Every Day is Election Day

… if someone does something for you, sends something your way or generally put themselves out for you in anyway…

Do say thank you. I’m beginning to think it’s gone off the radar from the English language.

They’d say it to you.

I’m rather put out about this. If you couldn’t tell.

As we’d mentioned previously, our friend Conor P is deadly - and will be on the Late Late Show this weekend, talking about his experiences of being the child of a lesbian couple unacknowledged by the law.

Regardless of what side of the fence you sit on, be sure you catch it - he really will open your eyes.

Our pal Marty (the Betty Boop) blogs the following from Beijing:

I have been asked in recent days was it true that I met Cindy Crawford here in Beijing. Of course I did. She waved to me and asked who did I think would win the All Ireland this year. And pigs will fly.

Anyway here are the facts. I was filming a sequence in the Water Cube when there was a great commotion a few hundred yards from our location.

Being an inquisitive type I and my ace cameraman Kieran Slyne who has a lovely Cork accent by the way took off with speed in pursuit of one of the world’s most beautiful women.

I shouted, as you do in these situations, ‘Marty Morrissey of RTÉ Sport Ireland (you just got to mention the Irish angle at every opportunity over here!). ‘What do think of the Beijing Olympics?’ She smiled and before the poor girl could answer me she was whisked away by an army of bodyguards.

Not exactly pleased with this response, I went into third gear, revved into fourth and slid into fifth. All of this slick action happened while still holding the boom microphone that was attached to Kieran’s camera. So off we went running down the elevator that ran beside the stairs she was now descending.

Like any gentleman I waited at the bottom of the stairs and repeated my question. ‘What do you think of the Beijing Olympics?’

This time she looked lovingly into my eyes and purred ‘absolutely great’ before again being surrounded by obviously quite jealous bodyguards who didn’t want her to get to know me.

But you know true love never runs smooth. I know Cindy and I will meet again some day.

P.S. All of this is on tape and I have it… forever.

Read more here. What a hero - did anyone else see his special report on Women’s Beach Volleyball last night? That’s a TV licence fee justified right there.

Read more: Marty’s Letter from Beijing [The Clare People]

Some of you may have seen this letter in the Irish Times last Wednesday:

Madam, - I am a 22-year-old man, living in Dublin and studying psychology in UCD. I was born in London, and have been living in Ireland for the past 13 years. I have a younger brother, Daragh, and two loving parents. My parents have been in a relationship for 28 years, since they were students.

In many ways my family are very regular; we have family dinners, we go to museums and we help each other out when the need arises. However, one detail leads to our family being treated dramatically differently. My parents are a lesbian couple called Ann and Bernadette, and in spite of their strong 28-year relationship, they are effectively treated as second-class citizens. I was conceived using sperm from a donor; there was no sexual relationship between Ann and the man who donated sperm, and I consider both Ann and Bernadette to be my parents, and both to be my mothers.

In many ways our family is lucky; my parents’ relationship is healthy, neither of them has been seriously ill and we have not experienced major misfortunes. However, if this had not been the case, and the family unit had broken apart, there would have been significant and unfair legal and financial difficulties regarding both custody and access to us, their children, and regarding passing money and property to us. As Bernadette is not my biological mother, there would have been a particular issue for her. Even now, with both Daragh and myself being adults, we are denied inheritance and succession rights to Bernadette’s property and wealth.

I am very pleased that the Government has begun the process of recognising my parents’ same-sex relationship, and that their relationship will be given legal recognition for the first time. This will provide them with security for the future, as well as provisions for inheritance, succession, etc.

However, as a son of a same-sex couple, I am very concerned that the Heads of Bill do not provide for them as parents. Neglecting this area leaves my family in an extremely vulnerable position, and I would be left vulnerable should anything happen to Ann, my biological parent.

The complexity of this area requires that a delicate approach be taken, but I urge the Government to provide the means of extending the rights and responsibilities of biological parents to non-biological parents. Bernadette is my mother, in emotional, financial and caring terms. This needs to be recognised by the Government, and provisions be put in place for the protection of children brought up in the same context.

Not providing legal recognition for Bernadette as my mother leads to many problems. If I were to be admitted to hospital, she would not have the right to visit me as her son. She would not need to be consulted or informed of any medical decisions made. Similarly, should she be in such a situation I would not have the right to be consulted either. There are no provisions for inheritance either; in the event of her death she could not leave me anything as a family member, and as such it would be subject to unfair inheritance tax. From a social point of view, not recognising her status as my mother is simply fuelling the stigma that same-sex relationships and parents are second to heterosexual parents, an idea not supported by vast amounts of research. It is for these reasons that I urge the Government to take into account families like mine, who are not currently given the protection and respect by the State they deserve, and the children of same-sex couples who need to be protected by the Civil Partnership Bill. - Yours, etc,

CONOR PENDERGRAST, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.

Some more of you may have heard him on Today with Pat Kenny today, or read this in the Indo on Saturday, and are already familiar with his story.

This is the man behind that letter, that interview and that article.

We always say we’re proud of our friends, but it must be said, Conor P floored us this week. Bern and Ann are the proudest of all we’d bet. Why don’t you drop him a line to lend him some support?