Fidelma Healy Eames' train ticket scandal

biko

The case is now over so I'm opening this again.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/court-orders-fg-senators-husband-to-pay-plumber-3180642.html

THE HUSBAND of Fine Gael Senator Fidelma Healy Eames has been ordered to pay over €12,000 to a builder who had sued the couple after he was forced off a job he was carrying out at their home.

Judge Rory McCabe ruled in favour of tradesman Michael Allen at Galway Civil Circuit Court this morning.

He found that a contract had existed between Mr Eames and Mr Allen for work to be carried out at the Eames home at Oranmore in Co Galway in 2009.

Judge McCabe dismissed the case against Senator Healy Eames as he said he was satisfied she wasn't intimately involved or even peripherally involved.

Please note that the judge found FHE not involved, as opposed to the thread title.

Sponge Bob

biko wrote: »

Please note that the judge found FHE not involved, as opposed to the thread title.

Indeed. Poor woman has no walk in wardrobe either since an oversized jacuzzi was installed in there instead according to the Daily Mail today.

I pity her the lack of a fully functioning walk in wardrobe! That is simply not on in this day and age.

Here is the housheen in question, planning permission applied for in 2007...not long after election...and granted in 2008

http://goo.gl/maps/ExEQ and
http://goo.gl/maps/i97jA

I note also that she was told to build a single storey garage in application 074926 and applied for retention for a 2 storey garage last year in application 111282.

The planner was not minded to grant the retention for the 2 storey garage either but luckily wiser heads in the Council directed that the Garage be permitted too.

Rob A. Bank

Healy Eames decides not to appeal train fine as she meets Iarnrod Eireann over customer communications

Senator Healy Eames decided in advance of the meeting not to appeal her fine so that the meeting could completely focus on the public interest.

from the Advertiser

Looks like Healy Eames is working on getting that nascent FG Blueshirt 'fascination with trains' gene under control.



That and the plumber make this an expensive week for the Healy Eames's !

BhoscaCapall

Thread title is so misleading

nuac

thread title leaves much to imagination if she had that 50 shades of Grey book, or is that just me.?

In fairness Judge held she was not involved.

As we say in the west - "far from jacuzzis she was reared"

jkforde

biko wrote: »

Please note that the judge found FHE not involved, as opposed to the thread title.

so FHE did not screw a subbie. this has been proven in court, the case against her was dismissed right? but the slanderous title of this thread stands? and what's up with SB's attempt to dig up dirt against her, when all she has done is 100 per cent legal? who ever called us begrudgers and window squinters!? brings to mind Waits' 'What's He Building In There'!

Mrs OBumble

Ahh, so she didn't hire the contractor herself.

But her husband did. And the work is on the house she lives in. So it's not like she's really not involved.

pleasant Co.

jkforde wrote: »

so FHE did not screw a subbie. this has been proven in court, the case against her was dismissed right? but the slanderous title of this thread stands? and what's up with SB's attempt to dig up dirt against her, when all she has done is 100 per cent legal? seriously folks, are the begrudging, lace curtain peering brigade back...?

libellous

the internet is serious business

gordongekko

JustMary wrote: »

Ahh, so she didn't hire the contractor herself.

But her husband did. And the work is on the house she lives in. So it's not like she's really not involved.

The report on the news said that the judge said pretty much the same. It was alone the lines of that she was not involved but her husband was and she lived there so it was fair that the subbie sued her.

Unrealistic

jkforde wrote: »

so FHE did not screw a subbie. this has been proven in court, the case against her was dismissed right? but the slanderous title of this thread stands? and what's up with SB's attempt to dig up dirt against her, when all she has done is 100 per cent legal?

The old Ivor Callely defence again? "I didn't break any laws." Just because something is not illegal does not mean that it is moral or right.

jkforde wrote: »

who ever called us begrudgers and window squinters!? brings to mind Waits' 'What's He Building In There'!

Squinting windows has nothing to do with this case. FHE is not a private person. She is public representative. She has been seeking (and failing) to represent us in Dail Eireann for more than ten years. A story like this that sheds (unfavourable) light on her ethics and behaviour is very much in the public interest.

jkforde

give me a break. us Irish are the biggest hypocrites, we constantly peg stones at public people who we deem to have transgressed morals & ethics (again, she, FHE, was found by our courts not to be personally culpable in this case but don't let that stop the personal damnation here) but we wouldn't blink twice at trying to get away with a fast one ourselves and will secretly back-slap someone we support who tries or succeeds. Sanctimonious moralizing is always a bit rich coming from Irish people (and I'm born and bred here).
/

Unrealistic

jkforde wrote: »

give me a break. us Irish are the biggest hypocrites, we constantly peg stones at public people who we deem to have transgressed morals & ethics (again, she, FHE, was found by our courts not to be personally culpable in this case but don't let that stop the personal damnation here) but we wouldn't blink twice at trying to get away with a fast one ourselves and will secretly back-slap someone we support who tries or succeeds. Sanctimonious moralizing is always a bit rich coming from Irish people (and I'm born and bred here).
/

FHE was found not to have been the one who created the contract with the plumber and that was the reason why the award was made against her husband (who was the counter party to the contract). That doesn't change the fact that she allowed a situation to persist where someone was allowed to go unpaid for three years for work done on her home. And you can speak for yourself, thanks, because I certainly would not try to screw a tradesman who had done work for me. The fact that you 'wouldn't blink twice' at trying to get away with it, and would back-slap someone else who does, says all about you that I need to know.

snubbleste

Good post Spongebob.
I want pictures of the jacuzzi though.

masalbeagdubh

jkforde wrote: »

give me a break. us Irish are the biggest hypocrites, we constantly peg stones at public people who we deem to have transgressed morals & ethics (again, she, FHE, was found by our courts not to be personally culpable in this case but don't let that stop the personal damnation here) but we wouldn't blink twice at trying to get away with a fast one ourselves and will secretly back-slap someone we support who tries or succeeds. Sanctimonious moralizing is always a bit rich coming from Irish people (and I'm born and bred here).
/

People are entitled to air their views on this case, regardless of what the court judgement. Just because you are born and bred in Ireland doesn`t mean that you can classify all Irish people as stone- throwing hypocrites. The courts can only rule by the law of the land even if the judge felt what they did was morally wrong.

nuac

Many people leave tradesmen waiting for their money for far too long.

Many cod excuses used to claim job not properly done.

Many rely on fact that it is difficult and expensive to sue successfully in "informal" building contract cases

Redhairedguy

jkforde wrote: »

we wouldn't blink twice at trying to get away with a fast one ourselves and will secretly back-slap someone we support who tries or succeeds.

Well, I think that speaks volumes for your own morals and the company that you keep. Not everyone is 'trying to get away with a fast one'. To be honest, if I heard that someone I knew pulled the same stunt, I'd be equally appalled and distrustful of them from that day forth.

The fact that a someone who is supposed to represent the average Irish person would be involved (indirectly or otherwise) in such a tight, miserly scam just makes it that million times worse.

biko

*silently judges everyone*

gaeilgegrinds1

She hasn't done herself any favours between this and the train though, damage control needs to be done!

barryd09

Uncle Inda will be on to FHE to tell her what a bad bad girl shes been.

Robbo

Even without the bad PR side of it, €12k and at least 3 days of Circuit Court costs (multiplied by two), Captain Hindsight will certainly be wagging his finger at Mr Fidelma and saying it would have been better to settle.

Mrs OBumble

nuac wrote: »

Many people leave tradesmen waiting for their money for far too long.

Many cod excuses used to claim job not properly done.

Many rely on fact that it is difficult and expensive to sue successfully in "informal" building contract cases

And then they b*itch about how hard it is to get tradesmen to do things.

My partner has a list of people who he doesn't even answer phone calls from any more. And while part of me thinks that any work is at least work, I sympathise with his point of view too: usually the wealthiest people are the most troublesome pay-ers.

Canvasser

If this was a FF politician then posters on here would be going beserk screaming everything from dodgy payment practices, tax evasion and mistreatment of workers. And rightfully so. However because its Fine Gael they are given a free pass by most.

Unrealistic

Canvasser wrote: »

If this was a FF politician then posters on here would be going beserk screaming everything from dodgy payment practices, tax evasion and mistreatment of workers. And rightfully so. However because its Fine Gael they are given a free pass by most.

Do you do self pity much? She has been described as "screwing" and "shafting" someone, "privileged", "arrogant", "ruthless", "unethical" and "a wagon". How much more abuse do you want? By my count the sentiment in this thread is weighted against FHE by at least 2:1. It's a good job you're only a canvasser and not a tallyman.

Canvasser

For anyone interested, Michael Eames the husband of FHE, is a Fine Gael member and ran for Galway County Council in 2009. By the sounds of things it's a good thing he wasn't elected.

http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=2009L&cons=400

Redhairedguy

Canvasser wrote: »

For anyone interested, Michael Eames the husband of FHE, is a Fine Gael member and ran for Galway County Council in 2009.

Yeah. I remember that. Even then, the family didn't have many friends left in Oranmore/Maree.

Placebo Effect

I opened this thread thinking there would be a link to some porn

I'll close the door on my way out

fergiesfolly

And then knock on AH. That sort of talk is always welcome there. Hope Fidelma isn't reading this. She'll be outraged. Simply outraged.

Fuinseog

Sappa wrote: »

An article in today's indo,this senator who is supposed to represent our fine city has been shafting local plumbers and disputing payment for work carried out at her home to build a war room for her political campaigns.
She comes accross as a privileged,arrogant and ruthless person who is waving the flag fianna fail style in the senate and completely trying to weasel her way out of paying this guy.
Met her at one of her events before the election and she convinced me not to vote for her by the way she worked the room from her high horse.
What's opinions of her politically,a bit of a spoilt brat ?

fidelma loves fidelma and fidelma works for Fidelma and no one else. I worked with her in the past and never again.
the last time she was debated on boards reference was made to her webpage which was a pathetic attempt at self promotion containing such nuggets of info as she uses her phone a lot.

Fuinseog

Deleted User wrote: »

Is she not Fine Gael?

not really.she has quarrelled with them several times. she belongs to FHE.

scholar007

Personally, I find her statement on her website that she and her husband are happy with the outcome insulting to my intelligence. In my opinion Enda Kenny really has shown a lot of poor judgement in appointing this woman to the seanad. Thankfully the electorate has shown a lot better judgement in rejecting her in her attempts to secure a position in the Dáil. I believe the tradesman in this case was treated with utter disrespect. I'm glad for him and his family that he has secured justice.