Enda Kenny with Fine Gael TD John Deasy in 2010
Ability to read a script, grovel before Taoiseach, some ministers are unqualified. John Deasy on #rtenews
— Brian Dineen (@brian_dneen) September 25, 2014
Young John Deasy TD has now emerged as the moral core of @finegael in the course of this shattering of the party’s ethical standing. #VinB — Aodh (@AodhBC) September 25, 2014
Fine Gael TD John Deasy – responding to this – tears his party a new one on the News at One on RTÉ Radio One.
Transcript to follow.
UPDATE:
Some early choice quotes:
“People aren’t qualified for the positions they’re getting. The requisite qualifications are loyalty and – in some cases – being just about able to read a script.”
“People don’t like reasonable, substantive criticism within Fine Gael, if it affects certain individuals, their profile. Even if the individual in question, or the minister in question is doing their job, correctly and properly, I’m afraid they’re down for a slapping down.”
“[Dissent] is silenced by non-preferment with regard to promotion in many cases, subtle threats with regard to nominations, when it comes to the General Election. In many ways, it’s made clear to people – and there’s a sense of fear within the parliamentary party these days that, if you don’t toe the line, well then you’ll be punished. That has been carried out over a number of years and, I suppose in all political parties, there’s an element of that but it’s got to the point now where people are becoming disgusted by the way Fine Gael is being run and I think last night [parliamentary party meeting] was a venting of that.”
Asked if the Taoiseach Enda Kenny was at the “heart of this” problem, Deasy said:
“Well I think it’s very clear from what I’m saying that he is, yeah.”
Ooooh.
More to follow.
Earlier: The Process is The One That Fine Gael Has Always Followed
‘It’s The All Boys’ Club In Action Again’
Ends won’t be happy listening to that. Is he back yet from saving the planet in New York yet?
Enda has shown himself to be a sleveen on this. Not that it wasn’t already obvious.
Possibility A: Deasy has had a sudden and unforeseen conversion to straight politics and is bravely challenging Enda and his pathetic stroke politics.
Possibility B: Deasy, passed over for promotion due to backing of wrong horses in previous races, has nothing to lose, and attacks Kenny thereby raising his profile for any consequent heave.
Possibility C : Deasy has hitched his wagon to a star that plans a leadership challenge before the GE and is firing a shot across the bows on behalf of said star.
thats what I was thinking too. enda’s good at this heave business though.
Bruton will hardly have another go. Perhaps the young doctor Leo is going to give it a shot – that would be interesting.
t’would be the only thing that would get him out of Angola unscathed… career killer that post is.
Its POPCORN TIME!
I just had a quick look at the list of Health ministers. Only Brian Cowan, who was minister for a month in ’97, went on to be Taoiseach. Erskine Childers was minister for a few years, though.
could be Coveney either.
He has a shade more seniority in the party all right. I’d say Varadkar has more of the stomach, ability and viciousness needed for a successful heave-ho.
He’s in the same constituency as Micheal Martin too. I wonder if that would be considered a positive or a negative.
Coveney and Deasy seem more natural bedfellows to me than Varadkar and Deasy.
Just read the background to this whole story. Holey moley.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/analysis-mcnulty-imma-appointment-seems-like-an-old-fashioned-ready-up-1.1939918?page=1
I don’t care. I just like where this is going.
“People aren’t qualified for the positions they’re getting. The requisite qualifications are loyalty and – in some cases – being just about able to read a script.”
What happened to the Seanad changes we were promised, this would have been top of my list !
Second on my list was how to get self important gombeen muppet Forgetful Fidelma out.
( To the Moderator, ‘gombeen’ and ‘muppet’ are two perfectly acceptable put downs for politicians as they are words that can be heard in use in the Dail also, just sayin’ like :) )
What has he been smoking in the dail bar this time?
He’s calling a spade a spanner in fairness
Hard to believe that political parties are rotten to the core.
I thought nepotism, cronyism and shady pr1cks had been eradicated from politics in Ireland.
Fair play, in fairness
It’s very unfair to Enda.
I’m sure he WANTED to reform politics and do things differently, competently.
But the poor fupper’s been in the place for the past 900 years doing as he’s told, after a brief stint as a teacher out of college. He honest to goodness hasn’t a clue how things should work in a functional, ethical, efficient organisation.
Deasy is in Camp Varadkar. Kenny is old, and even if he takes a stubborn fit, he won’t last as party leader for too much beyond the next election.
Ok, what prize do I get for my astuteness?
The chap is a sap, and wouldn’t get a head anywhere.
If political parties had a union, this guy would be their rep.
how quick can you say 3.2.1 independent!
This is the same John Deasy who stood up in the Dail in ’09 and as much as said that all licenced pistol owners in Ireland were criminals. The same John Deasy who ignored six parliamentary questions at the time which pointed out that no licenced pistol had ever been used in a crime in Ireland since they started reissuing licences for them in 2004. The same John Deasy who happily prattled off nonsense in the press and the Dail about how Garda-approved target shooters were the source of criminal handguns while ignoring that awkward drugs seizure that happened at the time where they found more illegal handguns in one container than were licenced in the entire country at the time, tucked in there with the bags of narcotics in a forty-foot shipping container.
And all so he could lobby to have handgun licencing banned because apparently taking part in the Olympics was a fair price to pay to prevent the local drug dealing scrotes from applying for a licence for the gun they wanted to shoot their competitors with.
Or, to translate, “there’s an election coming up and if I throw under the bus a few hundred people who love their sport, along with their good names, their 150 year perfect safety record, and Ireland’s chances at international sporting success in the Olympics and in other events; well, that might get me some free publicity in the papers and the telly”.
And now he wants to talk about morals and how elected officials should have a clue about what they’re talking about?
I’ve a few more words for you John-boy, and they aren’t terribly nice ones.
The same John Deasy who lit up in the Dáil bar, and then tried to blame the bar staff for not stopping him?
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/article217843.ece
You’re into the shooting I’d say, Mark.
Short answer Brock? Yes.
It’s a substitution thing Brock. As it is with most gun wielding fruitbats.
I don’t think any of us could forget those dark hours in 2009.
You wouldn’t forget it either if an elected official had just stood up in your national parliament and said that you, and a few hundred other people like you weren’t sportspeople who’d represented their country internationally in Olympic and other events; but were instead one bad hair day away from walking into a school to shoot children. That kind of thing sticks in the memory, oddly enough.
Did he say that? Or is that how you’re interpreting it?
It was what was actually said by several people at the time. Here’s what the Minister at the time said after agreeing to the ban, as probably the best example. Remember, he’s only talking about preventing target shooters from licencing pistols here – and by law, at that time, you could only get a licence for target shooting.
https://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2009-05-20.461.0&s=dunblane+section%3Adebates#g465.0
And that’s the nice polite version from the prepared statements. The uncut unedited comments you heard if you were listening to the debate (because our Dail’s transcripts are edited, not raw) were much less nice.
Do you think it’s possible your intense focus on gun rights and bearing a grudge for 5 years might be a wee bit detrimental to the responsible gun ownership image?
I’m just asking. Please don’t kill me!
(a) There are no gun rights in Ireland. Never have been and nobody’s ever looked for them.
(b) It’s not about guns; it’s about the fact that this cute hoor stood up where he enjoyed parliamentary privilege and used it to trash the good names of a small number of people for his own personal gain despite all the evidence saying he was wrong. The core issue doesn’t seem to matter, the same pattern is repeated for damn near every topic in the Dail, and always by the chancers you wouldn’t trust to hold an ice cream for you, let alone elected office. So when one of them gets up on his hind legs over being qualified for a position and morality, it ought to be getting under everyone’s fingernails, usually for a myriad of different reasons.
I didn’t mean just this thread. I meant every. single. time. there’s the slightest mention of guns.
You got anything you’ve done at a high level for 20 years that gets misreported in the media all. the. time. ???
If you had the opportunity to raise your hand and say “Er, no, that’s not right” would you not do so?
Yeah I guess that’s fair enough
ahhhhehehe
That was in relation to – “I don’t think any of us could forget those dark hours in 2009”
heheh
A word from the NRA? Nevar forget.
I think every Broadsheet post on this subject could be entitled “Was It For This…?”
We need a Taoiseach from Dublin. I’m sick of these crooked boggers. Bertie wasn’t a real Dub by the way
And Haughey, the pseud, laid claim to origins in so many counties, he can’t be considered a real Dub either. The sad fact is politics attracts chancers.
Ah civil war in the ranks of the Blueshirts again…? plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
As for the Irish political landscape, the following observations. When the next election is called, Labour will get it’s usual quinquennial kicking. Fine Gael will inevitably lose seats and just like 1997 they will struggle to form a coalition with Labour, because they will not have the numbers. The alternative for them is to jump into bed with ‘The Gougers’ from Fianna Fail – who will recover somewhat (God knows we still exist, but it’s Ireland) but they too won’t be in a position to form a government and certainly won’t win more seats than Fine Gael.
On the horizon is the appalling vista of Sinn Fein (The Terrorists) gaining extra seats. Sadly, there are incredibly stupid people here who have either forgotten who Sinn Fein are (and what they did) or else just don’t care.
In the absence of any reasonable alternative, independent voters will be presented with the usual bag of half-wits in the political parties (The Vegetables) or the rag-bag single issue candidates (The Nutters) who pop up at every election.
Business as usual, you might say…
What a depressing vista :( No chance I suppose of a few intelligent people of integrity coming together to form a new party?
It would be the sensible thing, however there are a few problems with this. One of which is who funds a new party? The main parties have long-standing financial backers (The money) and secondly, time. To build a party from the ground up requires enormous time and effort. The third major hurdle is that the vast majority of the Irish electorate are quite conservative and risk adverse, they’ll stick to who they know rather than give anyone new a chance.
If Denis O’Brien were willing to put his hand in his pocket to fund a new party, while butting the f*ck out, I’d almost be willing to forgive his transgressions. But of course that’s never going to happen. He wants control, not democracy, and with FG in his pocket, he has no incentive.
I know plenty of people I’d regard as conservative – family, friends of parents etc – who would jump at the chance of real change in Irish politics. They are sick and tired of the same ole same ole. The next election will be interesting.
Note – in the 3rd paragraph that should have read ‘God knows how they still exists’…instead of ‘God knows we still exist’..
Sorry long day at the office …zzzz