Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Interesting Article
This article argues that women in Ireland do not have a significant role in politics which immediately caught my attention because the current President is a woman and the former President also happened to be a woman. According to statistics in the past 15 years the role of women in politics has not made any progress and men still out number women in the political parties of Ireland. The article is very brief but I feel it brings up an intriguing topic that makes people think, because if we in the U.S. had a woman President I would not think for one second that women had a lesser role in politics..if anything that would give me a reason to believe women have somewhere between equal and or higher importance in politics than that of men.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0428/1224269221603.html
Monday, March 8, 2010
Current status of abortion in Ireland
In response to my discussion leader presentation last Thursday, I have been extensively researching information about abortion in Ireland and many other topics brought up in the in-class discussion. Interestingly enough I found an article dated March 7, 2010 clarifying some of the confusion on whether or not abortion is legal in the country. The website stating this information was Human Rights Watch.org and it says, "Abortion was illegal in all circumstances in Ireland until 1992. At that point, following a referendum approved by the people, it was affirmed that abortion should be legal if a woman’s life is threatened by her pregnancy. The referendum also protected the right to travel abroad to obtain abortion services, and to obtain and provide information about such services."
Abortion, in the eyes of the Irish government is legal only if the woman's life is threatened by the pregnancy; although she cannot have an abortion in Ireland, the woman seeking abortion services has the right to travel abroad to get an abortion and the right to obtain information about these services. To me all I get from this "law" is that Ireland is not necessarily against babies being aborted but will not let it happen in their country which shows their lack of responsibility in this specific health issue. I do not understand how a country can stop people from receiving a medical procedure on their land when they are not completely against it. In my opinion, you should either make something 100% legal or 100% illegal, why have a law that contradicts itself? The lack of clarity in the actual law itself reflects somewhat negatively towards the country of Ireland and I think it that laws if anything should be concrete and concise otherwise the government is fully doing it's job of governing the people.
Link to article: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/03/05/ireland-update-abortion-laws
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Abortion in Ireland
This article was particularly interesting to me because of the mere fact that the topic of abortion is being talked about in more than just America, it is nice to know. It is a very controversial subject in our country but I did not think that it would be in other places around the world. Knowing that there is a lot of catholic-type religions in Ireland it makes sense that the views of religious people would most likely be against abortion, as in the U.S. but the fact that abortions are not looked at as probable or beneficial at all in Ireland shows the strict views and values they as a country possess.
As stated by the author, Marie O'Halloran, "Failure to legislate on the X-case means that a woman cannot access an abortion even when it is necessary to save her life" is the main issue about abortion in Ireland. Should it be legislated or not? Should the doctors and surgeons be against aborting a baby or be for saving a woman's life who is in danger of death due to her baby's life? These are questions that are asked when the topic of abortion comes up in Irish people's daily lives. It is not completely legal and not completely illegal so the question lies there between right and wrong. The only real guideline given in reading this article is that the only way abortion is okay is if the doctor suspects a grave risk that the mother is going to die because of the birth of her child, then the abortion is somewhat constituted.
The quote towards the end of the article, "Ireland is perhaps unique in the western world of having no effective means for a woman, even when her life is gravely threatened, to access an abortion on Irish soil" makes me believe that there is no actual law that lets women in Ireland access abortion but in essence that implies there is no restriction against having a baby aborted either. This article overall is confusing because I do not understand whether you can or cannot have an abortion in Ireland however, the news story ends talking about other European countries including Ireland having 'stringent restrictions' on a woman's right to have an abortion and hints towards being prosecuted in Ireland if actions are taken to go against the specific restrictions. You can see how this article sparked my interest because of the similarity between controversial issues in Ireland and the United States but also my lack of clarity on what the actual restrictions are of women having access to abortions in Ireland.
Link to article:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0301/1224265372281.html
As stated by the author, Marie O'Halloran, "Failure to legislate on the X-case means that a woman cannot access an abortion even when it is necessary to save her life" is the main issue about abortion in Ireland. Should it be legislated or not? Should the doctors and surgeons be against aborting a baby or be for saving a woman's life who is in danger of death due to her baby's life? These are questions that are asked when the topic of abortion comes up in Irish people's daily lives. It is not completely legal and not completely illegal so the question lies there between right and wrong. The only real guideline given in reading this article is that the only way abortion is okay is if the doctor suspects a grave risk that the mother is going to die because of the birth of her child, then the abortion is somewhat constituted.
The quote towards the end of the article, "Ireland is perhaps unique in the western world of having no effective means for a woman, even when her life is gravely threatened, to access an abortion on Irish soil" makes me believe that there is no actual law that lets women in Ireland access abortion but in essence that implies there is no restriction against having a baby aborted either. This article overall is confusing because I do not understand whether you can or cannot have an abortion in Ireland however, the news story ends talking about other European countries including Ireland having 'stringent restrictions' on a woman's right to have an abortion and hints towards being prosecuted in Ireland if actions are taken to go against the specific restrictions. You can see how this article sparked my interest because of the similarity between controversial issues in Ireland and the United States but also my lack of clarity on what the actual restrictions are of women having access to abortions in Ireland.
Link to article:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0301/1224265372281.html
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Examining the Examiner
Instead of focusing on a specific article I have decided to discuss a particular news source in Ireland, the Irish Examiner. When you first log onto the Irish Examiner site, to get strictly news about Ireland you click on the Ireland tab but the part I find interesting is that there are only two sections, crime and politics. I believe that in itself tells a lot about the country or what information is actually available about the country. There are other tabs on the home page such as sports, business and the world however, you have to search in order to get news that is informational rather than just pure entertainment. Out of the top 6 stories that are covered under the breaking news tab 5 of them have to do with either crime or politics. Yes, it is important to give the public news updates on who is being busted for drugs, who is killing who, what gangs reek havoc and so on but why are we not seeing other things like health related topics, articles on education or other things that make a country run? I am not sure if it is because Ireland does not have any other problems besides drugs and killings but somehow I feel there might be more going on over there that is just not publicly available to the world.
A story you most likely wouldn't find in the United States
After reading various articles from Irish Times, an Ireland-based newspaper similar to some of the newspapers in the United States, one specific article caught my attention. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0218/1224264715137.html
This article was about a Pakistani doctor would had worked in many Irish hospitals and moved onto hospitals in Britain in 2004 without anyone knowing he cheated on a postgraduate test. The first thing that stood out to me was the title: Doctor cheated in postgraduate exam, because I would be willing to bet you would never see something like that in a United States mainstream newspaper that most Americans read on a daily basis. We like to believe as a nation that the media coverage we are receiving is accurate and truthful however, it is not in the best interest to share information with the public that would cause suspicion or make people think twice about their doctors because, essentially, money is power and those who are in charge of doctors have both.
Another interesting part about this article is the part "Dr Iqbal apologized and said there would be no repetition of the “single incident”. What happened would remain with him for life. He stressed he had served his 12-month suspension and had now been offered another job in the UK" this to me is no excuse for cheating on a postgraduate exam especially since I am just someone reading this article like most Irish and British people are; there is nothing in the article that says how important or not the exam was in his academic career and how it could affect the way he cares for patients or what skills he may lack because of his misconduct. I find it shocking to read an article in one of the most popular newspapers people of Ireland read that reveals something so controversial and could possibly affect many people's lives. The main reason I do not think an article such as this would be found in a popular American newspaper would be the mere fact of scaring the public, what they don't know won't hurt them, or so we think.
This article was about a Pakistani doctor would had worked in many Irish hospitals and moved onto hospitals in Britain in 2004 without anyone knowing he cheated on a postgraduate test. The first thing that stood out to me was the title: Doctor cheated in postgraduate exam, because I would be willing to bet you would never see something like that in a United States mainstream newspaper that most Americans read on a daily basis. We like to believe as a nation that the media coverage we are receiving is accurate and truthful however, it is not in the best interest to share information with the public that would cause suspicion or make people think twice about their doctors because, essentially, money is power and those who are in charge of doctors have both.
Another interesting part about this article is the part "Dr Iqbal apologized and said there would be no repetition of the “single incident”. What happened would remain with him for life. He stressed he had served his 12-month suspension and had now been offered another job in the UK" this to me is no excuse for cheating on a postgraduate exam especially since I am just someone reading this article like most Irish and British people are; there is nothing in the article that says how important or not the exam was in his academic career and how it could affect the way he cares for patients or what skills he may lack because of his misconduct. I find it shocking to read an article in one of the most popular newspapers people of Ireland read that reveals something so controversial and could possibly affect many people's lives. The main reason I do not think an article such as this would be found in a popular American newspaper would be the mere fact of scaring the public, what they don't know won't hurt them, or so we think.
Monday, February 1, 2010
First look at media coverage on Ireland
Looking at multiple new stories covered by BBC News my first reaction of Ireland and the topics being covered was a very violent outlook. I am sure that many people who look at the United States news coverage it can come off as violent as well because of the amount of crime in our nation. However, the most recent stories that were being covered in Northern Ireland had to do with gang attacks, prisons, gun threats, a sword being used in a robbery and other crime-based stories.
The first article I read was about a teenager being attacked by a gang,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8490832.stm
This story caught my attention because in the United States we do not hear about gangs as much as in the U.K. this may be a stereotype but in my opinion, I would say people associate gangs with the U.K. much more than gangs with the U.S. After reading the short article I felt I was not informed about the actual incident at all. The coverage was very broad and lacked any detail and I was disappointed with that.
Another article I read was about a businessman getting shot in his own shop. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/foyle_and_west/8487525.stm
The news coverage on things that take place in Ireland seems to being almost like a wanted poster. At the end of the article it showed that the police did not yet find the person who shot the businessman but to me it seems kind of odd that they were asking the public to talk to the police if they have any information.
Overall my first impression of news media from Ireland leaves me unimpressed. I feel as if the popular stories being covered are of interest to the people but barely even touch upon the actual story and issue that is supposed to be covered in the article. I am interested to see what stories other newspapers and news websites have covered and how they have been portrayed.
The first article I read was about a teenager being attacked by a gang,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8490832.stm
This story caught my attention because in the United States we do not hear about gangs as much as in the U.K. this may be a stereotype but in my opinion, I would say people associate gangs with the U.K. much more than gangs with the U.S. After reading the short article I felt I was not informed about the actual incident at all. The coverage was very broad and lacked any detail and I was disappointed with that.
Another article I read was about a businessman getting shot in his own shop. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/foyle_and_west/8487525.stm
The news coverage on things that take place in Ireland seems to being almost like a wanted poster. At the end of the article it showed that the police did not yet find the person who shot the businessman but to me it seems kind of odd that they were asking the public to talk to the police if they have any information.
Overall my first impression of news media from Ireland leaves me unimpressed. I feel as if the popular stories being covered are of interest to the people but barely even touch upon the actual story and issue that is supposed to be covered in the article. I am interested to see what stories other newspapers and news websites have covered and how they have been portrayed.
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