Kemmy Business school

timzil

Heres a random though for the day. Does anyone else think that it's hilarious that the Kemmy business school is named after Jim Kemmy a staunch socialist.

zulutango

Yep, always thought that. I've heard that McManus greatly admired Kemmy and wanted to honour him, but the two are chalk and cheese really.

0lddog

Cant see Kemmy having a bad word to say on

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/125-high-achieving-school-leavers-receive-scholarships-under-jp-mcmanus-scheme-1.3304293

topper75

We need to reciprocate and call the welfare office on Dominic St. after Dermot Desmond or Smurfit.

Seriously though - would have been better to name that school after the great Scottish enterpreneur Tait. Now that man was self-made.

http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/tait,%20peter%2002.pdf

chicorytip

timzil wrote:

Heres a random though for the day. Does anyone else think that it's hilarious that the Kemmy business school is named after Jim Kemmy a staunch socialist.

Were he still alive and a practicing politician he would likely be a grandee of the Labour Party and therefore firmly part of the political establishment. People like Pat Rabbitte and Michael D. Higgins could also have been described as "staunch socialists" at the outset of their careers. In fairness to Kemmy, he was a deep thinker with good ideas and did good work on behalf what today might be called the underpriveliged of Limerick. The establishment of the first family planning clinic in the city was entirely due to his own campaigning. On a national level he was a little out of his depth. His voting to bring down a government on the issue of V.A.T. on childrens shoes was both naive and ill-judged.

zulutango

It's hard to believe he's dead for twenty years already. He was such an imposing figure on the streets of Limerick back in the 80's and 90's.

Silentcorner

chicorytip wrote: »

Were he still alive and a practicing politician he would likely be a grandee of the Labour Party and therefore firmly part of the political establishment. People like Pat Rabbitte and Michael D. Higgins could also have been described as "staunch socialists" at the outset of their careers. In fairness to Kemmy, he was a deep thinker with good ideas and did good work on behalf what today might be called the underpriveliged of Limerick. The establishment of the first family planning clinic in the city was entirely due to his own campaigning. On a national level he was a little out of his depth. His voting to bring down a government on the issue of V.A.T. on childrens shoes was both naive and ill-judged.

I don't think it is fair to put Jim Kemmy in the same frame as Rabbitte or Higgins, two extremely wealthy men on account of their earnings and pensions, now I could be wrong, but Kemmy was a very uncompromised character, unlike Rabbitte/Higgins/Spring etc, he was never made a minister because of that character, not because of naivety, was a proper socialist.

He started his own Political Party, I mean, that alone stands him apart from Ireland's elite champagne socialists surely...

He was said to have given all his money away and lived a very simple life complete with soles in his shoes, he was a bachelor who returned to Limerick by train every day, an utterly fascinating individual who was a stonemason by trade and who watched in horror as this citys beautiful buildings were butchered by an era of dodgy planning decisions and developers, he abhorred Charles Haughey and FF's cowboy wing!

I read his book once, afterwards I read Des O'Malleys book, when you think of the politicians this city has produced then....verses now...its almost depressing.

chicorytip

Silentcorner wrote:

He was said to have given all his money away and lived a very simple life complete with soles in his shoes, he was a bachelor who returned to Limerick by train every day, an utterly fascinating individual who was a stonemason by trade and who watched in horror as this citys beautiful buildings were butchered by an era of dodgy planning decisions and developers, he abhorred Charles Haughey and FF's cowboy wing!

Silentcorner wrote:

I read his book once, afterwards I read Des O'Malleys book, when you think of the politicians this city has produced then....verses now...its almost depressing.

I think he had a quite comfortable life (in a material sense) living in Corbally with his long time ladyfriend. Nobody would begrudge him that. I would hold him in higher regard than O'Malley - a man of impressive rhetoric but little substance with no real political achievements to his name.

Silentcorner

chicorytip wrote: »

I think he had a quite comfortable life (in a material sense) living in Corbally with his long time ladyfriend. Nobody would begrudge him that. I would hold him in higher regard than O'Malley - a man of impressive rhetoric but little substance with no real political achievements to his name.

O'Malley had no real political achievements, jesus your standards are high!!!

A Minister for Justice in the Lynch Government at the age of 31, he was a huge presence in the FF leadership upheavals in the turbulent decades of the 70s and 80s.

He formed the PDs who did what no party has achieved before or after and secure a respectable seat count in numerous elections, we could do with a young O'Malley today. Any person who attempts to compete with the FF/FG/Lab stranglehold on Irish Government deserves the utmost respect, in my opinion anyway.

badboyblast

zulutango wrote: »

It's hard to believe he's dead for twenty years already. He was such an imposing figure on the streets of Limerick back in the 80's and 90's.

People dieing nowadays that never died before

chicorytip

Silentcorner wrote:

O'Malley had no real political achievements, jesus your standards are high!!!

Silentcorner wrote:

A Minister for Justice in the Lynch Government at the age of 31, he was a huge presence in the FF leadership upheavals in the turbulent decades of the 70s and 80s.

Silentcorner wrote:

He formed the PDs who did what no party has achieved before or after and secure a respectable seat count in numerous elections, we could do with a young O'Malley today. Any person who attempts to compete with the FF/FG/Lab stranglehold on Irish Government deserves the utmost respect, in my opinion anyway.

What is his legacy? What were his achievements whilst in office? He vowed to single handedly face down the IRA. Yeah, right. As leader of the PD's he jumped into coalition at the first opportunity with the Haughey led Fianna Fail who, a few years earlier, had expelled him for "conduct unbecoming". This was an act of sheer hypocrisy and blatant careerism on his part.

zulutango

As much as I disagree with the policies of the PD's, there's no denying that they had a huge impact on Irish life. There's a lot that's negative, for sure, but we have no idea how things would be in the alternate universe where they didn't exist.

Silentcorner

chicorytip wrote: »

What is his legacy? What were his achievements whilst in office? He vowed to single handedly face down the IRA. Yeah, right. As leader of the PD's he jumped into coalition at the first opportunity with the Haughey led Fianna Fail who, a few years earlier, had expelled him for "conduct unbecoming". This was an act of sheer hypocrisy and blatant careerism on his part.

There is absolutely nothing hypocritical about that. That is what politics is, he achieved a mandate from the electorate, that mandate allowed him enter Government with FF....what good would those votes have been if he did not enter government.

How could any man single handedly face down the IRA...for some reason you are taking this a bit too personally.

There were literally hundreds of TDs around the country who were willing to ignore the behaviour of Charles Haughey...O'Malley was not one of them.

Silentcorner

chicorytip wrote: »

What is his legacy? What were his achievements whilst in office? He vowed to single handedly face down the IRA. Yeah, right. As leader of the PD's he jumped into coalition at the first opportunity with the Haughey led Fianna Fail who, a few years earlier, had expelled him for "conduct unbecoming". This was an act of sheer hypocrisy and blatant careerism on his part.

In this dysfunctional state of ours, what do any Ministers achieve while in office?

chicorytip

Silentcorner wrote:

In this dysfunctional state of ours, what do any Ministers achieve while in office?

Generous pension entitlements.

PetKing

Silentcorner wrote:

In this dysfunctional state of ours, what do any Ministers achieve while in office?

Martin's smoking ban was a biggie in recent years in my book.