Lowry and the people of North Tipperary

vicwatson

Why do they keep voting this clown into a position of power? Sigh.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2012/0505/1224315639183.html

Life of Lowry The TD who went into the cold
March 19 54 Born in Co Tipperary.
1971 Starts work as apprentice refrigeration engineer with Butler Refrigeration, in Thurles. By 1987 the company is carrying out a substantial amount of work for Dunnes Stores.
1979 Elected to North Tipperary County Council.
1987 Elected Fine Gael TD for Tipperary North. Leaves Butler Refrigeration.
August 1988 Garuda Ltd, trading as Streamline, is incorporated. During the year, Lowry does refrigeration work for Dunnes Stores, controlled at the time by Ben Dunne.
January 1989 Dunne tells Lowry he is ending the company’s contract with Butler Engineering and offers the work to Lowry. Streamline begins to supply services to Dunnes Stores, its only customer.
1990-1992 Lowry receives payments from Dunne that are lodged to accounts in Jersey and the Isle of Man. In 1992 Lowry purchases his house in Holycross; Dunne tells Foxhill Homes Ltd, which had worked on Dunne’s own house, to refurbish and extend Lowry’s new home. Dunnes Stores pays for work worth £395,107. Nothing in the Dunnes Stores books shows that the expenditure is for the benefit of Lowry.
1993 Becomes chairman of the Fine Gael parliamentary party. Avails of the tax amnesty.
December 1994 Appointed minister for transport, energy and communications.
1995 Denis O’Brien’s company Esat Digifone wins the competition for the second mobile-phone licence, which is run by Lowry’s department.
May 1996 Esat Digifone is issued with a mobile-phone licence.
October 1996 £147,000 is lodged to an account opened in Lowry’s name with Irish Nationwide in the Isle of Man.
December 1996 Lowry resigns in the wake of an Irish Independent report by the journalist Sam Smyth outlining the arrangement that Dunne had put in place for Lowry’s home.
February 1997 The McCracken tribunal is established to investigate the Dunnes payments. On the same day, the £147,000 lodged to the Isle of Man account is returned (to the businessman David Austin, now deceased, who had received the money from O’Brien).
June 1997 Lowry runs as an Independent in the general election and tops the poll in Tipperary North.
August 1997 McCracken report says of Lowry that it is “an appalling situation that a government minister and chairman of a parliamentary party can be seen to have been consistently benefiting from the black economy from shortly after he was elected to Dáil Éireann”.
September 1997 The Moriarty tribunal is established to investigate payments to politicians. A company law officer is appointed to inquire into Streamline.
1998 Lowry and Streamline make an initial payment – or payment on account – of €434,000 to Revenue.
March 1999 Lowry is involved in the purchase of property in Mansfield, England, for stg£250,000, with most of the funds coming from a London account belonging to O’Brien. The transaction involves O’Brien’s accountant Aidan Phelan, with whom Lowry had come into contact in the period after his resignation. Phelan told the tribunal the money was owed to Phelan by O’Brien.
September 1999 A UK company owned by Lowry agrees to buy a property in Cheadle, England, for stg£445,000. Again Phelan is involved in the transaction. Some money left over from the Mansfield transaction is used, as well as a loan from Woodchester Bank.
2001 The Moriarty tribunal learns about the English property deals and the Isle of Man account. Lowry tells the tribunal about the latter, though the tribunal later points out that by that stage it was likely to have discovered the account itself.
2002 Lowry tops the poll in Tipperary North in the general election.
2003 Lowry and Streamline pay €336,000 on account to Revenue.
2005 Lowry and Streamline make a final payment of €664,000 to Revenue.
2007 Lowry again tops the poll in Tipperary North and does a deal with the then taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, that includes his right to nominate three people to State boards.
February 2011 Lowry tops the poll in Tipperary North.
March 2011 Moriarty tribunal report finds that Lowry interfered in the 1995 mobile-phone licence competition to the benefit of Esat Digifone. It also finds that the £147,000 payment and the two English transactions were attempts by O’Brien to benefit Lowry and were “demonstrably referable” to Lowry’s interference in the licence competition.
2012 Following the publication of the Mahon tribunal report, the Government is criticised for having dealings with Lowry and O’Brien since the publication of the Moriarty report.

dvpower

Has there just been an election I missed?

DecTipp

But he fixxxed the road!!!

hairyprincess

Hmmm politics forum, Tipperary forum? No?

AnonoBoy

DecTipp wrote: »

But he fixxxed the road!!!

And stole the digger afterwards!

mikemac1

From Wexford OP

Ask Brendan Howlin why he closed Co. Waterford VEC and Waterford City VEC and moved them to Wexford

Owen_S

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjl8OIZijjY

the groutch

vicwatson wrote: »

Why do they keep voting this clown into a position of power?

because they are idiots

tonycascarino

Bertie Ahern
Liam Lawlor
Charlie Haughey
Tony Gregory
Ray Burke

Sigh......

All elected in the ''smart and sophisticated'' county

Dempsey

Sounds like the OP is jealous!

Zebra3

vicwatson wrote: »

Why do they keep voting this clown into a position of power? Sigh.

Because they are proud to endorse corruption.

mikemac1

tonycascarino wrote: »

Sigh Tony Gregory

Can't use that example sorry

If you sell your vote to the highest bidder for money and jobs in inner city Dublin you are a hero

If you do it anywhere else like Kerry you are a gombeen

pa4

in fairness he does get those potholes covered up down my road

kevthegaff

I never voted for him

dirtyden

Has the OP just awoken from a coma?

woodoo

I heard the woman on liveline form Gombeenville, County Tipperary today. She was on defending the honour of the town that was said to be a one horse town by the Sunday World. She was not one bit interested that Lowry was up to his old tricks again though. It turns out that Lowry owns development land there and that it happens to be near where he wanted the big super casino.

The people of North Tipp have a bad reputation because they vote that crook Lowry into office in such high numbers. Saying some crappy village has 2 shops instead of one and isn't a one horse town isn't going to improve things. I picture a real life but more sinister Kinninaskully when i think of Tipperary.

mikemac1

And the Sunday World is on Talbot Street Dublin
Junkie central with zombies wandering around the place and Roma beggars getting in the way

The village in Tipperary sounds more attractive

BornToKill

In fairness, he did a great job on the Trip to Tipp Féile back in the day.

http://brandnewretro.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/feile1992.jpg?w=640

dirtyden

woodoo wrote: »

I heard the woman on liveline form Gombeenville, County Tipperary today. She was on defending the honour of the town that was said to be a one horse town by the Sunday World. She was not one bit interested that Lowry was up to his old tricks again though. It turns out that Lowry owns development land there and that it happens to be near where he wanted the big super casino.

The people of North Tipp have a bad reputation because they vote that crook Lowry into office in such high numbers. Saying some crappy village has 2 shops instead of one and isn't a one horse town isn't going to improve things. I picture a real life but more sinister Kinninaskully when i think of Tipperary.

Tell us what sinister goings on you picture? Lowry is a crook, old news.
Tarring all of North tipperary as Gombeen land because a crook was elected by some is unfair.

Crooks/liars/incompetents have been elected in every constituency, we could make lists but I am not going to label Drumcondra Gombeen land for electing Bertie the gambling blank cheque signing genius, or Liam Lawlor or P Flynn etc.

admiralofthefleet

was listening to some inbred granny talking him up on joe duffy earlier. they really are blind to him down there

Red21

vicwatson wrote: »

Why do they keep voting this clown into a position of power? Sigh.
.

Can you name a constituency where you think they wouldn't vote someone like Lowry in?

Yamanoto

mikemac1 wrote: »

Can't use that example sorry

If you sell your vote to the highest bidder for money and jobs in inner city Dublin you are a hero

If you do it anywhere else like Kerry you are a gombeen

Gombeenism is by no means a rural pox alone, it appears to be an all Ireland extravaganza.

Lawlor, Raphael Burke, GV Wright and other Dublin TD's are every bit as worthy of that moniker as their counterparts across the country.

As for Gregory, who (other than some of his former constituents and perhaps some contemporaries in working-class Dublin) hail him as a hero?

Though both TD's used the parliamentary numbers as leverage to benefit constituents, only one brought a defamation action, contending he'd been labelled a thief, corrupt, dishonest and an untrustworthy politician unfit to be a TD or minister........and lost.

Gombeen.

BornToKill

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

was listening to ... joe duffy earlier

I can see where you're going wrong there.

For Forks Sake

woodoo wrote: »

The people of North Tipp have a bad reputation because they vote that crook Lowry into office in such high numbers. Saying some crappy village has 2 shops instead of one and isn't a one horse town isn't going to improve things. I picture a real life but more sinister Kinninaskully when i think of Tipperary.

and this witty chap....

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

DEFTLEFTHAND

Wow its nice to know what some people really think of us. We're just one big group of ignorant inbred hayseeds obsessed with corrupt cute hoors down here ya know.

Get over yourselves! The rest of your Fcuking country is up **** creek too, this isn't a Tipperary problem its nationwide. GET OFF OUR BACKS.

woodoo

For Forks Sake wrote: »

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

Those two guys have the joint mayor-ship of Gombeenville, County Tipperary

Yamanoto

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Wow its nice to know what some people really think of us. We're just one big group of ignorant inbred hayseeds obsessed with corrupt cute hoors down here ya know.

Get over yourselves! The rest of your Fcuking country is up **** creek too, this isn't a Tipperary problem its nationwide. GET OFF OUR BACKS.

The people of North Tipp have the right to elect who they so wish. But it is absolutely fair comment to condemn those whose votes returned Michael Lowry.

What kind of society do you or I wish to live in?

Because if we indulge corruption and the corrupt, then don't complain when a family member gets passed over on a HSE waiting list, don't complain when jobs are lost in your area due to contracts being traded for political favours and don't complain when illegitimate land rezoning pollutes your ground /surface water or floods your home.

Corruption is not some nebulous or abstract phenomena, it has a direct and profound effect on all our lives.

mikemac1

Hey, South Offaly is in the constituency now
Obama country


If Tipp is going to get criticized then at least include the BIFFO's too

Dempsey

Yamanoto wrote: »

The people of North Tipp have the right to elect who they so wish. But it is absolutely fair comment to condemn those whose votes returned Michael Lowry.

What kind of society do you or I wish to live in?

Because if we indulge corruption and the corrupt, then don't complain when a family member gets passed over on a HSE waiting list, don't complain when jobs are lost in your area due to contracts being traded for political favours and don't complain when illegitimate land rezoning pollutes your ground /surface water or floods your home.

Corruption is not some nebulous or abstract phenomena, it has a direct and profound effect on all our lives.

None of that happens in North Tipp, all that shíte happens in Dublin!

dsmythy

29.2% of voters voted for him. That means 70.8% didn't. That doesn't include those who couldn't be arsed to vote at all.

Yamanoto

Dempsey wrote: »

None of that happens in North Tipp, all that shíte happens in Dublin!

Ah I see, sorry 'bout that, my mistake.

mikemac1

If Noel Coonan the FG TD from Templemore and Roscrea got off his ass and actually did some work then maybe people wouldn't be voting Team Lowry

Alan Kelly is never out of the papers, Coonan does SFA

Foggy.nelson

I'm from N.T and I've never voted for him. Did win an oxegen ticket in one of his election time competitions... Suppose that's how he gets new generations of voters? Didn't work in me though it did work on a mate of mine who won a trip to man u v Blackpool off him

mikemac1

Well a whole generation remember him for Féile and the Trip to Tipp

Which was a huge success

fryup

leave michael alone

he's a good lad and he goes to mass every sunday

starviewadams

mikemac1 wrote: »

Can't use that example sorry

If you sell your vote to the highest bidder for money and jobs in inner city Dublin you are a hero

If you do it anywhere else like Kerry you are a gombeen

Difference the late Tony Gregory and the unfortunately still very much alive Micheal Lowry is that Tony Gregory wasn't a corrupt,immoral politician intent on using his influence as TD solely for his own financial gain.

The so called 'Gregory deal' didn't just secure badly needed investment in his own constituency,but also included investment in area's that he had no political interest in.He also attempted to raise the profile of the original heroin crisis in inner city Dublin to the government,which of course didn't then,and still doesn't now give a rats arse about.

drunkmonkey

starviewadams wrote: »

Blah, Blah, Blah

I noticed your from Dublin, you can't really comment, remember this guy!!! The Dubs sure done this country proud. Muppets.

DonQuay1

tonycascarino wrote: »

Bertie Ahern
Liam Lawlor
Charlie Haughey
Tony Gregory
Ray Burke

Sigh......

All elected in the ''smart and sophisticated'' county

Maybe you'd like to post why you put Tony Gregory in amongst that shower or thieves and wasters?

DonQuay1

mikemac1 wrote: »

Can't use that example sorry

If you sell your vote to the highest bidder for money and jobs in inner city Dublin you are a hero

If you do it anywhere else like Kerry you are a gombeen

Ok - I read on ....

BUT ... there;s a lot of others that 'sold' their votefor the benefit of their constituants. Thing about TG .... he never was mentioned in courts or tribunals, etc., as having enriched himself or received bribes for HIMSELF! So ..... my comment stands, I think. TG shouldn't be in the same post as that other shower of wasters and thieves and as&hol*s.

mconigol

He'd have no influence if he wasn't given it by others in power.

kevthegaff

i never knew there was dublin tipperary rivalry before. the hurling could be good this year. by the way i hate lowry and hes only up the road