I think the worst ever was the Donegal TV Deflector guy in 1997, the only time he spoke in the Dail was to come out with incoherent sentences attacking MMDS
Mod note
Be careful of making libelous statements about named individuals
Taking that statement to its logical conclusion, then obviously the best possible makeup of Dáil Eireann would be one made up of a mixture of 160 Lowrys and Healy-Raes! Is that really what you believe, or want?
Hard work lining their own pockets you mean. You seriously want more of those eejits in the Dail?
Well the electorate need to look at the bigger picture, I don't know what Lowry does locally, but if we had 160 Lowrys in the Dail, Ireland would be like Nigeria.
Yeah it was Patricia Ryan who got voted in. Don't think she will get voted in again. She is absolutely useless. She has done nothing for the area she represents
There are countless constituencies about which that could be said - in fact, it's harder to think of many where it couldn't!
But there's a need to look at the detritus on offer: in the most recent election the choice of candidate was utterly appalling right across the board in my constituency. A selection of "vote for me because Micheal/Leo/Mary Lou/Alan is the dog's b0llocks" or "because I'm a passionate young woman with a vision and Ireland needs more passionate young women with a vision"!
Not a single party put up a candidate who I'd trust to repair a puncture on my bicycle. And the selection of independents was even worse!
Not for the first time in my life, I was strongly tempted to spoil my vote.
Ah but it is not McEntee that is problem.... we all know what you mean and the name you are better know as, now crawl back under the stone from whence you came. We need serious people to address serious problems not the brainwashed parroting of the usual garbage.
Worst Independant TD sorry ‘Indipindint’ is that windbag Michael ‘What we need to do’ Fitzmaurice.
Knows ‘what we need to do’ on everything but does nowt.
Setting up an amnesty scheme started on McEntee's watch. This will not be the last one. She's set it in motion, Irish politicians have learned nothing from watching what's going on in Europe, and is only starting to sprout in Ireland at the moment.
Good man Jim. We need serious people to address serious problems, not politicians who care more about PR and Twitter likes than policy and looking after IRISH citizens, not global ones.
Couldn't think of his name (kept thinking Eddie Hobbs)
Couldn't put his money where his mouth was and ran off crying after 6 months.
They give an impression of hard work in the constituency. It's not necessarily the same thing.
One thing they're all very good at is pretending to intervene in getting hospital appointments, passports processed, things like that.
What they actually do is get one of their assistants to ring up and ask then is it scheduled for - and then ring back the constituent saying it was scheduled for a month later, but that they got them bumped up the queue
Minister for funerals Willie O'Dea is a good shout. Done nothing for Limerick in all his years except take credit for getting people entitlements they were gonna get anyway from the council.
I've got Charlie Flanagan here in the Midlands, expert on funeral attendances, when a minister, he used to have the Government merc park outside local villages and walk to the church and burials. This chap would attend the burial of a Daffodil bulb and he and others like him think people are stupid. It would seem most parish pump politicians only get constituents attention when they Die 😳
What the hell do you think an Opposition backbencher could have done for their area within two years of being elected to the national parliament ?
Most of the time with all the back benchers (doesn't matter the party) it 's about helping out in their constituency, the usual stuff helping get passports, help with filling out documents for social welfare, attending funerals, congratulating sport clubs if they get the sports grants and the odd photo standing beside or behind with the party leader or holding an umbrellas over his head when its not raining. This is how they get re-elected. Back benchers are the worker ants of the parties while the big boys supposedly run the country, it is usually the big boys that cost the back benchers their seats.
Charlie Flanagan the man that wanted to commemorate the Black and Tans and couldn't understand why there was a backlash to this. 😀
The very Same and he's gone terribly quite down these parts, loss of government car was a blessing to the constituency 😁
Some on that list, yes. But Cullinan makes this big play that he is anti establishment and all for the plain working people. Rubbish, he is 100% part of the establishment himself.
Hes been sucking on the tit of the state for years.
Here's the thing though, historians leave it for a few decades before writing history. They do this to let the dust settle. To take emotions out of it. They then weigh the good against the bad. For example Bertie played a very important roll in the 87/89 government (as did Alan Dukes). This short lived government got us out of a never ending rescission with almost 20% unemployment & massive inflation with sky high interest rates. Bertie went on to play a vital roll in the peace process. He was the most popular Leader in Ireland even to this day. People refuse to see that we had a world banking crises. We could have had a rainy day fund & reduced spending but we still would have had Anglo Irish & Sean Quinn & we still would have had a bank bailout. I'm not saying he was great or terrible. It will take another few decades for history to decide if he was good or not. Charlie Haughey is the same. Corrupt as hell but on balance I think history will say he did more good than bad.Ten's of thousands of Irish women owe him a mighty thank you for the succession act. He was the one that started behind the scene talks with the IRA & this led on to the peace process.
Personally I find it difficult to pick out worst ever TD because most did good & bad. To me the worst TD would be a one trick pony that never got elected again. Even Lowry is considered the greatest TD ever in his own constituency. As a local TD he was great at his job
Have seen a few mentions of Wallace here, and as a Wexford man myself, just want to point out something that's often overlooked -
He was a popular figure here before he first stood (2011 General Election), and so he swept in by topping the poll with more than 13,000 votes.
But then people saw what he was like, and his vote in 2016 dropped to below 8,000 - or in other words, some 40% of people who'd voted for him the first time were so unimpressed by what he turned out like, that they decided "I'm not voting for that fella again".
He knew that another drop in a further General Election would put him in danger of losing his seat, so he stood for Europe instead, and the tally figures showed he had more support outside of Wexford than in Wexford itself. Bear in mind that Ireland South takes in all six Munster counties, as well as five other Leinster ones.
So I suppose you can blame Wexford for putting him in politics in the first place, but you can't blame us for keeping him there!
Haughey and Bertie were good TDs
They were both corrupt though so for me that negates any good that they may have achieved. IMO, the bare minimum for an elected representative is that they not be a crook
Calm down Bertie
🤣🤣🤣
Brought to Court by RRI for 4 yrs, €12k arrears on her social housing, I wonder is she using her generous TD pay to clear what she owes.
Very few aren't corrupt once in power imo. I'd expect basic honesty from a TD. Enda Kenny had to correct the Dail record more than any other leader in the history of the state. How many dishonest things has the current government brushed over? Leo leaking information to friends, Parties that wern't parties during lock down, Golfgate etc. I'm expecting to be reading about backhanders with the national children's hospital & the awarding of the national broadband rollout
What is that saying that I hear often "An honest TD is not a good TD" or something to that effect. It seems the Irish electorate prefer a dishonest TD to an honest one.
Having to correct the record of the Dail and lining your own pocket are two VERY different things IMO
The thing is that they all have. Look at Enda Kenny was in the Dail for 40 odd years and for most of those 40 odd years he would have been barely known outside of his constituency. Sure when he go elected party leader I think the response was "Who?". I suppose you can single out 1 TD whom you dislike but there are more TD's in the Dail that have done and are doing exactly what he has done but because they may belong to a certain parties it cant be mentioned.
Michelle Mulherin would be my pick too. Data Murphy a close 2nd. Both FG. Both robbing the taxpayer blind during tough economic years.
I don't think anyone is gonna fall for whataboutery when it comes to Charlie and Bertie they were at another level in fairness. Now if you want to argue their good work outweighs everyone else's that fine but let's not pretend their bad doesn't too.
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