Page 14 - COBH EDITION 21ST DECEMBER DIGITAL VERSION

‘Is this nonsense ever going to end?’ - Trevor Laffan
There are certain people who have nothing better to do with
their time, than study the constitution to find things in there
that annoy them. There must be another agenda at work
here though because many of the issues brought up could
hardly be described as life threatening. So, I suspect it’s just
an attention seeking exercise.
For instance, hands up all of you who know what Article 41.2
of the constitution says. How many of you care what it says
and hands up all of you who will have a better quality of life
when we get rid of it? Well, it’s a matter of great concern for
some.

Article 41.2 of the constitution says the Irish state “recog-
nises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which
the common good cannot be achieved. The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that
mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their
duties in the home.”

I can’t see thousands of women getting out of bed every morning and cursing Article 41.2
for holding them back and ruining their lives. I suspect they have better things to be doing
but others have taken it upon themselves to create a national issue out of this heinous and
offensive Article.

My wife is very satisfied with her life so far and why wouldn’t she be? Apart from having the
perfect husband, she has always done what she pretty much wanted to do and never allowed
anything to hold her back. She worked when she wanted to and stopped when it didn’t suit
her. She returned to work when she wanted, went on foreign holidays, played sport, had kids,
and I have never heard her giving out about Article 41.2.
She has a few expletives in her locker that she reserves for those special occasions when she
stubs her toe, or her tennis is cancelled because of the rain. But in the forty years we’ve been
together, I’ve never once heard her grumble about Article 41.2.

But some people like nothing better than a good moan. For instance, the term, ‘Mansize tis-
sues’ has been keeping a few people awake at night. So much so that Kleenex are rebranding
their ‘Mansize tissues’ after receiving complaints that the term is sexist, and they are chang-
ing it to “Kleenex Extra Large.”

We have been successfully wiping our noses with these things for over sixty years, but now
because of a few characters with nothing better to do than highlight this nonsense, the name
must be changed. But it’s not only tissues that are causing problems, Walt Disney has upset
people too.

The actress, Keira Knightly, won’t let her three-year old daughter watch Cinderella because
she doesn’t want her growing up thinking that if she waits around long enough, she will be
rescued by a rich guy. Instead she wants her child to understand that she is an independent
person who can rescue herself and doesn’t have to rely on a man. She’s three years old Keira!

Other Disney films have also been criticised for being unrealistic by suggesting that good
always wins out over evil and for suggesting that there is always a perfect ending where
everyone lives happily ever after. Critics complain that these films give a false impression to
young people of what life is really like. Honestly, I’m not making this up.