Alan is no high a-Cheever as Fianna Fáil flounders

Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

Fianna Fáil remains static in opinion polls. Stuck on 17% nationally, the party appears largely irrelevant. The political landscape has changed since they were booted out of office. Sinn Féin has out-flanked them on the left and Fine Gael and Independents continue to squeeze on the centre-right.

FF no longer attracts supporters who vote for them because their mammies and daddies and grannies and granddaddies used to vote for them.

There’s a sizeable portion of the electorate that hasn’t yet forgiven Brian Cowen and Co for the economic crash.

But they still have a healthy support in Galway West, thanks to Éamon Ó Cuív’s broad appeal, particularly in Connemara. In the city, it’s not so rosy.

FF recently set about changing that, through amalgamating its three city branches.

Bright spark Alan Cheevers was elected as chairperson of the new Comhairle Ceantair. Cheevers, who narrowly missed out on the last seat in Galway City East in the local elections in May, had plans to electrify the party.

“Our task now is to rebuild the party in the city, to revitalise the party and to recruit more members as we target two seats in Galway West in the next General Election,” he said.

That was in November. So how’s that going for him?

Not so good. Party sources say Cheevers has stepped aside from the position.

NUIG shoot messenger

Don’t you wish someone would tell NUI Galway president, Dr Jim Browne, to stop digging?

At a media briefing last week, he was asked about the recent controversy over NUIG asking women about their menstrual cycle in pre-employment questionnaires.

He said media coverage of the issue had caused NUIG “terrible damage”.

Note, according to Browne, it’s not the fact that NUIG was asking such misogynist, sexist, inappropriate and invasive questions that caused the university damage.

No, it’s the reporting of the fact that NUIG was asking such misogynist, sexist, inappropriate and invasive questions that caused the damage.

For those of you who missed it, let us repeat the questions contained in NUIG’s pre-employment occupational health questionnaire.

“Do you suffer with any problems with your menstrual periods? Do you suffer from any breast problems? Have you ever been treated for gynaecological problems?”

NUIG suspended the offending questionnaire – after it was brought to light in this newspaper.

Were it not highlighted in these pages, NUIG, in all probability, would today be continuing to act like a misogynistic institution, by asking about its prospective female employees’ periods.

Of course, given NUIG’s abysmal record on gender equality, the menstrual cycle story grew legs online.

NUIG has done the right thing since it was found out. But never, at any stage, has anyone in the university answered this simple question: why did NUIG want to know about the menstrual cycle of prospective women employees in the first place?

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.