Brian Crowley Running for President

Seloth · 20-04-2011 3:10pm #1

(Sorry if this was posted already or wrong part)

I just came across this on Facebook

http://www.briancrowleymep.ie/

Brian Crowley,The Current MEP for South constituency is going to run in the Presidential elecitons.

Not trying to advocate him but with his EU experience I think he'd make an excellent President.

Between himself and Norris there could be a close call.

later12 · 20-04-2011 3:35pm

I like Brian Crowley immensely, he's very bright and he's a symbol of everything that is right about Fianna Fail. However, I think his timing is wrong. He is, to my knowledge, the youngest of all of the prospective candidates, and he can easily afford to wait 7 years to improve his chances.

Having said that, if the story is true, he will undoubtedly be given the nomination. As Crowley himself so eloquently puts it, the man in the chair always gets the seat - but this time - I think he will be unsuccessful.

I would love to see Bertie Ahern run for the Presidency just to see him rejected. Yes it's petty, it's juvenile, it's vindictive, it's an affront to the the Presidency; that's the point.

bamboozle · 20-04-2011 3:37pm

it would appear he's deleted all references to him being a member of FF from his website, unless of course he has recently left the party which i dont think he has. Either way there's no chance i'd vote for a FF stooge either past or present.

invinciblePRSTV · 20-04-2011 5:25pm

Crowley has 2 things working for him:

1. He's been in Europe pretty much the entire time FF were wrecking the Irish economy so has escaped somewhat the association with the toxic brand.

2. He's in a wheelchair and has a built-in sympathy vote. Don't believe me? come down to deepest West Cork and ask the locals.

However of course like any good FFer Crowley is atypical of the kind of useless party politician which permeate Irish political life. That is he is the heir apparent of another family dynasty is par for the course, as is his wholly unremarkable 17 years in the European parliament.

To summarize, i think he'd be a good bet for FF to run as president and a decent shout if the tide turns against FG/LAB and their candidates. However if I were a shnaky FFer plotting their return to power, i'd pressure Crowley to work on the ground in Cork SW with a view to winning a seat there come next general election time.

deanh · 20-04-2011 5:50pm

Quite agree about his unremarkable 17 years as an MEP.

Brussels Sprout · 20-04-2011 5:51pm

I feel bad for laughing at the thread title.

raymon · 20-04-2011 6:17pm

Comes across as a nice guy in interviews.

Unlikely he will get anywhere under the FF banner though, unless he becomes independent.

PatsytheNazi · 20-04-2011 7:16pm

Well I cann't wait until Jackie Healy Rae throws his hat in !!!!

PeterIanStaker · 20-04-2011 9:17pm

PatsytheNazi wrote: »

Well I cann't wait until Jackie Healy Rae throws his hat in !!!!

He'd literally do that and all!

Atlantic Dawn · 20-04-2011 9:20pm

I don't really care who gets in once there's an actual election for it, not like the current situation of someone holding a term which they were not elected for.

raymon · 20-04-2011 9:31pm

I just looked at Brian crowleys website. He has removed all trace of FF logos except a tiny FF logo at the bottom.

In fact his biography doesn't even mention FF .

WWW.briancrowleymep.ie/about/

He must have been very ashamed to have been affiliated with FF

Well done Brian

Shea O'Meara · 21-04-2011 1:52am

raymon wrote: »

I just looked at Brian crowleys website. He has removed all trace of FF logos except a tiny FF logo at the bottom.

In fact his biography doesn't even mention FF .

WWW.briancrowleymep.ie/about/

He must have been very ashamed to have been affiliated with FF

Well done Brian

If he had real feelings on the matter he would leave the party, not seemingly shy away from affiliation because FFail times are tough.
Tubs had him on the Late Late last year for one of the by-weekly FFail love-ins. Came across a little full of himself to me.
Nothing of note about him except the disability, which should have no part to play in him being elected or not.
Not a fan of the political dynasty either.

He did achieve this it seems;

On 12 February 2009, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament approved a report drafted by Brian Crowley to extend the copyright term of music recordings from 50 years to 95 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Crowley

:rolleyes:

bamboozle · 21-04-2011 2:29pm

Shea O'Meara wrote: »

If he had real feelings on the matter he would leave the party, not seemingly shy away from affiliation because FFail times are tough.
Tubs had him on the Late Late last year for one of the by-weekly FFail love-ins. Came across a little full of himself to me.
Nothing of note about him except the disability, which should have no part to play in him being elected or not.
Not a fan of the political dynasty either.

He did achieve this it seems;

:rolleyes:

are the weekly FFail love-ins now bi-weekly? Not like Tubs to shy away for his love of all things FF.

expectationlost · 21-04-2011 3:45pm

later10 wrote: »

I like Brian Crowley immensely, he's very bright and he's a symbol of everything that is right about Fianna Fail. However, I think his timing is wrong. He is, to my knowledge, the youngest of all of the prospective candidates, and he can easily afford to wait 7 years to improve his chances.

brian crowley is the symbol of everything wrong with FF he only got his start nominated to the seanad by the taoiseach as a favour to his dad. Spends his time now passing what ever laws the corporate lobbiests tell him to.

later12 · 21-04-2011 3:53pm

expectationlost wrote: »

brian crowley is the symbol of everything wrong with FF he only got his positions from favour for his dad.

Isn't that something else? Well his Daddy must have been some man to win his son 482,455 first preference votes alone in just four elections, an average of 120,000 votes per election - that itself being multiples of what Flor Crowley ever achieved for himself.

And to think, the magnificent Flor Crowley did all of this even after his death in 1997. Jaysus, he's a powerful man.

jmayo · 21-04-2011 3:55pm

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

I feel bad for laughing at the thread title.

I don't, because I believe he has used his disability to his own political advantage.
Anyway I bet he would see the funny side himself as I heard him make a joke of his own disability in the past when he had a car accident.

PatsytheNazi wrote: »

Well I cann't wait until Jackie Healy Rae throws his hat in !!!!

He can't as the dreaded comb over would be exposed.

scaled.php?tn=0&server=619&filename=6ffgz.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640

later12 · 21-04-2011 3:57pm

Anyway I bet he would see the funny side himself as I heard him make a joke of his own disability in the past when he had a car accident

Undoubtedly; but:

jmayo wrote: »

he has used his disability to his own political advantage.

How, exactly, do you make that one out?

Brussels Sprout · 21-04-2011 4:28pm

later10 wrote: »

Isn't that something else? Well his Daddy must have been some man to win his son 482,455 first preference votes alone in just four elections, an average of 120,000 votes per election - that itself being multiples of what Flor Crowley ever achieved for himself.

This is hardly a fair comparison. His son was a candidate in the entire province of Munster whereas he was a TD for a constituency a fraction of the size.

Besides, a lot of voters would have given their #1 to an animated turnip so long as it was sporting the FF logo.

later12 · 21-04-2011 4:57pm

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

This is hardly a fair comparison. His son was a candidate in the entire province of Munster whereas he was a TD for a constituency a fraction of the size

Which begs the question, did those hundreds of thousands of people who gave BC their first preference vote (and countless more who voted for him down the ballot) do so based on any genetic relationship he had with a former TD in a prochial constituency with which they had zero affiliation?

Of course not.

Besides, a lot of voters would have given their #1 to an animated turnip so long as it was sporting the FF logo.

But they didn't. They gave it to Crowley. Irrelevant to the question of 'dynasty', which is a ridiculously inappropriate term here, btw.

expectationlost · 21-04-2011 5:37pm

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

This is hardly a fair comparison. His son was a candidate in the entire province of Munster whereas he was a TD for a constituency a fraction of the size.

Besides, a lot of voters would have given their #1 to an animated turnip so long as it was sporting the FF logo.

anything with the crowley name. yep

so some people voting for for him because he's young, yeah cos he got to headstart cos his father got him appointed to the seanad the very definition of a dynasty and of a powerful man and definition of nepotism.

LeixlipRed · 21-04-2011 8:13pm

Anyone who'd vote for a FF candidate has learned nothing over the last few years. But that doesn't surprise me at all

Seloth · 22-04-2011 12:53pm

LeixlipRed wrote: »

Anyone who'd vote for a FF candidate has learned nothing over the last few years. But that doesn't surprise me at all

Even John Bruton has stated that FF are the only party which truly wish to reform.

In all fairness if you think people would vote for him out of pity of being in a wheel chair then you've a very poor view on the public.Sure its a popularity contest but its not a sympathy one.

raymon · 22-04-2011 1:39pm

Seloth wrote: »

Even John Bruton has stated that FF are the only party which truly wish to reform..

Fianna fail are not reforming, look at their top 3

M Martin a man who lodged developers "donation" into his wife's account
B Lenihan a man who took a lead role in ruining the economy
W o dea a man who lied under oath

Seloth · 22-04-2011 3:01pm

raymon wrote: »

Fianna fail are not reforming, look at their top 3

M Martin a man who lodged developers "donation" into his wife's account
B Lenihan a man who took a lead role in ruining the economy
W o dea a man who lied under oath

Martin as he explained in the interview the money was used for political means and was fully accounted for

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/02/11/so-why-did-that-money-end-up-in-your-wifes-account-mr-martin/

FF shared the same economic goals as Lab and FG,have similar policy's with FG stating for FF government should be spending more.

I'm sorry but if you held that view with the amount of high profile politicians that lied under oath from every party then we would never have a government.And even so after that event he resigned from his post after it.

If your argument is based solely on that and even the former leader of what was always their main opposition and who are now in power then you may wish to do a little more diggin.I'm not going to defend the actions and indeed the crookedness of the party in the past but they do genuinely seem to wish to change.Im my college I have friends in both the youth groups of FF and FG(as well as the socialist Youth who are just insane) and from those who I've met in both their were far more,how to put it,well power driven people in the FG one and only one in FF one,with most of the people in it quite hte opposite to the usual FF stereotype.

Just too add I didnt vote FF in the GE but I hate to see unfair accusations being put in place.

raymon · 22-04-2011 3:22pm

Seloth wrote: »

Martin as he explained in the interview the money was used for political means and was fully accounted for

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/02/11/so-why-did-that-money-end-up-in-your-wifes-account-mr-martin/

FF shared the same economic goals as Lab and FG,have similar policy's with FG stating for FF government should be spending more.

I'm sorry but if you held that view with the amount of high profile politicians that lied under oath from every party then we would never have a government.And even so after that event he resigned from his post after it.

If your argument is based solely on that and even the former leader of what was always their main opposition and who are now in power then you may wish to do a little more diggin.I'm not going to defend the actions and indeed the crookedness of the party in the past but they do genuinely seem to wish to change.Im my college I have friends in both the youth groups of FF and FG(as well as the socialist Youth who are just insane) and from those who I've met in both their were far more,how to put it,well power driven people in the FG one and only one in FF one,with most of the people in it quite hte opposite to the usual FF stereotype.

Just too add I didnt vote FF in the GE but I hate to see unfair accusations being put in place.

What did I accuse him of ?????? And why am I unfair ????

Seloth · 22-04-2011 3:28pm

raymon wrote: »

What did I accuse him of ?????? And why am I unfair ????

Accuse who of what Now :pac:

heh I wasn't saying it for yourself but the in general FF bashing for stuff the other partys were also responsible or would have been for (Which is a debate for another section and time :L)

raymon · 22-04-2011 3:58pm

Seloth wrote: »

Accuse who of what Now :pac:

heh I wasn't saying it for yourself but the in general FF bashing for stuff the other partys were also responsible or would have been for (Which is a debate for another section and time :L)

Do you have examples of this unfair FF "bashing".

The Waltzing Consumer · 22-04-2011 4:44pm

Seloth wrote: »

Accuse who of what Now :pac:

heh I wasn't saying it for yourself but the in general FF bashing for stuff the other partys were also responsible or would have been for (Which is a debate for another section and time :L)

It is extremely hard for me to believe you are not a FF supporter. This is your thread promoting Brian Crowley. You then defend the FF party and their "reform" :pac: and now say other parties were responsible or would have been responsible. Any non-FF person would not defend the indefensible FF and their record, only an FFer would do that.

But carry on with the charade...

Seloth · 22-04-2011 4:54pm

The Waltzing Consumer wrote: »

It is extremely hard for me to believe you are not a FF supporter. This is your thread promoting Brian Crowley. You then defend the FF party and their "reform" :pac: and now say other parties were responsible or would have been responsible. Any non-FF person would not defend the indefensible FF and their record, only an FFer would do that.

But carry on with the charade...

FG held similar economic views as FF...But seeing as they werent in power then oh well :rolleyes:

I'll also defend Animal testing but it doesn't mean I'm for it either.Just because yourself or that you don't believe that a person can defend something they don't represent or don't like dosnt mean it cant happen.

tbh you can hold your own opinion on this matter and myself but I've told you the truth and thats for you to believe or not.

raymon · 22-04-2011 5:17pm

Seloth wrote: »

FG held similar economic views as FF...But seeing as they werent in power then oh well :rolleyes:

I'll also defend Animal testing but it doesn't mean I'm for it either.Just because yourself or that you don't believe that a person can defend something they don't represent or don't like dosnt mean it cant happen.

tbh you can hold your own opinion on this matter and myself but I've told you the truth and thats for you to believe or not.

I'm a bit confused and lost - the thread started with crowley , moved on to FF reform, something about the healy rae and now is debating animal testing

Liam Byrne · 22-04-2011 6:07pm

Seloth wrote: »

FF shared the same economic goals as Lab and FG,have similar policy's with FG stating for FF government should be spending more.

To paraphrase an old song......."it ain't what ya spend it's the way that ya spend it.....that's what gets [the right] results.

Throwing money at pointless projects and giving idiots jobs "because they were my friends" is a recipe for disaster.

Seloth wrote: »

I'm sorry but if you held that view with the amount of high profile politicians that lied under oath from every party then we would never have a government.

Horrendous generalisation, but let's run with it for a sec; if you're right (a big if) then we should never have a government, until those who run are capable of not lying through their teeth and ruining the country.

God knows we'd probably be better off if FF hadn't been around to implement some of their disastrous decisions.

Until people stop and say "if you've lied or brought the Dáil into disrepute, you can feck off with no pension" the thinking like that outlined above will prevail, we will see no improvement.

I mean, what if someone said "if you held the view that no priest who'd abused a child should be a priest, then we'd have no priests", would you keep the same view ?

If not, why not ?

Brian Crowley Running for President

Comments