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What are Michael Healy-Rae's chances?

  • 23-01-2011 07:37PM
    #1
    St._Andalou
    Closed Accounts Posts: 327 ✭✭


    Are there any views on what Michael Healy-Rae's chances are? I'm not from Kerry South, but I'm curious for two reasons: (a) I detest the Healy-Rae "dynasty" and (b) I think this election is our best opportunity to move beyond parochial politics, as displayed herein, and for me the Healy-Raes are symbolic of that:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kpk3S0vUlY


    This article claims he has a good chance, in spite of some controversial expense claims.

    I can't resist posting this video, but the thread isn't just an excuse for some Healy-Rae bashing, which is way too easy anyway. I'm genuinely curious.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVRYzqvRtww


«134

Comments

  • #2
    michael999999
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,771 ✭✭✭michael999999


    fcuk em,he should be no where near the dail.

    Problem is there are some pretty thick people out there that will keep voting for them, no matter what!


  • #3
    St._Andalou
    Closed Accounts Posts: 327 ✭✭St._Andalou


    There's a "Healy-Rae Organization" with 280 members and two of Jackie's sons -- Michael and Danny -- are councillors, so unfortunately they seem to have the local manpower, backing, and funds to pull it off.


  • #4
    Jeboa Safari
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,202 ✭✭✭Jeboa Safari


    I detest him aswell, I hope he doesn't get in, but I don't think this election will be about getting over parochial politics, it will probably be more about it than ever. I can see there being a high number of independents elected, unfortunately.


  • #5
    Jimbo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,379 ✭✭✭Jimbo


    You would hope the people of Kerry South would punish them for supporting the government. At least the power of these parish pump independents should be diminished next time round as they won't be required for a majority.


  • #6
    michael999999
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,771 ✭✭✭michael999999


    They cant be classified as independent when they have been propping up fianna failure the last few years!


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  • #7
    ejmaztec
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,348 ✭✭✭✭ejmaztec


    Of course Prince Michael will be crowned elected. He's been in training for the job on one of the local councils, with another brother training on another local council, the latter having been bred specifically for spare-parts.

    However, I don't think that the family businesses (politics to name but one) will do anywhere near as well as they did during the FF wonder years.


  • #8
    lugha
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,235 ✭✭✭lugha


    They won't have anything like the same influence. It doesn't look like independents will play a part, unless FG get perhaps 75-80 seats and can dispense with Labour.
    Even then, I expect they would be loath to deal with these boys.


  • #9
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    I hope to heavens that clod capped country bumpkin doesn't get elected.
    His father was/is an embarrassment to our hopes and prospects towards modern politics.
    The sons are just a chip off the old block and equally embarrassing.


  • #10
    Min
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,550 ✭✭✭Min


    It is upto the people of South Kerry to decide who they want, there are people on the left who I wouldn't like to see elected but it is upto the people to decide who they want.


  • #11
    ejmaztec
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,348 ✭✭✭✭ejmaztec


    Min wrote: »
    It is upto the people of South Kerry to decide who they want, there are people on the left who I wouldn't like to see elected but it is upto the people to decide who they want.

    We all know that it's up to the people of South Kerry, and I for one wish they would see reason. Ireland needs quality TDs of all political persuasions to get this country out of the mess, and not someone who thinks his constituency is the centre of the universe.


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  • #12
    St._Andalou
    Closed Accounts Posts: 327 ✭✭St._Andalou


    Min wrote: »
    It is upto the people of South Kerry to decide who they want, there are people on the left who I wouldn't like to see elected but it is upto the people to decide who they want.

    Yes but if an independent holds the ruling party to ransom with ridiculous demands like Healy-Rae has done on many occasions (example: when the country was in meltdown, one of his demands was no increase in the price of alcohol because he's a publican) then it becomes an issue for the entire country, which is why I've singled him out.


  • #13
    johnmcdnl
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,740 ✭✭✭johnmcdnl


    michael999999 wrote: »
    fcuk em,he should be no where near the dail.

    Problem is there are some pretty thick people out there that will keep voting for them, no matter what!

    once again it comes down to - he'll do a good job for the people of his constituency - he mightn't be great for the rest of the country but he'll help the people that vote for him if he gets his seat - the system works like this and until there's a major overhaul in the entire system it's going to continue to work like this

    the people aren't think that vote for him - he's doing good work for them so why wouldn't they vote for him???


  • #14
    r3nu4l
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,392 ✭✭✭✭r3nu4l


    johnmcdnl wrote: »
    the people aren't think that vote for him - he's doing good work for them so why wouldn't they vote for him???
    This comes down to the selfishness of the few. These are probably the very same people who would give out about bankers keeping everything for themselves yet can't make the connection that by voting in another Healy-Rae they themselves are doing a very similar thing, i.e. looking after their own interests rather than that of the country as a whole.

    It's the 'Dublin gets everything' persecution mentality that makes these people vote for the likes of Healy-Rae.


  • #15
    4gun
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,460 ✭✭✭4gun


    why does Healey-Rae consistatly get re elected... Is it because the people of South Kerry are mindlless idiots who do what they are told... Or is it because he fullfills his election promises to his electorate..Just because he does not fit into the Yaw Yaw image for an Modern Irish politician, he is an embarassment ? :rolleyes:
    brian cowen isn't ":rolleyes:
    our greens aren't :rolleyes: (Talk about fiddling while Rome burns)
    bertie who despite warnings allowed the economy to overheat
    no wonder our country is screwed ..when so many fail to seee what is beneath the gloss and vote for an image


  • #16
    johnmcdnl
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,740 ✭✭✭johnmcdnl


    r3nu4l wrote: »
    This comes down to the selfishness of the few. These are probably the very same people who would give out about bankers keeping everything for themselves yet can't make the connection that by voting in another Healy-Rae they themselves are doing a very similar thing, i.e. looking after their own interests rather than that of the country as a whole.

    It's the 'Dublin gets everything' persecution mentality that makes these people vote for the likes of Healy-Rae.

    are you implying that the politicians elected in dublin or basically anywhere outside south kerry are going to help the people of south kerry anywhere as much as healy-rae will...

    the Dublin gets everything mentality is there for a reason - metro north/terminal 2 etc etc - when even a fraction of the money starts to go towards south kerry without healy-rae's help then maybe they'll not get voted in anymore...

    put yourself in the shoes of a typical person from south kerry - you can vote for healy rae who'll help your area as much as he can
    or you can vote for that other lad who's in the "national" politican with the country's needs in mind...

    national politician isn't going to help south kerry people half as much is he when he starts talking about how metro north is going to be great for the business needs of those in dublin - that doesn't affect anyone in south kerry and probably won't ever affect anyone in south kerry...

    dublin may have 25% of the population and all that so they get more money - but healy-rae is the man who's trying to get as much as possible for this area - and why should the people in south kerry put the "national problems" ahead of their own problems especially when the national problems are sorted the local issues in south kerry will be ignored because there's only a tiny number of people in south kerry proportional to the population of dublin which will once again continue to get the most of the investment...


  • #17
    dilallio
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,728 ✭✭✭dilallio


    Paddy Power has him favourite to get in
    Michael Healey-Rae (Ind) 1/7

    Tom Sheahan (FG) 1/6

    Marie Moloney (Lab) 1/3

    John O'Donoghue (FF) 11/10

    Tom Fleming (Ind) 2/1

    Brendan Griffin (FG) 4/1

    Michael Gleeson (SKIA) 8/1


  • #18
    ejmaztec
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,348 ✭✭✭✭ejmaztec


    4gun wrote: »
    why does Healey-Rae consistatly get re elected... Is it because the people of South Kerry are mindlless idiots who do what they are told... Or is it because he fullfills his election promises to his electorate..Just because he does not fit into the Yaw Yaw image for an Modern Irish politician, he is an embarassment ? :rolleyes:
    brian cowen isn't ":rolleyes:
    our greens aren't :rolleyes: (Talk about fiddling while Rome burns)
    bertie who despite warnings allowed the economy to overheat
    no wonder our country is screwed ..when so many fail to seee what is beneath the gloss and vote for an image

    And Healy-Rae supported them, every step of the way. :rolleyes:


  • #19
    Bucklesman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 635 ✭✭✭Bucklesman


    From what I've heard from relatives in Kerry South he's in no way guaranteed a seat. No need to jump to conclusions about gombeenism.


  • #20
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    Bucklesman wrote: »
    From what I've heard from relatives in Kerry South he's in no way guaranteed a seat. No need to jump to conclusions about gombeenism.
    Well here's hoping that he voted with them every way possible - even to turn down funding for Irelands national Crumlin Childrens Hospital - a national centre/hospital for many kinds of cancer/leukaemia/scoliosis/etc ailments many young lives are stuck down by.
    (After that voting - a week later he voted with Fianna Fail and the useless Greens, to give the same amount of money that was needed to keep wards open (actually one million more than what the hospital was needing!), to fund building a small INNER-Dublin cycle track for the Greens to keep them sweet and on side with the FF mob - who were afraid at that time, in an upcoming vote in the RDS, the Greens were going to split from them then!

    ...So much for looking after his own constituents when in fact I'm sure many of them suffer from the same ailments - some of whom I've met in Dublin while they were up for treatments.


  • #21
    Monty Burnz
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,455 ✭✭✭✭Monty Burnz


    I kind of hope he gets in, is a total irrelevance in the new Dáil, and South Kerry gets screwed over for the next X years to make up for them screwing over the rest of the country in the past.


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  • #22
    r3nu4l
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,392 ✭✭✭✭r3nu4l


    johnmcdnl wrote: »
    are you implying that the politicians elected in dublin or basically anywhere outside south kerry are going to help the people of south kerry anywhere as much as healy-rae will...

    No I'm not, that's what you are inferring from what I said and the rest of your rant is invalidated by the fact that it's not what I said.

    To clarify for you:

    Almost all politicians in Ireland are far too concerned with getting as much for their constituents as possible than they are with the overall National Interest.

    That goes for politicians in Dublin as much as in South Kerry. It's pathetic but unfortunately, unless the system changes that's always how it's going to be.

    Perhaps (though I doubt it) people will now have learned that voting for the man who ensures the potholes are filled in in your town, is not always the best thing to do, especially if he's the sort who will prop up the Government who are destroying the country economically while he's at it. In the long run, having a road with no potholes will be no use if you have to sell your car because you lost your job and have to keep up on the mortgage payments just because the guy you voted in supported the guys destroying the entire country economically.

    The sooner people realise this the better.


  • #23
    4gun
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,460 ✭✭✭4gun


    ejmaztec wrote: »
    And Healy-Rae supported them, every step of the way. :rolleyes:

    ...You've not heard the phrase "one hand washes the other" then..He got his local hospital some other one got his casino in the midland or someplace...these are good for the local economies and for their own voters isn't that what a local politician is supposed to do...My point in all this is that people were taking exception to his appearance and his personal ..They were embarrased by how we are seen as a nation when he gets international media coverage...One thing about him is that what you see is what you get he does not pretent to be anythigh other that what he is...


  • #24
    kennypowers
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 143 ✭✭kennypowers


    Hi ,
    A long time forum lurker here.As a voter in the south kerry area,I can understand peoples amazement as to how these gombeens get elected.One of the main reasons is the quality of candidate available to chose from as an alternative ,its a choice between useless and incompetent.
    People assume we have a fantastic infrastructure and booming economy down here, as a result of having a healy sugar daddy.The reality is quite the opposite ,with a road network similar to Afghanistan and immigration a constant even during the economic boom time.
    But what they do best is take credit for any form of public services in the area.An example would be the recent snow.All the council trucks were out gritting and did an admirable job,of course who had the council sub contracted the work to and whos name was emblazoned on every lorry and excavator.This was then followed up by phone calls and letters reminding people not to forget their stellar work.
    When his father first got elected it was seen by many down here as two fingers to the establishment and as a novelty ,this feeling whilst not as strong still exists especially among older voters.
    There will also be a strong vote for Michael among the young and first time voters due to his semi celeb status.Whatever way one feels about him, on a person to person basis he is funny and charasmatic.The height of his political ambition should be co councilor,but sadly what we have is another self serving parish pump showman destined for the Dail .


  • #25
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    4gun wrote: »
    ...One thing about him is that what you see is what you get he does not pretend to be anything other that what he is...
    Yes, an embarrassment!


  • #26
    4gun
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,460 ✭✭✭4gun


    Biggins wrote: »
    Yes, an embarrassment!


    Again Why? why him over any other politician...just because of the way he looks and becauce he has a strong IRISH accent...Thats bigotry


  • #27
    elguapo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 188 ✭✭elguapo


    Will Michael Healy-Rae get elected? Yes, handily. I don't like the way the Healy Raes operate, but the system that is in place rewards parochial behaviour with a seat on the national stage. Luckily, he won't have anywhere near the amount of influence his father had, because he has no hope of being in government.

    The power of perception is huge in politics, and the Healy-Rae's are perceived by many as having fought hard to get a hospital built and roads improved. That's the kind of behaviour rewarded by the Irish electorate, and always has been. The electoral system needs reforming, but until that happens, the likes of Healy Rae and Lowry will be seated in the Dail trying to secure money to get potholes fixed.

    Looking down the list of candidates in the betting list there, it is a seriously depressing sight, most of those people deserve no more than a seat on the county council, at best.

    The guy I'd have most time for is Mick Gleeson.He's a County Councillor; very ethical, honest and seems to take an interest in the wider world (personal opinion, not campaigning for him!). It'll be hard for him to compete with the likes of Healy Rae though.


  • #28
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    4gun wrote: »
    Again Why? why him over any other politician...just because of the way he looks and because he has a strong IRISH accent...Thats bigotry
    No - because I've seen him in action up close in the Dail. I couldn't give a rats backside what language he speaks - just how he behaves and votes.
    I've seen him shake FF hands, pat FF backs and smile like a Cheshire cat when he had just turned down with the mob, the funding for Crumlins hospital - and by god did he relish in the fact that they had just defeated the motion!

    (see this post: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=60857305&postcount=413)

    The man is a disgrace. He's been bought hook line and sinker by FF and its this type of politics that has us partly in the place where we are.
    He has supported FF too many, many times and like the Greens, he and all linked to him should be sent packing off into the sunset, never to be seen again!

    He is an embarrassment - and by being associated with and being one of our national representatives, he and his clod capped sons are continuing to further that embarrassment upon all our heads for the rest of the world to see!


  • #29
    ejmaztec
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,348 ✭✭✭✭ejmaztec


    The gravy-train has been derailed.

    http://www.radiokerry.ie/news/
    24 Jan 2011
    Healy-Rae’s support for Government hangs by thread as passing of Dingle legislation in doubt

    Jackie Healy-Rae's support for Government hangs by thread as the passing of the Dingle legislation lies in doubt.
    Last week, the South Kerry independent TD says his support remains as the Government still has to deliver on a number of promises they made to him, as part of a deal with Fianna Fáil after the last general election.
    The legislation to legally change Dingle's name from the Irish An Daingean to the bilingual Dingle Daingean Uí Chuis is tied up with the Dublin Mayoral Bill.
    This was due to come before the Dáil tomorrow, however now that the Greens have withdrawn from Government the future of the Dublin Mayoral Bill among other bills is cast in doubt.
    Yesterday, in a joint statement, Deputy Healy-Rae and his independent colleague Michael Lowry said their support for the Financial Bill was no longer guaranteed.
    The statement added both Deputies would formally declare their position in following the outcome of today's discussions between the opposition and Minister Lenihan.


  • #30
    elguapo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 188 ✭✭elguapo


    ejmaztec wrote: »
    The gravy-train has been derailed.

    http://www.radiokerry.ie/news/

    I knew the Irish language would bring down the country eventually.


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  • #31
    wonderfulname
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,943 ✭✭✭wonderfulname


    ...his support remains as the Government still has to deliver on a number of promises they made to him...
    Not too bright is he?


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