a very serious situation!!

whoopdedoo · 28-06-2011 11:10am #1

Kerry south TD Michael Healy-Rae said that he didn’t know if it was right or wrong that he won a celebrity TV show with 3,636 calls made from a phone in Leinster House.
The Independent representative said that he didn’t know who had made the calls as he was not there at the time.

“I didn’t ask for taxpayer’s money to be used. It’s not as if an individual took money for their own use. The money was for charity. It was not my responsibility,” he said.
The calls made to premium phone lines and costing a total of €2,639, were made from the phone of an elected member of the Oireachtas to the Celebrities Go Wild contest in October 2007.

All of the money raised went to People in Need and TDs and Senators are allowed to make calls free of charge so no rules were broken, according to the report of the incident in today’s Daily Mail.

Asked today if the money should be paid back, Mr Healy –Rae said today that he was not involved in making the calls and he didn’t know who was. “The calls came from Leinster House but nobody could say if they came from one phone, five phones or 25 phones,” he said.
His father, the former TD Jackie Healy-Rae said that he didn’t believe he had voted for his son from a Leinster House phone as he had a mobile phone.
“There wouldn’t be a hope in the wide earthly world that I’d be in a position to make that number of calls. Not an outside hope in the world,” he said.
Independent TD Finian McGrath said today that we couldn’t have a situation where public money was being used for private purposes and said he would be raising the matter with his other Independent colleagues in the Dail today.
“I was shocked and appalled when I heard about it. We need a proper investigation into it,” he said.

It is understood that the number of calls was so great that an automatic dialling facility may have been used.
In the contest, celebrities including Michael Healy-Rae, the late Katy French, Michelle de Bruin, Daithi O Se, Alan O’Neill, Mickey Joe Harte and Victoria Mary Clarke, competed in a series of physical challenges in Connemara. The winner was voted for on 60c premium phone lines.
The show, which was broadcast on RTE, attracted 445,000 viewers nightly.
A statement from the Oireachtas confirmed that in 2007 a spike in calls to a 1513 number was brought to their attention by their telecoms service provider and as a result all calls to that number were blocked.

“In total 3,636 calls to 1513 717107 were made from the Oireachtas phone system. Each incurred a charge of 60cents, plus VAT, giving a total of €2,639. That charge was paid by the House of the OIreachtas Service in accordance with contractual obligations,” the statement said.
Celebrities Go Wild was RTE’s equivalent of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here where eight celebrities were left to their own devices in Connemara
- INDEPENDENT.IE REPORTERS

I know Galway has Frank Fahy and we've tried successfully to rattle his cages for him but it's high time the Healy-Raes were shown up for the sleveen conniving hoors they are! they are taking the people of Kerry and the rest of the country for fcuking eejits every time they open their mouths!

nobody from Kerry was going to come up to Galway to run Frank Fahy out of a public meeting in the run up to the elections and as one of those who did I implore you to just rant and Rae at these gob****es at every given opportunity and show them their bullsh1t is no longer tolerated

whoopdedoo · 28-06-2011 11:49am

and for those who are so gullible as to believe this man was so cut off from the world while filming a huge production "on a mountain in Mayo" that he couldn't have organised the calls you're not held in very high regard by this idiot.

he thinks you and I are so stupid that we'd believe the phone used in Leinster house cannot be traced due to the volume of the calls!!! In fact it would be the large volume of calls to the one number that would flag the offending phone without any bother! Also I could be dropped out of a helicopter bear grylls style anywhere in this country and not be as isolated as this guy maintains he was during a shoot for tv!!

when asked what Jackie had to say he takes us all for fools once again and tries to insist he hadn't spoken to him about it!!

as my Dad would say ; if ya told that to an ass he'd kick ya!!

HellFireClub · 28-06-2011 12:11pm

As I said in another thead in the Politics forum, these kind of retarded explanations are obviously well received by the knuckle dragging gombeens of South Kerry who elected this arséhole but the rest of the country doesn't seem to be prepared to listen to another bar of this shít...

whoopdedoo · 28-06-2011 12:21pm

let's not get personal with the people of Kerry lads, I wouldn't like to see the thread in the Kerry section being locked because of it

whoopdedoo · 28-06-2011 12:31pm

what I will say are the facts as far as I see them.

1. The Healy Raes are both smart and stupid in equal measures.

2. They rank their family, "friends*" and associates above all else.
* by friends I mean those who've received a favour for a vote.

3. They will not starve or be bothered about the price of petrol, milk or
phonecalls like the rest of us as long as they're put back on the gravy train.

4. they've fooled many genuine (some not so genuine!) people into giving them
more power and money than they should ever have!!

HellFireClub · 28-06-2011 12:31pm

whoopdedoo wrote: »

let's not get personal with the people of Kerry lads, I wouldn't like to see the thread in the Kerry section being locked because of it

Yeah, let's pander to the problem as opposed to confronting it... This guy didn't elect himself, the people of his constituency are ultimately responsible for this.

whoopdedoo · 28-06-2011 12:37pm

HellFireClub wrote: »

Yeah, let's pander to the problem as opposed to confronting it... This guy didn't elect himself, the people of his constituency are ultimately responsible for this.

true but they're not all thick as ****! these Healy Rae BASTARDS are very very good at what they do and bringing in roads and **** enables them to keep the whole show on the road!

when the sheep get lost who do you blame?? the sheep or the shepard??

whoopdedoo · 28-06-2011 12:38pm

I would rather try to engage with the people of Kerry here and try turn their support against the 2 fools!

ejmaztec · 28-06-2011 12:43pm

I'm from North Kerry, can I hold your coats for you when you head south with your sleeves rolled up?

:pac:

theaceofspies · 28-06-2011 12:54pm

I too live in Kerry and it is frustrating to see bad behaviour by politicians here being constantly overlooked at Election time. People here need to suffer (and they will now thanks to the IMF) before they will come to their senses.
As Homer would say "DOH!"

HellFireClub · 28-06-2011 12:55pm

whoopdedoo wrote: »

true but they're not all thick as ****! these Healy Rae BASTARDS are very very good at what they do and bringing in roads and **** enables them to keep the whole show on the road!

when the sheep get lost who do you blame?? the sheep or the shepard??

But the people of South Kerry, are they not equally as affected by the huge problem of unemployment now, as everyone else in the country now is???

Like when these two knuckle dragging neanderthals come around looking for votes in their constituency, what use is the nearby dual carriage way that is being used to buy your vote, what use is that ultimately to you when you are on the dole and cannot afford a car to drive on it?!?!?!?

There is a wider picture here that I genuinely believe that the people of South Kerry are just not able to see.

steelcityblues · 28-06-2011 12:57pm

Lets have a look at the performances of the Healy Raes in general elections:

1997 7,220 first prefs (elected on 5th count)

http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1997&cons=139

2002 6,229 first prefs (elected on final count)

http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=2002&cons=139

2007 5,993 first prefs (elected on final count)

http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=2007&cons=139

2011 6,670 first prefs (elected on final count)

http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=2011&cons=139

So -on average, there are roughly 6,500 voters in the area who have elected a family member from this lot at every election.

6,500 or so voters who have to take a level of responsibility for the shenanigans the Healy Rae's get away with.

whoopdedoo · 28-06-2011 1:07pm

steelcityblues wrote: »

Lets have a look at the performances of the Healy Raes in general elections:

1997 7,220 first prefs (elected on 5th count)

http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1997&cons=139

2002 6,229 first prefs (elected on final count)

http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=2002&cons=139

2007 5,993 first prefs (elected on final count)

http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=2007&cons=139

2011 6,670 first prefs (elected on final count)

http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=2011&cons=139

So -on average, there are roughly 6,500 voters in the area who have elected a family member from this lot at every election.

6,500 or so voters who have to take a level of responsibility for the shenanigans the Healy Rae's get away with.

ok you got me!!

cue kerryman jokes ahoy from here on in

ejmaztec · 28-06-2011 1:12pm

HellFireClub wrote: »

But the people of South Kerry, are they not equally as affected by the huge problem of unemployment now, as everyone else in the country now is???

Like when these two knuckle dragging neanderthals come around looking for votes in their constituency, what use is the nearby dual carriage way that is being used to buy your vote, what use is that ultimately to you when you are on the dole and cannot afford a car to drive on it?!?!?!?

There is a wider picture here that I genuinely believe that the people of South Kerry are just not able to see.

They'll get feck all this time round because the current government doesn't need to go crawling to likes of the Healy-Raes for support.

Despite them getting feck all, the tribe will still vote them into Leinster House and the local councils.:(

thebman · 28-06-2011 1:12pm

The reality is most likely that the people voting for these fools are incapable of using the Internet or finding this forum so there is little point in talking about it here IMO.

Even if they are here they will ignore the thread and not see the outrage and bad image this portrays of their area.

ejmaztec · 28-06-2011 1:19pm

thebman wrote: »

The reality is most likely that the people voting for these fools are incapable of using the Internet or finding this forum so there is little point in talking about it here IMO.

Even if they are here they will ignore the thread and not see the outrage and bad image this portrays of their area.

They'll do their best out of spite, to persuade even more people to vote for them the next time.

HellFireClub · 28-06-2011 1:41pm

ejmaztec wrote: »

They'll get feck all this time round because the current government doesn't need to go crawling to likes of the Healy-Raes for support.

Despite them getting feck all, the tribe will still vote them into Leinster House and the local councils.:(

It's like some fúcked up display of Stolkholm Syndrome.

legendary.xix · 28-06-2011 6:35pm

I know he claims not to be linked with Fianna Fail but his dad was and it's not surprising this sort of carry on from anyone with a link to FF.

29-06-2011 9:20am

I am no fan of the Healy Raes.

But the facts are that the people from North Kerry elect a bomber. Those in Louth elect a man wanted for questioning in connection with a mother being shot in a bath. Those in Cork North Central plump for a woman who wrote a letter on behalf of a man accused of rape. The good people of Kildare want a man who wanted sex in a public park. In Tipp they like the fellow who made a billionaire out of a telephone salesman. And so on and so forth.

The Healy Raes have some questions to answer. The money should be repaid and it reflects badly on them. And the nonsense excuses make it worse. But those who want to have a dig at South Kerry would do well to realise that if you think the standards of public reps say something about the voters and entitle one to make comments about those areas, there are a lot worse.

29-06-2011 11:01am

Now here is a much more serious allegation against the Healy Raes.

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/06/29/was-the-vote-rigged-in-south-kerry-too/

ejmaztec · 29-06-2011 12:56pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Now here is a much more serious allegation against the Healy Raes.

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/06/29/was-the-vote-rigged-in-south-kerry-too/

I was wondering when something was going to be done about that.

I see that one of the comments mentions that JHR's grandson is also on KCC, something that I must have missed. Unbelievable!:eek:

carchaeologist · 29-06-2011 1:16pm

A Gombeen Man is a pejorative Hiberno-English term used in Ireland for a shady, small-time "wheeler-dealer" or businessman who is always looking to make a quick profit, often at someone else's expense or through the acceptance of bribes. Its origin is the Irish word "gaimbín"

From Wiki. Lol!

ejmaztec · 29-06-2011 2:13pm

I see that MHR's going to cough up, despite the fact that it was nothing to do with him:o. JHR also denies involvement.

I wonder who the number 1 fan was at Leinster House

I think we're looking for someone with Repetitive Strain Injury to the button-pushing finger.

In the Irish Times article it mentions that the 3600 calls wouldn't have made any difference to the outcome, seeing as MHR's nearest rival was out-polled by him 2 to 1. How do we know that other phones outside Leinster House weren't clocking up the calls at the same time? For all we know, he may never have had any votes at all from anyone barring his family and friends.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0629/breaking20.html

29-06-2011 2:23pm

ejmaztec wrote: »

How do we know that other phones outside Leinster House weren't clocking up the calls at the same time?

But if they were, wouldn't they be paid for and isn't that perfectly in order? As I understand, the issue here is that phone calls made from phones in the Oireachtas are free - to the user, as the taxpayer picks up the tab.

ejmaztec · 29-06-2011 2:37pm

Deleted User wrote: »

But if they were, wouldn't they be paid for and isn't that perfectly in order? As I understand, the issue here is that phone calls made from phones in the Oireachtas are free - to the user, as the taxpayer picks up the tab.

There are other tax-payer funded phones, in constituency offices, council offices etc etc. From privately funded phones, it's fair enough from a tax-payer point of view.

ejmaztec · 29-06-2011 7:17pm

So Ned O'Sullivan admits (as per the 6.01 RTE News) to making a dozen calls to vote for MHR to win. Christ, how sad can you get. It's nice to know he's got his priorities right.:o:o:o

He'll be giving away free ties next.......................

thebman · 29-06-2011 7:36pm

So if you include the TD's mobiles, how much did the taxpayer actually pay in total to vote for this man

ejmaztec · 29-06-2011 8:35pm

thebman wrote: »

So if you include the TD's mobiles, how much did the taxpayer actually pay in total to vote for this man

Probably about €200 billion.:(

We're ok now though because MHR's apparently paying all of our phone-bills, so we should all send them to him straight away before he's had time to forget.

5live · 29-06-2011 10:42pm

Deleted User wrote: »

But if they were, wouldn't they be paid for and isn't that perfectly in order? As I understand, the issue here is that phone calls made from phones in the Oireachtas are free - to the user, as the taxpayer picks up the tab.

The calls to the 1513 number were flagged on the system and were subsequently blocked. A number of issues arise for me on this.

1. Why was any premium rate number allowed to be accessed at public expense?

2. When identified, why were the records of the calls not retained and an investigation not launched?

3. Why was there no reporting of the matter made by the officials in charge to the public accounts committee or other relevant body?

To the people of south kerry, on the Healy-Reas themselves, if you vote for an ass dont be surprised that you end up with a donkey representing you.

As conor74 said...some people cant see the wood for the trees:rolleyes:

But the facts are that the people from North Kerry elect a bomber. Those in Louth elect a man wanted for questioning in connection with a mother being shot in a bath. Those in Cork North Central plump for a woman who wrote a letter on behalf of a man accused of rape. The good people of Kildare want a man who wanted sex in a public park. In Tipp they like the fellow who made a billionaire out of a telephone salesman. And so on and so forth.

sheesh · 30-06-2011 1:16am

theaceofspies wrote: »

Wontfoolsbefools!
When dealing with the IQ of your average Kerry 'voter' your looking at the inteliigence levels found in the braincells of critters that inhabit the lower reaches of the ponds that neighbour slurry pits.

HellFireClub wrote: »

As I said in another thead in the Politics forum, these kind of retarded explanations are obviously well received by the knuckle dragging gombeens of South Kerry who elected this arséhole but the rest of the country doesn't seem to be prepared to listen to another bar of this shít...

thebman wrote: »

The reality is most likely that the people voting for these fools are incapable of using the Internet or finding this forum so there is little point in talking about it here IMO.

Even if they are here they will ignore the thread and not see the outrage and bad image this portrays of their area.

whoopdedoo wrote: »

let's not get personal with the people of Kerry lads, I wouldn't like to see the thread in the Kerry section being locked because of it

HellFireClub wrote: »

Yeah, let's pander to the problem as opposed to confronting it... This guy didn't elect himself, the people of his constituency are ultimately responsible for this.

THank you for all the kind words

Guys first of all kerry consists of 2 constituencies north and south can you please direct your ire at the appropriate one.

for all the shouting of how stupid kerry voters must be. you forget there is another county in ireland that has inexplicably voted election after election the likes of bertie ahern, charlie haughey and other less notable gangsters

I'm sure that your own constiuencies had similar in recent past

thebman · 30-06-2011 3:06am

sheesh wrote: »

THank you for all the kind words

Guys first of all kerry consists of 2 constituencies north and south can you please direct your ire at the appropriate one.

for all the shouting of how stupid kerry voters must be. you forget there is another county in ireland that has inexplicably voted election after election the likes of bertie ahern, charlie haughey and other less notable gangsters

I'm sure that your own constiuencies had similar in recent past

I don't forget that, the thread just isn't about those gits :P

a very serious situation!!

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