[Article] FF deputy faces drink-drive charge after pedestrian hurt

Victor

Could we be seeing another politician before a judge? The shock! The horror! The agapeness! Maybe they'll set up a politcal wing in Mountjoy like they have in Portlaoise?

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/1556685?view=Eircomnet

FF deputy faces drink-drive charge after pedestrian hurt
From:The Irish Independent
Thursday, 25th September, 2003
Brian Dowling and Tom Brady

A FIANNA Fail TD may face drink-driving charges in connection with a traffic accident.

According to a number of sources the Dublin North TD, GV Wright, was arrested last Saturday night following an accident in the Mountjoy Square area in which a female pedestrian suffered a leg injury.

Mr Wright was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving at the scene and taken to Fitzgibbon Street Garda station.

Gardai are expected to make a decision shortly on whether to press charges against the TD. Their investigations into the accident have not yet been completed.

Efforts to contact Mr Wright yesterday were unsuccessful. The episode will prove embarrassing for Fianna Fail, especially at a time when the Government has placed such emphasis on the need to curb drink-driving.

Since the Coalition was returned to office last year one of the major initiatives has been the plan for a phased roll-out of penalty points for a range of motoring offences, including drink-driving.

Mr Wright, a popular backbencher in Fianna Fail, was re-elected to the Dail in 1997 having lost his seat in 1989.

He was re-elected to the Dail in the general election last May.

Sleipnir

naw, he's apologised so the judge willprobably just wag his finger and tut.
If only we could all say sorry in the national press.
Although maybe, just maybe, he'll get a fine and a 6 month ban.

Weren't there two drunk driving cases thrown out a few weeks ago for some stupid technicalites?
Two women, one was so drunk she went through lights, ran up on the kerb and knocked down the traffic light. The Garda didn't make a note of the exact time of the arrest so it was thrown out.

A drunken cow who could have killed someone and will probably do it again gets away because the judges don't live in the real world.

And the other one was just a stupid as I recall.

I'm really sick and tired of our justice system.
When there's a trial for some little thug the judge shows up, as do the barristers and solicitors, the Gardai and the witnesses. The only person who could get away with not turning up is the defendant!

Although maybe, just maybe, he'll get a fine and a 6 month ban.

If he gets away without getting points on his License, I'll go crazy.. Getting away without loosing his License is bad enough, but if he gets no points, then its a pure mockery of the new Drink driving policy..

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/breaking/1558360?view=Eircomnet

Fianna Fail TD apologises for drink-driving incident
From:ireland.com
Thursday, 25th September, 2003

A Fianna Fáil TD has admitted driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Dublin North TD Mr GV Wright, said he failed a breath test following a crash in Mountjoy Square in the city last week.

In a statement, Mr Wright said he was involved in the accident that led to the injury of a pedestrian on Thursday.

The statement said: "When returning home from Dáil Éireann on Thursday September 18th I was involved in a traffic accident which led to injury to a pedestrian.

"Subsequently tests confirmed I exceeded the breath alcohol level.

"I wish to unreservedly apologise to the person whom I injured and her family for this serious lapse of personal responsibility on my part and wish her a complete and expeditious recovery.

"I wish also to apologise to my family and friends and those whom I represent in Dublin North. I have been and will continue to fully co-operate with the authorities as these matters progress."

Gardaí are investigating the incident and Mr Wright could face drink-driving charges.

star gazer

Can i ask a related question...
why are people giving credit to GV Wright for coming out now and putting his hands up in admission when the event happened on Thursday and he only came out after the story broke in the media. Surely if he was so honest and forthcoming he could have come out and made a statement on monday?

mike65

Okay lets think about this for a moment -

A TD leave the Dail having presumably spent time in the bar of said establishment and knowing full well the law and his condition
climbs into his Merc and toddles off home when he hits a hapless
member of the public and injurers her. So we have a legistator leave the house law making breaking the law and causing harm to
an innocent party.

Sod an appology and a fine - this for me is a straightfoward resigning matter. If a lawmaker breaks the law they should
go and go now.

Mike.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

PH01

A bit FF bashing here at the moment - very tiring, boring and common.

But besides that, how many penality points will GB Wright get for this, or will he lose his licence straight away?

Imposter

Joe Dolan also had a second attempt at prosecuting him for drink driving thrown out in the last few weeks because the arresting Guard was on holidays or some equally stupid reason.

Makes you wonder!

SCULLY

---

Originally posted by mike65
Sod an appology and a fine - this for me is a straightfoward resigning matter. If a lawmaker breaks the law they should
go and go now.

---

---

Originally posted by PH01
A bit FF bashing here at the moment - very tiring, boring and common.

---

Why is this FF bashing? Most people would agree with mike65 - the fact that the TD in question is FF is irrevelant.

The woman who was hit was on morning
Ireland this morning.
Apparently some local people had to restrain Mr Wright and take the keys from the car as he was going to leave the scene of the accident.

She is a Nurse and said he came down very fast as she was crossing the road.

Her leg is in bad condition broken in four places and has 80 pins in it.
There is a danger part of it will have to be amputated.

She said she has received no word from Mr Wright in the last week, no personal apology, card or flowers, nothing.

The incident is a lot worse than, it seemed yesterday.

Although accidents can happen to anyone,a T.D drinking and driving and nearly killing a pedestrian like this is in my opinion a resigning matter.

mm

Sleipnir

Originally posted by PH01
A bit FF bashing here at the moment - very tiring, boring and common.

But besides that, how many penality points will GB Wright get for this, or will he lose his licence straight away?

A man, one of Ireland's public representatives and a member of the Irish government got into his car drunk, drove home and hit a pedestrian.
Where's the FF bashing?

Sleipnir

oh and looky here for another of the fine, upstanding & honest members of
FF.

FF deputy to be named in bank list


A FIANNA Fail TD is expected to identified today on a name-and-shame list of individuals who held bogus off-shore non-resident bank accounts.

Party chiefs had expected that the deputy would have been named previously but they now expect his name will included on a list to be published by the Revenue Commissioners.

The identification of a sitting TD in connection with a bogus non-resident account will cause even further embarrassment for the party.

Yesterday, Dublin North deputy, GV Wright, confirmed he had been arrested on suspicion of drink driving after an accident involving a female pedestrian.

It is understood that the TD due to be named is from a rural constituency and that he held the bogus account before he became an elected representative.

It is also expected that a number of millionaires will be among 200 people to be named by the Revenue as the holders of bogus non-resident accounts.

The list to be published - the second of bogus account holders -will represent the largest public identification of offshore account holders since major controversy arose over Ansbacher and other investments by major figures in Irish public life.

star gazer

The incident is a lot worse than, it seemed yesterday.
Man

Yeah the more of the story we find out the worse it looks. It smacks of media management and the media seem to think he was great for sending a fax to media organisations saying he was sorry and accepting he was over the limit. The guy only admitted it when he was forced to by a news article. He hasn't had the courage to contact the injured party to hold onto his integrity and see if she was ok.
Maybe this could happen to any TD but it still doesn't mean that the opposition should be so quiet about this issue. It's a disgrace to us that drinking and driving is still acceptable to politicians on a perssonal level. I'm sure that most of them don't but the fact that they aren't all screaming about this issue leaves a bad taste.
Our Taoiseach felt it necessary to call for Joe Higgins to resign, after GV Wright's court case, we shall see his consistency or hypocrisy.

sorrento

Originally posted by Man
She said she has received no word from Mr Wright in the last week, no personal apology, card or flowers, nothing.
mm

Imagine apologising for what he did to newspaper reporters and not to the woman herself. I was led to believe (by the news reports) that the papers were reporting on his apology to her personally.

He is a total scumbag he nearly killed somebody by drinking and driving that womans leg will give her trouble for the rest of her life and that scumbag didn't even apologise to her.

Fianna Fail are a bunch of scumbags too for not washing their hands of him. What the f*ck is their problem?

What a complete shower of b*astards we have running this country.

bloggs

Originally posted by sorrento
Imagine apologising for what he did to newspaper reporters and not to the woman herself. I was led to believe (by the news reports) that the papers were reporting on his apology to her personally.

He is a total scumbag he nearly killed somebody by drinking and driving that womans leg will give her trouble for the rest of her life and that scumbag didn't even apologise to her.

Fianna Fail are a bunch of scumbags too for not washing their hands of him. What the f*ck is their problem?

What a complete shower of b*astards we have running this country.

FF in my belief are united in their corruption, they all stand together so that nobody will spill the beans. I think this is the case here also, Bertie and Co won't condemn him, as no doubt he will probably say 'but sure the rest of yee, go drinking and driving too'.

How about the people who he was drinking with, where are they, why did they not stop him from getting in to his car. How many times has this occurred and him not being arrested. I think the only reason he was arrested was because a victim was involved. If there wasn't the local Garda would have been told to tear up the report.

FF in my belief are the scum of the earth, if this guy doesn't resign I will be livid!!!

bloggs

Originally posted by PH01
A bit FF bashing here at the moment - very tiring, boring and common.

But besides that, how many penality points will GB Wright get for this, or will he lose his licence straight away?

As far i a can remember, drink driving is a 2 year ban, with a retest required.

But sure what difference will banning this guy do? He will just get someone to drive him to 'work' paid for by the tax payer. He should be fined, loose his licence and resign. Nothing short of that is good enough in my opinion.

Personally i think the victim should sue for damages.

gurramok

Any other country a member of parliament would be shamed into resigning their seat.
Its a disgrace that no other so called TD's express outrage that he still will not apologize to the victim.
Drink driving is a criminal offence the last time i looked at the law, Bertie's silence on this matter and the tax evader TD is dipping to a new low.
Why has it taken the gardai so long to bring drink-driving charges ?
If it was anyone else, it would be straight forward prosecution.

mycroft

His resignation would be a tad embarssing right now. He's a TD for Nth County dublin, where Clare Daly is a Cllr.

It'd be a good chance to get Clare elected when theres a wave of public support for her, so his resignation (not that he'd give it) wouldn't be accepted. Its another classic example of flexible morals from this government.

gurramok

Yep hypocrisy.
2 other public representatives were quickly jailed for public protesting yet 2 other TD's still have their seats despite their criminal behaviour for tax evasion and drink-driving causing serious injury.

So-called morals dont count in FF as far as i see.

gandalf

Yep saw the woman interviewed on the news and from the womans description of the accident it was alot more damning and serious than yesterdays spun story made it look.

Coupled with Mr. Michael Collins Bogus off shore account settlement (after he signed a declaration that he was tax compliant before entering the current dail) and Berties extremely dodgy sports jacket that he was wearing in New York methinks things are going to get nastier for FF.

Gandalf.

(In any other country Wright and Collins would have resigned by now!!!!)

Cork

There are far too many drink deiving offences in Ireland. Why are Irish people drinking themselves stupid? This is a serious problem not confined to one social group or political party.

2 other public representatives were quickly jailed for public protesting yet 2 other TD's still have their seats despite their criminal behaviour for tax evasion and drink-driving causing serious injury.

Not paying for your trash and expecting the state to pick up the tab. People across the country have been paying service charges for years. If Higgins & Co feel their sentences if they hand done by - they can appeal.

Capt'n Midnight

Words failed me when I heard about the "apology"
a) it's a week late
b) it's not an apology if you have not contacted the person
All sounds like damage limitation rather than genuine remorse.

Also he musta started drink early judging buy the time of the accident.
Was he breathalised ? - It sounds like he was restrained from leaving the scene..

Did he send the fax or was it organised for him ??

Any word on Lawlor being hauled up in front of the high court ?

Cork

It is amazing how quick the opposition partys are opposition partys are making a political football out of this.

This country has a serious problem with drink. Atitudes thru out this country need to change big time.

Drink Driving goes on nightly in this country & many people involved don't apolgise.

It would prefer if FF, FG, Labour, SF and others debate this issue and avoid pointless mud slinging.

gurramok

Drink driving at a reputed speed of over 50mph in a built up area and then mounting the pavement and hitting an innocent passer-by is no mud-slinging or attempt at political football.

To me that should be attempted murder, reckless endangerment...call it what you like, its a very serious offence.

Face it that it happened, worse still he reputedly tried to leave the scene and had to be restrained by a number of locals who had to take the keys from the car.

He is a frigging TD, its a resigning matter.

He could of been a public representative from any party,
its the silence of his party (FF) to this incident and to the tax evader that is disgusting.

Originally posted by Cork
It is amazing how quick the opposition partys are opposition partys are making a political football out of this.

This country has a serious problem with drink. Atitudes thru out this country need to change big time.

Drink Driving goes on nightly in this country & many people involved don't apolgise.

It would prefer if FF, FG, Labour, SF and others debate this issue and avoid pointless mud slinging.

The problem here Cork though is:
A legislator decided Drunk to get into a car and speed down a road in a built up area.
The party he was from is immaterial, the same fuss would be made if he was FG or socialist or whatever.
He knew he was breaking the law.
Now I heard a solicitor on the radio today say that because it's a first offence, he's likely to have the injury case struck out and just get punished for drink driving.
So in all likelyhood, his Dáil seat is safe from the prying eyes of legislation which says that any T.D with more than a six month custodial sentence imposed will lose his Dáil seat.
He should set an example and resign.

mm

Cork

Originally posted by Man

He should set an example and resign.

mm

Many in this country drink like fish. He should not have drank and drove. He was not the first and he won't be the last.

Sould Joe Higgins resign after serving his stint in the Dail? The government are bringing down the drink drive limits. Hopefully, this will change attitudes to drink & driving.

But the problem of drink driving goes across all professions and social classes. It is pretty sad looking at opposion TDs making a political football out of this.

mike65

I heard a vox-pop on RTE Radio in his constituency and about 10/12 ppl were heard, only 2 said he should resign - there seems to be alot of the "ah sure it could have been you or me" attitude out there, those ppl should wonder if they'd be so forgiving if it was thier loved one who had nearly been killed by a drunk driver....

Mike.

sceptre

Originally posted by Cork
The government are bringing down the drink drive limits. Hopefully, this will change attitudes to drink & driving.

Perhaps even among their own TDs, who knows.

This has little to do with GV Wright being a TD from FF and all to do with him being a TD and lawmaker/legislator who got into a car while drunk and hit someone, then got around to apologising only when the media were about to run with the story anyway (and even then apologising to them rather than her) because he thought he'd get away with it. If he was a TD for any other party I'd be saying the same thing: Resign you idiot. Anyone who says it's not a big deal is condoning idiots getting into cars while intoxicated and playing skittles with people. It's the difference when a legislator does something like this that you appear to want to ignore.

Sand

Many in this country drink like fish. He should not have drank and drove. He was not the first and he won't be the last.

Sould Joe Higgins resign after serving his stint in the Dail? The government are bringing down the drink drive limits. Hopefully, this will change attitudes to drink & driving.

Cork, Im absolutely stunned that there is anyone out there defending this. Fair play to you, youve got the nerve to be a FF TD some day:)

Does it matter if other people drink and drive before and most likely after this? The same can be said of sexual assaults. One of our lawmakers went out and broke the law willfully in an extremely serious manner. If there is any dignity in the FF ranks the TD will either resign on his own iniative or he should be pushed. Anything less exspresses sheer and utter contempt for the electorate. That sad thing is is he does resign hell come back as an independant and will be elected by his constituency, no doubt on the back of " Sure isnt he a great man for apologising, sure it could happen to a Bishop " sentiment. Sadly, all too often, we get the government we deserve.

As for Higgins Im delighted hes getting a jail sentence but I dont think obstructing bin trucks and willfully drinking and getting into a car to nearly kill a woman is even in the same book let alone the same page.

This isnt party political either - I detest the sort of rainbow coalition politics that are sadly the only alternative to bertie, but at this stage how much more does it take in terms of pure disgrace before we say enough - preferably to the lot of them, because there doesnt seem to be asingle electable party in the entire Irish political spectrum?

In reality though - FF and the TDs in question will brazen it out and try to confuse the issue by dragging in unrelated past history until we all get so bored of their crap that it becomes old news. Who remembers Bertie turning down the Omagh commemoration in favour of opening an off-license for example?

gandalf

Cork can you answer the question here and not fire out meaningless soundbites.

Do you think a public representative should resign if he has willingly broken the law and put the publics wellbeing in danger ?

No soundbites just answer that question !!!

Gandalf.