Knives Out for Irish Times with TCD Trans-Boycott Referendum

There’s nothing better than being handed an open goal by your political opponents.

And yet, TCD Student Union’s upcoming referendum to boycott the Irish Times presents us all just that.

The Trans Lobby Comes for Irish Times

Ireland’s trans mafia have been throwing their toys out of the pram recently over material published by the Irish Times. 

While the complaints mostly circle around various TERF letters sent in to the paper, the majority of the ire has been directed towards an article written by a psychotherapist outlining the various disadvantages of a proposed gay conversion therapy ban put forward by Sinn Féin.

Put simply, the psychotherapist is worried the bill, as currently worded, would prevent her doing her job because of how it handles gender identity.

Of course, this concern has been interpreted as an outright declaration of heresy by Ireland’s Progressive militants.

Not a week after the article was published, Trinity News Czar Jack Kennedy announced that the student paper was dumping the Irish Times as a publisher, directly citing the paper’s trans stance.

Subsequently, pressure mounted on Emer Moreau’s University Times to take the same steps, despite the publication having firmer ties to IT than other student papers. Of course, Moreau et al eventually folded under the pressure after one of the paper’s assistant theatre editors (the writer would like to note he still cannot stop laughing at this title) resigned over the issue.

Finally, with outrage over the paper at a fever-pitch, and with basically all of student activism under the spell of the trans-crusade, a motion was passed to hold a referendum to mandate TCDSU to boycott the Irish Times.

A Lesson in Stupidity

It should really go without saying that the outright contempt towards the Irish Times (at least over the trans stuff) is completely unjustified.

In the modern world however, it nevertheless needs to be elaborated on.

First, the article discussing the issues with The Prohibition of Conversion Therapies Bill is not anti-trans in any way. In fact, it’s not really about the whole transgender issue at all. To make it about that issue gives Ireland’s trans-movement an air of self-obsession about them.

However, making it about the trans issue is exactly what the militants have done. 

Trinity News’ latest print issue has multiple pieces dedicated to the goose-chase, including a piece commanding Trinity Students to vote yes to the boycott, all justified by reference to platitudes such as the accusation the Irish Times ‘platforms bigotry’.

Second, the notion that all opinion articles in a paper need to be of a certain slant is farcical. TN’s editorial staff pontificating that newspapers have never been neutral facilitators of debate is so farcical it borders on the surreal. 

Many publications, including the Irish Times and The Burkean publish various kinds of guest pieces that go against the prevailing point of view within each publication. The notion that the Irish Times must refuse to publish TERF letters or face being boycotted is utterly authoritarian, and should be denounced by all posthaste.

Lastly, the idea that the Irish Times owes anyone an apology over their conversion therapy article, let alone owe it to those same people to change their editorial line, is pure insanity. Those who demand as such, including the Trans Writers Union, appear to see themselves as having ideologies beyond the realm of debate. Such a viewpoint is nothing other than narcissistic.

That being said, at this point in time, this level of irrationality being at the forefront of student politics is nothing to cry about. In fact, it should be celebrated.

Feeding Frenzy At Dublin’s Progressive Zoo

While it is sad to admit, student politics right now is almost exclusively hostile to everything the Right holds dear. College halls of power are filled to the brim with both individuals and ideas contrary to the sensible operation of a functioning conservative institution.

One needs look no further than this publication’s very own Irish Antifa Project for proof of this. A Union which operates like a Progressive Stasi against its own members is no friend to anyone.

As such, the fact these institutions have found themselves caught in a bacchic frenzy of self-destruction is worth celebrating.

The only winner of the upcoming trans-boycott referendum in Trinity will be the nascent Irish right. The boycott, should it pass, will take resources away from other SU projects while simultaneously making them look like authoritarians, while it failing would result in the weakening of Ireland’s trans movement in its entirety.

Either result presents major opportunities for Ireland’s student Right to gain ground with ordinary students. 

Put simply, insanity isn’t attractive, and when mainstream student institutions appear positively loony, they will look elsewhere for people who represent their interests.

The Irish Times meanwhile, while being targeted in a way that simply is not justified here, is no friend of Irish conservatives. 

Obsessed with Anglo-globalist agendas, the publication repeatedly throughout its history has made a mockery of the very concept of the Irish State, to the point that its position as the preeminent Irish publication is something of concern.

A weaker Irish Times is only to Ireland’s benefit, as the publication as it exists today only serves to stifle public discourse, not enable it. 

Such is the same for the contemporary mainstream media on this island as a whole. Should the sector weaken, fresh publications and fresh ideas will be able to come to the forefront.

The Revolution Will Always Come for Its Own

The Trans-boycott fiasco, at the end of the day, is merely another example of the Left eating its own. 

As shown by the plight of the TERFs in the UK, those once seen as Progressive darlings are destined to be hung, drawn and quartered by the mob they helped build. Such is the nature of their ideology.

We on the Right are naturally very thankful for this fact. If the Progressives in this country had a coherent ideology, a struggle against their now entrenched social power would be extremely difficult.

However, as their own understanding of the world is self-defeating, being on the Right is less about defeating the Progressive threat, as they will do that themselves. 

Instead, it’s about building a coherent alternative for normal people to turn to. As the revolution begins to destroy itself, it is our job to present a sane, reasonable way of looking at the world, as well as a sensible way of acting on what we see.

Quite frankly, I think we’re all up for that task.