Who’s the real fool in the endless struggle to win disability rights?

I WAS trying to figure out why Taoiseach Brian Cowen called Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny a fool for trying to raise the crisis facing thousands of people with an intellectual disability. Was it because the Taoiseach really believes there is no such crisis?

Was it because Enda Kenny described the crisis in some inappropriate way? Or was it because the Taoiseach was just in a grumpy mood? I haven’t been able to track down the exact moment the Taoiseach said Enda Kenny was a fool. I know it was said in the Dáil last Wednesday during a debate on disability issues because that has been widely reported. One political correspondent, who has a high reputation for accuracy, has written that it was at 10.42 last Wednesday morning — that would be about 10 minutes into the discussion.

And in that 10 minutes, the Taoiseach had said about 10 times no decision had been made to cut services for people with intellectual disabilities. Perhaps he thought Enda Kenny was a fool because he didn’t just accept his word on the matter.