The gesture that represents the Irish abortion debate

Emer O'Toole:

"On Wednesday at 3am in Dáil Éireann, during the marathon debate that passed the historic bill, a Fine Gael teachta dála (member of parliament), Tom Barry, pulled a female colleague, Áine Collins, on to his lap.

The next day, minister for jobs Richard Bruton requested that this inappropriate incident not be allowed to sidetrack the crucial work under way in Leinster House. In other words: would ye ever shut up?

But I can't shut up. Because #lapgate – as it has come to be (over) affectionately known – is the Irish abortion debate. I can't think of a gesture that more perfectly represents the relationship between women's bodies and the Irish body politic."
Yogisays...

Is she suing for sexual harassment because that seems open and shut.

Kofisaid:

It displays the patriarchal attitude of those in power. "Oh, you want right? How about you shut up and sit on my lap instead?"

siftbotsays...

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by bareboards2.

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Friday, July 12th, 2013 10:40am PDT - promote requested by bareboards2.

moodoniasays...

Sorry but this gesture doesnt illustrate anything about the abortion debate, but it says plenty about drinking on the job. This dumbass grabbing the woman is drunk, Ireland has two bars in its parliament and they were serving alcohol until 5am. So this genius is drunk while voting on important legislation, sees a friend of his (they are from the same party in the same county) and grabs her. She wont do anything about it because they are in the same party, and we all know party loyalty trumps all other concerns.

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