"Roscommon Mayor insists tradition can be broken"

apoch632

If only all politicans were this honest

http://www.shannonside.ie/news-details.php?nid=5922

The new Mayor of Roscommon says he has no problem respecting the tradition of having a prayer said at the beginning of County Council meetings, but he will not say it.

Councillor Luke Ming Flanagan's refusal to say the Paidir at the beginning of yesterday's meeting prompted heated exchanges from Councillor Tom Crosby who stated that the century year old tradition of the first citizen saying the prayer should be respected.

Mayor Flanagan who is a confirmed agnostic says he does not believe in God and it would be hypocritical for him to stand before members and utter words that he does not believe in.

Councillor Crosby says however that tradition is important.

After a bitter exchange, the members adjourned and did settle on the resolution for the Deputy Mayor Ernie Keenan to say the prayer.

Councillor Flanagan says while he respects the tradition he does not believe he should be dishonest in his words or actions.

strobe

Go'wan Ming ye fukkin legend!

LOL. I still can't believe he's the mayor now. What a hero. Nicest guy you could hope to meet aswell

Edit: There is actually a doc on him, The Life and Crimes of Citizen Ming, on google if anyone is interested.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6683124943448353514#

Beruthiel

I love the way Luke is not afraid to stick to his guns.
How pathetic is Crosby to just assume that everyone should follow the one religion and to make such a big deal of it.
Backwards much?

My parents always vote for him. They think he rocks. If you knew them, you'd know how that amuses me.
Wonder what they will make of this.

Luke, if you're reading this, well done lad, being different doesn't mean you can't get places if you stick to your guns and remain honest.

PeterIanStaker

Ming you legend.

Galvasean

So Tom Crosby thinks adhering to an old tradition is more important than a politician being honest...

Dades

* cough *

Galvasean

Interesting stuff gets lost in the interesting stuff thread

prinz

I do admire Councillor Flanagan's pragmatic approach to this issue, if only more were like him (especially on boards.ie )

Bitter exchange ffs. Have they nothing better to be doing. Crosby must be some right tit tbh.

bnt

I don't quite understand the "tradition" claim. Was Crosby saying that the content of the words doesn't matter, that the words are effectively dead, that councillors only say them for reasons of "tradition"? If so, why bother? Surely tradition has to have something to back it up?

Me, I think words are important. They have a life of their own after they are spoken, in the minds of those who hear them. I don't speak just to hear the sound of my own voice: I speak to convey a message, and if it's not my message, I'm not speaking it. :pac:

panda100

Fair play to Ol'Ming! It is so,so refreshing to see a politician who will actually stand up for his beliefs.

Is anyone else shocked that they still say prayers at the beginning of council meetings?

Teferi

confirmed agnostic

:pac:

Galvasean

panda100 wrote: »

Is anyone else shocked that they still say prayers at the beginning of council meetings?

I wouldn't go so far as to say shocked as nothing surprises me in this country these days. However I would certainly say 'extremely disappointed'

fontanalis

What do they pray for anyway? please god don't send another famine

ShooterSF

fontanalis wrote: »

What do they pray for anyway? please god don't send another famine

I believe part of the prayer is "deliver us from tribunals"

Pygmalion

People would rather be lied to than accept there exist non-catholics.
People would rather if non-catholics weren't allowed in positions of power.

Am I missing something? These are the only explanations I can think of for the outrage.

Zillah

Teferi wrote: »

:pac:

One can be absolutely adamant that no one knows if God exists or not.

robindch

Zillah wrote: »

One can be absolutely adamant that no one knows if God exists or not.

I don't think we've had too many militant agnostics here before -- welcome!

Dades

People don't trust people who don't believe in their God. Even other gods are fine.

No god? That's just not right.

The Mad Hatter

Teferi wrote: »

:pac:

Zillah wrote: »

One can be absolutely adamant that no one knows if God exists or not.

"Ming, are you agnostic?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for confirming that."

Zillah

robindch wrote: »

I don't think we've had too many militant agnostics here before -- welcome!

Note the non-specific useage of the word "one"

Bottle_of_Smoke

Really hope this guy becomes a TD next election

eblistic

panda100 wrote: »

Is anyone else shocked that they still say prayers at the beginning of council meetings?

No. The same "tradition" exists in the Dáil. The prayer is looking for inspiration and assistance from the Christian god!
http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/a-misc/prayer.htm

fontanalis

eblistic wrote: »

No. The same "tradition" exists in the Dáil. The prayer is looking for inspiration and assistance from the Christian god!
http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/a-misc/prayer.htm

Funny, they're temple seems to be the developers tent at the Galway Races.