Just when you thought that neither party could sink any lower, Sinn Fein and Labour chose to use the sickening murder of an Irish schoolteacher as an excuse to attack the Catholic faith. No, the institution, not the hierarchy, but the faith itself and everyone who adheres to it. In particular, the two parties (along with micro party the Social Democrats) have attempted to smear Catholic men praying the Rosary.
Despite their association with the murder of mother of ten Jean McConville and countless other women, Sinn Fein chose the aftermath of the horrific murder of Ashling Murphy to post a bizarre alternative history, where the study of Latin and the Catechism were somehow connected to violence against women.
Emma Sheerin, who has submitted to British rule in Northern Ireland in order to support abortion, posted the crazed thread on Twitter, attracting support from mostly British feminists who have bought into myths about Ireland and Catholicism’s supposed sexist past. This comes on the same week that the Royal Family (to whom Sheerin submits and to whom her leader Mary Lou McDonald wants all of Ireland to submit to in the Commonwealth) had to disown one of its own, Prince Andrew, after he had been implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
As bad as that was, much worse was to come.
On Saturday, another Sinn Fein politician joined in with a bizarre conspiracy theory which claimed that a preplanned Rosary Rally in Limerick had actually sprung up overnight in order to interfere with vigils designed to mourn the victim of the heinous crime in Offaly.
Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan joined in with the pile on, writing:
Another politician, the more irrelevant Labour Councillor also made false claims, stating that the event was deliberately organised in order to disrupt the ‘Vigil’. The pro austerity politician, from a party that made tens of thousands of women homeless during the 2010s, ridiculously claimed that the event normally takes place at Thomas Street. Catholic Arena can confirm that that is a different Rosary that the Councillor is referring to. This one in Bedford Row had been organised in advance, as has been confirmed by text messages. The Councillor was spreading disinformation.
In fact, get this, it was the ‘Vigil’ that was moved from Thomas Street to Bedford Row. When a similar event was organised by pro aborts last year for murdered Englishwoman Sarah Everard, it took place at Thomas Street. Not only that, but they refused to pay a fine for breaking Covid regulations at the time and they even took the time at the ‘Vigil’ yesterday to complain about this fine.
In attendance at yesterday’s event also was Elisa O’Donovan of pro austerity micro party the Social Democrats. She has history with Rosary Rallies in Limerick.
In exclusive video from the event, Catholic Arena can show that there was little in the way of a ‘Vigil’ taking place, with the pro abortion campaigners even bringing signs saying ‘Safe. Legal. On Demand’ and screaming that Jesus was no different from Superman.
The claims on their own are enough to be shameful, but the fact that these Catholic men are now receiving death threats because of the claims of Sinn Fein and others has meant that this has escalated to a whole new level of concern.
One person, a self proclaimed Tipperary FM contributor, called for the men to be ‘targeted’ with a ‘full slurry tank’.
A self proclaimed former employee of the British Broadcasting Corporation claimed said ‘Assholes. I would kick them and their rosary beads the full length of the street’.
Another said that they would be fine with the men being ‘kicked to bits’.
Another Twitter user called for the men to be hanged using their Rosary beads, quoting the Labour Councillor’s slanderous tweet.
The story has remarkable echoes of the Nick Sandman case in the United States, we hope that those men who are currently being slandered follow the example of how he dealt with his treatment.
In the meantime, there is something that all of us can do.
There has been so much noise in recent months about the apparent abuse of politicians on social media, yet we now have politicians using their official accounts to abuse their own constituents and to whip up violent mobs against people who happen to be the wrong religion.
Contact the Standards in Public Office with the tweets from Maurice Quinlivan, Elisa O’Donovan and Conor Sheehan.
Politicians do not get to make claims about constituents who happen to be of different religious beliefs and then to sit back as those people subjected to death threats. Worse still, they do not get to exploit the murder of an innocent girl to do so.
Sample of a complaint that you may wish to make:
Email Address for complaint; customerservices@limerick.ie
Email Subject; FAO Ethics Registrar; Complaint about Councillor Conor Sheehan
EMAIL BODY; (Please add your contact info to the email template below)
Dear Ethics Registrar, Limerick City and County Council,
I wish to make a formal complaint under Section 9.4 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors contained within the Ethical Framework for the Local Government Service.
My complaint involves Labour County Councillor, Conor Sheehan.
Section 9.4 outlines examples of unacceptable use/misuse of social media by councillors if posts;
· Use profane or derogatory language or content
· Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, disability, age, race, religious belief or membership of the Traveller Community;
· Illegal activity or encouragement of same;
On 15th January 2022, Labour Councillor Conor Sheehan posted a series of comments on his twitter account. Please see relevant details of the tweets and links below. It is my opinion that Councillor Sheehan’s tweets breach the Code of Conduct of Councillors.
As a Catholic, I personally find this series of tweets and subsequent comments that his tweets invoked, grossly offensive, unbecoming of a political representative, in breech of the Code of Conduct and factually incorrect.
I ask the Ethics Registrar to investigate this incident and report back as soon as possible.Yours sincerely,
YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
YOUR CONTACT NUMBERReferences:
Twitter Link twitter.com/ConorSheehan93/status/1482414083756462085?cxt=HHwWisC4hanwy5IpAAAA
Archived copy available here:
https://archive.is/wbUAC
TWITTER ACCOUNT;
Cllr Conor Sheehan @ConorSheehan93 6.07pm 15th January 20221/ Today I attended a protest on Bedford Row in Limerick against male violence against women. A group of men called the “mens rosary” stood alongside us chanting loudly Catholic prayers.
157 Retweets / 45 Quote Tweets / 1,047 Likes
2/ One of the organisers went over and politely explained what the demo was about and if they would mind taking their rosary across the street. In response to that they turned their sound system up louder to try and drown us out.
3/ There must have been at least 15 men chanting Catholic prayers very loudly and while they may call themselves Catholic, their behaviour was one of the most unchristian things I have ever witnessed.
4/This Irish Mens Rosary are normally on Thomas St but they moved to Bedford Row specifically to disrupt this demo against gender violence. They tried to drown out each woman who stood up to speak. No compassion or humanity just misogyny. Disgusting!
Please see YouTube video produced by CatholicArena disputing Councillor Conor Sheehan’s version of events. youtube.com/watch?v=_9MgJWcVIs8
