This shows what type of an egotistical fool Michael Lowry is

the culture of deference

These letters were sent out in the weeks before the election


TIPPERARY: INDEPENDENT TD Michael Lowry has defended a decision to give hundreds of letters to schoolchildren in Borrisokane outlining his success in securing a new school building.


Last Friday all students at the school were given letters from Mr Lowry in Oireachtas envelopes and asked to pass them on to their parents.


The letters state that he played a key role in securing a new school building for Borrisokane Community College. It had been a “primary condition” of his support for the Fianna Fáil-led government.


“Using my influence . . . I ensured the community school was rapidly brought beyond the planning stage, that the project was brought to the top of the school building priority list, and that an irreversible decision was made to fund same.”










from last month

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0222/1224290514492.html?via=rel

highfive

WTF!! This is exactly the kind of thing that moriarty is accusing him of! Mr Lowery don't influence any more supposedly democratic processes please! We need a country that works! How can you just push a school onto the top of the list, some other school will miss out?

To be honest I'm sick of this country's petrol pump politics. While I'm at it I want to say that the unrepresented people in this country need to stand up for themselves also. If they don't, they deserve some of the blame too. Jesus if I hear another chancer talking down the politicians while downing a pint....

People need to get up off their arses and do something. That's the only reason I support the current political situation, at least the politicians are making an effort.

Kinda contradicted myself there but that's part of life!

Rant over

mikemac

Meh, so what? They're all at it

Noel Coonan of FG based in Templemore took credit for the new swimming pool in Roscrea and then slammed the government for not giving more investment in the area.

Maire Hoctor of FF took credit for the commuter train service in Nenagh and had very little to do with it. Volunteers did the work, carried out surverys and lobbied Irish Rail and she stepped in at the end and got publicity.

As for Alan Kelly of Labour. MEP for the last few years and only went to Europe to raise his profile for a campaign. Had little intention of serving his term as MEP

So Michael Lowry gave out letters to a school in Borrisokane. If playing politics, raising a profile and taking credit is the issue, he's better at it then the other wasters from every party we have in Tipp North. But every politician does it

Essexboy

feelingstressed wrote: »

Meh, so what? They're all at it

Noel Coonan of FG based in Templemore took credit for the new swimming pool in Roscrea and then slammed the government for not giving more investment in the area.

Maire Hoctor of FF took credit for the commuter train service in Nenagh and had very little to do with it. Volunteers did the work, carried out surverys and lobbied Irish Rail and she stepped in at the end and got publicity.

As for Alan Kelly of Labour. MEP for the last few years and only went to Europe to raise his profile for a campaign. Had little intention of serving his term as MEP

So Michael Lowry gave out letters to a school in Borrisokane. If playing politics, raising a profile and taking credit is the issue, he's better at it then the other wasters from every party we have in Tipp North. But every politician does it

The issue is not Lowry claiming credit for school improvements but that the students were made to act as his messengers. The school Principal used them to promote Lowry which is wholly improper but that is North Tipperary for you!

wantano

The principal did nothing wrong.ultimately all the students will gain from the new school furthered by Lowry.the school is in appalling condition so happy days and fair play to Lowry. No wonder he topped the poll

later12

In fairness to Michael Lowry, apparently this is one of the areas of funding that he secured through his partnership with the then Fianna Fail Government.
From his point of view, there was nothing wrong with asking that information be disseminated to students, making them aware of the situation viz. the advancement of the new school building. Nothing wrong with that.

The issue is whether or not the Principal, Matthew Carr, was correct to agree to hand out the letters on behalf of the TD. Matthew Carr says he did this in order to protect the data of the children, which in itself was a sound decision.

Arguably, the only problem with this is that the letters were sent out just prior to, or in the run up to, an election. In my opinion, this problem is outweighed by the right of the parents to awareness of whether or not the new school building would be guaranteed under the new government, and indeed apparently, Michael Lowry said, it is.

On balance, I don't think that the principal in this case deserves criticism. He seems to have taken his decision to hand out these letters on the basis that they would reassure parents as to the advancement of the new building program, and he did so without compromising the students' private data. I have no doubt that if any other political grouping or individual had sought to similarly assure the staff and parents, that he would have facilitated their requests as well.

I say this (and also to qualify this post) as a previous pupil of the school, albeit for a brief tenure. The principal is a highly regarded and intelligent teacher and administrator, both within the school system and the local area, and any accusation of wrongdoing or political favouritism on his behalf would be very surprising.

goose2005

wantano wrote: »

The principal did nothing wrong.ultimately all the students will gain from the new school furthered by Lowry.the school is in appalling condition so happy days and fair play to Lowry. No wonder he topped the poll

False. Promoting politicians and parties in schools is illegal. Not to mention that there's probably an even more delapidated school in Buttevant or Sligo but they were foolish enough not to elect a gombeen that could have extorted the cost of a building from the exchequer.

jakdelad

we have the best politicians money can buy

andrewire

the culture of deference wrote: »

These letters were sent out in the weeks before the election


TIPPERARY: INDEPENDENT TD Michael Lowry has defended a decision to give hundreds of letters to schoolchildren in Borrisokane outlining his success in securing a new school building.


Last Friday all students at the school were given letters from Mr Lowry in Oireachtas envelopes and asked to pass them on to their parents.


The letters state that he played a key role in securing a new school building for Borrisokane Community College. It had been a “primary condition” of his support for the Fianna Fáil-led government.


“Using my influence . . . I ensured the community school was rapidly brought beyond the planning stage, that the project was brought to the top of the school building priority list, and that an irreversible decision was made to fund same.”










from last month

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0222/1224290514492.html?via=rel

Tipperary should just be given independence from the State, honestly!!!!!!! He keeps topping the poll despite all his dealings.

thebman

This is the type of nonsense we need to stop in Irish politics. come ob fg and get to work or no vote next time

OhNoYouDidn't

wantano wrote: »

The principal did nothing wrong.ultimately all the students will gain from the new school furthered by Lowry.the school is in appalling condition so happy days and fair play to Lowry. No wonder he topped the poll

No wonder he topped the poll indeed. With:

1: An electorate dense enough to actually believe he did it single handed and buy his bullshít.

2: An electorate politically illeterate enough to defend him in blatantly breaking the law in using kids as a political tool

3: An electorate mongo enough to not ask why this omnipitonet Lowry let the school fall into disprepair in the first place if he actually gave a damn about the local kids.

The people of north Tipp have lived up to every classless turnip munching, backwards, gombeen sterotype in the book in defending this corrupt and vendal disgrace of a man.

Liam Byrne

andrewire wrote: »

Tipperary should just be given independence from the State, honestly!!!!!!! He keeps topping the poll despite all his dealings.

Didn't the same apply to Bertie ?

The bottom line is that we don't get the policies and politicians that we deserve, we get the ones that the lowest common denominator deserves.

So we should partition the island - let those who support this type of goings-on elect whomever they want and let the rest of us shake off the shackles - and consequences - of this crap.

dirtyden

Essexboy wrote: »

The issue is not Lowry claiming credit for school improvements but that the students were made to act as his messengers. The school Principal used them to promote Lowry which is wholly improper but that is North Tipperary for you!

Sorry, I am not a Michael Lowry supporter but I am from North Tipperary, could you please qualify the above statement?

dirtyden

andrewire wrote: »

Tipperary should just be given independence from the State, honestly!!!!!!! He keeps topping the poll despite all his dealings.

Did all the people of Dublin think Bertie won that money on the horse, or agree with his reasoning behind the blank cheque signing for CJH (or Ray Burke or Lawlor or CJ the daddy of them all)?

Voting decisons or often not totally rational, people vote based upon charisma and profile of candidates and bury their heads to some pretty obvious faults.

I don't think this can be pigeon holed to North Tipperary.

Although I must admit I am a little embarrassed by the level of support for deputy Lowry in the last election.

OhNoYouDidn't

dirtyden wrote: »

Did all the people of Dublin think Bertie won that money on the horse, or agree with his reasoning behind the blank cheque signing for CJH (or Ray Burke or Lawlor or CJ the daddy of them all)?

How many of them were re-elected after being exposed?

Like it or not, its the rural voters who return the likes of Lowry and Cooper Flynn despite the fact they have been shown up for what they are. All they have to do is say 'don't let Dublin tell us what to do' and they are back in with an increased vote.

Tipp Man

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

No wonder he topped the poll indeed. With:

1: An electorate dense enough to actually believe he did it single handed and buy his bullshít.

2: An electorate politically illeterate enough to defend him in blatantly breaking the law in using kids as a political tool

3: An electorate mongo enough to not ask why this omnipitonet Lowry let the school fall into disprepair in the first place if he actually gave a damn about the local kids.

The people of north Tipp have lived up to every classless turnip munching, backwards, gombeen sterotype in the book in defending this corrupt and vendal disgrace of a man.

I have never reported a post in my life but God I am tempted by this 1

(and i'm not in Lowry's constituency)

R P McMurphy

jakdelad wrote: »

we have the best politicians money can buy

Yep if you pay peanuts you get monkeys

dan_d

A fair point, and some harsh words from the other poster, but there's an element of truth there.
OhNoYouDidn't is asying the exact same thing, albeit in less abusive language. And it's true. It doesn't seem to matter what these people have done, once they "represent our area in Government and get us what we want around here".Seems to be how business is done.

Nehaxak

Greatest thing you could do is punish the constituency that voted him in again, Don't holiday within it, don't buy anything from it if you can, don't purchase anything from within if just passing through. Totally and completely ignore the constituency that voted this fool in.

They're entitled to their democratic decision to vote him in, as others in the country are entitled to have nothing whatsoever to do with them for that decision.

mike65

Well that makes sense! What % of the popular vote did Lowry get?

later12

mike65 wrote: »

Well that makes sense! What % of the popular vote did Lowry get?

He got 14,104 first preference votes from a valid poll of 48,273. This gave Michael Lowry a first preference % of 29.2%.
http://www.thurles.info/2011/02/27/2011-general-election-results-for-north-tipperary/

He was elected on the first count so it is impossible to know how many more people actually give him 2nd, 3rd, 4th preferences, and so on. By any standard this was an outstanding performance. For a proven liar and a tax cheat, it was grotesque. Nevertheless, his democratic mandate is clearly and irrefutably established.

FTA69

Tipp Man wrote: »

I have never reported a post in my life but God I am tempted by this 1

(and i'm not in Lowry's constituency)

Why? He's perfectly entitled to criticise an electorate who voted for a man who's openly corrupt.

dirtyden

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

How many of them were re-elected after being exposed?

Like it or not, its the rural voters who return the likes of Lowry and Cooper Flynn despite the fact they have been shown up for what they are. All they have to do is say 'don't let Dublin tell us what to do' and they are back in with an increased vote.

Incorrect, Bertie was returned with a massive quota when there was a lot of dirt on him.

CJH, the arms trial when he attempted to subvert the state, then he spent most of his political life living with the trappings of a playboy millionaire (Kinsealy, yachts, racehorses, an island). As he was taoisaech at the time there were no tribunals set up to investigate his wealth until well after the fact but it was blatantly obvious.

Dublin elected a number of Sinn fein TDs who still do not condemn the murder of a member of the Garda Siochana.

I am not defending Lowry he is a crook and it is embarrassing that he got elected but to suggest that only 'culchies' elect the wrong people is not correct.

later12

dirtyden wrote: »

Incorrect, Bertie was returned with a massive quota when there was a lot of dirt on him.

CJH, the arms trial when he attempted to subvert the state, then he spent most of his political life living with the trappings of a playboy millionaire (Kinsealy, yachts, racehorses, an island). As he was taoisaech at the time there were no tribunals set up to investigate his wealth until well after the fact but it was blatantly obvious.

Dublin elected a number of Sinn fein TDs who still do not condemn the murder of a member of the Garda Siochana.

I am not defending Lowry he is a crook and it is embarrassing that he got elected but to suggest that only 'culchies' elect the wrong people is not correct.

Just to add to that, Willie O'Dea got a higher quota than any politician in the preceding 30 years from the Limerick City constituency in 2007. This was also the fifth highest quota in the history of the state. Please stop trying to pass this off as a rural phenomenon.

The election of these men who are classed as parish pump politicians are merely indicative of an ineffective civil/ public service and a Government which will not meaningfully empower their fellow national legislators and are happy for them to perform menial bureaucratic and county council duties. TDs like O'Dea and Lowry simply show themselves to be very adept at those menial tasks. The fraud issue is another thing entirely.

Tipp Man

FTA69 wrote: »

Why? He's perfectly entitled to criticise an electorate who voted for a man who's openly corrupt.

I think this post sums up perfectly why. OhNoYoudDidn't is trying to make it into a "culchie" problem, clearly it isn't and quite frankly the language he used is out of order IMO

dirtyden wrote: »

Incorrect, Bertie was returned with a massive quota when there was a lot of dirt on him.

CJH, the arms trial when he attempted to subvert the state, then he spent most of his political life living with the trappings of a playboy millionaire (Kinsealy, yachts, racehorses, an island). As he was taoisaech at the time there were no tribunals set up to investigate his wealth until well after the fact but it was blatantly obvious.

Dublin elected a number of Sinn fein TDs who still do not condemn the murder of a member of the Garda Siochana.

I am not defending Lowry he is a crook and it is embarrassing that he got elected but to suggest that only 'culchies' elect the wrong people is not correct.

dirtyden

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

No wonder he topped the poll indeed. With:

1: An electorate dense enough to actually believe he did it single handed and buy his bullshít.

2: An electorate politically illeterate enough to defend him in blatantly breaking the law in using kids as a political tool

3: An electorate mongo enough to not ask why this omnipitonet Lowry let the school fall into disprepair in the first place if he actually gave a damn about the local kids.

The people of north Tipp have lived up to every classless turnip munching, backwards, gombeen sterotype in the book in defending this corrupt and vendal disgrace of a man.

Turnip munching?

Nothing wrong with a nice turnip and a bit of salty bacon, and some nice floury potatoes (smothered in real butter).

Rabble Rabble

These things always turn into some kind of culchie bashing from Dubliners who produced most of the corrupt politicians in the last two decades. From CJ, to Bertie, to Laylor, to Burke and more. Then there is the corruption of DCC, easily the most corrupt corporation in the country.

Lowry is in the half-penny place compared to most of those, and it takes a Cork man to make the FF party halfway uncorrupt.

Possibly we need to stop Dubliners voting.

murphaph

Tipp Man wrote: »

I think this post sums up perfectly why. OhNoYoudDidn't is trying to make it into a "culchie" problem, clearly it isn't and quite frankly the language he used is out of order IMO

Ah TM, read his post. He says people are living up to a stereotype by voting for this corrupt liar time and time again. He's not calling every person from outside an urban area a turnip muncher etc.

And moving on, let's not derail this thing with a rural / city divide. In Dublin we elected our own crooks for a while as well but I was proud of Dublin's utter rejection of FF this time. One sympathy FF TD in the whole city. I believe we have reached a turning point. I believe FG (and Labour) KNOW that they were elected not just because of the economy but because we have had enough of the corruption and cronyism. Let's support the govt in bringing in its proposed legislation to get rid of this culture in Irish politics once and for all. We as a people deserve no less.

The people in North Tipp who gave this liar a preference should feel ashamed of themselves, as should any voter who votes for a known crook anywhere in Ireland.

wee truck big driver

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Didn't the same apply to Bertie ?

The bottom line is that we don't get the policies and politicians that we deserve, we get the ones that the lowest common denominator deserves.

So we should partition the island - let those who support this type of goings-on elect whomever they want and let the rest of us shake off the shackles - and consequences - of this crap.

the bottom line is that people have the right to vote for the person they feel will be the best person to represent them liam its known as democracy if you dont like that you can take gadafi in and give him the job. its a bit sickken ing that some people think they know whats best for everyone else. in my electoral area the new hope and shining example of everything that is right about irish politics that is fine gael put the louth football manager up for election. did they do this because he was the bestor that he had shown a great knowledge of the important issues or that he had spent years at the fore front of politics putting in the hard graft for little reward or did they do it because he was a familiar face and might get them a seat, which he did, am i happy about it no was it democratic yes do i have to accept it yes, is it going to keep me awake at night no

nuac

Lowry may be egotistical - many politicians are - but he is not a fool.

the culture of deference

nuac wrote: »

Lowry may be egotistical - many politicians are - but he is not a fool.

No, he is a convicted criminal and a convicted tax dodger, who had his house done up for by Ben Dunne who swore that he never gave him a penny.

He didn't give him a penny, he gave him value!

the culture of deference

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

No wonder he topped the poll indeed. With:

1: An electorate dense enough to actually believe he did it single handed and buy his bullshít.

2: An electorate politically illeterate enough to defend him in blatantly breaking the law in using kids as a political tool

3: An electorate mongo enough to not ask why this omnipitonet Lowry let the school fall into disprepair in the first place if he actually gave a damn about the local kids.

The people of north Tipp have lived up to every classless turnip munching, backwards, gombeen sterotype in the book in defending this corrupt and vendal disgrace of a man.

Worth continuous quoting, I love number 3, thanks for making me laugh,

dirtyden

the culture of deference wrote: »

Worth continuous quoting, I love number 3, thanks for making me laugh,

What consituency are you from. I am sure there is someone from there who has been elected who is not a shining light for the democratic system.

dirtyden

the culture of deference wrote: »

Worth continuous quoting, I love number 3, thanks for making me laugh,

Is point number two deliberately ironic?