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

Cork

Originally posted by gandalf


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

Gandalf.

I am completely opposed to drink driving. It is a stupid & reckless act.

But it is not a resigning issue. This man was elected and his electorate will have their chance to either vote or not vote for him again.

gandalf

Well Cork that is the pathetic attitude that is helping to perpetuate the sleazy Government values that seem to run through all aspects of political life in Ireland.

The time has come to make politicians accountable for their actions and Mr. Wright should be forced to resign and have the full force of the law applied against him as it would be against any of us.

Gandalf.

Cork

Originally posted by gandalf


The time has come to make politicians accountable for their actions and Mr. Wright should be forced to resign and have the full force of the law applied against him as it would be against any of us.

Gandalf.

Mr. Wrieght should face due process. He should be held accountable for his actions.

Just as Mr. Higgins was held accountable for the high court order - Mr Wrieght too should be held accountable.

FF also needs to pass saction on him.

I don't know - if he should resign the FF party whip. It is a metter for FF. I personally would like to see FF sanctioning him.

star gazer

Everyone knows that if it was a Labour or Fine Gael TD who was caught there would be half a dozen FFers screaming for resignations, because other parties have political integrity to keep the TDs would be gone, but since FF has always proved no one goes until they are forced to go by circumstances outside of FF. It is an excellent irony that even the Taoiseach himself called for Joe Higgins to resign. if he doesn't ask Mr. Wright and Mr. collins to go, what should we think?
We, as an electorate need to send a message to all politicians that we value integrity and will mercilly punish wrong-doing.

gandalf

Originally posted by Cork
Mr. Wrieght should face due process. He should be held accountable for his actions.

Just as Mr. Higgins was held accountable for the high court order - Mr Wrieght too should be held accountable.

Here I have an issue with you lumping Higgins and Wright together.

I dislike Joe Higgins intensely but I respect the fact that he stood up for his views and those of some of his constituents in his stand that he probably knew would end in imprisonment. (And yes I believe it is probably part of his next election campaign)

Mr. Wright drank and then drove his car at speed thru a urban area and knocked someone down and had to be restrained from leaving the scene of a crime. I hope they throw the book at him.

FF also needs to pass saction on him.

Yes they need to instigate a motion of censure and have him removed from Dail Eireann.

I don't know - if he should resign the FF party whip. It is a metter for FF. I personally would like to see FF sanctioning him. [/B]

Well if Bertie has a brain he will realise that he will have to start taking responsibility for his TD's actions and act accordingly. (I very much doubt he will and they will do the normal FF damage limitation motion of "See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil".)

Cork

Originally posted by star gazer
because other parties have political integrity to keep the TDs would be gone, but since FF has always proved no one goes until they are forced to go by circumstances outside of FF.

I wonder - if the labour party are considering sanction aganist Tommie Broughan on non payment of bin charges? FG are known for this pro- active stance on the Telenor controversy.

Who was held accountable for the Telenor controversy??

Mr. Wrieght should be held accountable for his actions by both the courts and FF sanction.

gurramok

Big difference between non-payment of a service charge and nearly killing somebody through drink-driving and trying to leave the scene of the incident.

Resign the whip ?..is that all ???
He should resign from public life, scum like that dont deserve sympathy.

Cork

scum like that dont deserve sympathy.

He has admitted to drinking and driving. He could have easily stated that he was returning from the Dail and escape by taking privilidge under this.

He has taken responsibility. He is now subject to due process and sanction by FF.

Sympathy?

Drink Driving is wreckless. But many in this country do it. This country has a problem with drink and addiction. I think using it as a political football instead oif debating the drink culture in this country is typical of a weak opposition.

People need a more responsible atitude torward drink. People sit into cars intoxicated every night in this country. The drink driving limit is being cut. This is welcome. It should have happened years ago.

Frank Grimes

Originally posted by Cork
He has taken responsibility. He is now subject to due process and sanction by FF.

If this was a relative of yours that got hit by that idiot, would you still think it was ok for him to say sorry to some journalists and let that be the end of it?
And please just answer the question, no soundbites/rambling about everyone in the country drinking alot.

Meh

Originally posted by Cork
He has admitted to drinking and driving. He could have easily stated that he was returning from the Dail and escape by taking privilidge under this.

Is this supposed to somehow excuse his misdeeds? Are we supposed to admire him because he isn't committing an even worse crime?

Drink Driving is wreckless. But many in this country do it. This country has a problem with drink and addiction. I think using it as a political football instead oif debating the drink culture in this country is typical of a weak opposition.

People need a more responsible atitude torward drink. People sit into cars intoxicated every night in this country. The drink driving limit is being cut. This is welcome. It should have happened years ago.

This thread is not about the wider issue of drink-driving. This thread concerns the specific incident where a specific politician knocked down and seriously injured a woman. If you want to debate the more general aspects of this society's attitude towards drink-driving, please start another thread.

Cork

Originally posted by Frank_Grimes
If this was a relative of yours that got hit by that idiot, would you still think it was ok for him to say sorry to some journalists and let that be the end of it?

Good point. How did the media get hold of this story? Who created this media circus.

If it was a relative of mine - I would be grateful it was not a more serious accident.

GV. has accepted responsibility and apologised. He will now be subject to due process and possible sanction.

This thread is not about the wider issue of drink-driving

It is about FF deputy faces drink-drive charge after pedestrian hurt.

It is a seious incident and I feel sorry for those concerned.

But it is hypocritical to look at this incident in isolation without looking at the bigger picture.

That is why I raised the Irish drink culture. Everyboby is right appauled with drink driving.

But - If Mr. Smith from xcv street - was behind the wheel - would it have even made the newspapers?

Given GVs status as a TD - there is an opportunity to debate the issue issue of drink driving - But what opposition TDs are doing is using it to score cheap political points aganist the government. This is short sighted, futile and pretty useless.

I have raised the drink culture subject and I really don't want to get involved anymore in the politicising of a drink driving incident. Thats my tuppence worth, folks.

Originally posted by Cork

Given GVs status as a TD - there is an opportunity to debate the issue issue of drink driving - But what opposition TDs are doing is using it to score cheap political points aganist the government. This is short sighted, futile and pretty useless.

But Cork do you not concede the point that this T.D and it doesn't matter what party he is from got into his car while drunk and his doing so is a much more serious breach of duty because he is a legislator .
He makes the laws of the land and in Blatantly disregarding those laws makes his position as a legislator untenable.

Consider the fact of what might have happened if he had got away with this scot free ie if there had been no accident.
Would he drink and drive again...? In all probability yes.
So the honourable thing would be for him to go.

Harping on about other politicians scoring points regarding this incident is naive of you to be honest.
I personally would be disappointed if other legislators didn't highlight the untenable nature of Mr Wrights position.

mm

Meh

Originally posted by Cork
If it was a relative of mine - I would be grateful it was not a more serious accident.

Please don't try and tell me that you wouldn't be angry at the drunk driver.

I have raised the drink culture subject and I really don't want to get involved anymore in the politicising of a drink driving incident. Thats my tuppence worth, folks.

You don't have to politicise something that's already inherently political. A politician, a legislator in charge of making the laws that govern this country, breaks one of the laws that he is supposed to uphold, and you're claiming that this has nothing to do with politics? Mr. Wright has shown

1. irresponsibility
2. disregard for the law
3. disregard for the safety of others

any one of which should be enough to disqualify him from being a TD.

Frank Grimes

Originally posted by Cork
But - If Mr. Smith from xcv street - was behind the wheel - would it have even made the newspapers?

It wasn't Mr. Smith, it's a TD who's party is in government.
And like Meh said, don't try to say you would not be angry with the driver if it was your relative.

gurramok

How did the media get hold of this story? Who created this media circus

It took nearly a week for the story to reach the media.
He only apologized to the media then and not to the victim.

If the media had not known, god knows what the electorate from his constituency at the next election would of been electing without their knowledge. He would of got away scot free and brushed it under the carpet.

Mr. Smith from xcv street is not a public representative. Mr Wright is a TD in Dail Eireann, can you not grasp the gravity of it ?

Cork

I was not going to post any more on this subject as everyboby is in broad agreement that drink driving is 100% wreckless. But a number of points were raised and out of courtesy - I'll try and answer them.

Originally posted by gurramok
Mr Wright is a TD in Dail Eireann, can you not grasp the gravity of it ?

Yes. He has accepted responsibility and he will face due process.

Please don't try and tell me that you wouldn't be angry at the drunk driver

I have no time for drink drivers & of course I would be angery at a drunk driver.

A politician, a legislator in charge of making the laws that govern this country, breaks one of the laws that he is supposed to uphold, and you're claiming that this has nothing to do with politics? Mr. Wright has shown
irresponsibility
disregard for the law
disregard for the safety of others
any one of which should be enough to disqualify him from being a TD.

Mr. Wrieght will be subject to due process. I have stated my apporance to drink & driving. I am not a judge & he is entitled to due process.

We have a TD who is spending a month in Mountjoy for breach of an order of the high court. I too have no time for people who "breaks one of the laws that he is supposed to uphold".

gandalf

Oh for god sake Cork there is a major difference between Mr. Higgins lawbreaking and Mr. Wrights if you cannot fathom this then your vote should be removed.

Deputy Higgins was found in contempt of court because he wouldn't guarantee that he would not block bin lorries in Fingal. He did not endanger anyones life with what he did. Some would argue that he made the ultimate stand for his principles (I am not one of them btw). Bertie Ahern was amoung those that jumped up and said that he should be privey to a motion of censure and removed from the Dail.

Deputy Wright broke the law by driving under the influence at 50 mph (from reports) in an urban area, 20mph over the limit and hit a pedestrian causing her serious injury and then tried to leave the scene of the accident and had to be stopped from doing so by members of the public. Now I wonder will Bertie be motioning to get G.V. Wright TD (40% proof) censured or will he scuttle away in his usual fog of hypocrasy.

Gandalf.

Cork

Originally posted by gandalf

Deputy Higgins was found in contempt of court because he wouldn't guarantee that he would not block bin lorries in Fingal. He did not endanger anyones life with what he did.
Gandalf.

He broke a order from the High Court. TDs need to become more compliant with the law. (including tax law).

I wonder will Bertie be motioning to get G.V. Wright TD (40% proof) censured

I hope he does.

Bard

This would all be very simple indeed if Mr. G.V. Wright was not a very good and hard working politician who has built up a lot of respect and admiration from the people of north County Dublin. He's certainly done a lot for our own specific local area here and I was frankly shocked to hear that he, of all people had been involved in such an incident.

While I don't condone drink driving in the slightest (a drunken driver was the cause of my girlfriends death 9 years ago), it does seem to me that what he's done is something that is totally out of character for him, and he seems to be very sorry for, and embarrassed by it. Anyone deserves a chance to make amends, and I should certainly hope for his sake that it is not a resigning issue - as there may be many corrupt, shiftless and useless politicians in the Dáil who wouldn't lift a finger for their constituents once elected - but he's not one of them, thankfully.

By the way, I'm not a FF supporter and I don't recall if I voted for the man the last time out. I've just been impressed by certain things he's done in the past few years. I do feel bad for the woman who was knocked down... and I imagine G.V. feels a million times worse. I believe that those of you who are calling for his resignation are exaggerating slightly.

gurramok

Many people that do bad things claim that it is out of character when they realise that they have been caught in the act. In this case your local TD may have fooled you into believing he was hard-working and honest by his past deeds.

How do we not know that GV Wright was not drink driving on many previous occasions before the callous smash into the unfortunate victim ??

Calling for resignation is not exagerating the issue, what he did was dreadful and criminal in the eyes of the law.
Last time i checked, members of parliament are suppose to uphold the law and are not above it.

mike65

This from the Sindo :-

Meanwhile, in the GV Wright controversy, sources say that, as well as sympathising with him, the disgraced former FF minister Ray Burke has encouraged him to cope with his present difficulties.

Drawing on his own experience, Mr Burke suggested that in time the controversy over Mr Wright's drunk driving accident would recede somewhat from the public mind.

Mike.

Bard

Originally posted by gurramok
Many people that do bad things claim that it is out of character when they realise that they have been caught in the act. In this case your local TD may have fooled you into believing he was hard-working and honest by his past deeds.

Er, yeah... his hard work and his honesty really had me fooled that he was hard-working and honest.

...

How do we not know that GV Wright was not drink driving on many previous occasions before the callous smash into the unfortunate victim ??

Those people that I know that know him personally would say that he wasn't doing so and that it would be totally out of character FOR him to do so.

Calling for resignation is not exagerating the issue, what he did was dreadful and criminal in the eyes of the law.

He's a good TD who made a very bad mistake one day. He should pay for that mistake but he shouldn't pay for it with his job and he shouldn't be paying for it for the rest of his life.

Last time i checked, members of parliament are suppose to uphold the law and are not above it.

Last time you "checked"? Well whoever you checked with misinformed you as you're plainly wrong.

The Government may make the laws of the land, sure, but they're not the ones charged with the duty of upholding it - that's the job of the Garda Síochána.

Mr. Wright may be a member of the government, but that doesn't make him a superhuman being incapable of making mistakes.

The Muppet

Last time i checked, members of parliament are suppose to uphold the law and are not above it.

I dont see anyone advocating letting Mr. Wrigh away with his drink driving. He should be punished in exactly the same way as any other Citizen caught for drink driving, no more no less.

Sparks

Originally posted by Bard
He's a good TD who made a very bad mistake one day. He should pay for that mistake but he shouldn't pay for it with his job and he shouldn't be paying for it for the rest of his life.

And if he'd been a foot to the left? She would have been killed - would you defend him then?
He's a TD. He's supposedly a leader of the community. His party is campaigning against precisely the sort of crime he's committed.
And you think he shouldn't pay for it with his job?

Last time you "checked"? Well whoever you checked with misinformed you as you're plainly wrong.
The Government may make the laws of the land, sure, but they're not the ones charged with the duty of upholding it - that's the job of the Garda Síochána.

Actually, the Gardai enforce the law, not uphold it. That is the job of the government, through policy decisions and so forth.
And last time I checked, the government were, in theory at least, supposed to lead by example and to be held to a higher standard of behaviour than the average punter.

Mr. Wright may be a member of the government, but that doesn't make him a superhuman being incapable of making mistakes.

Obviously. However, being a member of government does mean that he has to be held accountable for those mistakes, and he can hardly remain a member of a government that is actively campaigning against drink driving when he has now been caught doing so himself.

Frank Grimes

Originally posted by The Muppet
I dont see anyone advocating letting Mr. Wrigh away with his drink driving. He should be punished in exactly the same way as any other Citizen caught for drink driving, no more no less.

But he's not just any other citizen, that's why people think he should resign.

As has been said on either this thread or the one about Collins. Ahern had no problem last week talking about tabling a motion to have Joe Higgins removed from the Dáil, will he apply the same thing to 2 of his own TDs? or as per usual will the "but sure they'll all forget about this in a few weeks" contemptuous attitude they seem to have towards all of us apply to this situation, like so many others.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

gurramok

Originally posted by Bard
Those people that I know that know him personally would say that he wasn't doing so and that it would be totally out of character FOR him to do so.

Guess it was out of character for him to attend the Fairyhouse meeting 2 days after the crash and to attend a reception in Malahide for the Entente Floral tidy town's event on the Monday before the appalling incident broke to the media on the Wednesday?
Hardly the work of a caring TD while his victim lay on a sickbed in agony.

He's a good TD who made a very bad mistake one day. He should pay for that mistake but he shouldn't pay for it with his job and he shouldn't be paying for it for the rest of his life.

The nurse he knocked down may never walk again nor work again. She has paid a dear price for that scumbags actions.

Last time you "checked"? Well whoever you checked with misinformed you as you're plainly wrong.

See above post from Sparks

Mr. Wright may be a member of the government, but that doesn't make him a superhuman being incapable of making mistakes.

Reputedly the alcohol level in his blood on the intoxilyser was 67 over 100 where the legal limit is 35 over 100.
Clearly he must of thought he was superhuman to drive a vehicle while under the influence of about 6 pints of beer.
Big mistake it is, not a little one with a slap on the wrist as punishment.

Capt'n Midnight

No guessing which way the opposition would vote on this issue.
And as for the PD's - "High Standards in High Places"

Was this an accident - NO - He drank.
You can blame others for letting him drive - but that in no way affects his decision to drive. It's not as if he couldn't afford a Taxi on his salary, it's not as if he was unaware of drink driving being illegal etc.

PS. can anyone look up any Dail votes / speaches etc. to see what he has said about any of the issues concerned.

http://www.oireachtas-debates.gov.ie/

Here is a snippet from Mr Wright (same one ?) calling for more pubs and longer oppening hours...
Dáil Éireann / Volume 520 / 30 May, 2000
Intoxicating Liquor Bill, 2000 [ Seanad ] : Second Stage (Resumed
"One of the issues raised with the Minister was that of spirits being served in restaurants. I ask [138] him to review his thinking on this. One of our most famous drinks is Irish coffee. The Minister has gone a long way and I ask him to take another small step and allow this type of drink to be served "

Defending Duty Free shops..
Dáil Éireann / Volume 486 /10 February, 1998
Private Members' Business. / Duty Free Sales: Motion

dahamsta

I just watched McDowell on the television. The man disgusts me.

adam

sceptre

Originally posted by Capt'n Midnight
PS. can anyone look up any Dail votes / speaches etc. to see what he has said about any of the issues concerned.

Not a Dail speech this but mentioned in today's Sindo:

His embarrassment and that of his party is added to by his recent high profile condemnation of drink-related offences.

Speaking about the new anti-drink offences laws in Fingal, he said: "I encourage all Fingallians to record their agreement and approval of these by-laws to give the Garda Siochana the powers they need to keep our public places safe and devoid of unsociable behaviour brought about by the abuse of intoxicating liquor."

Incidentally the "Feedback" button on GV Wright's webpage doesn't seem to be working. Odd that.