Pat Cox for Irish Presidency

seligehgit

Hi guys just wondering what your views are on Pat Cox's candidacy for the presidency?I think he is the stand out candidate if he can get a nomination via Michael Martin FF party,county councils or 20,000 petitioners.He's a very serious candidate with a lot of gravitas/experience.Former president of the European Parliament,MEP,TD etc..We've never needed friends in Europe more.I think the rest of the proposed candidates are pretty dismal.Before you all cry foul,I have absolutely no political affiliation.I've got a lot of respect for the guy,I do not go with the argument that he is some raving right winger/thatcherite.I think we are long past the Michael Twee/David Norris ceremonial,non political type president.We require a person who will go out and fight Ireland's cause with the imprimateur of the Irish government that he is currently advising.Very interesting how Mary McAleese stepped outside her sphere in the Netherlands commenting on our Corporation Tax Rates.Quite obvious the government gave her the freedom to involve herself in promoting Ireland' cause.

Corsendonk

seligehgit wrote: »

Hi guys just wondering what your views are on Pat Cox's candidacy for the presidency?I think he is the stand out candidate if he can get a nomination via Michael Martin FF party,county councils or 20,000 petitioners.He's a very serious candidate with a lot of gravitas/experience.Former president of the European Parliament,MEP,TD etc..We've never needed friends in Europe more.I think the rest of the proposed candidates are pretty dismal.Before you all cry foul,I have absolutely no political affiliation.I've got a lot of respect for the guy,I do not go with the argument that he is some raving right winger/thatcherite.I think we are long past the Michael Twee/David Norris ceremonial,non political type president.We require a person who will go out and fight Ireland's cause with the imprimateur of the Irish government that he is currently advising.Very interesting how Mary McAleese stepped outside her sphere in the Netherlands commenting on our Corporation Tax Rates.Quite obvious the government gave her the freedom to involve herself in promoting Ireland' cause.

He also has quite a network of friends in Europe, ex-MEPs have a very active networking group within Europe and Cox is widely respected by the left and right spheres. Ideal man if we wish to repair bridges with European member states IMHO.

raymon

There is no way the FF gombeens would vote for somebody with something real to offer.

Their vote will go to their independent FFer Sean Gallagher

spank_inferno

A most credible candidate and I would certainly consider him for my vote.

As with other candidates though, getting on the ballot paper in the first place may be tough.

Wasn't there word on Brian Crowley MEP running for FF.
If so he will probably secure their party nomination.

anymore

Pat Cox represents the interests of large multi national sector. He does not represent the interests of the ordinary irish person.

spank_inferno

anymore wrote: »

Pat Cox represents the interests of large multi national sector. He does not represent the interests of the ordinary irish person.

Who does?

PatsytheNazi

Corsendonk wrote: »

He also has quite a network of friends in Europe, ex-MEPs have a very active networking group within Europe and Cox is widely respected by the left and right spheres. Ideal man if we wish to repair bridges with European member states IMHO.

Cox - an ex PDer - respected by the left

Phill Ewinn

For someone who is so intelligent, articulate and forthright he said and did so little for ''us'' to prevent the bail-out fraud.

HellFireClub

anymore wrote: »

Pat Cox represents the interests of large multi national sector. He does not represent the interests of the ordinary irish person.

Couldn't agree more, and I don't think we could find ourselves a more dangerous candidate for the role than this guy. He doens't understand how the very basics of democracies operate. Three times now in relation to 3 referenda, this guy has come out and told us how we have to vote, threatening us as to what the consequences will be if we vote against a treaty, an absolute disgrace, the man should be asked for his passport back.

Corsendonk

PatsytheNazi wrote: »

Cox - an ex PDer - respected by the left

You must remember in a European context Pat Cox is a member of the Liberals.

seligehgit

I am not too sure what he could have and was allowed to do to prevent an inevitable bailout.FF did not utilise him to any degree in the arena of diplomacy,rather they burnt bridges with our European partners.I am amazed at how eurosceptic we became during the Celtic Tiger.I think as a nation we need to need to take our medicine caused in part by our own excesses.There is little point in staying in the eurosceptic corner like a spoilt child.Without ECB funding our fine country shuts down.Yes indeed he was part of the European liberals party not the more right of centre European Peoples Party.

ballsymchugh

i suppose if he doesn't get elected the first time, there'll be another election a few months later til we... erm... get it right!:pac:

Dogdaysareover

No thanks, am I the only one that finds his....hang on now til I slow down my speaking voice so as all you plebes out there can understand me....voice, aggravating?

Listening to him speak is like standing on an upturned plug top in your bare feet.......:pac:

irishh_bob

Corsendonk wrote: »

He also has quite a network of friends in Europe, ex-MEPs have a very active networking group within Europe and Cox is widely respected by the left and right spheres. Ideal man if we wish to repair bridges with European member states IMHO.

cox is the biggest lickspittle on earth when it comes to brussells , id rather vote for the leader of UKIP for president than that eurocrat

Corsendonk

irishh_bob wrote: »

cox is the biggest lickspittle on earth when it comes to brussells , id rather vote for the leader of UKIP for president than that eurocrat

Well if he gets the FG nomination you can vote for whoever runs against him.

View

irishh_bob wrote: »

cox is the biggest lickspittle on earth when it comes to brussells , id rather vote for the leader of UKIP for president than that eurocrat

Nigel isn't going to run for President? It would certainly be interesting to see how much he'd lose by given he was beaten into third place in the Buckinghamshire by an avowedly pro-EU ex-Conservative MEP (and the ultimate winner - the former Speaker of the House of Commons).

seligehgit

Dogdaysareover wrote: »

No thanks, am I the only one that finds his....hang on now til I slow down my speaking voice so as all you plebes out there can understand me....voice, aggravating?

Listening to him speak is like standing on an upturned plug top in your bare feet.......:pac:

Ha Ha,loved that description,brilliant!Yes he can sound a tad patronising/condescending in tone.:D

seligehgit

irishh_bob wrote: »

cox is the biggest lickspittle on earth when it comes to brussells , id rather vote for the leader of UKIP for president than that eurocrat

Ah now leave our Nigel Farage alone,he's a comic genius.Unfortunately he himself has not been let in on the secret!:D

anymore

HellFireClub wrote: »

Couldn't agree more, and I don't think we could find ourselves a more dangerous candidate for the role than this guy. He doens't understand how the very basics of democracies operate. Three times now in relation to 3 referenda, this guy has come out and told us how we have to vote, threatening us as to what the consequences will be if we vote against a treaty, an absolute disgrace, the man should be asked for his passport back.

I wonder if he and John Bruton are related ?

Pride Fighter

Over my dead body is he getting the presidency. The man is an ex-PD and supports the ideology and policies that ruined this country.

I'll canvass till I die for anyone to get elected apart from him. Even Jackie Healy Rae:eek: but preferably Michael D. Higgins or David Norris in that order.

anymore

I have to say the idea that people who have already accumulated two public sector pensions now wanting to add on an absurdly high Presidential salary as well makes me want to get sick !:(
I make very well, for the first time in my life, not vote at all.

trishasaffron

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Over my dead body is he getting the presidency. The man is an ex-PD and supports the ideology and policies that ruined this country.

I'll canvass till I die for anyone to get elected apart from him. Even Jackie Healy Rae:eek: but preferably Michael D. Higgins or David Norris in that order.

Wot he said.

Have to turn off the radio anytime his painful patronising voice can be heard - OMG - I thought McAlleese was a pain in the bum but Pat Cox would be maybe as bad. Could we not find a suitable candidate - like someone who could be a "President"?

Cox, if you are reading this please save yourself the humiliation!

later12

Like another poster, I would actively canvass against Pat Cox. The idea that someone as embedded into the EU as Cox, and seen as a Eurocrat as he is, would do well in the Presidency is bad enough to begin with, having met him a number of times in the run up to Lisbon, and having heard him speak, I have to say he is one of the politicians least open to criticism I have ever encountered. The man takes even thoughtful criticisms of the EU like personal insults. Of course we must embrace Europe, of course we must be a part of it, I just don't want to be part of Pat Cox's deference to the EU which appears to see Ireland more as the submissive partner than a state that can actively engage in our European affairs and our European partners.

On a personal level, Pat Cox appears to be a nice and decent guy, but I would question how in touch with the popular mood he is if he goes ahead with this candidacy process.

Corsendonk

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Over my dead body is he getting the presidency. The man is an ex-PD and supports the ideology and policies that ruined this country.

I'll canvass till I die for anyone to get elected apart from him. Even Jackie Healy Rae:eek: but preferably Michael D. Higgins or David Norris in that order.

I heard him on the campaign trail during the general election, he seemed to think he was a shoe in for president job already. I never understood his popularity.

The_Minister

Do people realise he left the Progressive democrats in 1994?

He left 17 years ago.

later12

The_Minister wrote: »

Do people realise he left the Progressive democrats in 1994?

He left 17 years ago.

True, but that point would be more relevant if Cox quit the PDs over a policy dispute. But Cox helped frame much of the PD policy of the time as a leading member of the party, and only inevitably quit the party because he wanted to run in Europe.

Certainly he is no longer a PD, but then nobody is, and nobody claimed Cox is. The phrase used was ex-PD, which is a bit of a scar in these parts of the world.

The_Minister

later10 wrote: »

True, but that point would be more relevant if Cox quit the PDs over a policy dispute. But Cox helped frame much of the PD policy of the time as a leading member of the party, and only inevitably quit the party because he wanted to run in Europe.

Certainly he is no longer a PD, but then nobody is, and nobody claimed Cox is. The phrase used was ex-PD, which is a bit of a scar in these parts of the world.

Except that (leaving aside the fact that the PDs never held many of the policies that others claimed they did) Cox left the PDs in the mid-90s when their reputation was nowhere near as tainted as it later became.

What policies of the mid-90s PDs do you think should bar Cox from the Presidency?

Anyway, Cox was always a representative one of the most liberal branches of the PDs, and one of the big 'what-ifs' of Irish politics is what would have happened if he had taken control, and the PDs had remained a socially and economically liberal party.

later12

The_Minister wrote: »

What policies of the mid-90s PDs do you think should bar Cox from the Presidency?

It's not those policies that i disagree with, nor the PDs in particular. Mostly I'm just pointing out that his association with the party, however extinct, is not at all an irrelevance. Most people would likely say that Cox has always hung onto his political pulpit from that time and has not really deviated from traditional PD approaches more generally.

There are lots of reasons for opposing Cox, his PD past is minor to me, but it may not be so to others.

Kumejima

I'll certainly vote for Pat Cox.... if can impeach presidents here for selling out the country