Originally Posted by
LazarusRisen
Conventional wisdom has the Dail being dissolved this coming Friday, or, if not, next Monday. The Bill is due to be debated in the Oireachtas on Thursday (at 10:45). I believe the Bill to have already passed the Oireachtas stages, and through the Seanad, which I think means that Thursday's debate/formality will see it being passed to the Presidential Office to be ratified into law. The President has 5-8 days to sign the Law. I am not a lawyer and hope that i have misunderstood the procedures and, as such, am open to correction. What I'm unclear about is whether a dissolution of the Oireachtas in the meantime would put the Bill/Act on ice or whether, once passed to the President, the procedures continue regardless of whether or not we have a sitting Parliament.
Whatever happens, Thursday is going to be a very sad day in this country, as we roll back the clock and re-enter the dark ages. To re-iterate what has been said here many times, I find it incomprehensible that we can be so enlightened (in this country) as to have needle exchanges, same-sex marriages, divorce (albeit not quite on tap) and yet we're moving to criminalise (and consequently make life more threatening for) some of the most vulnerable members of our society. Minister FitzGerald seems to have a bee in her bonnet over this issue, but I'm afraid, by most objective measures, she's got it wrong