Roll out the cripple for Mary Davis

Annasopra

I admire the special Olympics movement greatly and people with disabilities hugely benefit from it but I really take issue with how people with disabilities are used to promote Mary Davis. A friend of mine who has a disability has just had a phone call from the Mary Davis campaign looking for support. It is deeply deeply cynical - these people are pushed out in their wheelchairs and given a patronising pat in the head just to promote her. She uses people with disabilities to promote herself.

Beaucoupfish

Agreed.

headmaster

It can also be argued that this very same woman has done wonderful things for disabled people. I have no problem whatsoever with someone getting people to support them. So what, that the person is in a wheelchair, or has a disability, it shouldn't make any difference. Are you saying that they should not help to elect a canditate? Your argument that Mary Davis shouldn't ask them is not very complimentary towards disabled people, they themselves can make up their minds if they want to help or not.

Bannasidhe

headmaster wrote: »

It can also be argued that this very same woman has done wonderful things for disabled people. I have no problem whatsoever with someone getting people to support them. So what, that the person is in a wheelchair, or has a disability, it shouldn't make any difference. Are you saying that they should not help to elect a canditate? Your argument that Mary Davis shouldn't ask them is not very complimentary towards disabled people, they themselves can make up their minds if they want to help or not.

Then they can make the choice to join the campaign. My reading of the OP's post is a complaint that Davis' campaign team solicited someone's support because they have a disability.

anymore

mango salsa wrote: »

I admire the special Olympics movement greatly and people with disabilities hugely benefit from it but I really take issue with how people with disabilities are used to promote Mary Davis. A friend of mine who has a disability has just had a phone call from the Mary Davis campaign looking for support. It is deeply deeply cynical - these people are pushed out in their wheelchairs and given a patronising pat in the head just to promote her. She uses people with disabilities to promote herself.

Targeting a specific group and ringing them for thier support hardly qualifies as ' Wheeling out the wheelchair' ! If Mr Norris placed ads on irish gay websites, would that be equally cycnical or would it be what it actaully is, i.e a perfectly normal and sensible thing to do ?
If a Presidntial candidate who was a teacher contacted teachers to ask thier support, would that be cynical or what we would expect. No, of course it wouldnt.
So are you saying that a candidate who has done work in an area that concerns sports for disabled, should refrain from contacting disabled people on the grounds that they are disabled ? If so that risks being labelled as discrimination.

Liam Byrne

anymore wrote: »

mango salsa wrote: »

I admire the special Olympics movement greatly and people with disabilities hugely benefit from it but I really take issue with how people with disabilities are used to promote Mary Davis. A friend of mine who has a disability has just had a phone call from the Mary Davis campaign looking for support. It is deeply deeply cynical - these people are pushed out in their wheelchairs and given a patronising pat in the head just to promote her. She uses people with disabilities to promote herself.

Targeting a specific group and ringing them for thier support hardly qualifies as ' Wheeling out the wheelchair' ! If Mr Norris placed ads on irish gay websites, would that be equally cycnical or would it be what it actaully is, i.e a perfectly normal and sensible thing to do ?
If a Presidntial candidate who was a teacher contacted teachers to ask thier support, would that be cynical or what we would expect. No, of course it wouldnt.
So are you saying that a candidate who has done work in an area that concerns sports for disabled, should refrain from contacting disabled people on the grounds that they are disabled ? If so that risks being labelled as discrimination.

+1

If it were someone with a severe mental disability I would have an issue with it being exploitative, because they couldn't choose.

As long as it's not that, however, it's a case of getting an endorsement from someone she's previously worked with or for.....so I don't see a problem.

dulpit

I don't see any problems with her asking for help from these people. However, it seems to be her only thing, any question I've heard her answer on any issue has somehow ended up with her stating she organised the Special Olympics in 2003.

Eliot Rosewater

If Norris attempted to get support from LGBT groups he would be doing it because he needed raw numbers. Members of the LGBT community are no different to others.

However in this case, one could reasonably argue that Davis is asking people from Special Olympcs Ireland to help out, not because she needs numbers, but because disabled people evoke an emotional response in others and that she wants to exploit this.

Uriel.

Did you need to use the word "cripple" in your headline?

I don't see the problem seeking support from people she has previously worked with and for and helped to develop at a macro level. It makes sense really when you think about it. As long as (as other posters have mentioned) there is no exploitation involved.

anymore

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

If Norris attempted to get support from LGBT groups he would be doing it because he needed raw numbers. Members of the LGBT community are no different to others.

However in this case, one could reasonably argue that Davis is asking people from Special Olympcs Ireland to help out, not because she needs numbers, but because disabled people evoke an emotional response in others and that she wants to exploit this.

The thread mentioned nothing at all about whether the person in question was invloved in the Special Olympics or not.
One could also reasonably that Mr Norris is pressurising gay people to support simply because they are gay, if your premise is correct.

Liam Byrne

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

If Norris attempted to get support from LGBT groups he would be doing it because he needed raw numbers. Members of the LGBT community are no different to others.

However in this case, one could reasonably argue that Davis is asking people from Special Olympcs Ireland to help out, not because she needs numbers, but because disabled people evoke an emotional response in others and that she wants to exploit this.

If you believe boards then it's Davis that needs the numbers.

I'm also at a loss as to what to say re "members of the LGBT community are no different to others", thereby implying that disabled people are - they're people too y'know!

Annasopra

anymore wrote: »

The thread mentioned nothing at all about whether the person in question was invloved in the Special Olympics or not.
One could also reasonably that Mr Norris is pressurising gay people to support simply because they are gay, if your premise is correct.

The point is still the same regardless of whether the person is involved in the special Olympics or not. People with disabilities are simply being used because they evoke emotions.

It's quite different in regard to LGBT people - they are are not wheeled out to get a specific emotional response from others.

dvpower

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

However in this case, one could reasonably argue that Davis is asking people from Special Olympcs Ireland to help out, not because she needs numbers, but because disabled people evoke an emotional response in others and that she wants to exploit this.

Fair enough. But what ever happened to giving people the benefit of the doubt?

Mary Davis undoubtedly did a lot of good work for disabled people, so its natural that she would want to highlight her achievements (and that the people she did work for would want to help out).

Why is it that cynicism seems to be our default setting?

Eliot Rosewater

Liam Byrne wrote: »

I'm also at a loss as to what to say re "members of the LGBT community are no different to others", thereby implying that disabled people are - they're people too y'know!

Well of course, but they evoke a different set of emotional responses to others. Within the context of political canvassing (which is the topic here) members of the LGBT community are no different to heterosexual people, but people with disabilities most certainly are.

anymore

mango salsa wrote: »

The point is still the same regardless of whether the person is involved in the special Olympics or not. People with disabilities are simply being used because they evoke emotions.

It's quite different in regard to LGBT people - they are are not wheeled out to get a specific emotional response from others.

Does the fact that you are a moderator for the LGBT influence your views at all in this ?

anymore

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

Well of course, but they evoke a different set of emotional responses to others. Within the context of political canvassing (which is the topic here) members of the LGBT community are no different to heterosexual people, but people with disabilities most certainly are.

#
Quite unbelievable.

Annasopra

anymore wrote: »

Does the fact that you are a moderator for the LGBT influence your views at all in this ?

No (I don't see how it would anyway); I have experience working with LGBT people and with people with disabilities. I know lots of people with disabilities who are voting for Mary Davis. I have no problem with that. I have seen the benefits of the special Olympics - I just do have a problem with people on wheelchairs being rolled out to promote her. It's patronising - It evokes a mentality in my head of a situation where they are patted on the head and treated like babies.

anymore

mango salsa wrote: »

No (I don't see how it would anyway); I have experience working with LGBT people and with people with disabilities. I know lots of people with disabilities who are voting for Mary Davis. I have no problem with that. I have seen the benefits of the special Olympics - I just do have a problem with people on wheelchairs being rolled out to promote her. It's patronising - It evokes a mentality in my head of a situation where they are patted on the head and treated like babies.

Well firstly you have used the word ' cripple' in your thread which many people, both able and disabled would find offensive. Aecond could you clarify if the person rfereed to in your thread was actually asked to make a public appearance.

Annasopra

anymore wrote: »

Well firstly you have used the word ' cripple' in your thread which many people, both able and disabled would find offensive. Aecond could you clarify if the person rfereed to in your thread was actually asked to make a public appearance.

My point in using the word cripple was actually more to illustrate that I don't think people like Mary Davis genuinely do believe in equality for people with disabilities. I admire the work of Special Olympics but it's an organisation for people with disabilities rather than an organisation of people with disabilities. I'm not going to discuss the exact circumstances regarding my friend.

MrThrifty

anymore wrote: »

Well firstly you have used the word ' cripple' in your thread which many people, both able and disabled would find offensive. Aecond could you clarify if the person rfereed to in your thread was actually asked to make a public appearance.

+1 to this - that's the key question.

Otherwise it's like saying that Sean Gallagher shouldn't be getting his business mates to support him because they're big business people who might influence other people. Davis presumably has worked with disability groups for years and so that's where her friends and connections understandably are.

InigoMontoya

I don't see any problem with this. It seems natural for a candidate to seek support from a group with whom she has worked extensively. Obviously it's something that could be handled in a patronizing way, or not, but in principle it seems completely ok to me.

Liam Byrne

mango salsa wrote: »

I don't think people like Mary Davis genuinely do believe in equality for people with disabilities

And yet you're not showing them any equality by not allowing them the right to decide whether or not to appear with her to support her ?

Stunning!

Annasopra

Liam Byrne wrote: »

And yet you're not showing them any equality by not allowing them the right to decide whether or not to appear with her to support her ?

Stunning!

That is not what I said.

Liam Byrne

mango salsa wrote: »

That is not what I said.

True - your OP didn't even acknowledge that they might have possibly been asked or - shock, horror - might have even volunteered!

I mean, they couldn't possibly have intelligence and free will, now could they ?

:rolleyes:

Annasopra

Liam Byrne wrote: »

True - your OP didn't even acknowledge that they might have possibly been asked or - shock, horror - might have even volunteered!

I mean, they couldn't possibly have intelligence and free will, now could they ?

:rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

So this is all about my attitude all of a sudden!

I know perfectly well that a lot of people with disabilities can make their own decisions. I have never suggested otherwise. In fact I said above that I know people with disabilities who will be voting for Mary Davis and I am happy for them to do so. I am currently assisting people with disabilities in a self advocacy project so I do have some idea of what I'm talking about. I object to Mary Davis using people with disabilities for her own gain.

FloatingVoter

I expect Michael D. would like to have the Labour vote, Mitchell the FG turnout, and McGuinness will mobilise the SF vote. It is an election. You play to your strengths and try to swing the undecided masses. I'm not a Davis fan but she is doing nothing wrong.

Fr Tod Umptious

mango salsa wrote: »

:rolleyes:

So this is all about my attitude all of a sudden!

I know perfectly well that a lot of people with disabilities can make their own decisions. I have never suggested otherwise. In fact I said above that I know people with disabilities who will be voting for Mary Davis and I am happy for them to do so. I am currently assisting people with disabilities in a self advocacy project so I do have some idea of what I'm talking about. I object to Mary Davis using people with disabilities for her own gain.

Make sure you never mention your work with people with disabilities in the future, in situations like a job interview or when someone is giving you a character reference

I would not be right of you to be using people with disabilities for your own gain.

InigoMontoya

mango salsa wrote: »

:rolleyes:

So this is all about my attitude all of a sudden!

I know perfectly well that a lot of people with disabilities can make their own decisions. I have never suggested otherwise. In fact I said above that I know people with disabilities who will be voting for Mary Davis and I am happy for them to do so. I am currently assisting people with disabilities in a self advocacy project so I do have some idea of what I'm talking about. I object to Mary Davis using people with disabilities for her own gain.

I'm not sure why you interpret it in this way though? Was there something in particular about the phone call to your friend that made you see it as such?

hallelujajordan

I think the OP has a point .. Of course, disabled people can and perhaps will volunteer to get involved in Mary Davis' campaign and so they should.

However, the OP was reflecting on how the Davis team are specifically soliciting people with a disability to join her campaign. As mentioned by another poster, they do this because they feel that it will evoke an emotional reaction that will win votes. . Some part of that feels exploitative to me . . !

Also, the Davis campaign seems to not get beyond 'I organised the Special Olympics so I should be president'. In her PT interview she must have mentioned the special olympics 50 times. . If she is to get anywhere close to being successful, she needs to broaden her campaign message.

Liam Byrne

mango salsa wrote: »

:rolleyes:

So this is all about my attitude all of a sudden!

I object to Mary Davis using people with disabilities for her own gain.

And again, who says that she's using them ?

What info do you have to suggest that she is ?

She's not using them if they volunteered or decided to, and you've gone and completely ignored that aspect YET AGAIN.

BTW - you're not the only one who does work with disabled people, so you can drop that particular "I know better" angle straight away.

Eliot Rosewater

anymore wrote: »

#
Quite unbelievable.

This is taking political correctness to silly levels. People obviously have different reactions to people with disabilities. When the average person sees, to continue our trend, a member of the LGBT community it evokes no specific responses (of course in most cases one doesn't know). When the average person sees someone with a disability they generally sympathise with that person and feel sorry for them. Those are the facts - unless you're a heartless person who doesn't sympathise with people with disabilities, a condescending homophobe who has built-in LGBT-sensors and a strange kind of sorrow for people in the LGBT community, or someone so drunk on political correctness that they consider pointing out that disabled people evoke emotional responses to be bad.

That doesn't imply that Mary Davis is doing something wrong; it merely implies that she could be doing something wrong.

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Make sure you never mention your work with people with disabilities in the future, in situations like a job interview or when someone is giving you a character reference

I would not be right of you to be using people with disabilities for your own gain.

That's a pretty shabby comparison, to be fair. If Mary Davis is "using" people with disabilities for political gain because they evoke emotional responses, it would be equivalent to mango salsa bringing a disabled person into the interview room with them in the hope that the interviewers will be moved by their sympathy to hire mango salsa. Would you consider that wrong?

Couchcat

I'd say all candidates are looking for support.
I'm involved in a number of high profile groups in my locality and this week I've had phone calls from campaigners for Mary Davis, David Norris and Sean Gallagher looking for support. I'm not disabled, or gay, or a business person.

Wouldn't it be worse if they thought there was no point in ringing somebody with a disability?

thebman

I'd like to know exactly what part in the special Olympics Mary Davis played. There is no doubt, it was a very successful occasion but exactly what was her job role in organising it?

So far, she seems to be trying to make out that she polished and dusted the whole place, erected the sports halls herself and welcomed everyone and brought them to their rooms individually and saw to their needs during their stay.

Obviously this isn't the case so what exactly did she do? She seems very light on examples of things she did in these roles, just says she was involved. If it was a job interview, she wouldn't get the job.

Zubeneschamali

I count 21 images at http://www.marydavis.ie/, only 2 featuring people with disabilities, and no wheelchairs at all.

Fr Tod Umptious

thebman wrote: »

I'd like to know exactly what part in the special Olympics Mary Davis played. There is no doubt, it was a very successful occasion but exactly what was her job role in organising it?

So far, she seems to be trying to make out that she polished and dusted the whole place, erected the sports halls herself and welcomed everyone and brought them to their rooms individually and saw to their needs during their stay.

Obviously this isn't the case so what exactly did she do? She seems very light on examples of things she did in these roles, just says she was involved. If it was a job interview, she wouldn't get the job.

It was a very successful event, she was head of the event/organization, I'm sure she played a very big roll and worked very hard in making it a success, as did every other person involved, voluntary or otherwise.

Had it been an abysmal failure would people blame the volunteers and other workers or the person at the top ?

thebman

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

It was a very successful event, she was head of the event/organization, I'm sure she played a very big roll and worked very hard in making it a success, as did every other person involved, voluntary or otherwise.

Had it been an abysmal failure would people blame the volunteers and other workers or the person at the top ?

That still doesn't answer the question though. She was head of it. So what was the head of special Olympics daily roles and responsibilities?

I'm just asking what she was doing during the time she says she was running the show. Surely she can highlight at least 3-5 individual achievements that show the hard work she did when in charge of this committee.

Like I said if it was an interview, she'd be failing it.

Zubeneschamali

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

It was a very successful event, she was head of the event/organization, I'm sure she played a very big roll and worked very hard in making it a success, as did every other person involved, voluntary or otherwise

It's the "otherwise" that gets to me, a bit. If you say "special olympics worker", it brings to mind one of the many volunteers who worked, unpaid, to make it a success.

It doesn't really suggest an exec on €90K.

Fr Tod Umptious

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

It's the "otherwise" that gets to me, a bit. If you say "special olympics worker", it brings to mind one of the many volunteers who worked, unpaid, to make it a success.

It doesn't really suggest an exec on €90K.

But for an event as big as the one in 2003 or the whole Euro/Asia Special Olympics organization in general, you cannot rely on volunteers alone and you need highly paid executives in order to run them.

And the contribution made by that highly paid executive in running a successful event\organization is as important as the contribution made by the volunteer who gives one afternnon a week to it.

Since the ass fell out of this country a few years ago people around here seem to think that anyone highly paid is not capable of making a positive contribution to their job/work place/organization.

If during the campaign information come out that Davis did nothing and took all the credit for special Olympics then fair enough, but right now I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Scofflaw

Liam Byrne wrote: »

And again, who says that she's using them ?

What info do you have to suggest that she is ?

She's not using them if they volunteered or decided to, and you've gone and completely ignored that aspect YET AGAIN.

BTW - you're not the only one who does work with disabled people, so you can drop that particular "I know better" angle straight away.

Can you keep the personalisation (and the outrage) within reasonable limits, please, Liam.

moderately,
Scofflaw

Fr Tod Umptious

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

This is taking political correctness to silly levels. People obviously have different reactions to people with disabilities. When the average person sees, to continue our trend, a member of the LGBT community it evokes no specific responses (of course in most cases one doesn't know). When the average person sees someone with a disability they generally sympathise with that person and feel sorry for them. Those are the facts - unless you're a heartless person who doesn't sympathise with people with disabilities, a condescending homophobe who has built-in LGBT-sensors and a strange kind of sorrow for people in the LGBT community, or someone so drunk on political correctness that they consider pointing out that disabled people evoke emotional responses to be bad.

That doesn't imply that Mary Davis is doing something wrong; it merely implies that she could be doing something wrong.



That's a pretty shabby comparison, to be fair. If Mary Davis is "using" people with disabilities for political gain because they evoke emotional responses, it would be equivalent to mango salsa bringing a disabled person into the interview room with them in the hope that the interviewers will be moved by their sympathy to hire mango salsa. Would you consider that wrong?

No it's not a shabby comparison.

If I were an interviewer and saw that mango salsa had worked with disabled people I would think that it is a good attribute and a positive, thus he/she is using their work with disabled people for their own gain, and to be fair there is nothing wrong with doing that, beacuse it is a good attribute to have.

Paparazzo

Her website reads something like this:

........Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics.............

dulpit

Paparazzo wrote: »

Her website reads something like this:

........Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics Special Olympics.............

Did you know she helped organise the Special Olympics? Because she did...

gizmo555

dulpit wrote: »

Did you know she helped organise the Special Olympics? Because she did...

What particularly annoys me is that in all her harping on about the Special Olympics, I have yet to hear her acknowledge the huge volunteer effort involved from tens of thousands of people all around the country. You'd think she did the whole thing with no help from anyone else. This theme continues on her website, with this kind of quote: "she brought the Special Olympics World Games to Ireland". Really, Mary? All on your own?

thebman

gizmo555 wrote: »

What particularly annoys me is that in all her harping on about the Special Olympics, I have yet to hear her acknowledge the huge volunteer effort involved from tens of thousands of people all around the country. You'd think she did the whole thing with no help from anyone else. This theme continues on her wesbite, with this kind of quote: "she brought the Special Olympics World Games to Ireland". Really, Mary? All on your own?

That is true and she needs to get a handle on it in interviews and learn to not dodge questions or at least dodge them less obviously IMO.

But from that page:

Most recently Davis has held the role of Interim Chief Marketing and Development Officer at Special Olympics International, overseeing development in more than 180 countries, and is President and Managing Director of Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia with responsibility for development in 58 countries.

See this is actually something she should be bragging about as it is pretty much impossible for the media to link this to FF or Bertie or any other Irish political interest.

And it shows she still cares about promoting the Special Olympics which is looks better than saying she was in charge of the board when it came to Ireland which sounds like she got the job because of who she knows. From reading that she is still on for a preference from me though not my number 1 but before reading that which I had to look up on her website myself (Just happened to be a link in your post), I would not have given her a preference.

bijapos

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

However in this case, one could reasonably argue that Davis is asking people from Special Olympcs Ireland to help out, not because she needs numbers, but because disabled people evoke an emotional response in others and that she wants to exploit this.

Politicians will constantly use various groups to evoke an emotional response in people. Every photo op by a politician strives to achieve this, sometimes it works, remember Enda Kenny with the dog in the bookies during the election, or Eoghan Murphy at the outdoor swimming area on the South Bull, all staged photo ops all designed to stimulate a positive opinion of the politician, every politician in every country does it.

Mary Davis is ringing people, she is forcing nobody and not using old photos illegally or without permission, the people concerned are physically disabled, not mentally disabled and are able to make up their own minds as to whether they want to join or not.

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Also, the Davis campaign seems to not get beyond 'I organised the Special Olympics so I should be president'. In her PT interview she must have mentioned the special olympics 50 times. . If she is to get anywhere close to being successful, she needs to broaden her campaign message.

Agreed. Its getting tiresome at this stage and there's still a month to go.

Victor

mango salsa wrote: »

A friend of mine who has a disability has just had a phone call from the Mary Davis campaign

Data protection issue?

anymore

mango salsa wrote: »

No (I don't see how it would anyway); I have experience working with LGBT people and with people with disabilities. I know lots of people with disabilities who are voting for Mary Davis. I have no problem with that. I have seen the benefits of the special Olympics - I just do have a problem with people on wheelchairs being rolled out to promote her. It's patronising - It evokes a mentality in my head of a situation where they are patted on the head and treated like babies.

Again you say " being wheeled out on wheelchairs", so can you please clarify if the person was asked to make some personal appearance - I am not asking for any indentification of the individual so there is no privacy issue here. I am jsut asking to clarify the thread.
T o be honest at this point I am beginning to think the main point of the thread is simply to attack Davis.

Jimoslimos

I totally agree with the OP, there does seem to be something rather cynical about Mary Davis. Sinister or insidious might be too strong but she does make me feel uneasy.

Leaving aside my many reservations about the whole Special Olympics project (for fear of offending people and derailing the thread) I don't think anyone could claim she hasn't done well out of it or milked it for what she could - I thought charity was meant to be altruistic??

The comparisons with Norris hiring gay campaigners aren't particularly valid - wheeling out a disabled person pulls on everybodys heartstrings. Having somebody who is gay (with no other qualities) on the election team only targets the gay vote - which Norris supposedly has already. Although looking at the feeling on the LGBT forum it seems the vote there is split pretty much as in the general public.

NewHillel

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Leaving aside my many reservations about the whole Special Olympics project (for fear of offending people and derailing the thread) I don't think anyone could claim she hasn't done well out of it or milked it for what she could ...

That's exactly my position. Originally, I was minded to support her - on the basis of her voluntary work. It's only recently that I found out that she was a (very) highly paid executive in the Charity sector. A sector that, in Ireland, is notorious for the salaries paid to senior staff.

When you add in her 'Remuneration' from her various board positions, it is likely that she is hauling in €200k+ per annum. Not at all the persona she tries to project. IMO she uses the handicapped simply as a 'prop' to support her campaign. No way hose.

I wonder will Tubridy ask her the hard questions? (Particularly as I suspect that boyhood are close to a certain political party.)

NewHillel

She had "no political affiliations down through her life". She was appointed to her first position by the Rainbow Coalition...
She is afraid to even mention FF, and Tubridy didn't press her. If she had nothing to hide she wouldn't be trying to downplay it so much.

raymon

I don't believe Mary Davis is a true altruist.

Would she have taken the job at a more reasonable salary?? I believe not. She was after the big money

On top of this got paid huge amounts of money for her various FF appointed boards and quangos.

I was surprised celia Larkin wasn't nominated too