Peter Mathews wants all the parties to run him as an MEP

Foxhound38

According to thejournal.ie anyway...

He also reckons he's a "Statesman" apparently, whatever that means... :rolleyes:

Is it just me or does this guy display a startling lack of awareness about how politics works, given that he's been a TD for the past 3 years odd? I mean, he's come out with some very odd stuff even before this too.

GTE

I am not a fan of the chap but the least you could do is quote him properly. He didnt say that he wants to go it alone and be the leader of it all or nothing would happen. Its his idea and he wants to at least be apart of the 11 person MEP team. Leadership would then be decided on the make up of those candidates.

He wants all Irish MEPs to be all party supported, which on the face of it is a good idea but with such a low level of election turnouts even an all party supported MEP may not get Ireland wide support.

What the people of Ireland need is political statesmanlike leadership that would create a special purpose competent, professionally qualified and experienced, courageous, straight-talking team of 11 robust individuals to fill Ireland’s 11 seats at the European Parliament.”

kneemos

Few people care or understand what goes on in Europe.Maybe that's the way they want it.

Stavros Murphy

He should have stayed working on the turkey farm with his brother. Bernard never had ideas above his station.

That and what particular "statesmanlike" qualities does he bring to the table? I've watched him waffle away on Vinny B a fair bit and he has never struck me as much more than just "glib".

D1stant

I like him. Naive but honest

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Who?

Days 298

Pack him off to Europe. Cant stand listening to him.

Peregrine

Days 298 wrote: »

Pack him off to Europe. Cant stand listening to him.

What if they send him back for not functioning properly?

Days 298

Nimrod 7 wrote: »

What if they send him back for not functioning properly?

Sorry no refunds. Give them a credit note and throw in Richard Boyd Barrett as a sweetener and let them keep him and do what they wish.

Nodin

Stavros Murphy wrote: »

He should have stayed working on the turkey farm with his brother. Bernard never had ideas above his station.

That and what particular "statesmanlike" qualities does he bring to the table? I've watched him waffle away on Vinny B a fair bit and he has never struck me as much more than just "glib".

He waves rosary beads at party leaders. That must be it.

kneemos

D1stant wrote: »

I like him. Naive but honest

Everyone gives him a hard time for some reason.

Jimoslimos

With no party support and his anti-abortion views he's highly unlikely to get re-elected in South Dublin which might explain this rather desperate attempt to cling onto his political career.

Perhaps statemen like figures with cross-party support would be a good idea in Europe, but Peter you ain't one of them.

keeponhurling

i like him too, he is at least honest and original,
At least he has an opinion, Doesn't go for blindly doing and saying what a party tells him to

Annasopra

bbk wrote: »

I am not a fan of the chap but the least you could do is quote him properly. He didnt say that he wants to go it alone and be the leader of it all or nothing would happen. Its his idea and he wants to at least be apart of the 11 person MEP team. Leadership would then be decided on the make up of those candidates.

He wants all Irish MEPs to be all party supported, which on the face of it is a good idea but with such a low level of election turnouts even an all party supported MEP may not get Ireland wide support.

Yeah he knows absolutely nothing about the European Parliament. National MEPs do not sit together and do not vote the same way. They are affiliated to party groups.

He's spouting nonsense. Utter utter nonsense.

dxhound2005

keeponhurling wrote: »

i like him too, he is at least honest and original,
At least he has an opinion, Doesn't go for blindly doing and saying what a party tells him to

He wasn't very honest with Fine Gael when he got the nomination even though he disagreed with their policies. He just used the anti FF surge in favour of FG to get elected.

Artful_Badger

mango salsa wrote: »

Yeah he knows absolutely nothing about the European Parliament. National MEPs do not sit together and do not vote the same way. They are affiliated to party groups.

He's spouting nonsense. Utter utter nonsense.

Isn't that his point ? That rather than being party representatives in the European Parliament he wants them all working together to try and actually achieve something ?

dxhound2005

Svlad Cjelli wrote: »

Isn't that his point ? That rather than being party representatives in the European Parliament he wants them all working together to try and actually achieve something ?

The most likely outcome of that approach would be that our 11 MEP's would just alienate themselves. It goes against the existing setup which was pointed out to you.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/european_government/eu_institutions/european_parliament_political_groups.html


There are eight political groups in the European Parliament, ranging from socialist and environmental parties to right-of-centre parties:

MEPs do not sit in groups according to their nationality. They sit with a political group and use the secretarial services available to that group.

They act independently and cannot be obliged to vote any particular way. There is no party whip so if they do not want to go along with the party policy, they can vote their own way.

donegal__road

kneemos wrote: »

Everyone gives him a hard time for some reason.

probably for being honest. He was one of the few people with integrity in government before he left.

First Up

donegal__road wrote: »

probably for being honest. He was one of the few people with integrity in government before he left.

Pompous, long-winded bore who has somehow managed to convey the impression (to some) that he has something to contribute.
Far,far less to him than meets the eye.
Or should that be much, much.....

dxhound2005

donegal__road wrote: »

probably for being honest. He was one of the few people with integrity in government before he left.

The least honest politicians in my opinion are the ones that fool the electorate by using a party affiliation to get elected and then go Independent when they think that is the way the wind is blowing.

donegal__road

First Up wrote: »

Pompous, long-winded bore who has somehow managed to convey the impression (to some) that he has something to contribute.
Far,far less to him than meets the eye.
Or should that be much, much.....

before he entered politics, he was a consultant on banking and finance with 30+ years experience, yet the position of minister of finance was given to Michael Noonan. So who would you have thought would be better qualified for the position?

donegal__road

dxhound2005 wrote: »

The least honest politicians in my opinion are the ones that fool the electorate by using a party affiliation to get elected and then go Independent when they think that is the way the wind is blowing.

so your saying Peter Mathews is dishonest.... whatever. :rolleyes:

First Up

donegal__road wrote: »

before he entered politics, he was a consultant on banking and finance with 30+ years experience, yet the position of minister of finance was given to Michael Noonan. So who would you have thought would be better qualified for the position?

Matthews as Min of Finance. Now that is really Surreal.

dxhound2005

donegal__road wrote: »

so your saying Peter Mathews is dishonest.... whatever. :rolleyes:

You wouldn't know what to make of him. He started off in the Progressive Democrats, went to Fine Gael and is now Independent. He might finish up in Fianna Fail yet.

Artful_Badger

dxhound2005 wrote: »

You wouldn't know what to make of him. He started off in the Progressive Democrats, went to Fine Gael and is now Independent. He might finish up in Fianna Fail yet.

Having trouble falling in line with party policy and opinion isnt a bad thing in my book. I'd much prefer someone capable of judging things by how they seem them than by how they are expected to see them..

First Up

dxhound2005 wrote: »

You wouldn't know what to make of him. He started off in the Progressive Democrats, went to Fine Gael and is now Independent. He might finish up in Fianna Fail yet.

He wants an audience. Any audience.

mikom

Stay away from Europe, Peter.
I heard they practice abortions over there.............. yes, even in the case of rape and fatal fetal abnormality.

Femme_Fatale

keeponhurling wrote: »

i like him too, he is at least honest and original,
At least he has an opinion, Doesn't go for blindly doing and saying what a party tells him to

But you wouldn't dream of saying that if he had the exact same approach and was left-wing.

Annasopra

Svlad Cjelli wrote: »

Isn't that his point ? That rather than being party representatives in the European Parliament he wants them all working together to try and actually achieve something ?

You seem to be assuming that by being members of groups they achieve nothing!

Matthews doesn't understand how the parliament works - why should he be a member of something he doesn't understand?

Artful_Badger

mango salsa wrote: »

You seem to be assuming that by being members of groups they achieve nothing!

Matthews doesn't understand how the parliament works - why should he be a member of something he doesn't understand?

No I'm just assuming that the Irish MEP's would stand a better chance of achieving what Mathews wants to achieve if they had a common purpose and worked together rather than simply being members of wider groups in the European parliament.

That said I'll admit I'm not too clued in on how things work over there or what exactly Mathews knows or wants, I'm just trying to work out what's going on here that's all.

Sister Assumpta

mango salsa wrote: »

You seem to be assuming that by being members of groups they achieve nothing!

Matthews doesn't understand how the parliament works - why should he be a member of something he doesn't understand?

Maybe you don't understand.

Irish MEPs from varying groupings in Parliament already meet and consult one another when Irish issues arise. They might affiliate with their respective EP parties on broad EU policy issues like defence and financial regulation, but if there is a matter that is repugnant to the Irish representatives (e.g. CAP), they can and do go against their party without sanction or whip. A matter upon which Matthews has good reason to feel strongly.

Party affiliation in the EP is very loose. Regional affiliation remains very strong, and I happen to think that is a positive thing.

First Up

Sister Assumpta wrote: »

Maybe you don't understand.

Irish MEPs from varying groupings in Parliament already meet and consult one another when Irish issues arise. They might affiliate with their respective EP parties on broad EU policy issues like defence and financial regulation, but if there is a matter that is repugnant to the Irish representatives (e.g. CAP), they can and do go against their party without sanction or whip. A matter upon which Matthews has good reason to feel strongly.

Party affiliation in the EP is very loose. Regional affiliation remains very strong, and I happen to think that is a positive thing.

Not sure any arrangement would be loose enough to suit our Peter.

Nodin

mikom wrote: »

Stay away from Europe, Peter.
I heard they practice abortions over there.............. yes, even in the case of rape and fatal fetal abnormality.

Sure we're all going to die anyway.