained unsure.
Fianna Fáil Senator, Erin McGreehan, opened the meeting by acknowledging the scepticism of the committee, describing social media as a “cesspit”. Independent Senator, Tom Clonan, expressed his perspective as a parent who’s not particularly tech-savvy but anxious about content their children might come across on these platforms.
Clonan referred to the impact of TikTok on Simon Harris with humour, saying it has completely consumed and redirected Harris’s life, a sentiment that spurred a laughter from other representatives.
In other matters, Fine Gael’s Sean Kelly was highlighted as keen on maximising photo opportunities. He has a knack for associating himself with influential politicians, as seen during the inaugural ardfheis address of Simon Harris in Galway. Kelly’s zeal was also expressed during the launch of Daniel Butler’s campaign for the Limerick mayor position.
Taoiseach Simon Harris, who is also the newly elected party leader, recently made a visit to the Limerick racecourse situated in Patrickswell. His arrival was greeted by a number of influential FG personalities from Treaty City and further afield. Kelly, an MEP from Munster, was part of the welcoming committee that greeted Harris when he arrived.
A number of speeches were delivered in the Greenmount Suite and there were numerous photo opportunities lined up. Loads of individuals on the platform clamored for the Taoiseach’s attention, which one observer likened to the opening moments of the Grand National race prior to the raising of the tape.
However, the occasion saw a rather unfortunate incident involving Seán, who stumbled over the side, crashing into a large pop-up backdrop and falling onto a table of empty glasses positioned behind him. The “spider” frame which supported the large Fine Gael poster gave way under the impact.
An FG insider jokingly compared the situation to the song “I Believe I Can Fly,” implying that Seán’s attempt proved otherwise. Despite the mishap, Kelly, being a strong-willed individual, returned to the Munster Euro election campaign trail ahead of the June elections without letting the incident get to him.
Denis Naughten, a TD representing Roscommon-Galway, should also be congratulated. Naughten, who is also the chairperson of the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s science and technology working group as well as the convenor of the Oireachtas Friends of Science and Technology group, earned an MA in science and health communications from DCU. Naughten, the former communications minister, left academia for politics after his election to the Dáil in 1997. Despite his political involvement, Naughten never gave up on his ambition to complete the course, which he finally did in 2016.
Denis, a graduate of industrial microbiology from University College Dublin, identified the advantages of working remotely during the Covid pandemic and decided to go back to school to partake in a two-year part-time course. The course’s first year was predominantly conducted online with the second year integrating both online and physical lectures.
Earlier this year, he publicised his resignation from the national political stage citing personal and professional reasons after rendering a continuous service in the Dáil for 26 years. Post his graduation ceremony a fortnight ago, he shared his excitement for the forthcoming opportunities, acknowledging his academic accomplishment as an emblem of aspiration, teamwork, and support from others. He expressed his optimism for new opportunities, education opened horizons, and relentless efforts to bringing dreams into reality.
In the meantime, the Greens would be making another appearance on our TV screens following another political party conference, with a live speech from the leader. Ensure to record the address on your televisions. The day’s itinerary is crammed with successive speeches, with the podium experiencing high traffic by the time Eamon Ryan gets there to speak.
The duration of the speeches varies, with some speakers getting just five minutes, whilst the longest is a 30-minute panel discussion. The broadcast will highlight director of local elections, Roderic O’Gorman’s speech, “Seven Weeks to Go!” focusing on the final week of the campaign. Brian Leddin TD will add a rallying note regarding the election for directly elected the mayor of Limerick.
Clare-based Senator Róisín Garvey is scheduled to entertain the delegates for 20 minutes with the topic “What have the Greens ever done for us?”, while Minister for Media Catherine Martin will precede her party leader with a modest seven minutes of speech. However, her screen time will be short, and she will wind-up her speech before anyone from Prime Time attempts to call her back for another round.
Eamon Ryan is set to deliver a lengthy 25-minute oration. However, the most extended speaking time has been reserved for a comedian. The author of ‘Climate Warrior’, Colm O’Regan, will initiate the event with a 40-minute humorous act.
The Leader of Aontú, Peadar Tóibín, blamed the Government for renouncing Ireland’s independence to the European Union, aligning with the EU immigration pact. He raised concern over Ireland’s voice in its legislation “when decisions are made in places like Brussels or Berlin?”
In response to this, the Taoiseach inquired, “Do you not wish to be a constituent of the European Parliament? Is your political campaign not founded on the desire to make decisions there?”
The response he received was, “We do, but we oppose giving up any more sovereignty.”
As the conversation progressed, the discussion shifted to Peadar’s old political party. He was first elected as a TD during his time in Sinn Féin. According to the Taoiseach, based on the party’s principles during Peadar’s tenure, Ireland would not have been an EU member, as not too long ago, Sinn Féin didn’t want an alliance with Europe.
Expectedly, this remark led to an uproar from the SF members present.
State Minister Neale Richmond rebuked them for voting against it on every occasion, asking “Did you not resist every referendum?”
Harris found himself momentarily diverted, unable to hear what Deputy McDonald was murmuring, leading to the Sinn Féin leader’s evident discontent.
However, Simon justified his earlier argument by stating, “It is a factual statement that Sinn Féin has objected to every European referendum since our European Union membership, including the one to enter the Union. This is the factual truth.”
Mary Lou found this redundant repeated argument extremely tedious, calling the new Taoiseach both an old and young fogey, which was perplexing to Simon.
This could possibly imply that Leo Varadkar has aged in his role and he would be chuffed to hear that.