Will FF survive?

Jack_Russell

Given the latest tribunal report and the anticipated expulsion of Bertie (& Pee), do you think FF will survive to become once again a force to be reckoned with in Irish public life?

galwayrush

I sincerely hope not, but never underestimate the stupidity of the Irish public.

Latchy

Bah..Bah ...I sincerely hope not, but never underestimate the stupidity of the Irish public...Bah ...Bah ...

ColeTrain

Survive? They'll prosper. Just give us some time to forget.

RobbingBandit

I wouldn't bet against it, I can see the headlines now.

FF prunes party Rosebush to once again bloom for economic prosperity.

dark crystal

They say cockroaches are the only creatures who would survive a nuclear attack.

I'd say FF are the cockroaches of the political world.

Unfortunately they'll never die out.

WoollyRedHat

So long as backward politics and self- serving as dictated by the public and otherwise continues to strive, then so will Fianna Fail, if not by name, in a different shape

peckerhead

ColeTrain wrote: »

Survive? They'll prosper.

The Lord Himself is on their side.

Big Johnson

Hope not but will always be there until school history books are updated showing what they are really like

SnoopyGunner

peckerhead wrote: »

The Lord Himself is on their side.

The Dark Lord, yeah.

staker

galwayrush wrote: »

I sincerely hope not, but never underestimate the stupidity of the Irish public.

These things go in cycles,but I hope they don't get back in for a long time either.
Why an electorate can be branded as stupid I don't agree with though,surely respect for another man's vote is a given,be it as it is.
I think it's down to ever increasing dependency on rechurned rubbish the (Irish)media constantly spews out rather than stupidity of the voter,in a general sense.

senorwipesalot

The King is dead,long live the King.

darlett

Jack_Russell wrote: »

Given the latest tribunal report and the anticipated expulsion of Bertie (& Pee), do you think FF will survive to become once again a force to be reckoned with in Irish public life?

It seems they will as they are coming up against a party of politicians who dont have a moral code of much/any higher standard. I thought Kenny was a proper pious man who despite his perceived lack of charisma would be honest all day long. That thought has been shaken to it core by his ignoring his own much publicised wage caps for his own people. More FF than the FF themselves. Very short-sighted.

I wanted never to have to vote for FF again, but FG will need to adhere to their own rules if that is to survive any length of time, because things like that make me want to punish Kenny. So I can vote for SF or Labour instead? Please! Its not all stupidity. I know the line is, you get the politicians you deserve but c'mon. I and most other dont have time in my chosen life to effect who my candidates are.

tfitzgerald

The crowd in government now will mess up so much the people will vote FF back in big time.

marozz

Unfortunately they will survive. A few people will be dumped from the party in an attempt to look good in the public eye. They will keep a low profile, but rest assured they will be back - probably on an anti corruption platform

44leto

I really don't think they will, I think the ramifications of the McMahon report are only beginning. People are sick of them and this is the catalyst for further cases.

I heard on V Brown the Gardai got a mention in the report, not a good one, I think the gardai have got away with murder in all these tribunals.

How come it was always the press that revealed the crimes and the curruption and never the gardai.

How come no Priests were convicted before the tribunals, politicians, etc etc, are the gardai an independent police force or not, if the political system has endemic corruption. SO HAS THE POLICE FORCE, you simply can't have one without the other.

Uriel.

Of course they will survive.

Times will change, FF membership will change and generally a new era will come around. Ireland and Irish politics is too small for them not to survive.

It will however take a considerable time and an evem more considerable rejuvination, clear out and restructuring

Jack_Russell

My dad used to say,

"sure put a donkey up for election and stick FF on its' arse and they'll vote for it!"

TanG411

I just don't get how we vote for people to represent us. We vote for a few people in a political party to run an entire country. Is that true 'Democracy'? For the most part, we don't get to propose new laws and legislations. We allow the party to just implement it.

I just don't get it.

The only true way to make a stand is for everyone to not vote. Not getting revenge by voting for somebody else. Just not vote at all.

Unfortunately, this is impossible.

Biggins

marozz wrote: »

Unfortunately they will survive. A few people will be dumped from the party in an attempt to look good in the public eye. They will keep a low profile, but rest assured they will be back - probably on an anti corruption platform

...which would be taking the piss - if not irony!

A Sample Period Of Years Under Fianna Fail
...And What They Have Been Up To!


In October 2007, former Fianna Fail Government Press Secretary Frank Dunlop told the Mahon Tribunal that property developer Owen O’Callaghan paid off a debt of 12,840.51€ for Fianna Fail councillor Colm McGrath when he was facing a court judgment.

In October 2007, a book was published that included a claim that a serving Government Minister has admitted taking cocaine, and that he wasn’t the only one doing it. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern made no effort to investigate it.

In September 2007, Fianna Fail TD Michael Collins was found guilty in court of obtaining a tax clearance certificate under false pretences. He had previously made a €130,000 tax settlement arising from a bogus non-resident bank account.

In September 2007, jailed Fianna Fail councillor Michael ‘Stroke’ Fahey had missed six months of council meetings, and by law he should have been deemed to have resigned. He escaped this by asking the council to deem his absence to be ‘due to illness and attendance in Dublin’.

In September 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, while being questioned at the Mahon Tribunal, accepted that his earlier story that Celia Larkin had made a 36,001.44€ sterling transaction on his behalf could not be correct, unless the bank records were inaccurate.

In September 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, while being questioned at the Mahon Tribunal, said that he must have given 36,001.44€ to somebody else (to make a transaction that the bank had no record for), but he didn’t know who he gave the money to.

In August 2007, Bertie Ahern appointed as a Senator former Fianna Fail TD Ivor Callely, who had just lost his Dail seat in a general election, and who had resigned as a Junior Minister after a scandal in 2005.

In August 2007, Bertie Ahern appointed as a Senator former Fianna Fail TD John Ellis, who had just lost his Dail seat in a general election, and who had resigned as chair of an Oireachtas committee after a scandal in 1999.

In July 2007 the Standards in Public Office Commission said that Fianna Fail had failed to report a donation in the party’s statutory declarations for 2005.

In June 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern made secret deals, using taxpayers money, with independent TDs to secure their support as Taoiseach. Two of these independent TDs, Beverly Flynn and Michael Lowry, had previously been forced to resign from their parties after scandals.

In June 2007, Fianna Fail changed the law to create three new Junior Ministers with salaries of €150,000 a year. They had previously done this in 1977 and 1980. When Fine Gael did the same in 1995, Fianna Fail called it an abuse of the taxpayer and an act of hypocrisy, and Bertie Ahern vowed to abolish the new posts.

In March 2007, Fianna Fail councillor Michael ‘Stroke’ Fahey was jailed for twelve months after being found guilty of defrauding his own council of €15,000 and falsely implicating an innocent contractor in the crime. The jailed councillor was also chairman of the Limerick Prison visiting committee.

In May 2007, stockbroker Padraic O’Connor said that Bertie Ahern was wrong to say that he had given Ahern 6,000.24€ as a loan from a friend in 1993. O’Connor said he was not a friend of Ahern’s, tha6,000.24€t he had been asked for a political donation of that he had given that on a company cheque, and that he had been given in return a false invoice for consultancy work that had not been done.

In February 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern praised the Moriarty Tribunal for its ‘outstanding work in painstakingly stripping away the layers of secrecy and obscurity surrounding Mr Haughey’s financial affairs and exposing them to public scrutiny.’
(He was quick to reverse those words later when his own antics began to be exposed!)

In December 2006, the Moriarty Tribunal found that former Taoiseach Charles Haughey took payments of €11.56 million, or €45 million in today’s money, between 1979 and 1996, and granted favours in return.

In October 2006, it emerged that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had bought his house from businessman Michael Wall, who had been at a dinner in Manchester at which Ahern was given 9,600.38€ sterling. When asked why he had not previously said that Wall was at the dinner, Ahern replied that Wall had not eaten the dinner.

In September 2006, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said that, when he was Minister for Finance, he had unexpectedly received a donation of 9,600.38€ sterling from some millionaires who he had a meal with in Manchester on the night before a Manchester United football match.

In September 2006, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern accepted that he had appointed people who gave him money to State boards, but he insisted that he did not appoint them because they gave him money. He said he had appointed them because they were his friends.

In September 2006, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said that he had accepted 46,801.87€ from friends, including the brilliantly-named Paddy the Plasterer, in 1993 and 1994. He said it was loans, and that he had tried to pay them back but they had all refused.

In September 2006, when Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was first asked about allegations of receiving from €50,000 and €100,000 from businessmen, he told journalists that a lot of the report was correct but that ‘the figures are off the wall.’ This, of course, was true, because he got some of the money ‘off Michael Wall’.

In December 2005, Fianna Fail Junior Minister Ivor Callely resigned when it emerged that a top construction company had painted his house free of charge, while the company was also doing work for the Eastern Health Board of which Callely was chairperson.

In April 2005, former Fianna Fail Junior Minister for Transport, Jim McDaid, who had led an anti-drink-driving campaign, was arrested after drunkenly driving his car the wrong way up a busy dual carriageway.

In January 2005, former Fianna Fail Justice Minister Ray Burke was jailed for six months for making false tax declarations, breaking a law that he himself had helped to pass. He served four and a half months in Arbour Hill prison.

In May 2004, Fianna Fail expelled Mayo TD Beverly Flynn from the Party. Bertie Ahern said the integrity of the party depended on her expulsion, that Fianna Fail was at a crossroads, and that the party would also have to deal with any other members who transgressed ethics and standards in public life.

In September 2003, Fianna Fail TD Michael Collins resigned from the Parliamentary Party after making a €130,000 tax settlement arising from a bogus non-resident bank account.

In September 2003, Fianna Fail TD GV Wright knocked down a nurse while driving under the influence of alcohol. The nurse’s leg was broken in four places.

In December 2002, former Fianna Fail Government Press Secretary Frank Dunlop told the Flood Tribunal that former Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor (who he also knew as ‘Mr Big’) was the first person to tell him that money would have to be paid to councillors in return for their votes.

In November 2002, former Fianna Fail Government press Secretary Frank Dunlop named six Fianna Fail councilors who he bribed to secure the rezoning of land at Carrickmines in south Dublin.

In September 2002, the Flood Tribunal found that former Fianna Fail Justice Minister Ray Burke received corrupt payments, including 150,006€ from property developers and 36,001.44€ from the owners of Century Radio.

In September 2002, the Flood Tribunal found that former Fianna Fail Government Press Secretary PJ Mara had failed to co-operate with the Tribunal, by failing to provide details of an overseas account. In the 1980s, in a Hot Press interview, Mara said that his greatest ambition was ‘never to be found out’.

In May 2002, former Fianna Fail Government press Secretary Frank Dunlop said that he paid at least 192,007.68€ to 25 councillors in relation to the redrafting of the Dublin County Council development plan from 1991 to 1993.

In February 2002, former Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor was jailed for a third time for contempt of court when he refused to comply with orders of the Flood Tribunal. When the Dail called for his resignation, he was brought to Leinster House in a prison van to speak against the motion. Lawlor had previously chaired the Dail Ethics Committee.

In January 2002, former Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor was jailed for a second time for contempt of court when he refused to comply with orders of the Flood Tribunal.

In December 2001, Fianna Fail TD Ned O’Keefe resigned as a Junior Minister. He had voted on a bill about feeding bonemeal to animals, forgetting to inform the Dail that his family was involved in manufacturing the substance.

In April 2001, Fianna Fail TD Beverly Flynn resigned from the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee. She had lost a libel case that she had taken against RTE, who had correctly reported that she had sold banking products designed to assist tax evaders. After losing the case, she faced a €2million legal bill.

In January 2001, former Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor was jailed for contempt of court when he refused to comply with orders of the Flood Tribunal.

In June 2000, Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor resigned from the Parliamentary Party after he misled an internal party investigation about a donation that he had got. Lawlor was also chair of the Oireachtas Joint Ethics committee.

In May 2000, Fianna Fail Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy nominated Hugh O’Flaherty to a 176,407.06€ job as Vice President of the European Investment Bank. O’Flaherty was a former High Court judge who had been forced to resign after a scandal the previous year.

In February 2000, Fianna Fail TD Denis Foley resigned from the Parliamentary Party. He had 120,004.8€ in an illegal offshore account. He said that he knew that his account might have been an Ansbacher one, but he had been ‘hoping against hope’ that it was not.

In November 1999, Fianna Fail TD John Ellis resigned as chairperson of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee. He owed money to farmers, he had 300,012€ in debts written o31,201.25€ff by NIB, and Charles Haughey had given him of taxpayers cash to settle other debts.

I think this is just funny so I left it included! - In January 1999, former Fianna Fail Minister Padraig Flynn appeared on the Late Late Show on RTE. Now a European Commissioner, Flynn complained about the difficulties of living on ‘just 120,004.8€ a year’ when he had three houses, housekeepers and various cars to maintain. ‘You should try it,’ he added.

In June 1995, Celia Larkin lodged 14,092.57€ into Fianna Fail leader Bertie Ahern’s bank account. Ahern says that12,000.48€ sterling of this was actua60,002.4€lly his own money, part of that he had earlier withdrawn f36,001.44€rom his own account and used to buy sterling. 36,001.44€ However, the bank has no record of selling sterling to anybody during that period.

In December 1994, Celia Larkin lodged IR34,528.86€ into Fia36,001.44€nna Fail leader Bertie Ahern’s bank account. Ahern says that this was sterl34,176.35€ing cash given to him in a briefcase by his soon-to-be landlord, just after he had become Fianna Fail leader and was expected to become Taoiseach However, the amount equates exactly to based on bank exchange rates on that date.

......................................


Yea, look the future with Fianna Fail - thats if you want it further fcuked!

starbelgrade

I don't think the Irish voting public are as blind as they used to be - families used to be entrenched in one party or the other, but I think this generation has seen a huge move away from that, especially given the events of the past few years.

When you see Fianna Fail senators ranting about the "subversive" powers of the likes of Boards, you just know that they are worried.

Fianna Fail may never disappear, but along with the Greens, I think it will take a long time for people to forget or forgive what they did.

This generation of voters is a lot more informed & savvy than the last - to think otherwise, is - I believe - a bit naive. It's just a pity that as of yet, we don't have a political party or system that represents that change.

Jack_Russell

starbelgrade wrote: »

I don't think the Irish voting public are as blind as they used to be - families used to be entrenched in one party or the other, but I think this generation has seen a huge move away from that, especially given the events of the past few years.

When you see Fianna Fail senators ranting about the "subversive" powers of the likes of Boards, you just know that they are worried.

Fianna Fail may never disappear, but along with the Greens, I think it will take a long time for people to forget or forgive what they did.

This generation of voters is a lot more informed & savvy than the last - to think otherwise, is - I believe - a bit naive. It's just a pity that as of yet, we don't have a political party or system that represents that change.

Old Chinese Proverb.

Fool me once. Shame on you.
Fool me twice. Shame on me.


Old Irish Proverb.

Fool me once. Shame on you.
Fool me 150 times. Let's have a tribunal.

Stained Class

Never voted for FF in my life, but I hope they survive.

Why?

Cos I don't want Grizzly Adams & Co running the show, that's why.

Biggins

starbelgrade wrote: »

...This generation of voters is a lot more informed & savvy than the last...

Add to that the fact that each and everyone of us can contact and/or post to hundreds or thousands in an instant, much better than generations before, informing others of the antics of plonkers and the shysters out there.

Instant mass communication has become far easier to utilise for the common man than any political party does like, lets be honest.

Years ago if a politician did something wrong, it MIGHT make headlines somewhere in one paper in the Capital or a local paper - and oft times that would be the end of it.
NOW, all it takes is for one common person to make a post, an email to many targets, a report to a website - and many, many can within a minute or two, be informed of the antics of the gobschites, including not just the national media but the worlds media too!

THATS why boards.ie and many more sites out there that enable this form of mass communication are often feared and labelled, as in our recent case, as possibly 'subversive' ?

If subversive (or whatever derogatory term they can invent and spin) means keep the public informed better, in larger numbers - I and many across the net, are willing to live with the title with pride!

44leto

Stained Class wrote: »

Never voted for FF in my life, but I hope they survive.

Why?

Cos I don't want Grizzly Adams & Co running the show, that's why.

That is moronic, so what you are saying, you would still vote a party with a very recent and long history of corruption, who also have a history of violence. They were founded by Dev.

Jack_Russell

i think we'll find it very difficult to rid ourselves of this lot as they are in every facet of public life eg gaurds, teaching, priesthood, legal system, civil service, HSE etc.

decades of patronage and jobs for the boys has ensured this. conversely independent-minded people have fled this septic isle over the decades.

effectively we have "enjoyed" practically 1 party rule (totalitarianism) in this state since its' inception.

now we can "enjoy" its' consequences.:D

3hn2givr7mx1sc

I have faith in Dave Grohl, so yes, I do think Foo Fighters will survive.

Stained Class

44leto wrote: »

That is moronic, so what you are saying, you would still vote a party with a very recent and long history of corruption, who also have a history of violence. They were founded by Dev.

I never voted for them, remember.

I grew up in the '70s & '80s & always knew that from Haughey onwards FF were a group of shysters.

Unfortunately the stupidity of the Irish People knows no bounds.

They/We voted them in consistiantly & enthusiasticaly for decades afterwards.

What does that say about us as a people?

I can see the day where the sheep will vote in a SF govt.

Do you really want that?

44leto

Stained Class wrote: »

I never voted for them, remember.

I grew up in the '70s & '80s & always knew that from Haughey onwards FF were a group of shysters.

Unfortunately the stupidity of the Irish People knows no bounds.

They/We voted them in consistiantly & enthusiasticaly for decades afterwards.

What does that say about us as a people?

I can see the day where the sheep will vote in a SF govt.

Do you really want that?

If they prove worthy in the future I will vote for them, they were a political party born out of a war situation just like FG and FF. Irish politics was always civil war politics, now that is about to change as Ireland comes of age.

At least that is my hope. I think this tibunal is our opportunity to change Irish politics forever, and for the better.

Stained Class

44leto wrote: »

If they prove worthy in the future I will vote for them, they were a political party born out of a war situation just like FG and FF. Irish politics was always civil war politics, now that is about to change as Ireland comes of age.

At least that is my hope. I think this tibunal is our opportunity to change Irish politics forever, and for the better.

This is where we went wrong in the first place.

Let's not make the mistakes of the past (again!)

Bloody Sheep!

Doc Ruby

Stained Class wrote: »

I never voted for them, remember.

Nobody's ever voted for them. You don't vote for parties in this country, only politicians. Fix that and watch what happens.

Stained Class

Doc Ruby wrote: »

Nobody's ever voted for them. You don't vote for parties in this country, only politicians. Fix that and watch what happens.

Excuse me Doc. I'm not guilty of that!:mad:

K-9

Biggins wrote: »

...which would be taking the piss - if not irony!

A Sample Period Of Years Under Fianna Fail
...And What They Have Been Up To!


In October 2007, former Fianna Fail Government Press Secretary Frank Dunlop told the Mahon Tribunal that property developer Owen O’Callaghan paid off a debt of 12,840.51€ for Fianna Fail councillor Colm McGrath when he was facing a court judgment.

In October 2007, a book was published that included a claim that a serving Government Minister has admitted taking cocaine, and that he wasn’t the only one doing it. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern made no effort to investigate it.

In September 2007, Fianna Fail TD Michael Collins was found guilty in court of obtaining a tax clearance certificate under false pretences. He had previously made a €130,000 tax settlement arising from a bogus non-resident bank account.

In September 2007, jailed Fianna Fail councillor Michael ‘Stroke’ Fahey had missed six months of council meetings, and by law he should have been deemed to have resigned. He escaped this by asking the council to deem his absence to be ‘due to illness and attendance in Dublin’.

In September 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, while being questioned at the Mahon Tribunal, accepted that his earlier story that Celia Larkin had made a 36,001.44€ sterling transaction on his behalf could not be correct, unless the bank records were inaccurate.

In September 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, while being questioned at the Mahon Tribunal, said that he must have given 36,001.44€ to somebody else (to make a transaction that the bank had no record for), but he didn’t know who he gave the money to.

In August 2007, Bertie Ahern appointed as a Senator former Fianna Fail TD Ivor Callely, who had just lost his Dail seat in a general election, and who had resigned as a Junior Minister after a scandal in 2005.

In August 2007, Bertie Ahern appointed as a Senator former Fianna Fail TD John Ellis, who had just lost his Dail seat in a general election, and who had resigned as chair of an Oireachtas committee after a scandal in 1999.

In July 2007 the Standards in Public Office Commission said that Fianna Fail had failed to report a donation in the party’s statutory declarations for 2005.

In June 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern made secret deals, using taxpayers money, with independent TDs to secure their support as Taoiseach. Two of these independent TDs, Beverly Flynn and Michael Lowry, had previously been forced to resign from their parties after scandals.

In June 2007, Fianna Fail changed the law to create three new Junior Ministers with salaries of €150,000 a year. They had previously done this in 1977 and 1980. When Fine Gael did the same in 1995, Fianna Fail called it an abuse of the taxpayer and an act of hypocrisy, and Bertie Ahern vowed to abolish the new posts.

In March 2007, Fianna Fail councillor Michael ‘Stroke’ Fahey was jailed for twelve months after being found guilty of defrauding his own council of €15,000 and falsely implicating an innocent contractor in the crime. The jailed councillor was also chairman of the Limerick Prison visiting committee.

In May 2007, stockbroker Padraic O’Connor said that Bertie Ahern was wrong to say that he had given Ahern 6,000.24€ as a loan from a friend in 1993. O’Connor said he was not a friend of Ahern’s, tha6,000.24€t he had been asked for a political donation of that he had given that on a company cheque, and that he had been given in return a false invoice for consultancy work that had not been done.

In February 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern praised the Moriarty Tribunal for its ‘outstanding work in painstakingly stripping away the layers of secrecy and obscurity surrounding Mr Haughey’s financial affairs and exposing them to public scrutiny.’
(He was quick to reverse those words later when his own antics began to be exposed!)

In December 2006, the Moriarty Tribunal found that former Taoiseach Charles Haughey took payments of €11.56 million, or €45 million in today’s money, between 1979 and 1996, and granted favours in return.

In October 2006, it emerged that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had bought his house from businessman Michael Wall, who had been at a dinner in Manchester at which Ahern was given 9,600.38€ sterling. When asked why he had not previously said that Wall was at the dinner, Ahern replied that Wall had not eaten the dinner.

In September 2006, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said that, when he was Minister for Finance, he had unexpectedly received a donation of 9,600.38€ sterling from some millionaires who he had a meal with in Manchester on the night before a Manchester United football match.

In September 2006, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern accepted that he had appointed people who gave him money to State boards, but he insisted that he did not appoint them because they gave him money. He said he had appointed them because they were his friends.

In September 2006, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said that he had accepted 46,801.87€ from friends, including the brilliantly-named Paddy the Plasterer, in 1993 and 1994. He said it was loans, and that he had tried to pay them back but they had all refused.

In September 2006, when Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was first asked about allegations of receiving from €50,000 and €100,000 from businessmen, he told journalists that a lot of the report was correct but that ‘the figures are off the wall.’ This, of course, was true, because he got some of the money ‘off Michael Wall’.

In December 2005, Fianna Fail Junior Minister Ivor Callely resigned when it emerged that a top construction company had painted his house free of charge, while the company was also doing work for the Eastern Health Board of which Callely was chairperson.

In April 2005, former Fianna Fail Junior Minister for Transport, Jim McDaid, who had led an anti-drink-driving campaign, was arrested after drunkenly driving his car the wrong way up a busy dual carriageway.

In January 2005, former Fianna Fail Justice Minister Ray Burke was jailed for six months for making false tax declarations, breaking a law that he himself had helped to pass. He served four and a half months in Arbour Hill prison.

In May 2004, Fianna Fail expelled Mayo TD Beverly Flynn from the Party. Bertie Ahern said the integrity of the party depended on her expulsion, that Fianna Fail was at a crossroads, and that the party would also have to deal with any other members who transgressed ethics and standards in public life.

In September 2003, Fianna Fail TD Michael Collins resigned from the Parliamentary Party after making a €130,000 tax settlement arising from a bogus non-resident bank account.

In September 2003, Fianna Fail TD GV Wright knocked down a nurse while driving under the influence of alcohol. The nurse’s leg was broken in four places.

In December 2002, former Fianna Fail Government Press Secretary Frank Dunlop told the Flood Tribunal that former Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor (who he also knew as ‘Mr Big’) was the first person to tell him that money would have to be paid to councillors in return for their votes.

In November 2002, former Fianna Fail Government press Secretary Frank Dunlop named six Fianna Fail councilors who he bribed to secure the rezoning of land at Carrickmines in south Dublin.

In September 2002, the Flood Tribunal found that former Fianna Fail Justice Minister Ray Burke received corrupt payments, including 150,006€ from property developers and 36,001.44€ from the owners of Century Radio.

In September 2002, the Flood Tribunal found that former Fianna Fail Government Press Secretary PJ Mara had failed to co-operate with the Tribunal, by failing to provide details of an overseas account. In the 1980s, in a Hot Press interview, Mara said that his greatest ambition was ‘never to be found out’.

In May 2002, former Fianna Fail Government press Secretary Frank Dunlop said that he paid at least 192,007.68€ to 25 councillors in relation to the redrafting of the Dublin County Council development plan from 1991 to 1993.

In February 2002, former Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor was jailed for a third time for contempt of court when he refused to comply with orders of the Flood Tribunal. When the Dail called for his resignation, he was brought to Leinster House in a prison van to speak against the motion. Lawlor had previously chaired the Dail Ethics Committee.

In January 2002, former Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor was jailed for a second time for contempt of court when he refused to comply with orders of the Flood Tribunal.

In December 2001, Fianna Fail TD Ned O’Keefe resigned as a Junior Minister. He had voted on a bill about feeding bonemeal to animals, forgetting to inform the Dail that his family was involved in manufacturing the substance.

In April 2001, Fianna Fail TD Beverly Flynn resigned from the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee. She had lost a libel case that she had taken against RTE, who had correctly reported that she had sold banking products designed to assist tax evaders. After losing the case, she faced a €2million legal bill.

In January 2001, former Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor was jailed for contempt of court when he refused to comply with orders of the Flood Tribunal.

In June 2000, Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor resigned from the Parliamentary Party after he misled an internal party investigation about a donation that he had got. Lawlor was also chair of the Oireachtas Joint Ethics committee.

In May 2000, Fianna Fail Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy nominated Hugh O’Flaherty to a 176,407.06€ job as Vice President of the European Investment Bank. O’Flaherty was a former High Court judge who had been forced to resign after a scandal the previous year.

In February 2000, Fianna Fail TD Denis Foley resigned from the Parliamentary Party. He had 120,004.8€ in an illegal offshore account. He said that he knew that his account might have been an Ansbacher one, but he had been ‘hoping against hope’ that it was not.

In November 1999, Fianna Fail TD John Ellis resigned as chairperson of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee. He owed money to farmers, he had 300,012€ in debts written o31,201.25€ff by NIB, and Charles Haughey had given him of taxpayers cash to settle other debts.

I think this is just funny so I left it included! - In January 1999, former Fianna Fail Minister Padraig Flynn appeared on the Late Late Show on RTE. Now a European Commissioner, Flynn complained about the difficulties of living on ‘just 120,004.8€ a year’ when he had three houses, housekeepers and various cars to maintain. ‘You should try it,’ he added.

In June 1995, Celia Larkin lodged 14,092.57€ into Fianna Fail leader Bertie Ahern’s bank account. Ahern says that12,000.48€ sterling of this was actua60,002.4€lly his own money, part of that he had earlier withdrawn f36,001.44€rom his own account and used to buy sterling. 36,001.44€ However, the bank has no record of selling sterling to anybody during that period.

In December 1994, Celia Larkin lodged IR34,528.86€ into Fia36,001.44€nna Fail leader Bertie Ahern’s bank account. Ahern says that this was sterl34,176.35€ing cash given to him in a briefcase by his soon-to-be landlord, just after he had become Fianna Fail leader and was expected to become Taoiseach However, the amount equates exactly to based on bank exchange rates on that date.

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Yea, look the future with Fianna Fail - thats if you want it further fcuked!

That isn't even listing Haughey or Reynold's scandals or their obligatory tribunals.


And bear in mind Kenny shared a stage on the Stock Exchange in America with Denis O'Brien, whose association with, a FG Minister in their short term in power in the 90's ( all 3 years of it) resulted in another Tribunal, and found corrupt for associations with the aforementioned businessman.! And Rabbitte defends the association!

All far too long in the system and SF don't inspire huge confidence either. The SF Hot Presses are well funded.

The "boy made good" is far too loved a figure in Irish life, because he generally made good through cute hoorism!