Colm Keaveney Adjudicated a Bankrupt

dats_right

It has been reported by the media today that former Fianna Faill TD for Galway East Colm Keaveney has been adjudicated a bankrupt.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/ex-td-colm-keaveney-declared-bankrupt-in-high-court-1.2701529

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

Sam Russell

Is he FF or Labour?

K-9

Went over to FF but lost his seat last time out. Article doesn't really go into any detail which is a pity.

dats_right

dats_right wrote: »

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

With attitudes like this, it's no wonder we get the politicians we do.

What has Colm Keaveney ever done against you? Or any of us? His career was characterised by a handful of minor stories, one of which was his resignation from the Labour Party after refusing to vote for a cut in disability expenditure.

I believe he expressed some unease with the law on terminations, although these were not necessarily religious in character.

I've no reason to stick-up for Keaveny, he's not in my constituency and I probably wouldn't vote for him. But why are you interested in celebrating one of the lowest moments in the life of any private citizen?

We need to think about online abuse directed towards politicians, its immediate effect on them as citizens, and also its effect on those who might have considered a career in public service, were it not for the trolling and aggression that seems to be directed at public representatives .

dats_right

Keaveney was one of the major cheerleaders for the Labour Party entering coalition with Fine Gael after the 2011 General Election. It was abundantly clear and even outlined by Eamon Gilmore at the special delegate conference what tough and difficult decisions would need to be taken by the next Government to restore our country's disastrous financial state at that time. But when the harsh reality of those tough decisions, the unpopularity thereof and more particularly the effect same was having on opinion polls and his own electoral prospects became clear, the spineless Keaveney voted against the party whip on an apparent matter of principle. It was more likely given his track record simply a self-serving act of policitial cowardice.

Moreover, once he lost the party whip and was expelled from the PLP for voting against the Social Welfare Bill, he remained in situ as chairman of the Labour Party. At the time he said:

“The graceful thing to do is to honour the mandate I was given by the grassroots of the Labour Party and I said I would honour Labour values. It is a gift of the members of the Labour Party and not of the leader".

Shortly afterwards there was yet another volte face (he loves his Latin!) by Keaveney and he resigned from the party. Then, presumably not liking being an independent much, he joined Fianna Fáil. This was very surprising move, especially considering his eloquent and colourful description of that party only a few short months beforehand, when he said in the Dail:

"Fianna Fáil is constantly referenced in the [Mahon tribunal] report, which bears testimony to the corrosive and destructive nature of Irish politics, as a consequence of the effect that Fianna Fáil has had on Irish politics down through the years.”

Or perhaps when he said:

"The rampant corruption of many of Fianna Fáil’s members and public representatives is part of the philosophy of tolerance that existed within the party."

This is a politics forum right? It's just that some of the above comments by other posters don't appear to be particularly informed about who Keaveney is or what he has done/said. It is also utterly ridiculous to suggest that my initial comments have any bearing on those considering entering public service. I would suggest that it is far more likely that the reason why we have politicians such as Keaveney as a result of those individuals who are ignorant or unconcerned by the type of behaviour displayed by the likes of Keaveney.

My reasons for disliking Keaveney are that he is illustrative of perhaps the worst example of an utterly hypocritical, unprincipled, morally (and now financially) bankrupt politician. He therefore got what he deserved in my view, both at the hands of the electorate and the official assignee. By the way, I have much higher regard for politicians as a group than most of the general public and appreciate the thankless nature of their job, but Keaveney is one of the most unworthy individuals to have had the honour of serving as a TD

Lt Dan

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/denis-o-brien-sues-ex-td-colm-keaveney-for-defamation-1.2644435

marcusfeloni

Hard to argue with that