The Curious Case of Violet-Anne Wynne

mynamejeff

endainoz wrote: »

Well you see Blanch hates Sinn Fein so will try to find anything to use against them. .

so she isn't a anti vaxxer who refused to pay rent and got evicted and has not refused to pay in spite making a massive wage ?

Nijmegen

Firstly, it is entirely appropriate to look at what those in public office say and do.

In fairness, she has walked back her statement on vaccine ("not what I believe now / not in line with party position"). So ok.

But this and the matter of the €12k rent arrears points at a person who has a bit to do to prove themselves a competent, honest and above board public representative.

I think the other thing about curious Violet-Anne is that she's basically got a history that points to the type of welfare-dependency / can't pay/won't pay attitude SF wants to support with even more welfare and taxes on those out working. And as a public rep she has put herself in the spotlight on this, the same way that another politician going on about housing whilst being a landlord should be questioned on their background.

Her partner is indeed the same John Montaine who is the toothless fella with a criminal history for drug possession. So you have here 5 kids, won't even pay for social housing and am I starting to see the story of spongers off the state emerging a little? Had four years’ rent arrears of rent up to June 3rd, 2016 and "the family remained in the Tullycrine house until December 2017."

So five and a half years of not paying their rent stretching back to 2012. Indeed she moved to Clare specifically to access cheap social housing as part of the Rural Resettlement Scheme. She's 32 so they got on that train at 24-25. She's brought her kids into stories in her political campaigning, so we can see from what she said herself in this profile of her on Clare radio in January that their 5 kids are quite young - aged 9, 8, 7, 5 and 2. The first child was born ~2011, gets relocated, stops paying rent around child 2, and then has another 3 while not even able to pay rent? So basically, can't/won't pay out €63 per week in rent but has a couple of kids and juices up those welfare payments (if they are struggling enough to not be able to pay the rent, I'm assuming they're getting full ride on welfare. And certainly €700/month just on child benefit.)

More than anything Violet-Anne is an example of the type of person who needs to take more personal responsibility, of her finances and the opinions she puts around, in a party that is focused on giving over more of other people's hard earned cash to people like herself.

endainoz

mynamejeff wrote: »

so she isn't a anti vaxxer who refused to pay rent and got evicted and has not refused to pay in spite making a massive wage ?

I must have missed something, how long has she been on this massive wage? I believe she's backtracked on the antivax thing or at least said her views were not the same as the party or some something.

Fr_Dougal

Have a feeling that she won’t be the last SF TD to fail under scrutiny.

People hounded Maria Bailey and Verona Murphy until they were ejected from the FG party, so far SF don’t seem to be maintaining any sort of a standard with their TDs.

Imagine in Varadaker had came out with the line ‘I’m not their mammy/daddy’ for Murphy and Bailey, there would have been uproar.

Eric Cartman

mynamejeff wrote: »

so she isn't a anti vaxxer who refused to pay rent and got evicted and has not refused to pay in spite making a massive wage ?

no, the hard right have been prepping for this for years and have been laying the seeds of madness in fear that she'd ever be elected, damn it nazi's you win again.

CrankyHaus

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Have a feeling that she won’t be the last SF TD to fail under scrutiny.

People hounded Maria Bailey and Verona Murphy until they were ejected from the FG party, so far SF don’t seem to be maintaining any sort of a standard with their TDs.

Imagine in Varadaker had came out with the line ‘I’m not their mammy/daddy’ for Murphy and Bailey, there would have been uproar.

Yeah Leo whitewashing the Bailey case within a private inquiry was far more gentlemanly.

Both FG with Murphy and SF with Houlihan addressed that problem quickly.

I agree though that SF face a challenge here in managing their people, ironically for a party so often accused of iron discipline by its detractors.

I initially thought that simpleton roaring "Up the Ra" at the count may have only shouted himself out of any chance of a position in cabinet; now it looks like he might have done it for the rest of his party colleagues too.

mynamejeff

endainoz wrote: »

I must have missed something, how long has she been on this massive wage? I believe she's backtracked on the antivax thing or at least said her views were not the same as the party or some something.

your right 63 euro a week is a massive amount for a trinity graduate to be made pay .

Id say you wouldn't be able to eat lunch in trinity for that

course assuming she wasn't working and what with the husband likely on disability giving his need for the weed ? on top of the mickey money , but 63 euro a week that's a outrage ,

is_that_so

endainoz wrote: »

I must have missed something, how long has she been on this massive wage? I believe she's backtracked on the antivax thing or at least said her views were not the same as the party or some something.

Two things that were clearly missed in allowing her to run, was this and the potential it had to show up online suggesting she holds dangerous views. This second more serious issue is all about SIPO and we've had a whole lot of conversations about this in recent times. It's very poor optics for a TD and a party of "change".

zoobizoo

Nijmegen wrote: »

So basically, can't/won't pay out €63 per week in rent but has a couple of kids and juices up those welfare payments (if they are struggling enough to not be able to pay the rent, I'm assuming they're getting full ride on welfare. And certainly €700/month just on child benefit.)

I always wonder how those no little income decide to have 4/5/6 kids and those on salaries of €80k/€90/€100 decide to have 2 / max 3 kids because they can't afford more.

Eric Cartman

zoobizoo wrote: »

I always wonder how those no little income decide to have 4/5/6 kids and those on salaries of €80k/€90/€100 decide to have 2 / max 3 kids because they can't afford more.

because kids are income to the first group.

is_that_so

It is worth noting that three TDs have now managed to have the party portrayed in a negative light in less than a week. It will encourage cub reporters all over to get digging into all the rest of the newbies and there will be more stories.

Nijmegen

is_that_so wrote: »

Two things that were clearly missed in allowing her to run, was this and the potential it had to show up online suggesting she holds dangerous views. This second more serious issue is all about SIPO and we've had a whole lot of conversations about this in recent times. It's very poor optics for a TD and a party of "change".

They never expected her to win the seat. You run candidates in no-hope constituencies because your state funding is decided by the % of the first preference vote you win, so every few thousand votes even in constituencies where you don't expect to win are financially rewarding to parties.

In this and a couple of other cases, they just threw any old candidate into the mix as a low stakes exercise.

JohnnyFlash

is_that_so wrote: »

It is worth noting that three TDs have now managed to have the party portrayed in a negative light in less than a week. It will encourage cub reporters all over to get digging into all the rest of the newbies and there will be more stories.

Not just the newbies. Aengus Ó Snodaigh is certainly a man worth the time of an investigative reporter.

Timberrrrrrrr

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Not just the newbies. Aengus Ó Snodaigh is certainly a man worth the time of an investigative reporter.

Is that the chap who spent a shed load of money on "printer ink"?

is_that_so

Nijmegen wrote: »

They never expected her to win the seat. You run candidates in no-hope constituencies because your state funding is decided by the % of the first preference vote you win, so every few thousand votes even in constituencies where you don't expect to win are financially rewarding to parties.

In this and a couple of other cases, they just threw any old candidate into the mix as a low stakes exercise.

Yeah, there were failed council candidates elsewhere and a woman who was on holiday for most of the campaign. Reap what you sow. Not sure they'd absolutely relish another election as they could be even more barrel scraping.

zoobizoo

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Not just the newbies. Aengus Ó Snodaigh is certainly a man worth the time of an investigative reporter.

Brady in Wicklow also.

endainoz

Nijmegen wrote: »

They never expected her to win the seat. You run candidates in no-hope constituencies because your state funding is decided by the % of the first preference vote you win, so every few thousand votes even in constituencies where you don't expect to win are financially rewarding to parties.

In this and a couple of other cases, they just threw any old candidate into the mix as a low stakes exercise.

This is completely true, she admitted herself that she only put up around 20 posters, not expecting to have a good showing at all. What I did find hilarious is that Timmy Dooley lost his seat as a result.

endainoz

is_that_so wrote: »

Yeah, there were failed council candidates elsewhere and a woman who was on holiday for most of the campaign. Reap what you sow. Not sure they'd absolutely relish another election as they could be even more barrel scraping.

Or they run extra candidates and get 40+ seats.

Bunny Colvin

Disgraceful carry on. It's a pity the people of Clare put this swindler in power.

is_that_so

endainoz wrote: »

Or they run extra candidates and get 40+ seats.

They could, they could also drop by 2-3% and get under 30 seats. All these things are possible.

Nijmegen

Take what I'm about to say with a pinch of salt, as it comes from local folks familiar with the situation (but as a result also potentially biased, I dunno). But basically neither she nor her partner have worked a day in Clare, though she has volunteered in various things. So inferring from that in terms of what they're entitled to they are basically on the full welfare ride. 5 kids, €700 per month. €203 per week each in personal welfare. €180 per week in supplementary for the kids and €201 in supplementary personal rate, potentially x2. Dunno how you price the rent when they weren't paying it... Medical benefits and all the rest. Fuel allowance €24.50 per week.

I'd say these guys are pulling in about €50k per year in welfare, so actually moving to a €96k per year gross salary (€59k net or so, maybe less with pension levy etc in public service) will probably cost them about €31k in benefits.

mariaalice

Highley education hippy-dippy person with strange views on vaccination living in rural Clare trying an alternative lifestyle there are hundreds if not thousands of them in Clare.

Gaeilgeoirí and a vegan as well by any chance.

schmoo2k

Lonesomerhodes wrote: »

...I have a daughter, never in a million years have her vaccinated.
She's never been sick either touch wood.

Get her vaccinated and you wouldn't need to "touch wood" (please ignore the obvious double entendre).

Annasopra

Deleted User wrote: »

I live in Clare, and it's clear that SF didn't vet her at all. Two other more viable candidates didn't run, so they chanced an unknown. A little digging, and a litany of red flags were unearthed. Leaving enormous rent arrears in her wake without any discernable conscience, and now the tinfoil shenanigans. Not to mention having a convicted criminal for a boyfriend. If this is the quality of candidate SF are running, then they're in for a rude awakening at the ballot box in a few months.

SF really shafted the other 2 from what I can gather.

SafeSurfer

Nijmegen wrote: »

Take what I'm about to say with a pinch of salt, as it comes from local folks familiar with the situation (but as a result also potentially biased, I dunno). But basically neither she nor her partner have worked a day in Clare, though she has volunteered in various things. So inferring from that in terms of what they're entitled to they are basically on the full welfare ride. 5 kids, €700 per month. €203 per week each in personal welfare. €180 per week in supplementary for the kids and €201 in supplementary personal rate, potentially x2. Dunno how you price the rent when they weren't paying it... Medical benefits and all the rest. Fuel allowance €24.50 per week.

I'd say these guys are pulling in about €50k per year in welfare, so actually moving to a €96k per year gross salary (€59k net or so, maybe less with pension levy etc in public service) will probably cost them about €31k in benefits.

Don’t forget that Sinn Fein TDs only claim the average industrial wage!

Or was that lie exposed during the last presidential election?

Unfortunately I've already come across Trumpian levels of deflection, whataboutery and plain pretending among some SF supporters in the last while. It's staggering how quickly it's happened tbh.

Tea-a-Maria

I can see the anti-HPV vaccine stance going down quite badly in Clare, given Laura Brennan was from Ennis. A lot of GAA clubs in the county rowed in behind the vaccination campaign, putting HPV vaccine logos on their kit.

Joe Carey, the FG TD, has already called her out for it and made reference to Laura.

facehugger99

Nijmegen wrote: »

Take what I'm about to say with a pinch of salt, as it comes from local folks familiar with the situation (but as a result also potentially biased, I dunno). But basically neither she nor her partner have worked a day in Clare, though she has volunteered in various things. So inferring from that in terms of what they're entitled to they are basically on the full welfare ride. 5 kids, €700 per month. €203 per week each in personal welfare. €180 per week in supplementary for the kids and €201 in supplementary personal rate, potentially x2. Dunno how you price the rent when they weren't paying it... Medical benefits and all the rest. Fuel allowance €24.50 per week.

I'd say these guys are pulling in about €50k per year in welfare, so actually moving to a €96k per year gross salary (€59k net or so, maybe less with pension levy etc in public service) will probably cost them about €31k in benefits.

I can see why SF want to increase SW payments - have to look after their own first.

Stark

Deleted User wrote: »

Unfortunately I've already come across Trumpian levels of deflection, whataboutery and plain pretending among some SF supporters in the last while. It's staggering how quickly it's happened tbh.

MSM Fake News!!

James Brown

I suppose something from 3 years ago beats several. Fair play to the journos for following up despite the general election