Shatter resigns

Dazzler88

Breaking news that Alan Shatter has resigned.

Scofflaw

Looks like the head has finally rolled: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/minister-for-justice-alan-shatter-resigns-1.1786901

May have gone in advance of the Guerin report, but presumably the existing load is already heavy on his plate. Kenny accepts "with regret".

RTE: http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0507/615716-alan-shatter-mick-wallace/

Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dáil this afternoon Mr Shatter had resigned following receipt of the report of Seán Guerin into allegations made by Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

It is critical of a number of agencies including the Department of Justice.

The minister has taken responsibility for this and is stepping down.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Sully

I assume he will continue with his appeal against the ruling by the Data Protection Commission?

Chips Lovell

Wonder who'll get his job. I assume someone like Varadkar will get bumped up to Justice and a junior minister then given his job?

Banjo String

Will he bring Kenny down with him?

Very embarrassing for a legal professional.

blackplum123

Veradker . The minister that covers everyone else's portfolio

HeidiHeidi

Is he gone from the Defence portfolio as well I wonder?

Sierra Oscar

I wonder if he will resign as a TD? He is not someone who wants to languish away on the backbenches exclusively doing constituency reps.

Sully

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

I wonder if he will resign as a TD? He is not someone who wants to languish away on the backbenches exclusively doing constituency reps.

I suspect he will be back as a Ministerial position in some future government tbh, assuming FG were to get back into power.

miju

Sully wrote: »

I suspect he will be back as a Ministerial position in some future government tbh, assuming FG were to get back into power.

I sincerely hope he's not. He was a disgrace of a Minister with other Ministers in history resigning over alot less that the controversies he blatantly steel necked through.

Riskymove

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Is he gone from the Defence portfolio as well I wonder?

yes he is the one Minister with one portfolio covering 2 departments

glued

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

Wonder who'll get his job. I assume someone like Varadkar will get bumped up to Justice and a junior minister then given his job?

No one else in cabinet has a legal background. Varadkar would be the obvious choice of the current ministers as he's probably the most popular minister in the public eye but his support of Bruton in 2010 may keep him away from one of the top ministerial positions.

Sierra Oscar

Sully wrote: »

I suspect he will be back as a Ministerial position in some future government tbh, assuming FG were to get back into power.

I wouldn't be too sure, the Guerin report will be explosive. I think it will become clear that Shatter was left with little other option but to resign. It is not something you can come back from too easily.

Chips Lovell

Actually, yes, I'd forgotten about his role in the heave. That could well work against him.

I suppose Hogan fits the "law 'n' order" bill. He can hardly be any more polarising that Shatter proved to be.

Gene Parmesan

Anyone fancy Gilmore to take it?

Sully

miju wrote: »

I sincerely hope he's not. He was a disgrace of a Minister with other Ministers in history resigning over alot less that the controversies he blatantly steel necked through.

Wouldn't go that far. I don't mind the Wallace case as much. It's a bit rich for Wallace to demand he resign for breaking the law when Wallace himself broke far more serious laws.

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

I wouldn't be too sure, the Guerin report will be explosive. I think it will become clear that Shatter was left with little other option but to resign. It is not something you can come back from too easily.

Well, maybe so. I think his major downfall was the whistle-blower fiasco.

sillyoulfool

The Guerin and other reports will be explosive re Institutional Garda corruption and mismanagement. If the government is serious about really reforming this most dysfunctional of state agencies, then there is only one person for the job, and that is Varadker.
With Philly "the enforcer" Hogan about to board the EU Commission gravy train he is ruled out anyway and there is nobody else of ability and stature to take on the job, so it has to be Varadker.

Manach

Although I agree his position was untenable and while I'd disagree with many of his reforms, he was intellectually one of the most suited to hold the position of Minister of Justice. Pity his hubris caused him to stumble.

iwantmydinner

Struggling to remember the last time a Minister was forced to resign in disgrace (as opposed to the Noel Dempsey-type resignations of the last govt) ... Any ideas?

JP Liz V1

About time too, took Kenny long enough

How he hung on for this long I'll never know.

Pedro K

Dragged kicking and screaming in the end. An arrogant man who held on for as long as he could.

Zubeneschamali

I think he held on as long as possible because the plan was always to reshuffle a year or so out from the general election. After the Locals and Euros, when the govt gets a beating, retire the old faces (Shatter, Hogan and Noonan) and roll out the new faces to promise us good times, tax cuts and a spending spree.

But he had to go early...

padser

Dazzler88 wrote: »

Breaking news that Alan Shatter has resigned.

DELIGHTED!!!!!

Sorry, didn't mean to shout....I'm just really happy :-)

It occurs to me, James Reilly must be sitting over in his department feeling fairly worried......after all, if Ministers in Ireland are losing their jobs over doing inappropriate things......

seligehgit

Yeah I presume Phil Hogan is off to Europe....

seligehgit

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

About time too, took Kenny long enough

I don't believe Enda Kenny sacked him?

on the river

seligehgit wrote: »

Yeah I presume Phil Hogan is off to Europe....

AND LEO AND SIMON. ENDA AND PHIL ARE STAYING

20Cent

Apparently Shatter has had the Guerin report for a few days at least. Answered questions on defence in the Dail hours before resigning. All very sudden, Guerin report out on Friday will be interesting.

Gilmore hasn't seen report, left out of the loop once again.

SlickRic

rarnes1 wrote: »

How he hung on for this long I'll never know.

1. he's as stubborn as they come.

2. Kenny owed him it after, along with Hogan, helping him through the heave on his leadership.

LynnGrace

Sully wrote: »

It's a bit rich for Wallace to demand he resign for breaking the law when Wallace himself broke far more serious laws.

Same here, found it hard watching Wallace yesterday evening on the news pontificating about law breaking, considering what he did, himself.

Shatter was totally wrong to do what he did, and I've no love for him, but when I saw Wallace's blonde curls appearing again this evening on the news, I quickly switched off the tv.

bajer101

Paddy Power has Charlie Flanagan at 5/6 favourite. Frances Fitzgerald is 15/8. Varadkar is 3/1 and Coveney is 9/1.

miju

Sully wrote: »

Wouldn't go that far. I don't mind the Wallace case as much. It's a bit rich for Wallace to demand he resign for breaking the law when Wallace himself broke far more serious laws.

You honestly think he was right to hang fast through numerous controversies???

sillyoulfool

bajer101 wrote: »

Paddy Power has Charlie Flanagan at 5/6 favourite. Frances Fitzgerald is 15/8. Varadkar is 3/1 and Coveney is 9/1.

Charlie Flanagan will shut down GSOC and bring back the heavy gang, what is needed is a reformer not another Paddy Cooney!

sillyoulfool

Sully wrote: »

Wouldn't go that far. I don't mind the Wallace case as much. It's a bit rich for Wallace to demand he resign for breaking the law when Wallace himself broke far more serious laws.

On a point of fact, Wallace has never been charged or convicted of breaking the law.
A company (Limited liability) he owned failed to vat due to the Revenue Commissioners.

shroom007

bajer101 wrote: »

Paddy Power has Charlie Flanagan at 5/6 favourite. Frances Fitzgerald is 15/8. Varadkar is 3/1 and Coveney is 9/1.

Jesus what a choice,

renegademaster

tis a desperate state of affairs that the people of Ireland let this fcuker continue in the job for this long!!

Gregor Samsa

sillyoulfool wrote: »

On a point of fact, Wallace has never been charged or convicted of breaking the law.
A company (Limited liability) he owned failed to vat due to the Revenue Commissioners.

He personally, as a Director, was charged and found guilty of failing to pay pension contributions for some of the staff of M&J Wallace:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1205/309498-wallacem/:

Mr Wallace pleaded guilty to five charges of deducting pension contributions and failing to pay them in the Construction Workers Pension Scheme between January and May 2008. He was fined €1,000 for each of the first four charges and €3,000 for the final count.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/indebted-independent-td-mick-wallace-promises-to-pay-staff-pension-arrears-26780852.html:

As well as the company, Mr Wallace is being prosecuted by the Pensions Board in his personal capacity as a director of M&J Wallace.

token56

Delighted he is gone. Pure arrogance in the way he has conducted himself while in office.

Personally I cant see Charlie Flanagan getting it, he also sided against Enda in the leadership vote a few years back and I cant imagine that will be forgotten. It is also a fairly high profile ministry for someone to just come in to. I'd like to see Varadkar get it but I am dubious about that too. Tomorrow and Friday will be very interesting indeed.

bajer101

phutyle wrote: »

He personally, as a Director, was charged and found guilty of failing to pay pension contributions for some of the staff of M&J Wallace:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1205/309498-wallacem/:




http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/indebted-independent-td-mick-wallace-promises-to-pay-staff-pension-arrears-26780852.html:

I don't have a big problem with Wallace about this. His company was going bang and he tried to keep it going. There was no real criminal intent.

Manach

It could be said there was no really criminal intent with the various Bankers, yet their attitude contributed to the state the country is in today.

bajer101

Manach wrote: »

It could be said there was no really criminal intent with the various Bankers, yet their attitude contributed to the state the country is in today.

There probably was no criminal intent by any of the bankers. They were just trying to save a system. Handy targets though.

A.J.Plumb

token56 wrote: »

Delighted he is gone. Pure arrogance in the way he has conducted himself while in office.

Personally I cant see Charlie Flanagan getting it, he also sided against Enda in the leadership vote a few years back and I cant imagine that will be forgotten. It is also a fairly high profile ministry for someone to just come in to. I'd like to see Varadkar get it but I am dubious about that too. Tomorrow and Friday will be very interesting indeed.

The man was an excellent reforming Minister with a very well tuned legal brain.

Arrogance ? Sure ...that was a failing of his ...but his real failing was not realising that the tolerance of the Irish people to shoddy nod and wink ...golden circles and incompetent public service has reached a new low.

Like the senior garda who produced the original "nothing to see here" report....probably will retire on a very handsome pension thank you very much.

Any of the above potential candidates except Varadker would be old school and tolerate the old nod and wink sweep it under the carpet stuff.

Who will sort out the cops ?...pretty clear that they are rotten to the core in some areas with the same middle management incompetence endemic in the public service.

A.J.Plumb

bajer101 wrote: »

There probably was no criminal intent by any of the bankers. They were just trying to save a system. Handy targets though.

very handy targets ...just aim at their wallets....can't miss !

Yes the greedy avaricious grasping amoral scummers were just trying to "save a system".

But....hey...no criminal intent.........:rolleyes:

The Muppet

A.J.Plumb wrote: »

The man was an excellent reforming Minister with a very well tuned legal .

He broke the law live on tv , that does not indicate a very well tuned legal mind.

eigrod

A.J.Plumb wrote: »

Who will sort out the cops ?...

An impossible task, when you think about it. Probably most police forces in the world have a level of corruption running through it. Ours is not the worst, but we're far from the best too.

Riskymove

iwantmydinner wrote: »

Struggling to remember the last time a Minister was forced to resign in disgrace (as opposed to the Noel Dempsey-type resignations of the last govt) ... Any ideas?

I've heard a lot of this since yesterday and cannot decide if it shows how people just beleive a populist view in the face of facts or it's something else.

Off the top of my head:

Phil Hogan
Willie O'Dea
Michael Lowry
Jim McDaid
Bobby Molloy

and of course Bertie as Taoiseach

Thougn I suppoose you could argue about "forced to resign in disgrace"

ectoraige

I wonder will Enda do a bit of extra reshuffling, at least of Fine Gael portfolios, thus avoiding Labour's calls for switching ministries in the forthcoming reshuffle - i.e. a Fine Gael reshuffle now, and a Labour + juniors reshuffle later?

Coveney -> Justice;
Varadkar -> Health;
Deenehan -> Agriculture
James Reilly -> Environment, if Phil goes to Europe
Junior/newbie -> Arts/Heritage.

We'll know soon enough anyhow.

crusher000

Shows you how good a leader Enda Kenny is. Kept defending his MInister time after time. Not saying he should throw everyone out at the first sign of an issue but really it was problem after problem with Dept. of Justice. Hugely important dept. considering it is responsible for the security of this Country.

Mr Kennys position should also be called into question and Labour are sleep walking agin through the whole thing like we've seen with all other small players in coalition parties.

sillyoulfool

ectoraige wrote: »

I wonder will Enda do a bit of extra reshuffling, at least of Fine Gael portfolios, thus avoiding Labour's calls for switching ministries in the forthcoming reshuffle - i.e. a Fine Gael reshuffle now, and a Labour + juniors reshuffle later?

Coveney -> Justice;
Varadkar -> Health;
Deenehan -> Agriculture
James Reilly -> Environment, if Phil goes to Europe
Junior/newbie -> Arts/Heritage.

We'll know soon enough anyhow.

Varadker has made it very clear that he neither wants nor would accept health.

ectoraige

sillyoulfool wrote: »

Varadker has made it very clear that he neither wants nor would accept health.

Oh, I missed that, when did he say that? I'd thought for some time that sending him to Angola would be his eventual reward for being a popular thorn in Enda's side.

Riskymove

sillyoulfool wrote: »

Varadker has made it very clear that he neither wants nor would accept health.

what's he gonna do if given health...quit?