Editing David Norris (politician) (section)

==Views==
In 2003, Norris' website listed his concerns as "Human Rights Issues, Foreign Policy, Immigration/Asylum, European Union, Luas/Metro".<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 January 2003 |title=David Norris, Senator and human rights activist, Dublin, Ireland |url=http://www.senatordavidnorris.ie/1concerns.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050205050923/http://senatordavidnorris.ie/1concerns.htm |archive-date=5 February 2005 |access-date=28 September 2011 |publisher=Senatordavidnorris.ie}}</ref>

He owns a Georgian house in North Great George's Street in Dublin,<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Sullivan |first=Mary |date=29 August 2010 |title=My favourite room: It's fit for a president |url=http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/home-garden/my-favourite-room-its-fit-for-a-president-2316168.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120919170909/http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/home-garden/my-favourite-room-its-fit-for-a-president-2316168.html |archive-date=19 September 2012 |work=[[Irish Independent]]}}</ref> he is a member of the [[Irish Georgian Society]] and is an active campaigner for the preservation of [[Georgian architecture|Georgian building]]s in the Republic of Ireland.<ref name="sundaytimes" /> He has spent many of his own earnings on restoring his own home "room by room".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Louise Roseingrave |date=5 October 2011 |title=Norris says he is 'open book' on earnings |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/1005/1224305259569.html?via=rel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018192545/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/1005/1224305259569.html?via=rel |archive-date=18 October 2011 |access-date=5 October 2011 |work=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref> He has campaigned for the transfer of the [[Abbey Theatre]] (National Theatre of Ireland) to the [[General Post Office (Dublin)|GPO]] in the centre of O'Connell Street.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Norris |first=David |date=2009 |title=Address by Senator David Norris at the Service to Mark International Day against Homophobia at 3.30 P.M. In Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday the 17th of May 2009 |url=http://www.senatordavidnorris.ie/images/SenDavidNorris_Christchurch.doc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617153229/http://www.senatordavidnorris.ie/images/SenDavidNorris_Christchurch.doc |archive-date=17 June 2009 |archive-format=DOC |access-date=17 May 2021 |website=senatordavidnorris.ie}}</ref> Norris is also a well-known [[James Joyce|Joycean]] scholar and plays a large part in Dublin's annual [[Bloomsday]] celebrations.<ref name="sundaytimes" />

Norris believes himself to be an "outsider" of "accepted society" and claims this gives him a heightened awareness of other minority or "outsider" groups. He says he wishes society to become more accepting of diversity. He has campaigned on mental health and child abuse issues.<ref name="independent1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mac |first=Conor |date=23 September 2011 |title=I know how David Norris feels – I was smeared too |url=http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/column-i-know-how-david-norris-feels-i-was-smeared-too/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923042846/http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/column-i-know-how-david-norris-feels-i-was-smeared-too/ |archive-date=23 September 2011 |access-date=28 September 2011 |publisher=[[TheJournal.ie]]}}</ref>

When questioned on [[Arguments for and against drug prohibition|drug legalisation]] he said:

<blockquote>The blunt instrument of criminalisation is not working because of the vast profits it generates for organised crime ... my view is that the welfare of the community, including the victims of drug abuse, may be better served by having access to quality-controlled, legally prescribed drugs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Family fun |date=9 June 2011 |title=I abhor child abuse but sexual consent is complex |url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/i-abhor-child-abuse-but-sexual-consent-is-complex-ndash-norris-2670243.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120801220814/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/i-abhor-child-abuse-but-sexual-consent-is-complex-ndash-norris-2670243.html |archive-date=1 August 2012 |access-date=2011-09-28 |work=[[The Irish Independent]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=9 June 2011 |title=Norris publishes open-letter to address 'confusion or interpretation' on his views |url=http://www.politics.ie/forum/irish-presidential-election-2011/162436-norris-publishes-open-letter-address-confusion-interpretation-his-views.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110803142953/http://www.politics.ie/forum/irish-presidential-election-2011/162436-norris-publishes-open-letter-address-confusion-interpretation-his-views.html |archive-date=3 August 2011 |access-date=2011-09-28 |publisher=Politics.ie}}</ref></blockquote>

On 31 July 2014, he delivered a speech at [[Seanad Éireann]] about the [[2014 Israel–Gaza conflict]] to denounce the violations of [[human rights]] by the [[State of Israel]].<ref>Seanad Debates, [http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/seanad2014073100015 Situation in Gaza] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819084558/http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/seanad2014073100015 |date=19 August 2014 }}, Thursday 31 July 2014, [[Houses of the Oireachtas]] (page visited on 16 August 2014).</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=31 July 2014 |title=Senator David Norris' Israel bombs first and weeps later'. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keS-LDl_ewA |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804213956/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keS-LDl_ewA |archive-date=4 August 2014 |access-date=17 May 2021 |website=youtube.com}}</ref> The video clip of the speech attracted more than 300,000 views on [[YouTube]] making Norris, at the time, the most successful Irish politician to appear on YouTube.<ref>Dan Buckley, [http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/gaza-speech-makes-david-norris-youtubes-top-political-hit-278964.html "Gaza speech makes David Norris YouTube's top political hit"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814004534/http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/gaza-speech-makes-david-norris-youtubes-top-political-hit-278964.html |date=14 August 2014 }}, ''[[Irish Examiner]]'', Saturday 9 August 2014 (page visited on 16 August 2014).</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Datoo |first=Sirej |date=6 August 2014 |title=People Are Going Pretty Crazy For This Clip Of An Irish Senator's Speech About Gaza |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/sirajdatoo/i-am-not-anti-israeli-iam-pro-human-rights |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812020245/http://www.buzzfeed.com/sirajdatoo/i-am-not-anti-israeli-iam-pro-human-rights |archive-date=12 August 2014 |access-date=16 August 2014 |website=buzzfeed.com}}</ref> He said:

<blockquote>[...] I am in favour of human rights, whether one is Israeli, gay, a woman or black. I am not changing my position. I am not anti-Israel or anti-Semitic, but I am pro-human rights for every human being.<ref>Seanad Debates, [https://archive.today/20140816171217/http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/seanad2014073100017?opendocument Situation in Gaza], Thursday 31 July 2014, [[Houses of the Oireachtas]] (page visited on 16 August 2014).</ref></blockquote>

===Irish nationalism===
A 2010 article in ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' claimed that Norris had, on more than one occasion, denounced the leaders of the 1916 [[Easter Rising]] as "[[terrorism|terrorists]]".<ref name="sundaytimes">{{Cite news |last=O Neill |first=Sean |last2=Hamilton |first2=Fiona |date=28 February 2010 |title=Profile: David Norris |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/profile-david-norris-7z2hftcznft |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |location=London |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250428174822/https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/profile-david-norris-7z2hftcznft |archive-date=28 April 2025 |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> In May 2011, Norris denied that article's claim also, saying "That's not true, it's a slur, and it's not fair on me. Terrorists are people who use civilian casualties to advance a political end. The men of 1916 produced the [[Proclamation of the Irish Republic|proclamation]], addressed equally – in an age when women didn't have the vote – to 'Irishmen and Irishwomen', that's wonderful!".<ref name="Independent 22 May">{{Cite news |last=Jackson, Joe |date=22 May 2011 |title=All my life, I have fought against being labelled and against stigma |url=http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/all-my-life-i-have-fought-against-being-labelled-and-against-stigma-2654239.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130218002000/http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/all-my-life-i-have-fought-against-being-labelled-and-against-stigma-2654239.html |archive-date=18 February 2013 |access-date=24 May 2011 |work=[[Sunday Independent (Ireland)|Sunday Independent]]}}</ref> The newspaper printed a retraction.

In 2014, around the centenary of the passing of the [[Government of Ireland Act 1914]], Norris defended [[John Bruton]]'s analysis of the Easter Rising. Norris concurred with Bruton in the belief that the "main" tradition of nationalism in Ireland is non-violence, citing the methods and impact of [[Daniel O'Connell]], [[Charles Stewart Parnell]] and [[John Redmond]].<ref>{{cite news |last=MacGuill |first=Dan |date=9 September 2014 |title=David Norris calls 1916 rebels 'traitors to their own cause' |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/david-norris-1916-rising-traitors-1679082-Sep2014/ |work=[[TheJournal.ie]] |location= |publisher= |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> Furthermore, Norris stated that [[WB Yeats]]' impression of the leaders of the Easter Rising was correct; "if one looks at 1916, I believe Yeats was correct in his first impression of some of these people when he said that they were vainglorious. Indeed, they were. They were afraid that history would write them out. They were seen by the British as traitors to the empire but they were traitors to their own cause because [[Eoin MacNeill]], the commander-in-chief, had cancelled the Rising and yet, they ignored that." Norris' use of "traitors to their own cause" caused significant controversy.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Regan |first=Michael |date=18 September 2014 |title=David Norris rebuked for calling 1916 leaders ‘traitors’ |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/david-norris-rebuked-for-calling-1916-leaders-traitors-1.1933909 |work=[[Irish Times]] |location= |publisher= |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> 

In 2010, Norris spoke in favour of the Republic of Ireland rejoining the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], which it left when it became a republic in 1949. He dismissed the position of the British monarch as [[Head of the Commonwealth]] as "largely titular".<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 May 2010 |title=Republic of Ireland should rejoin Commonwealth, says senator |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland-should-rejoin-commonwealth-says-senator-28537184.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322203723/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland-should-rejoin-commonwealth-says-senator-28537184.html |archive-date=22 March 2017 |access-date=22 March 2017 |work=Belfast Telegraph}}</ref>

===Religion===
Norris is a [[Christianity|Christian]] and regularly attends [[Church of Ireland]] services. He said the following of his religious beliefs:

<blockquote>I am the kind of Christian who believes that the most important theological principle is the principle of positive doubt. Even Christ doubted, on the cross. And I think if people say they hear the voice of God all the time and say they know what to do, then impose that on you, politically, it is theological tyranny. Whereas if you have doubt, it stops you from abusing your religious belief. Religion can be so abused in the interests of power, especially on behalf of institutions and governments.<ref name="independent1" /></blockquote>

====Criticism of the Catholic Church====
Norris has made statements about [[Catholic social teaching]] on homosexuality, particularly in relation to the Papacy. He criticised [[Pope John Paul II]]'s statements on homosexuality because he said they led to anti-gay violence, saying that the pope was an "instrument for evil as far as I'm concerned because these constant, unremitting, ignorant, ill-informed attacks on the gay community have led to violence against the gay community". Norris also described the pope's position as "calculated and deliberate wickedness" because he "closes down scholarly enquiry" and because he "marginalised all the wonderful people like [[Óscar Romero]], [[Leonardo Boff]], [[Hans Kung]], [[Charles Curran (theologian)|Charles Curran]], all these marvellous people who are the future and the hope of the Church and, instead, put into place these mindless bureaucrats, which is intensely sad."<ref name="gaytoday">{{Cite news |title='The Pope is Evil' says Gay Irish Senator, David Norris |url=http://www.gaytoday.com/garchive/events/111301ev.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928070458/http://www.gaytoday.com/garchive/events/111301ev.htm |archive-date=28 September 2011 |access-date=25 October 2010 |work=Gay Today}}</ref> Commenting on then [[Pope Benedict XVI|Cardinal Ratzinger]], he said, "Ratzinger, who is, in his mind-set, a [[Nazi]]" because he is "afraid to tell the truth," and because he and John Paul II "won't even let themselves be in the presence of the truth, because it would shatter their very stylised view of things."<ref name="gaytoday" /> He later stated that he regretted using the term "Nazi" in reference to Ratzinger.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 June 2011 |title=Norris 'confident' of nomination |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0609/breaking15.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024073039/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0609/breaking15.html |archive-date=24 October 2012 |access-date=20 July 2011 |work=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>