wtf is going on? Bizzarre
I mean, I've pointed out two rather obvious and easily verifiable things that are wrong in what they've reported already.
No media can be completely "trusted", but wailing about a conspiracy when no legacy media report a story reflects a rather disturbed take on modern media. They love scandal stories, if they are not reporting on it it is more likely because it is not actually a verifiable story or because there are legal issues to sort out before publishing.
The Ditch are not some crusaders for justice. Which is fine, they don't have to be. But they are far more politically driven then the legacy media they proclaim to be better than.
So the only reason why you say they can't be trusted is because of the involvement of Paddy Cosgrove? So Dennis O'Brien owns or did own alot of media outlets here and we all know about his connections dubious or otherwise to FG does that mean they can't be trusted? And again I will ask have the Ditch published anything that is untrue?
Really have you seen the absolute dross in the independent the last few days and that is not even including the public meltdown their political editor had on TV over a poxy painting.
And yet you claim that the legacy media is not as politically driven as the Ditch? Pull the other one.
O'Brien owned outlets reported on his malfeasances. And they employ proper journalists, legal teams to vet stories, researchers etc. They have a corporate structure and a board etc. They are answerable to the BAI on the content they broadcast. They are professional outfits whatever you think of their output (and my own opinion is mixed).
The Ditch is two lads paid by Paddy Cosgrave to rake muck and nothing else. That's all they've done. It's Paddy's psychodrama let loose on us under the guise of "journalism", because deep down he thinks he should be running the country as he's such a clever boy and Ireland's answer to Elon Musk. And on top of that, one of the initial founders is now camped out on a Russian TV station repeating Russian propaganda.
I have made no comment either way on the veracity of any Ditch story.
They have literally published multiple things about the Collins story that are untrue.
I don't read the independent so no.
I don't have much time for the creator of the painting or anyone purporting it to be either good satire or intelligent public commentary, but their political editor could have handled the situation better.
Yes, I am comfortable saying that the legacy media, whatever their faults, are not as politically driven as The Ditch, who appear to lack anything remotely approaching journalistic standards. I am not arguing that they are always wrong either I might add, however the legal framework within which legacy media works has been developed over a long period for a reason.
Please provide details.
It is a criminal offence, punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment, for a councillor to vote on a matter where his spouse has a material interest.
She wasn't his spouse at the time
The land was put up for public sale
It is charitably a poor framing of the issue. I would call it outright lies trying to claim a councillor committed a crime when they did not.
Anyone who thinks this is some deliberate attempt to not report on the story is a bit of a dimwit tbh.
She was his partner then, no and she became his wife, no? She doesn't have to be his wife for it to be a criminal offence, just a spouse as defined below:
“spouse”, in relation to a person, includes a person with whom the first-mentioned person is cohabiting.
It was put up for public sale in the Limerick leader - is that the usual place to advertise such property to prospective investors? Why not Myhome or Daft?
He was conflicted yet he voted on the matter and didn't declare that conflict of interest. It's for the criminal courts to determine whether there was a crime committed and it is far from a clear-cut no from where I'm standing. How is it a lie to claim it is possibly criminal when that is the case? You are really stretching to claim someone is lying when they say something is possible - especially when it is possible to any objective bystander.
Why not Myhome or Daft?
Because it was 2006 and Bebo and MySpace were the most popular websites in Ireland?
Deflect much?
Was Eimear O'Connor his spouse at the time - yes or no?
No she wasn't his spouse, because spouse has a definative meaning in Irish law. There is no such thing as common law husband or wife in Irish legislation, and civil union legislation wasn't introduced until 2015.
Try to pull the "cohabiting couple" card for property rights after a breakup in an Irish courts. You wont get far.
Not sure what point you're trying to make with your post - the spousal definition I included above is from PART 15 Ethical Framework for the Local Government Service, a breach of which is a criminal offence.
Are you saying she wasn't living with him in 2006?
.,
...
Does the format or the messenger impact the validity of their statements? Which fact did they get wrong in the past?
It's worrying that they are exposing a bias in our media.
It's fascinating how the Ditch irks the FFG fanboys so much. Status Quo at risk alert!!
Pop quiz - is there anyone here who thinks Collins is clean and has no questions to answer?
B-b-but the shinners, paddy Cosgrove.. conspiracy nuts the lot of ye...
Yeah I know. Funny isn't it.
To be honest I haven't a rats who Cosgrave is apart from some IT conference some years back. I don't really care who he is.
And I still buy the Independent and sometimes the Irish Times! They have become rags in recent years. I don't know who their Editors are either anymore.
Also even if she was his wife, a future intention to buy land on the open market isn't on the extensive list of "declarable" or "beneficial" interests under the Local Government Act 2001 (as amended). I have gone into detail on that point here: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058293765/niall-collins-or-the-apparent-weakness-of-the-local-government-act-2001
The Ditch also should have known that she wasn't his wife at the time of the vote, as they apparently had a copy of his marriage certificate from the previous story they did on him:
The reason his no reputable media outlet has picked this story up is that it is defamatory.
More trouble for Neil/Niall O'Connor/Collins.
Bebo and MySpace were not property sites but I'd wager Daft was the most visited property site at the time.
The point is more that 2006 is eons ago in terms of the pervasion of the internet into daily life and its not at all unusual that a site for sale would only be put in a paper. Did Daft even do development land at the time?
There is nothing particularly weird about how the land was sold from what I can see.
She doesn't have to be his wife, just his spouse. His spouse had made enquiries to the council about buying the land before it was placed on the market. He then voted on the decision to sell the land. This is a clear conflict of interest and if she was his spouse at the time, a failure to declare such a conflict of interest is a criminal offense.
Why not answer the previous question posed to you about whether his wife was his spouse (i.e. living with him) back in 2006 - since you've claimed she wasn't and that the ditch was lying on this point (and quite likely defamed the ditch in the process)
lol, the Ditch are welcome to try and sue me.
They said it was his wife. They were not married. They were wrong.
No they didn't. You are wrong.
Edit: "spouse" is defined as cohabitant under the LCGA as including a cohabitant. I was wrong, apologies.
I've included the definition of spouse under the PART 15 Ethical Framework for the Local Government Service a few posts above. Can the FFG fanboys learn to read!
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://w0.vanillicon.com/v2/0c95fbacfd3f8db330cceee65321bca3.svg)
