Healy-Rae away with the fairies?

Jawgap

According to Danny.......fairy forts caused dip in Kerry road

......more gombeenism? Or just incredible shrewdness because while we're talking about another load of nonsense from him he'll be counting the €8.7m his haulage firm has earned in State contracts

Not bad for a gombeen......;)

Jim Bob Scratcher

Pity the fairies wouldn't take him away.

BillyBobBS

As a Dub i always find it embarrassing that the people if Kerry see fit to vote this lad and his ilk into office time and again and then i remember it's the people of Dublin that gave us Bertie Ahern time and again

Jawgap

BillyBobBS wrote: »

As a Dub i always find it embarrassing that the people if Kerry see fit to vote this lad and his ilk into office time and again and then i remember it's the people of Dublin that gave us Bertie Ahern time and again

.....and Haughey and Lawlor

Maybe they held off pronouncing on the damage being done by fairies for fear of alienating a section of their respective constituencies

Roger_007

BillyBobBS wrote: »

As a Dub i always find it embarrassing that the people if Kerry see fit to vote this lad and his ilk into office time and again and then i remember it's the people of Dublin that gave us Bertie Ahern time and again

That's the problem with democracy....................every idiot has a vote!

Shaungoater

BillyBobBS wrote:

As a Dub i always find it embarrassing that the people if Kerry see fit to vote this lad and his ilk into office time and again and then i remember it's the people of Dublin that gave us Bertie Ahern time and again

In Dublin we have a lot of politicians who see the bigger picture to the detriment of local issues, something they could learn from MHR

conditioned games

Yes its so much better having a politician that turns up only at election time and has a dislike of its electorate like Austin Deasy, but gets elected based on what his father did as a politician. Compare that to the Healy Reas that actually work for their electorate... I know who I would choose every time....

Barry Badrinath

Anyone as obviously mentally unstable should not be representing anyone in politics, local or otherwise.

This man needs professional help.

dodzy

Mentally unstable? Never was a fan but......

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/danny-healy-rae-s-haulage-firm-has-earned-8-7m-in-state-contracts-1.3179273

Barry Badrinath

dodzy wrote: »

Mentally unstable? Never was a fan but......

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/danny-healy-rae-s-haulage-firm-has-earned-8-7m-in-state-contracts-1.3179273

....believes in Fairies....

...and that they ruined a road.

fizzypish

I was hoping before I read it that the road was built near one and its presence (physical) lead to some foundation deterioration through natural means. Him having belief in Fairy forts is fine but voicing that belief as an elected official is a bit silly. Come on ffs. Anyway, no more ridiculous that most religious beliefs before we **** on the guy completely. On a side note, is there not laws against nepotism/croneyism when it comes to public officials? I would have thought that gov officials shouldn't be eligible for gov contracts? Or at least have some fairly rigorous screening? I know nothing about this and base all political knowledge on game of cards/thrones.......

The_Valeyard

Fairies have released a statement:

"We have noting to do with the condition of the roads in Kerry nor do we have any relationship or business dealings with the Healy-Raes"

HalloweenJack

Do people really believe that he believes in fairies? The Healy-Raes are a very intelligent bunch wh know exactly how to play the public and those who think they aren't are the real fools.

There's some angle to this which will become clearer as time goes by.

Jawgap

Jawgap wrote: »

According to Danny.......fairy forts caused dip in Kerry road

......more gombeenism? Or just incredible shrewdness because while we're talking about another load of nonsense from him he'll be counting the €8.7m his haulage firm has earned in State contracts

Not bad for a gombeen......;)

This thread would be much better if the title highlighted the multi-million euro shady deals he's receiving from the Irish state rather than the fairies distraction that he wants us to focus on. This fairies distraction has now passed the multi-million euro deal one as the most read story on The Irish Times thanks to people like the op facilitating him.

I wish people would stop being fúcking idiots about that family and all the dodgy deals that we, the Irish taxpayer, are paying for.

Danny Healy-Rae's haulage firm was paid €8.7 million in state contracts

I love Sean nos

Shaungoater wrote: »

In Dublin we have a lot of politicians who see the bigger picture to the detriment of local issues, something they could learn from MHR

salmocab

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Do people really believe that he believes in fairies? The Healy-Raes are a very intelligent bunch wh know exactly how to play the public and those who think they aren't are the real fools.

There's some angle to this which will become clearer as time goes by.

The Healey Raes are certainly in general a shrewd bunch but I think Danny might actually be a simpleton, his brother orchestrated his election just like he gave him his council seat but I genuinely dont think that Danny is anywhere close to intelligent.
I can see why his Dad and brother were elected repeatedly although I heartily dislike the way they do business as its the type of politics that does the country as a whole no good.

salmocab

Shaungoater wrote: »

In Dublin we have a lot of politicians who see the bigger picture to the detriment of local issues, something they could learn from MHR

Unfortunately its Politicians who see the bigger picture we need more of, we elect TDs to run the country not their constituency thats what we have councils for.

theteal

A standing TD's company being awarded government contracts seems all kinds of wrong. I'm astounded there isn't a massive fuss about this.

HalloweenJack

theteal wrote: »

A standing TD's company being awarded government contracts seems all kinds of wrong. I'm astounded there isn't a massive fuss about this.

And yet here we are talking about that same TD's belief in fairies instead.

Don't tell me they aren't a smart bunch.

mzungu

Danny Healy-Rae knows to to keep his name in the papers during the summer holidays. Sure he did the exact same thing this time last year too.

whisky_galore

Underground passages (souterrains) are often in the vicinity of ring forts, maybe that's what he means?

“There are numerous fairy forts in that area,” he said yesterday. “I know that they are linked. ”

Not defending his sometimes daft statements, think this one might be taken slightly out of context.

corner of hells

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Fairies have released a statement:

"We have noting to do with the condition of the roads in Kerry nor do we have any relationship or business dealings with the Healy-Raes"

A representative for Moving Statues Ireland also confirmed they had nothing to do with the road conditions in Kerry but refused to drawn on any business dealings.

salmocab

salmocab wrote: »

The Healey Raes are certainly in general a shrewd bunch but I think Danny might actually be a simpleton, his brother orchestrated his election just like he gave him his council seat but I genuinely dont think that Danny is anywhere close to intelligent.
I can see why his Dad and brother were elected repeatedly although I heartily dislike the way they do business as its the type of politics that does the country as a whole no good.

A simpleton might be harsh, but your observations are pretty accurate...Mike and Danny are chalk and cheese. They present a united front, but anyone in Kilgarvan will tell you there is little love between them. When the parents split, Mike stayed with his mother. Danny got the pub and farm from the father.

corner of hells

Deleted User wrote: »

salmocab wrote: »

The Healey Raes are certainly in general a shrewd bunch but I think Danny might actually be a simpleton, his brother orchestrated his election just like he gave him his council seat but I genuinely dont think that Danny is anywhere close to intelligent.
I can see why his Dad and brother were elected repeatedly although I heartily dislike the way they do business as its the type of politics that does the country as a whole no good.

A simpleton might be harsh, but your observations are pretty accurate...Mike and Danny are chalk and cheese. They present a united front, but anyone in Kilgarvan will tell you there is little love between them. When the parents split, Mike stayed with his mother. Danny got the pub and farm from the father.

That you Danny.

Atoms for Peace

Belief in fairy forts was actually a good thing in ways, a lot of our archeological heritage has survived to this day due to fear of them.

EICVD

Cute hoorism

TheDoc

Shaungoater wrote: »

In Dublin we have a lot of politicians who see the bigger picture to the detriment of local issues, something they could learn from MHR

?

You elect TD's to sit in our Dail Eireann, where national issues are debated and discussed and decision making to shape the entire country is made.

For local issues, your potholes and everything else, you have a locally elected council that can resolve these issues and have associated budgets for various issues.

If TD's were actually more focused on national issues and issues at a national level, and less concerned with sorting out medical cards and getting involved in local issues, we could have a more functioning government.

One of the core issues of our government setup is TD's having to constantly get involved and canvas local issues and people, so their reputation and voting preference is forged from local involvement and issues, rather then their performance at national level.

Shaungoater

TheDoc wrote:

One of the core issues of our government setup is TD's having to constantly get involved and canvas local issues and people, so their reputation and voting preference is forged from local involvement and issues, rather then their performance at national level.

TheDoc wrote:

If TD's were actually more focused on national issues and issues at a national level, and less concerned with sorting out medical cards and getting involved in local issues, we could have a more functioning government.

TheDoc wrote:

For local issues, your potholes and everything else, you have a locally elected council that can resolve these issues and have associated budgets for various issues.

TheDoc wrote:

You elect TD's to sit in our Dail Eireann, where national issues are debated and discussed and decision making to shape the entire country is made.

I agree with you, however I have found that many times local councillors have very little power and local TDs once they have gotten your vote you never see them again until. The next election. There needs to be some balance. There isn't in many constituencies at the moment. While I disagree with alot with MHR and feel we need to Look collectively at things from a broader point, I do admire some of the things he gets done at a local level.

AlanG

Because of the lack of local taxation the local authorities rightly have very little power so TDs have to spend their time sorting local issues. The best solution may be to allow more local taxes, give more power to local authorities and introduce a list system for national parliament. None of this will happen.

Healy-Rae reminds me of both George Bush and George W. Their opponents are laughing at their stupidity as the so called clowns are taking all the spoils of winning. The "educated" folk aren't even smart enough to recognise the strengths of their opponents. These guys are getting exactly what they want and the people paying for it are laughing at them.

TheDoc

Shaungoater wrote: »

I agree with you, however I have found that many times local councillors have very little power and local TDs once they have gotten your vote you never see them again until. The next election. There needs to be some balance. There isn't in many constituencies at the moment. While I disagree with alot with MHR and feel we need to Look collectively at things from a broader point, I do admire some of the things he gets done at a local level.

And that admiration transfers into support. And that support turns into a vote.

And another seat in Dail Eireann is wasted on someone who has absolutely no power,ability, skillset or purpose in serving at national level.

And this is how politics in Ireland works, and this is the wool over everyone's eyes, not just the country by the way, as someone who grew up in an area that consistently elects Clare Daly I've seen how it works first hand.

You see these politicians doing good local work, and somehow equate that to "they will serve the country well nationally". Where in reality these people, who shouldn't be totally discredited in their local work which can be so good, they should be there, working at local level.

But with the status, the salary, the notoriety, the popularity and likely the "power" they go for bigger and bigger and their support gets them there.

And this is how we consistently get totally unequipped peers running our government, flipping and flopping, unable to make the tough choices because of the worry for the next election. Why we see the Dail empty for important issues, while TD's canvas their local area, or sit in their local office dealing with potholes, street light issues, parking queries and just general bollox that shouldn't be taking away from national focus.

The irony is that many people would say or believe they are voting these people for their interest at national level, but they have literally no influence or power in any decision making, and they have a ready made excuse of "well I'm just one person what can I do" when it doesn't go well, yet can spin and jump all over manufactured wins or benefits that had nothing to do with them.

A golden example for me at the moment is Shane Ross. Giving it all the big talk down the years, all the credit, support and exposure he received for his books and his columns and then eventually running as an independent people assuming he would be a good shout. Circumstance lands him in government and a ministry, where he has flailed around and floundered, and kept his position simply due to the setup of this coalition, as he has been a bumbling mess from month one. Completely out of his depth

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

I wish people would stop being fúcking idiots about that family and all the dodgy deals that we, the Irish taxpayer, are paying for.

Reminds me of the Sean Quinn supporters, these people are deluded if they think that the likes of Quinn and the Healy-Rae family are working hard for anyone but themselves.

salmocab

TheDoc wrote: »

A golden example for me at the moment is Shane Ross. Giving it all the big talk down the years, all the credit, support and exposure he received for his books and his columns and then eventually running as an independent people assuming he would be a good shout. Circumstance lands him in government and a ministry, where he has flailed around and floundered, and kept his position simply due to the setup of this coalition, as he has been a bumbling mess from month one. Completely out of his depth

I was a fan of Ross in opposition, I felt he was capable of making some good arguments and pushing generally countrywide issues, thankfully with the redrawn boundaries Im no longer his constituent as I would be very annoyed if Id wasted a vote on him at the last election.
He has managed to turn himself into the worst of Irish politics in a nutshell.

As an aside lots of politicians are great at pushing an us/them urban/rural Dublin/country divide which is often the reason for nobody getting anything.

A Little Pony

Keeps them in the headlines, gets radio talking about them, forums posting threads about them, TV talking about them, win win for them.

ChikiChiki

Our land are so steeped in ancient folklore, mythology and ruins. Its phenomenal really. Some of the stories I heard about people who interfered with ancient ruins beggar belief. Is there something to it?? I don't know to be honest, but I definitely wouldn't take the chance and interfere with one of these forts.

DHR is still bonkers though! Some of the stuff he comes out with is ridiculous.

Jawgap

Shaungoater wrote: »

I agree with you, however I have found that many times local councillors have very little power and local TDs once they have gotten your vote you never see them again until. The next election. There needs to be some balance. There isn't in many constituencies at the moment. While I disagree with alot with MHR and feel we need to Look collectively at things from a broader point, I do admire some of the things he gets done at a local level.

No and no......councillors, TDs and elected reps of any kind have no role in getting potholes fixed or any operational matter......that's what we pay engineers etc to sort out......to set and manage budgets, prioritise needs and execute work.

Allowing gombeens to skew that work for political ends is both wrong and wasteful and as long as people keep electing reps on this basis it will continue to be wasteful. There's also no incentive to drive efficiencies in the system (that would mean the gombeens conceding power) which means public spending will remain artificially high while we suffer crap services and high taxes.......and for some that's fine as long as the gombeens continue to get holes filled and waste Dail and ministerial time asking questions about medical cards!

Jeju

I think the problem here may be that whatever contractor was employed to build the road didn't survey the area well enough. What's needed to fix this dangerous dip, is a local contractor who is equipped both mechanically and mythological sound, someone who has access to a great deal of alcohol which can be used when entertaining the King of the Fairies and tricking him into fixing the road for them.

fancy pigeon

Senor Fancy Pants wrote: »

Anyone as obviously mentally unstable should not be representing anyone in politics, local or otherwise.

This man needs professional help.

If that's the best Kerry has to offer, I'd hate to see their worst :eek:

salmocab

Jeju wrote: »

someone who has access to a great deal of alcohol which can be used when entertaining the King of the Fairies and tricking him into fixing the road for them.

A big meal would do too I hear

Barry Badrinath

Hold yer whist people.

It could be the fairies!

They could be driving all those heavy veh-icles that Healy-Rae owns.....sure the weight of them would wreck the roads.

OMFG, maybe Healy-Rae IS a Fairy!

/thread

JupiterKid

This story came up on a UK roads forum that Im a member of yesterday. The mortification! I opined that the man is a gombeen and an embarrassment to Irish politics.

Blazer

EICVD wrote: »

Cute hoorism

Exactly, this crowd are absolutely milking the Irish electorate and a few mad outbursts from them helps keep people focused on this rather than the money they’re taking in.

Don't Chute!

That utter clown was on Newstalk yesterday and kept saying that the County Council gave a very technical explanation for why the road is bad which he completely ignored. In other words they gave a perfectly good explanation which Healy-Ray doesn't understand therefore fairies. He is an absolute fool and should not be anywhere near the Dail. The two issues he constantly brings up are drink driving-he owns a pub and the state of the roads-he owns a plant hire company. Enough said.

Elmo

Anyone else notice the irony that he's happy to rent machinery to the council for road works and at the same time would starve if he was ask to disturb a fairy fort.

The_Captain

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Do people really believe that he believes in fairies? The Healy-Raes are a very intelligent bunch wh know exactly how to play the public and those who think they aren't are the real fools.

There's some angle to this which will become clearer as time goes by.

One of the businesses his family is linked with was contracted to carry out work on the foundations of the road, and there were some cost cutting measures taken.

kylith

JupiterKid wrote: »

This story came up on a UK roads forum that Im a member of yesterday. The mortification! I opined that the man is a gombeen and an embarrassment to Irish politics.

I've seen it on a English and US facebook pages too, the embarrassment!

RDM_83 again

kylith wrote: »

I've seen it on a English and US facebook pages too, the embarrassment!

Whatever about the English, the Yanks if they are on the social left can **** of if they are making fun of this.

This is an aboriginal person expressing their cultural beliefs and interpreting events in the living landscape through the lens of a system of tradition, folklore and taboo that draws on 1000's/100's of years of history which has been suppressed, dismissed and marginalized by colonial, class, capitalist and neo-colonial structures.

If they can make fun of this they should apply strict rationality to Native American cultural stuff too, they won't though even though if you strip it back your talking about the same thing.
One gets lots of likes as its safe to do, the latter would result in a social media storm.

osarusan

I've never been a big fan of the argument that takes what the Healy-Raes say, no matter how silly it appears to be, and deems it to actually be a really shrewd comment when positioned in some wider, carefully constructed, almost Machiavellian political cobweb.

It's possible that they're both very hard-working for their constituents and also capable of saying stuff that is just stupid.

andekwarhola

The Healy Raes are no fools. They no doubt prefer this cartoon stuff to be all over the news than any sustained discussion of possible conflicts of interest in their business dealings plus it winds up (what they no doubt clownishly see as) the 'D4 libertariat'.

kylith

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Whatever about the English, the Yanks if they are on the social left can **** of if they are making fun of this.

This is an aboriginal person expressing their cultural beliefs and interpreting events in the living landscape through the lens of a system of tradition, folklore and taboo that draws on 1000's/100's of years of history which has been suppressed, dismissed and marginalized by colonial, class, capitalist and neo-colonial structures.

If they can make fun of this they should apply strict rationality to Native American cultural stuff too, they won't though even though if you strip it back your talking about the same thing.
One gets lots of likes as its safe to do, the latter would result in a social media storm.

There's being part of a deep and mystical animist religion, and then there's being a feckin' gombeen, which is what Healy-Rae is. We have a storytelling history of the fairies, and a hundred years ago people may have believed they were real, but in this day and age? Blaming fairies for bad roads? G'way outta that.

RDM_83 again

kylith wrote: »

There's being part of a deep and mystical animist religion, and then there's being a feckin' gombeen, which is what Healy-Rae is. We have a storytelling history of the fairies, and a hundred years ago people may have believed they were real, but in this day and age? Blaming fairies for bad roads? G'way outta that.

Break it down whats the difference though, why is one thing "deep and mystical" and other not, one can't simply break it down as a Religion vs Storytelling because (A) Irish folk Religion has lots of elements that wouldn't fit neatly into doctrinal RC stuff (B) for the Native American stuff whats tradition vs religion and also so much knowledge has been lost as well as the fact that claims occur in terms of geographic areas and timescales where its very much dubious.
We have good evidence for this stuff being very long held beliefs from the writings of the Early Monks, folklore, and the simple survival of so much heritage because harming it was and is considered taboo by many.

I agree that there is motives for the way the Healy-Rae's are but you think that there isn't politics, power plays and financial concerns in the Native American stuff too.
If its not ok to make fun of one set of indigenous traditional beliefs applied to the modern era, its not ok to make fun of a different set of indigenous traditional beliefs.

I really don't have any issue with an Irish person calling this stuff out, Americans though need to examine their critical thinking on issues closer to home. The ethnicity of the indigenous people should not make a difference to how you approach their beliefs.

kylith

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Break it down whats the difference though, why is one thing "deep and mystical" and other not, one can't simply break it down as a Religion vs Storytelling because (A) Irish folk Religion has lots of elements that wouldn't fit neatly into doctrinal RC stuff (B) for the Native American stuff whats tradition vs religion and also so much knowledge has been lost as well as the fact that claims occur in terms of geographic areas and timescales where its very much dubious.
We have good evidence for this stuff being very long held beliefs from the writings of the Early Monks, folklore, and the simple survival of so much heritage because harming it was and is considered taboo by many.

I agree that there is motives for the way the Healy-Rae's are but you think that there isn't politics, power plays and financial concerns in the Native American stuff too.
If its not ok to make fun of one set of indigenous traditional beliefs applied to the modern era, its not ok to make fun of a different set of indigenous traditional beliefs.

I really don't have any issue with an Irish person calling this stuff out, Americans though need to examine their critical thinking on issues closer to home. The ethnicity of the indigenous people should not make a difference to how you approach their beliefs.

Well, I'm sure plenty of non-First Nation Americans would also consider blaming bad roads on the Great Spirit or Wendigos also laughable, as would I. Better?