Niall O'Brochlain a senator

bijapos

Seems he was elected to one of the vacant senate seats on the first count. Probably part of the programme for government, it was rumored at the time but I never saw it anywhere.

Source: somebody who is at the count.

Zuiderzee

Good, decent straight up sound out guy

imme

it'll be a friend for Dan Boyle and Deirdre de Búrca. Only FG & Labour candidates were mentioned on rte news as other candidates for the seat of Alan Kelly (who became an MEP which necessitated a bye election). Did FF not bother.

Het-Field

imme wrote: »

it'll be a friend for Dan Boyle and Deirdre de Búrca. Only FG & Labour candidates were mentioned on rte news as other candidates for the seat of Alan Kelly (who became an MEP which necessitated a bye election). Did FF not bother.

No they didnt. Mainly due to the fact that they are about to announce a Cowen croney as the replacement for the final available seat tomorrow.

All they have done with the seats is seek to win an extra seat in Louth, appease the Greens, and deal with boundary redrawings.

imme

Het-Field wrote: »

No they didnt. Mainly due to the fact that they are about to announce a Cowen croney as the replacement for the final available seat tomorrow.

All they have done with the seats is seek to win an extra seat in Louth, appease the Greens, and deal with boundary redrawings.

They have the Ceann Comhaoirle guaranteed in Louth, so only have to win Dermot Ahern's seat, surely they can manage that, even if it is Dermot Ahern:(. There are 2 seats vacant in the Seanad. The seats of Tony Kett and Peter Callanan.

Bosco boy

hes been rejected again and again by the electorate of Galway and didnt even make the council last time and here he is now sitting in the senate with all the trappings, its typical jobs for the boys, He is the cause of gridlock in Galway and as mayor opposed the airshow which was supported by 100,000 spectators each year, he'll be good for the economy alright. Another reason to scrap the senate which is full of similar type electoral rejects!!

imme

Bosco boy wrote: »

hes been rejected again and again by the electorate of Galway and didnt even make the council last time and here he is now sitting in the senate with all the trappings, its typical jobs for the boys, He is the cause of gridlock in Galway and as mayor opposed the airshow which was supported by 100,000 spectators each year, he'll be good for the economy alright. Another reason to scrap the senate which is full of similar type electoral rejects!!

there are plenty of other 'failed' Dáil candidates in the Seanad, look at his colleagues on the Green Party, Boyle (Cork South Central) and de Búrca (Wicklow). Is transport policy in Galway not an issue that streches back for years and years and years. O'Brolchain was championing a luas-style transport system for Galway.
He was elected, how do you see this a 'jobs for the boys'?
I believe O'Brolchain's objection to the Salthill airshow were on political/military lines.

skelliser

rejected by the electorate, rewarded with a senate seat!
typical....

the airshow was brilliant, it brought 100,000 people to salthill, it was good for the economy

skelliser

Rejected by the electorate at the local elections, rewarded with a 70 grand a year job plus expenses!

typical....

Lockstep

I'm about as anti-Green as you can get at the moment but I have the utmost respect for the man.
He genuinely believes in green issues and that they are for the benefit of the commnity (helps out with tours of Barna woods, allotments, championing of the Gluas etc) and did surprisingly well in the West Ward (reknowned for how terribly FF/Greens were received)

Would be happy enough to see him go for Senate seat.

Het-Field

imme wrote: »

They have the Ceann Comhaoirle guaranteed in Louth, so only have to win Dermot Ahern's seat, surely they can manage that, even if it is Dermot Ahern:(. There are 2 seats vacant in the Seanad. The seats of Tony Kett and Peter Callanan.

With Alan Kelly there is three.

Your man from Louth filled Kett's, while O Brochlain is filling Kelly's. The paper are reporting Michael Smith Jnr as the likely candidate to fill Callanan's seat before Christmas.

imme

skelliser wrote: »

rejected by the electorate, rewarded with a senate seat!
typical....

the airshow was brilliant, it brought 100,000 people to salthill, it was good for the economy

well he wasn't rejected by the electorate that elected him to the Seanad.:D

imme

Het-Field wrote: »

With Alan Kelly there is three.

Your man from Louth filled Kett's, while O Brochlain is filling Kelly's. The paper are reporting Michael Smith Jnr as the likely candidate to fill Callanan's seat before Christmas.

who is your man from Louth?

skelliser

imme wrote: »

well he wasn't rejected by the electorate that elected him to the Seanad.:D

lol, and who elected them! or rejected them!
the seanad, what a joke!

imme

skelliser wrote: »

lol, and who elected them! or rejected them!
the seanad, what a joke!

sure why not start a thread on it, it might distract some away from the PS bashing.:cool:

Bosco boy

imme wrote: »

there are plenty of other 'failed' Dáil candidates in the Seanad, look at his colleagues on the Green Party, Boyle (Cork South Central) and de Búrca (Wicklow). Is transport policy in Galway not an issue that streches back for years and years and years. O'Brolchain was championing a luas-style transport system for Galway.
He was elected, how do you see this a 'jobs for the boys'?
I believe O'Brolchain's objection to the Salthill airshow were on political/military lines.

he objected to the outer bypass which is essential to galway especially now that the M6 is about to open. There should be no oireachtas position for anyone in this country who is not elected by the people, it is simply a job for one of the lads brokered by the greens with fianna fail. same **** different day!

imme

Bosco boy wrote: »

he objected to the outer bypass which is essential to galway especially now that the M6 is about to open. There should be no oireachtas position for anyone in this country who is not elected by the people, it is simply a job for one of the lads brokered by the greens with fianna fail. same **** different day!

so you want to do away with the in-directly elected Seanad, why not send a letter to someone?:rolleyes:

ronnie3585

Centra?

Bosco boy

Do we need any further proof that the senate is a joke and should be scrapped, it was a creche for spoilt children upset at not getting elected to the dail, we cannot afford the childcare these days

ninty9er

imme wrote: »

who is your man from Louth?

James Carroll, 25, elected on the first count in the Drogheda East LEA in June.

An ultimately capable and upstanding individual who I've had the pleasure of meeting with at numerous social functions and also seen him take losses extremely gracefully at elections within the party.

I have no doubt but that he will make a great parliamentarian.

mrsdewinter

Can't find this story on RTE... Was there a vacancy in the Senate?

PomBear

He's an absolute waster! and a green, ffs. Just when you think things can't get worse

PomBear

skelliser wrote: »

Rejected by the electorate at the local elections, rewarded with a 70 grand a year job plus expenses!

typical....

So thats about €200,000-€500,000 then

Bosco boy

imme wrote: »

so you want to do away with the in-directly elected Seanad, why not send a letter to someone?:rolleyes:

wouldnt waste the stamp! enough money wasted in the senate, thanks for the idea, its one of your better ones! hope neil dosent employ u as an advisor

View

skelliser wrote: »

lol, and who elected them! or rejected them!
the seanad, what a joke!

When a vacancy occurs in the Seanad, is the vacancy not filled by a by-election with the appropriate panel of the Seanad voting in it? Or is that dispensed with in favour of direct election by existing Senators?

sceptre

Little less tetchiness please, imme and Bosco boy.

biko

Nothing on the website http://www.niallobrolchain.ie/main/latest-news/
(haven't been updated in a while).

Galway City -> Politics.

skelliser

it was on the rte 6 o clock news and i dont see why this thread has to be moved here, he was the mayor of galway city after all.

Lockstep

It's also on his Facebook page.
Apparently he's being sworn in today.

bijapos

View wrote: »

When a vacancy occurs in the Seanad, is the vacancy not filled by a by-election with the appropriate panel of the Seanad voting in it? Or is that dispensed with in favour of direct election by existing Senators?

Only TD's and Senators are allowed to vote in by-elections, so its about 226 votes or so.

?Cee?view

Magnus wrote: »

Nothing on the website http://www.niallobrolchain.ie/main/latest-news/
(haven't been updated in a while).

Galway City -> Politics.

Why? He's been an extremely negative influence on Galway and Galway people, and has had a disastrous effect on the development of Galway's infrastructure.

His appointment to the Senate is a direct affront to the people of Galway who made their views on him and his policies very clear by rejecting him and removing his mandate.

This is not some esoteric political discussion, but one which affects daily lives of Galway people in a very tangible way, which will be even more clear when the gridlock ensues on Friday at Doughiska when the Motorway is opened.

By the way....I'm not having a go at you Magnus, just raising a question. I'm not being personal (against you) in any way.

imme

sceptre wrote: »

Little less tetchiness please, imme and Bosco boy.

I was unaware of any tetchiness on my part in this thread, I will leave for others to judge though:cool:.

View

churchview wrote: »

Why? He's been an extremely negative influence on Galway and Galway people, and has had a disastrous effect on the development of Galway's infrastructure.

He was 1 councillor out of 15 on the city council. That hardly constitutes a significant minority, much less a blocking majority.

All executive power is solely the preserve of the city/county manager. Councillors powers are very limited - they have to adopt a budget (annually) and a county development plan (once every 5 years or so). The rest of the time, they are there to represent you (i.e. complain a lot) but have very almost no power to get the City/County Manager to do anything he doesn't want to do.

ninty9er

churchview wrote: »

Why? He's been an extremely negative influence on Galway and Galway people, and has had a disastrous effect on the development of Galway's infrastructure.

His appointment to the Senate is a direct affront to the people of Galway who made their views on him and his policies very clear by rejecting him and removing his mandate.

This is not some esoteric political discussion, but one which affects daily lives of Galway people in a very tangible way, which will be even more clear when the gridlock ensues on Friday at Doughiska when the Motorway is opened.

By the way....I'm not having a go at you Magnus, just raising a question. I'm not being personal (against you) in any way.

Not meaning any disrespect, but he was eliminated on the 9th count at which point he had amassed 4,332 votes, which is better than 7 of the other candidates who put themselves forward, including 2 PDs (why they ran 3 is beyond me) whose combined vote didn't even hit 4,000.

I'm not a Green, or an apologist of theirs, but to suggest he was discarded point blank when he was more than half of the vote that elected Frank Fahey is a little lame.

Edit: as for Local Elections, an extra 93 votes would have elected him.

View

bijapos wrote: »

Only TD's and Senators are allowed to vote in by-elections, so its about 226 votes or so.

Thanks for that.

So, he was elected by the people. Even if its only the people that count.

?Cee?view

View wrote: »

He was 1 councillor out of 15 on the city council. That hardly constitutes a significant minority, much less a blocking majority.

All executive power is solely the preserve of the city/county manager. Councillors powers are very limited - they have to adopt a budget (annually) and a county development plan (once every 5 years or so). The rest of the time, they are there to represent you (i.e. complain a lot) but have very almost no power to get the City/County Manager to do anything he doesn't want to do.

I genuinely have no idea what you're getting at here? What has the voting structure or powers of the City Councillors got to do with what I said?

He actively campaigned against the Bypass, campaigned against the Air Show, and supported the Gluas (the last at best a pipe dream). Whether one agrees with any of his points of view, the voting structure in the Council didn't stop him (nor should it) expressing his points of view, which in my opinion were extremely destructive.

?Cee?view

ninty9er wrote: »

Not meaning any disrespect, but he was eliminated on the 9th count at which point he had amassed 4,332 votes, which is better than 7 of the other candidates who put themselves forward, including 2 PDs (why they ran 3 is beyond me) whose combined vote didn't even hit 4,000.

I'm not a Green, or an apologist of theirs, but to suggest he was discarded point blank when he was more than half of the vote that elected Frank Fahey is a little lame.

Edit: as for Local Elections, an extra 93 votes would have elected him.

We're all so respectful here .

I take your point to an extent on the figures, but regardless, he wasn't elected; and in the nationals that was at a time when Green popularity was certainly stronger than now. He was rejected by the electorate.

imme

ninty9er wrote: »

Not meaning any disrespect, but he was eliminated on the 9th count at which point he had amassed 4,332 votes, which is better than 7 of the other candidates who put themselves forward, including 2 PDs (why they ran 3 is beyond me) whose combined vote didn't even hit 4,000.

I'm not a Green, or an apologist of theirs, but to suggest he was discarded point blank when he was more than half of the vote that elected Frank Fahey is a little lame.

Edit: as for Local Elections, an extra 93 votes would have elected him.

To the best of my knowledge the PD's ran 3 candidates to get votes from different geographic areas in the hope that they would transfer to the better known of the 3 (Noel Grealish, who was subsequently elected).

"an apologist of the Greens": you make them sound like terrorists, child murderers, politicians who take money from builder friends, politicians who used to have a tent at the Galway races.:D

There are plenty of TD's who weren't elected on many occasions and stood subsequently and were then elected, not everyone can be elected on their first/second attempt.

Rebelheart

Bosco boy wrote: »

hes been rejected again and again by the electorate of Galway and didnt even make the council last time and here he is now sitting in the senate with all the trappings, its typical jobs for the boys,

What, alas, do you think Seanad Éireann is for? The people? Or failed politicians?

Give me Níall Ó Brolcháin over that parasite Eoghan Harris anyday. Give me the overthrow of that pointless jobs-for-the-boys institution over any other political change in Ireland today.

Het-Field

ninty9er wrote: »

Not meaning any disrespect, but he was eliminated on the 9th count at which point he had amassed 4,332 votes, which is better than 7 of the other candidates who put themselves forward, including 2 PDs (why they ran 3 is beyond me) whose combined vote didn't even hit 4,000.

I'm not a Green, or an apologist of theirs, but to suggest he was discarded point blank when he was more than half of the vote that elected Frank Fahey is a little lame.

Edit: as for Local Elections, an extra 93 votes would have elected him.

This was considered an electoral masterstroke on he part of PD HQ. It worked in 2002, and again in 2007. In parochial terms both Donal Lyons and Tom Welby did better then Neil. In terms of first preference votes,in combination, Welby and Lyons beat him by 60 votes They canvassed in single areas over which they had council responsibility. I thought anybody who took any interest in politics understood the move for what it was.

In the locals, as Neil was scrabbling for transfers both Donal and Tom took the firs tseats in their wards.

Furthermore, I know quite a few people who would challange you on your views regarding FF's new senator from Louth.

toiletduck

The Seanad is a such a joke. After getting rejected twice by the electorate, know the right boys and you'll still grab some power.

I've met the guy and he seems nice enough. However I do believe that some of his stances have been bad for Galway and he's a member of one of the Government parties. I couldn't ever support them getting a seat in any institution (yes yes I know if he hadn't gotten it, someone else would have).

Oh and what happened to him leaving politics behind? I remember him saying that after either the locals or general.

imme

toiletduck wrote: »

Oh and what happened to him leaving politics behind? I remember him saying that after either the locals or general.

people can change their mind, look at Declan Ganley *shudders*

View

churchview wrote: »

I genuinely have no idea what you're getting at here? What has the voting structure or powers of the City Councillors got to do with what I said?

He actively campaigned against the Bypass, campaigned against the Air Show, and supported the Gluas (the last at best a pipe dream). Whether one agrees with any of his points of view, the voting structure in the Council didn't stop him (nor should it) expressing his points of view, which in my opinion were extremely destructive.

At the end of the day, what counts is who gets to make the decisions on issues - not who gets to express an opinion on them (And, of course, what decisions - if any - the decision makers actually make).

For instance, FG & Lab have expressed lots of opinions on the economy over the last 12 years. FF, though, have made the decisions on it and get to take all the "credit" for where it is today.

What you are doing is the equivalent of pinning the blame on Michael D for the state of the economy today, while ignoring that it was Eamonn O'Cuiv and Frank Fahy who were part of the team who were running the economy...

biko

churchview wrote: »

Why? He's been an extremely negative influence on Galway and Galway people, and has had a disastrous effect on the development of Galway's infrastructure.

Because in my view it's best to discuss Politics, even local politicians, in the Politics forum. As a seanadóir Mr O'Brochlain is now on the national stage.
Discussions in local forum tend to attract a different vocabulary from whoever doesn't agree with someone's politics.

Lockstep

churchview wrote: »

I genuinely have no idea what you're getting at here? What has the voting structure or powers of the City Councillors got to do with what I said?

He actively campaigned against the Bypass, campaigned against the Air Show, and supported the Gluas (the last at best a pipe dream). Whether one agrees with any of his points of view, the voting structure in the Council didn't stop him (nor should it) expressing his points of view, which in my opinion were extremely destructive.

The bypass has become the Galwegian divisive issue; the problems with it are that it's running across land which is inflated and incredibly expensive (as well as environmentally questionable). THe Galway City Council is broke and has been for a while. It was impossible and yet the City Council in power at the moment use every possible opporunity to attack those who raise questions about it's feasability, without bothering to point out that while it's a great idea, there's no way it can happen at the moment, certainly not with their proposals.


Once again, I'm not a fan of Greens at the moment but he's one of the decent skins I have any respect for.

eoinmadden

Niall O'B isn't stopping the government from building the outer bypass. The fact that the government is BROKE is what is stopping them from building the bypass.

And if the bypass is ever built.. it will be built by the Dept of Transport. It has nothing to do with the local city council, who even in the best of times haven't the money for a project of that size.

Anyway, Frank Fahey has *promised* to get the bypass built soon. So over to you Frankeen..

Raiser

Niall O'Brochlain failed to get elected in the last general election because he got a meagre 5.49% of the votes - People arrived at the Polling Station, stepped into the privacy of their Booth, saw his name in print and had the good sense to tick every other box in sight.

How wonderful that now in December 2009 Niall has risen through the ranks and can now somehow take his place in our Senate?

Imagine that? I'm only guessing here - But I'd imagine Fianna Fail have agreed vaccinate whole herds of Wildebeest in Uganda or bankroll the neutering of Tree-frogs in the Amazon or to generally support some such idiotic Green Party policy in return.

- It would be ironic though if they championed the cause of Leeches; And too much to hope for that said Leeches were a new, green, ambitious, morally destitute, negligibly intelligent, slimy and utterly reprehensible species.

Annasopra

imme wrote: »

it'll be a friend for Dan Boyle and Deirdre de Búrca. Only FG & Labour candidates were mentioned on rte news as other candidates for the seat of Alan Kelly (who became an MEP which necessitated a bye election). Did FF not bother.

FF and the greens did a deal to rotate the vacancies - hence James Carroll from Louth was nominated to replace Tony Kett, Niall O Brolchain was nominated to replace Alan Kelly and an FFer should replace Peter Callanan, however - also deBurca seems to have gotten a job in the European Commission so she may not be in Seanad for long - there's talk of giving that to Mark Deery from Louth as it was a Taoiseachs nominee

imme

Johnnymcg wrote: »

FF and the greens did a deal to rotate the vacancies - hence James Carroll from Louth was nominated to replace Tony Kett, Niall O Brolchain was nominated to replace Alan Kelly and an FFer should replace Peter Callanan, however - also deBurca seems to have gotten a job in the European Commission so she may not be in Seanad for long - there's talk of giving that to Mark Deery from Louth as it was a Taoiseachs nominee

what job did de Búrca get in Europe?

sceptre

imme wrote: »

what job did de Búrca get in Europe?

Still in rumour-land at the moment.

Annasopra

imme wrote: »

what job did de Búrca get in Europe?

See the article about deBurca on www.mamanpoulet.com