More proof of Healy Rae gombeenism

Inverse to the power of one!

BaZmO* wrote: »

That's just blatant cynicism.

I've been involved in a couple of minor tips and one major "tip" during my years driving.

Major one went through insurance so I don't now the garage that did the work. As for the minor tips, first one the girl just went to a local garage. Second one, I gave the woman my details and she never followed up on it. Third one, someone hit me and I just let it go.

What are you basing your estimates on?

The price of car insurance?

HellFireClub wrote:

I'm sorry you take offence, I think what I have said about this country is dead accurate and spot on. Why do you think the country is in the state that is in, do you think like that it just happened!?! That we just woke up one morning to find the place in bits?!?

What is going on here, is a direct result of the sickening greed that is tolerated by EVERYONE living on this island. Greed that is the subject of this thead.

If you think there is anything of substance that is positive about Ireland at the moment, then by all means, throw them up here and we'll discuss them. I can't see any, the place is a disgusting place to live. People, almost stupidly, fail to see any connection or relationship between the state of the country at every level, (be it anti-social behaviour that infests every community, and their own responsibility as citizens.

Here's an example, if you are ever in a minor road traffic incident in this country, as in a very minor scrape, you can bet your only arsehóle on the fact that the person who you tipped, will go off and get a main dealer estimate done, maximising the cost to you and your insurance, they will make a claim against you, get a cheque for 2K off you or your insurance company, and then never get the work done or pay some poor Polish fúcker 50 quid to get it sorted on the cheap!

This is the mentality that runs straight through this country, where any person will use the first opportunity to put a saddle on you.

If your offended by what HellFireClub has to say, then let me put it in a milder but none the less serious way....Our society is seriously ill. I could spend the entire day listing the fine people in our country, but our illness is that of tolerance, the cancer gnaws at our healthy flesh leaving only disease behind and our unwillingness to take the pain of chemotherapy means it only grows. We have tolerated and ignored it for so long, it is now ingrained to a point where our white blood cells are powerless to a point where they don't even have the means to attack the cancer anymore.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

The Irish reality.

jimmycrackcorm

To add insult to injury, on RTE news, JHR.jr wore a peaked cap in explaining that it had nothing to do with him.

Surely the wearing of such a cap is evidence of untertaking such an idiotic gombeen effort as using Dail phone facilities in such a manner.

thebman

Disappointed by VB coverage of this. Basically tried to sweep under the carpet saying it wasn't important and it was an insignificant amount of money compared to our current situation.

Which is fantastic except it undermines the political system and people voted for the current system to represent change. They could at least have said what the governments plan was to ensure no such offense could occur again but no, we get told, ah sure it was only a few grand like.

The Scientician

urbanachiever1 wrote: »

I'm curious to know why you think Greece is a joke. Personally I admire the Greek people for going out and demonstrating (peacefully - as the vast majority are) against paying for the mistakes of government, big business and banking systems.

They have a bizarre sense of economic entitlement, coupled with a reluctance to pay tax. They are a joke, economically speaking.

cast_iron

gandalf wrote: »

I acknowledge that Michael Healy-Rae did not make the calls but he should condemn the fact that they were made using taxpayers money unreservedly.

He did on Matt Cooper earlier.

A full and prompt investigation should be carried out to identify those who made the calls, if they are Oireachtas staff they should be fired. If it is a past or present member of the Oireachtas they should named and be made pay the bill with interest. (I personally do not believe that the system in place cannot identify the number used).

Even after 4 years? Regular phone companies only have to keep records for 6 months. Why would the Dail keep them for 4 years? And given the fact that they didn't appear to be able to keep detailed records back then, what use would an investigation today be?

The person in charge of the phone systems should be disciplined, those type of lines should have been blocked anyway. Personally I would fire them outright.

So if the Dail wouldn't sanction/ didn't want a system that would record all details, should the head of the communications dept still be disciplined?

As has been said already for people who are unemployed that is a lot of money. Start to multiply waste like this and it is clear it could help keep beds in hospitals open or be used in the education of our children.

Even for those who are employed, it's alot of money. That's just unnecessary drama. I don't think anyone is saying it's a legitimate spend.

At the end of day until we change things so "pot-hole fillers" like the Healy-Raes cannot get elected and milk the system dry any more nothing is going to change. It is obvious that a lot of the electorate cannot or will not make the distinction between national and local politics therefore the system needs to be changed so they are separated.

Indeed finally I agree with you. But they (and everyone else involved in this) can only be judged on the system in use at the time. You can't blame the people of Kerry for doing what's best for their area within the current setup. If they don't someone else will. B it right or wrong, that's human behaviour.

Chuck Stone

BaZmO* wrote: »

While he certainly wasn't a Grade A student, he liked to portray the 'country bumpkin good ol American boy' image.

Yep, the dunder-head war criminal.

Deleted User wrote: »

As much as I cannot stand the Healy Raes I commend them for playing the Irish system so well and getting some good deals for the people of Kerry, I wish my town had someone like them! this is small fry compared to what some of our political leaders are up to and the scams that are in operation in Dublin, don’t hate the players hate the game! The Healy Ray's are fairly cute and fair to them for having the balls, there are far bigger gombeens in Leinster house and the Civil Service that are a much bigger embarrassment to this country and a lot more crooked imo but they talk with suave accents and talk the talk so people buy into it

This is so true. Damn those blasted Healy-Raes doing what TD's do.

Dermo wrote: »

TD's are supposed to be doing work on a national scale. If you want them to look after their own area and interests then elect them as Councillors.

Don't most TD's engage in this type of politics though? Their primary concern is their locale and their jobs/perks not the national interest. It's a systemic issue imo.

bijapos

xflyer wrote: »

Apparently the system in use can't tell which phone or office was used. This in itself is an indictment of Oireachteas system. Back in the late eighties early nineties my company could tell who I called and when I called to the minute. What kind of pathetic system do they have in there?

Note that Michael H-R has said "from what I've been told it's not traceable" or something to that affect. He has said this on a number of occasions today. Well its bolox Mr Healy-Rae, care to tell us who told you this? Thats right, nobody told you, its more lies made up to cover up your story.

As for the Healy-Raes well they were always a standing joke, stage Kerrymen, stage Oirish. Comedy politicians. But they're no joke now.

I get the impression its another win to the Healy-Raes and the joke is on you.

Liam Byrne wrote: »

I look forward to this being exposed and the details of someone being fired over it.

I get the impression that in the next few days a lowly secretary or such is going to be fired because of this. Essentially someone who is told to do a task by somebody much higher up will take the flak for it. I hope it doesn't happen as it won't solve anything.

Liam Byrne

cast_iron wrote: »

He did on Matt Cooper earlier.

He refused point-blank to this morning! So that's some u-turn!

cast_iron wrote: »

I don't think anyone is saying it's a legitimate spend

Again, since the objectionable individual in question repeatedly said that "it's unyooo-shoe-al Anton" this morning, and pointed out that it was "for charity", and refused to answer a basic "yes/no" to "is it wrong?" this is not the impression he was giving this morning.

He's obviously since copped on that enough people objected and is back-ordaining furiously.

Or else he's realised that they can't / won't trace the calls so therefore there will be no accountability and therefore it's now safe to "condemn" the "unknown" person who did this despicable fraudulent waste of our money.

If he'd objected this morning fair enough.

But he didn't, and he was as evasive as Ahern at a tribunal.

Lapin

bamboozle wrote: »

Gombeen Junior was on Newstalk this morning defending himself cause every penny went to charity, the poor fella didnt seem to realise that idiotic and arrogant waste of tax payers money cannot be justified by saying it went to charity.....at least thats what i think he was saying, he always ramps up the accent when on de wireless.

Between himself and the bull the voters of Kerry South could do us all a favour and not vote in the next election.

Well said there Bamboozle. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who believes the Healy Raes exaggerate their Kerry accents when speaking in public. Nobody I ever met speaks like that.

The whole Healy Rae bandwagon is a national embarrassment reflecting the ultimate type of Mé Fein politics that has fúcked this country up for decades.

As for the voters of South Kerry - they are like children.
Tell a child not to throw matchsticks into the fire and sure enough, when your back is turned, the child will throw the matchsticks into the fire.

Plead with the people in South Kerry not to vote for these parasites and sure enough, they'll turn out in their droves to do so.

At least children have the excuse of being children.

bamboozle

from newstalk this morning Minister Burton stated she has not heard back from MHR regarding her request that he resigns his seat on the Citizens information Board while it has transpired that JHR was written to in 2007 regarding these 3600 plus premium phonecalls but never responded to them....

raymon

The Healy Rae are a blight on politics. Always have been sneaky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVRYzqvRtww

Liam Byrne

bamboozle wrote: »

.....while it has transpired that JHR was written to in 2007 regarding these 3600 plus premium phonecalls but never responded to them....

I was stunned when I heard this ? How come he wasn't fired / suspended ?

Oh yeah - FF needed his support and they don't mind what level of individual gives it - they'll watch his back.

Padraig Mor

Liam Byrne wrote: »

I was stunned when I heard this ? How come he wasn't fired / suspended ?

Oh yeah - FF needed his support and they don't mind what level of individual gives it - they'll watch his back.

You could never prove he made them TBH, even if they came from his phone. And, even though I jokingly referred to it yesterday, it's highly likely he didn't actually make them himself; apparently it's suspected that some form of auto dialer was used. Note that JHR said yestreday he didn't make the calls - but didn't deny knowledge of them....

Liam Byrne

Padraig Mor wrote: »

You could never prove he made them TBH, even if they came from his phone.

Again, not the point.

He refused to reply to a letter about them, and that's enough in my book.

If you've nothing to hide then you don't need to refuse reasonable requests.

Rubik.

This was discovered when it happened in 2007, why is it only coming out now? Could it have anything to do with Healy Rae having a spat with a Government Minister over his position as a member of the Citizens’ Information Board?

Nijmegen

urbanachiever1 wrote: »

I'm curious to know why you think Greece is a joke. Personally I admire the Greek people for going out and demonstrating (peacefully - as the vast majority are) against paying for the mistakes of government, big business and banking systems.

Maybe if we were more active in our protests against abuses of power something might be done to make Healy-Rae accountable for this disgrace.

I agree protests are required to change our flawed system of government. As to Greece being a joke however, the country has a public hospital with 45 gardeners and no garden. That's about as good a punchline as I can think of in describing Greece as a joke.

We need a fully transparent and accountable state. The idea that the Oireachtas doesn't or can't keep records of who is phoning what from their lines strikes me as willful obstructionism of any such investigations. If we don't have the system, we don't have to inconvenience any of our members.

It's like the last great country club.

The call sheets for all members should be routinely published, along with all other statistics like the volume of mail they send out and so forth. Every red cent of my hard earned cash and your hard earned cash those people, and all people spending from the public purse, should be accounted for.

dpe

Padraig Mor wrote: »

You could never prove he made them TBH, even if they came from his phone. And, even though I jokingly referred to it yesterday, it's highly likely he didn't actually make them himself; apparently it's suspected that some form of auto dialer was used. Note that JHR said yestreday he didn't make the calls - but didn't deny knowledge of them....

You could work out if it was an autodialer if the premium rate provider has the call logs (incredibly I can't find any reference to requirements on storage of call logs in Comreg's premium rate code of practice, but I assume it must be somewhere in the regs). Calls from an autodialler will have a regular and repetitive time stamp. Of course a competition hotline should be discounting votes that come from the same place (as online votes tend to), but in reality these things aren't about honesty in the first place, just the money (which is why you can vote as often as you like on the X-factor).

Anyone know which phone system Leinster House uses? Then you could check the veracity of this claim that they can't track the extension number (which I'm convinced is bollocks by the way; I've never heard of a modern phone system that doesn't log calls, by volume and duration, even if it doesn't store the numbers - its usually a finance department audit requirement).

GerM

Oireachtas spokesperson has stated that the calls were not logged and there is no way to tell who made them. Deny deny deny by the bandits and it will blow over in a week with no documented proof.

Hopefully Burton takes him apart on his Citizens Info Board position though which gives him €6k a year plus God knows what expenses he is claiming on top of his TD salary of almost €93k. The man is a joke. His unashamed treatment of this country's tax payers is reprehensible yet he would be elected again tomorrow.

HellFireClub

Well what I'll be doing for my little bit, is: I'll be boycotting Kerry. I think the actions of the people of Kerry, by electing these two neanderthal knuckle dragging gombeen idiots, is an affront to the intelligence of the rest of the country, so I'll be boycotting Kerry from now on, for holidays and for all shopping purchases.

Maybe if we all sent them a clear message by leaving them too it and seeing how they get by when people start disrespecting them back by ignoring them and boycotting them, then they might start to see the bigger picture here.

dpe

GerM wrote: »

Oireachtas spokesperson has stated that the calls were not logged and there is no way to tell who made them. Deny deny deny by the bandits and it will blow over in a week with no documented proof.

Follow the money. Even if the individual calls weren't logged, I guarantee the money spent was. Have you ever worked in a business where the finance department didn't know the overheads of other departments? Of course not. That's how you find out where the calls came from. If the Oireachtas don't know their department costs, that's a tale in itself. This needs a determined journo and a Freedom of Information request. Surely we're allowed to see the finances of the Oireachtas in detail?

GerM wrote: »

Hopefully Burton takes him apart on his Citizens Info Board position though which gives him €6k a year plus God knows what expenses he is claiming on top of his TD salary of almost €93k. The man is a joke. His unashamed treatment of this country's tax payers is reprehensible yet he would be elected again tomorrow.

The guy has more front than Blackpool Pleasure Beach. I listened to him being interviewed on Newstalk about this and his chutzpah was breathtaking.

Padraig Mor

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Again, not the point.

He refused to reply to a letter about them, and that's enough in my book.

If you've nothing to hide then you don't need to refuse reasonable requests.

Unfortunately it is the point. While I agree with you about replying if you have nothing to hide, remember we're talking about Jackie Healy Rae here - the personification of 'neck like a jockey's bollox'; he will have nothing to do with any inquiry unless he is legally forced to. This is the man who refused to apply for a free travel pass (despite being entitled to it) so that he could keep claiming mileage - and did so for three trips per week every week without fail - for the Kerry - Dublin trip.


As for timing: I'd imagine this was an open secret round Leinster House and was only leaked now due to the recent hassle with Joan Burton.

bamboozle

Padraig Mor wrote: »

Unfortunately it is the point. While I agree with you about replying if you have nothing to hide, remember we're talking about Jackie Healy Rae here - the personification of 'neck like a jockey's bollox'; he will have nothing to do with any inquiry unless he is legally forced to. This is the man who refused to apply for a free travel pass (despite being entitled to it) so that he could keep claiming mileage - and did so for three trips per week every week without fail - for the Kerry - Dublin trip.


As for timing: I'd imagine this was an open secret round Leinster House and was only leaked now due to the recent hassle with Joan Burton.

i thought he was using he free travel by taking the train up to dublin for free yet was still claiming his mileage allowance? Either way Gombeen for which the people of South Kerry should be hanging their heads in shame (or at leat 6500 of them who gave MHR 1st preference votes)

bamboozle

Nijmegen wrote: »

I agree protests are required to change our flawed system of government. As to Greece being a joke however, the country has a public hospital with 45 gardeners and no garden. That's about as good a punchline as I can think of in describing Greece as a joke.

We need a fully transparent and accountable state. The idea that the Oireachtas doesn't or can't keep records of who is phoning what from their lines strikes me as willful obstructionism of any such investigations. If we don't have the system, we don't have to inconvenience any of our members.

It's like the last great country club.

The call sheets for all members should be routinely published, along with all other statistics like the volume of mail they send out and so forth. Every red cent of my hard earned cash and your hard earned cash those people, and all people spending from the public purse, should be accounted for.

i see your 45 gardeners and raise you the 2 thousand or so of HR staff employed* in the HSE

* I didnt use the words work or working as there is not enough work in the HSE to keep 2000 staff staff busy.

Lapin

Just heard he's decided to stump up the cash for the phonecalls.

24 hours too late now imo. Reputation tarnished for life.

Resign - And good riddance.

the groutch

Lapin wrote: »

Just heard he's decided to stump up the cash for the phonecalls.

24 hours too late now imo. Reputation tarnished for life.

Resign - And good riddance.

that imo is admission of guilt

hopefully there will be a motion of no confidence in MHR brought before the Dail

raymon

the groutch wrote: »

that imo is admission of guilt

hopefully there will be a motion of no confidence in MHR brought before the Dail

There is no way he will resign. Lowry and Callely have shown that the best policy is to keep your head down and let it blow over.

Harry Angstrom

raymon wrote: »

There is no way he will resign. Lowry and Callely have shown that the best policy is to keep your head down and let it blow over.

Irish politicians have necks like a jockey's bollix. The word "resign" is not in their vocabulary. Is it any wonder that we have no respect whatsoever for the bastards?

BaZmO*

the groutch wrote: »

that imo is admission of guilt

Exactly. How can he offer to pay for it and then not lose his job? It's corruption plain and simple.

Lapin

The more he clings on to that gig at the Citizens info board, the more credibility he loses.

I think he's dirtied his bib too much now - to the point where, even people in South Kerry are embarrassed by him.

Even if he does manage to slither and snake his way through the remainder of this Dáil term, I can't see him ever being re elected in the future.

The very fact that he buckled under pressure to pay us back for the cost of those phonecalls suggests that he is now aware that we are sick of the type of fúckology and gobshítery he peddles.

This is one political career that is destined to end in failure.

And the sooner the better.

HellFireClub

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVRYzqvRtww