PRESS STATEMENT 21 NOVEMBER 2024
Regarding the General Election 2024
Public statement by the Supreme Knight on behalf of the Order of the Knights of St Columbanus.
The Order of the Knights of St Columbanus urges support for the concept of sanctity of life from time of conception to natural death and supports the concept that Sanctity of Life extends to all aspects of life and how people experience it during their life on this Earth.
The Order support the Bishops’ Statement for Election 2024 “To Be a People of Hope” issued on the 20 November.
We too believe that an absolute commitment to dignity, value and right to life of every person – at every stage and in every condition of life – is vital for the sustaining of a vibrant, hope-filled cohesive, flourishing society. We also agree that this commitment must be part of our political dialogue and the actions of those whom we elect. We cannot accept that the value of people’s lives is based on what economic benefit they bring to society.
Abortion was introduced in Ireland in 2018 on the promise that it would be rare and safe. Since then, 40,000 abortions have been carried out in Ireland and the trajectory is for a more liberal abortion law.
The Dail recently voted to receive the Report of the report of the Oireachtas Committee in Assisted dying. These recommendations come with all the same promises of it being safe and rare as with abortion. We together with the bishops totally reject these recommendations because a fundamental principle of civilised society is that no person can lawfully take the life of another. Palliative care, nursing homes, reducing hospital waiting lists and improving mental health are better investments. There is too much loneliness in society from older people living on their own to younger people with only their phones with all the attendant risks. Indeed, it is these areas that might lose out in the competition for resources.
We also support the Irish Catholic Bishop’s Conference Pastoral letter “A Hundred Thousand Welcomes?” published on the 12 October. Pope Francis’s encyclical letter “Fratelli Tutti” [2020] “on Fraternity and Social Friendship” extended the definition of neighbour beyond the people in our local community and country to embrace the whole world.
We want to draw attention to some of the constant demands and pressures under which many people live in the first quarter of the 21st century.
As a society we must be concerned about:
- Modern Society is suffering from a plague of addiction from alcohol to drugs to porn, to the online world rather than the real world, to the power and control of money and success and so on. Public policy needs to address these addictions.
- The never-ending and increasing financial pressures on young families upon whom necessity and indeed obligation for both parents to work outside the home is a consequence of the exercise their right to own their own home. We fully support people who are employed outside the home by choice but are conscious that there are many couples who would prefer an alternative way of life, and we urge all political parties to include such values in their policies and manifestos.
- We support the suggestion by Bishop Kevin Doran in his Pre-Election press release dated 18 November of a subsidy for parents of young children, at least those under school-going age, who would prefer to stay at home to mind their own children.
- Young people are the future of society. They require access to secure long-term accommodation and home ownership leading to healthy personal and family relationships and vibrant communities. Most people seeking to acquire their first home are encountering unsurmountable challenges from a scarcity of suitable homes and unreasonably high mortgage and rental costs imposing enormous demands and pressures on people who are our future. We support the additional suggestion by Bishop Kevin Doran in his Pre-Election press release to the effect that public policy needs to focus on the building of far more houses which will be owned and managed by local authorities at rents that are realistic.
- The work circumstances of many people create pressures and demands resulting in circumstances where two parents are rarely present in the home at the same time. While such arrangements may be essential to the conduct of business, they do not take account of the needs of people, of their relationships with each other, their children and the wider community.
- We are accustomed to the reality of daily long-distance work commutes as the norm for a many people especially younger people. The physical demands of long-term commuting apart from the impact of lengthy working days on family and community life make the daily commute unsustainable as a lifelong requirement.
There are many issues which we could highlight at this time, and which are of great importance including the high costs of education even where this is technically free of cost.
We have focused on the issues above because these are of critical importance to the lives of people who are simply seeking the right to live their ordinary lives extraordinarily well.
We agree with the bishops [their statement of the 20 November] that this General Election, on 29 November, is an opportunity for voters to bring to bear their influence on the values, policies and wider conversations that will shape our country’s future, not just during the term of the new Dáil Éireann, but for years to come. All those eligible to vote are urged to exercise that vote. Even if there are no candidates who reflect the full range of a voter’s values or aspirations, it is a fundamental Christian duty to maximise the common good by taking part in the democratic process.
The Order of the Knights of St Columbanus is committed to Restoring All Things in Christ and whether you support the Christian message or an alternative message or indeed none, you will no doubt agree that the matters addressed here are at variance with the needs of people and adversely affect the individual, the family and the community of which we are all part of.
We urge all politicians to take these and other issues which impact on the quality of life of all our people into consideration and wish all candidates a successful outcome.
John Murphy
Supreme Knight