We have a chance to finally build a real republic with rights for all

“THIS is the Republic of Ireland 2011. A republic of laws, of rights and responsibilities; of proper civic order; where the delinquency and arrogance of a particular version, of a particular kind of “morality”, will no longer be tolerated or ignored.”

Those two sentences are taken from the Taoiseach’s speech in the Dáil during the week. As everyone knows, Enda Kenny spoke in response to the Cloyne Report, and it was reported around the world as a moment almost of revolution. The speech was one of condemnation, but also of assertion. In that sense, it could well represent a turning point in our history as a country.

It has of course been endlessly parsed and analysed. Those who wish to defend the Holy See have found fault with aspects of the speech. They’ve criticised it for selectivity and in some cases for inaccuracy. Volumes of Jesuitical skill have been employed to belittle the speech in a variety of ways – it represents a misreading of the Cloyne Report, it was selective in what it chose to condemn, all that sort of stuff. Some commentators have even pointed to the fact that Kenny is the longest-serving member of the Dáil and should have taken on the Vatican years ago. They seem to have forgotten that he is less than six months Taoiseach.