[Article] First Bertie, now Smith...

Sparks

From the Sunday Independent:

DEFENCE minister Michael Smith admitted last night that he does not possess the third-level qualification from University College Cork which he boasts on his official CV. Mr Smith claims a diploma in public administration from UCC as his major academic achievement, but the Sunday Independent can reveal that the 63-year-old never completed the course.

In addition, the two-year programme was not even certified by the college but simply held on UCC property. Despite this, the minister's CV suggests he is a UCC graduate.

Despite the embarrassing disclosure, a spokesman for Mr Smith, who could lose his Cabinet post in the forthcoming Government reshuffle, insisted that UCC claim was valid as he attended the college for some classes.

But Fianna Fail moved last night to wipe the detail from its official website. The party's official resume of Mr Smith's career, which is also listed on the Department of Defence website, had stated Mr Smith was: "Educated CBS Templemore, Co Tipperary and UCC (DPA)."

A source said: "This would lead the casual observer to assume the Minister had gained a Diploma in Public Administration at University College Cork. Not so."

When we rang to check the Minister's qualifications, University College Cork could find no trace of their former student. A spokesman for UCC said: "Mr Smith is not on the list of our graduates association."

Mr Smith refused to speak directly to the Sunday Independentto clarify what qualifications he actually has. But his spokesman continued to insist that the minister was entitled to list UCC on his CV.

He said: "Arguably it does list his education rather than his qualifications. I don't think it [the CV] is incorrect. It says he studied there and he did do the course, but he left prior to the final exams.

So Bertie doesn't have his UCD degree or LSE diploma and now we find Smith lied on his CV as well. So I guess the question ought to be, do we have any Ministers that we know are qualified?

(Yes, yes, I know that it's not quite that bad, but it's not exactly nothing to be concerned over either, is it?)

gandalf

As I said when Berties little issue with qualifications came to light if any of us PAYE donkeys lied like this on our CV's we would be down at the dole queue. Again politicians (especially FF ones) live by different rules.