Dan Boyle has no confidence in Willie O'Dea

mike65

Willie is full of "contrition"

Jip

The poor man, it's very difficult for him at the moment, and again he's "contrite". This guy is unbelievable. He swore the affadavit to the best of his recollection !?!?!?!

Ban Ki Moon

O'Deas audio interview with the Limerick Leader http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/EXCLUSIVE-Limerick-Leader-releases-the.6084787.jp

jank

The guy is finished as a minister. He will resign over the coming days. The only question now will it bring down the government. Probably not.

IrishTonyO

O'Dea on RTE1 says he did not amend the affidavit but told them it was wrong!!! And says he is a victim in this too!!!!

mike65

Tieing himself in knots here, he may be hanging himself as we listen. "Oh I'll co-operate not sure how far"

Jip

"I'm a victim". Oh the hilarity.

seamus

The Government are in proper trouble now. Two high-profile ministers, both well known to be "characters" - O'Dea and Coughlan - have been shown up to be complete wasters and chancers, on record.

Coughlan, over the Ryanair farce: I don't like O'Leary or his tactics, but every single excuse that Coughlan has made about the situation has either been completely incorrect or a bare-faced lie. She has shown that she's blocking O'Leary either because of her personal opinion of him or because of 3rd party interests.

And O'Dea, over this. There's nothing he can say here. The tape shows that it wasn't a slip of the tongue, he didn't think he was off the record, he didn't say something he didn't mean, he was telling the journalist exactly what he believed about the brothel situation.

Regardless of whether or not they come under pressure to resign (that'd be a first), I can't see the disgruntled backbenchers and the independents in Government sitting on their hands. Even the Greens might decide that they've been dragged deep enough by this and the only way to save the party now is to cut the cord before it's too late.

JonathanAnon

The fact that the Minister Of Defence could be so loose tongued with confidential Garda information means he has to at least be removed from his current Ministry. This man is privvy to a lot of highly secure information, and we cannot risk him releasing information that could put the lives of our defence forces at risk.

A British security forces representative lost his job when he unwittingly allowed secure information to be photographed as he carried them in his hands while entering a meeting.

Willie to lose Ministry but to hold his seat I would think..

Highly Salami

seamus wrote: »

Coughlan, over the Ryanair farce: I don't like O'Leary or his tactics, but every single excuse that Coughlan has made about the situation has either been completely incorrect or a bare-faced lie...

What farce?, Aer Lingus signed a 20 year lease with DAA to use Hangar 6. Micko wants the government to force DAA to break the lease. I'm fairly sure the govt. don't have the authority to do that. If he wants to use a hangar in Dublin airport, why not use hangars 1 to 5? or alternatively the government (via IDA) could lease from the DAA and then sublet to Ryanair (if Micko doesnt want to deal with the DAA directly). Micko is being totally unreasonable.

seamus wrote: »

...She has shown that she's blocking O'Leary either because of her personal opinion of him or because of 3rd party interests.

utter nonsense

LostinBlanch

Highly Salami wrote: »

What farce?, Aer Lingus signed a 20 year lease with DAA to use Hangar 6. Micko wants the government to force DAA to break the lease. I'm fairly sure the govt. don't have the authority to do that. If he wants to use a hangar in Dublin airport, why not use hangars 1 to 5? or alternatively the government (via IDA) could lease from the DAA and then sublet to Ryanair (if Micko doesnt want to deal with the DAA directly). Micko is being totally unreasonable.



utter nonsense

This has been covered on a different thread. MOL wants to use Hangar 6 as it is for heavy aircrafy maintenance only. This is the purpose it was built for. Aer Lingus have moved 95 staff there over the new year to operate line maintenance i.e. light maintenance for plane turnaround e.g. changing the oil checking tyre pressure etc etc. This could easily be done in Hangars 4 or 5.

Also on all Ryanair leases with DAA, there is a clause which states that DAA have the right to move leasees to different premises if they need the original premises for their own purposes. O'Leary is calling for publication of the lease for Hangar 6 to show that Aer Lingus could easily move to Hangar 4 or 5 where they were originally.

In the meantime 300 highly specialised and not easily replaced jobs are going a begging while all this posturing is going on.

Apologies for taking this off topic, this wold be better discussed on the Coughlan O'Leary topic.

As for Willie, he's contrite all right, but only for being caught.

LostinBlanch

Also how could any guard ever trust O'Dea if he's acting the way he is?

Disgraceful

walshb

"And on demands for his resignation, Mr O'Dea said his position was always in the hands of the Taoiseach."

It is Cowen who really has to take responsibility here. He is the man allowing O'Dea to remain in his team. As bad as O'Dea is, Cowen is worse; he's the man justifying having this man in his cabinet.

Trotter

I think Willie will go and the government will stand. The Greens will continue to wander along behind their master, and the show will go on.

There is nothing that FF can do that will trigger a Green withdrawal and rid us of this government.

Macha

Trotter wrote: »

There is nothing that FF can do that will trigger a Green withdrawal and rid us of this government.

TBH, I think you might get your wish with this issue.

Highly Salami

LostinBlanch wrote: »

Aer Lingus have moved 95 staff there over the new year.

Definitely not true, the 95 staff came in to Aer Lingus as new employees from SR Technics, the rest of your post is just opinion.

Trotter

taconnol wrote: »

TBH, I think you might get your wish with this issue.

Well in fairness to you, we still need people like yourself who are passionate about green issues. This is what frustrates me so much. Its a disgrace that Green TDs will set the Green movement in general back so many years.

I'd love to see the Greens go, and a FG/Lab/Green government in next time. The only hope of that is for the Greens to go now, and to run new candidates that disown your existing leaders.

mike65

Brian Cowen has just issued a statement giving his full support to the liar.

Mr. Incognito

Speaking on RTÉ radio this morning, Mr Boyle's party colleague Paul Gogarty stressed the senator's comments regarding Mr O'Dea were personal and not the view of the Green Party.

Mr Gogarty said he believed it was ethically wrong for Mr O'Dea to have made a false statement before an interviewer and to have defamed somebody but that this in itself wasn't a reason to step down.

"While he hasn't covered himself in glory a resigning issue hasn't been established as of yet," said Mr Gogarty.

Wow, just wow.

You know I was a registered Green and despite all that has happened was going to give them my support at the next election but if they stand by and let Willie continue in office after he commited libel, slander and perjury without pulling the plug I may never vote Green again.

I've never voted for FF nor would I, FG are awful under Enda and Labour are a joke, they have no policies only attack dogs. I may be forced to vote independent for the rest of my life at this rate.

Seriously- where do you draw the line.

Macha

Trotter wrote: »

Well in fairness to you, we still need people like yourself who are passionate about green issues. This is what frustrates me so much. Its a disgrace that Green TDs will set the Green movement in general back so many years.

The problem is, as I see it, that the Greens will always be a minority. Labour is of course a more natural ally. What's the best way to get the mainstream parties to improve the sustainability of their policies? That seems to be the only way forward as I can see it, given that the Greens will probably be in opposition for a while. And when they get back in - will it really be any different?

I got involved with the Greens to help work towards improving Ireland's environmental track record, not just to have power for the sake of it. At the same time, I'm not going to jump ship and head over to FG/Labour just because they will probably be in power next.

Trotter wrote: »

I'd love to see the Greens go, and a FG/Lab/Green government in next time. The only hope of that is for the Greens to go now, and to run new candidates that disown your existing leaders.

I wouldn't do that. I think Eamon Ryan does an excellent job. But you might be right about leaving government.

Trotter

mike65 wrote: »

Brian Cowen has just issued a statement giving his full support to the liar.

Good.. Now.. Eamon Ryan should sit John Gormley down, tell him the game is up and call it a day. He should make a statement to the nation saying why the Greens are going, and say it is because of the lack of ethics, honesty and lack of any pride in public office by his government partners.

He should then ask the nation to support him in his efforts to rid cute hoorism from politics by supporting Green candidates (He might get a few votes if he goes now).

He should look to take the leadership of the Green party (Gormley's got zero respect, Ryan has a little bit left I think..) and then get on his knees in front of the electorate and run a campaign purely on Green policies and ethical politics. That would include a public statement that a Green party in coallition next time would have a zero tolerance for the kind of FF muck they're up to their neck in..

And then he should say some quiet prayers.. and hope. Even then he might be at nothing. BUT.. I'd support or even join a new party with ethics and environmental policies at its core.. but I'd need to know they wouldnt stay in government like this shower have.

They've got a 2 day window I reckon to save the Green movement in Ireland. It'll take liathróidí on Eamon Ryan's part to make or break it.

anymore

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Wow, just wow.

You know I was a registered Green and despite all that has happened was going to give them my support at the next election but if they stand by and let Willie continue in office after he commited libel, slander and perjury without pulling the plug I may never vote Green again.

I've never voted for FF nor would I, FG are awful under Enda and Labour are a joke, they have no policies only attack dogs. I may be forced to vote independent for the rest of my life at this rate.

Seriously- where do you draw the line.

I sympatise with your position; voting in Irish elections seems to be an exercise in selecting the least worst option !

Liam Byrne

taconnol wrote: »

At this stage I'll have to assume you don't understand the implications of voting against the government on this issue.

Nicely patronising :rolleyes:

The implications are that justice is done.

You don't seem to understand the implications of voting WITH them.

taconnol wrote: »

God, the populist rants and religious references are getting more tiring by the day. You would think Enda Kenny is God at this stage.

Another tried-and-tested FF slur - "populist rant", as if it were an unreasonable comment.

Tell me - why is it "populist" ? Because it reflects most of the population ?

And Kenny/FG kicked out the corrupt TD Lowry when he was found out, so - compared to FF & The Greens yes, he is God.

taconnol wrote: »

How many more times does this have to be explained. The Greens only got 6% of the vote. Why, now, does everyone expect the Greens to have enough power to implement everything they want in government? If it was that important to everyone, why did only 6% vote for the Greens?

No-one's expecting the Greens to implement everything they want!!! What the hell does that have to do with implementing everything the people want, including ethical and competent Government ?

I have no respect for the Greens at this stage; I might have voted for them last time out, but they've proven on at least 3 major occasions that they have no desire to represent me or my views.

taconnol wrote: »

And if it isn't that important to you and you're just complaining about the principle of having to compromise in a coalition government, I suggest you read up on the realities of coalition governments.

You can compromise on LESS IMPORTANT ISSUES all you want. You do not compromise on corruption, incompetence and borderline/illegal activities.

Mr. Incognito

Agree with the above- I'm as staunch Green as it gets but the main reason that the Greens made so much ground in the last election is that they were seen as a new party with core ethical principals.

i.e reform of local government to help combat bribes etc.

This is an ethical issue. The Party has to make a stand. If they stand back and allow a sitting Minister who has committed illegal acts their credibility is gone and the sell out is complete.

There are no agenda's that the Greens could possibly push through in this term that would make up for supporting illegality or even percieved illegality in Government. To the public they are the same thing.

NO-ONE is above the Law or the Office.

anymore

The Irish Times is carrying a report on Boyles interview on Niall Prendvilles radio show this morning :
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0218/breaking36.html
Here is a sample of it :
".
"What concerns me is that we have been seen to support and condone the type of behaviour where people smear each other during election campaigns ....... - that was why I was expressing my discomfort.
"It [expressing his views on Facebook and Twitter] was largely personal but it was done out of concern at the position that the party finds itself so I consider that part of my job as chairman," said Mr Boyle ."

To me it seems to be the typical Dan Boyle effort to get favourable attention drawn to himself with it actually meaning anything at all. Lamentable !

Macha

Liam Byrne wrote: »

You can compromise on LESS IMPORTANT ISSUES all you want. You do not compromise on corruption, incompetence and borderline/illegal activities.

You're completely right. I'm sorry. After participating in these threads this morning, you've all managed to change my mind. Either he goes or Greens should go.

And I was a bit patronising so apologies about that as well.

meditraitor

taconnol wrote: »

You're completely right. I'm sorry. After participating in these threads this morning, you've all managed to change my mind. Either he goes or Greens should go.

And I was a bit patronising so apologies about that as well.

Guys/gals like yourself are the reason I still believe the greens have something to offer.

Trotter

If only the top 6 or 7 in the Green Party could see that they have a chance to save this ship.

Does anyone actually think they will go over this? I still honestly don't, even as things have got 'hairier' all day.

taconnol, Hold onto all that passion for what you believe in.. You'll have a chance to use it if they go now.

FlashGordon1969

Dan Boyle is a poltical joke-what the hell does it matter if he has no confidence given that his party has voted to keep Willie in office?? Why doesn't he resign?I pity the position the Greens are in but their lust for mercs (high emission ones) got the better of them. Being in coalition is always difficult as a smaller party but with FF you not only have to deal with economic quagmires/incompetence but moral black holes as well.

BennyLava

Can the grassroots of the Green party force the issue if necessary, an egm if you will,
surely the time for the members of the Green party to stand up and try to salvage what's left of their party is now.

Gormley and Co. won't have a leg to stand on if you make your voices heard, they had to go to you to pass the revised program for government. Can you not force them to listen to you to save the Green movement