Martin Ferris arrested on suspicion of drink driving

El Stuntman

putting aside Mr Ferris's, ahem, 'colourful' past - surely Sinn Fein would like to take the opportunity to demonstrate that they are a party of principle and drop Ferris from the ticket if the alcohol test result is positive?

I for one would heartily applaud such a step and feel it would be a fine example to set

Zombrex

Poblachtach wrote:

The current government will go to any lengths to blacken the name of Irish Republicans

Well said, I mean Sinn Fein members should be allowed to drink and drive just like the rest of us ... :rolleyes:

Poblachtach wrote:

Again, this incident, will not effect the peoples decision to vote him in.

Unfortunately that is probably true ....

Schuhart

Heinrich wrote:

Blacker than Roger Casement?

Are suggesting Martin Ferris has a secret diary?

Turner

Poblachtach wrote:

This has been done before. Mr. Ferris no freind of the Gardai. The current government will go to any lengths to blacken the name of Irish Republicans. Again, this incident, will not effect the peoples decision to vote him in.

A politically motivated arrest ? I dont think so.

Maybe if an Assistant Commissioner or the Commissioner had arrested him for drink driving you could call it politically motivated.

The arrest was most likely one of a number of similar arrests on the night performed by a 19-25yr old garda. Somebody who is doing his job and should be commended for doing it well. Somebody not influenced by politics and showed the same ethical standards as the young Garda who arrested a Traffic Corps Superintnedent.

As for Mr Ferris ending up in a garda station. His driving either brought him to the attention of a garda who...

1. formed his opinion he was intoxicated and arrested him
2. formed his opinion he was intoxicated and asked him to take a breath test which he failed and was then arrested

or else he came across a random breath test checkpoint and failed the test and was arrested.

Heinrich

Schuhart wrote:

Are suggesting Martin Ferris has a secret diary?

Considering that Bertie has a secret agenda why not?

When you think back on the recent colourful past of CJH (gun running et al.) and his poodle who signed the blank cheques and became the rottweiler let's leave Ferris alone. He may have been a bold boy but he paid for his crimes as did Adams. FF and the plasterers, Manu supporters, horseracind pundits and developers have not paid anything, yet!

Zambia

If his blood alcohol level is over the limit well them he should be
1: Arrested
2: Convicted
3: Punished

End of Story really

Seth Brundle

from http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/?jp=MHAUQLGBAUCW

In an interview on local radio, Deputy Ferris admitted that he had drank two pints and a glass of red wine in the course of Saturday night. He said he is awaiting results of analysis on a urine sample that he gave to gardaí.

InFront

If we assume for a minute that he's telling the truth, then that kind of alcohol over the course of an evening, for a man, would be scratchy enough, wouldn't it?

I really do think that there should be a zero tolerance policy on drinking and driving. Just for taking the risk, I hope he's guilty.

Schuhart

Heinrich wrote:

When you think back on the recent colourful past of CJH (gun running et al.) and his poodle who signed the blank cheques and became the rottweiler let's leave Ferris alone. He may have been a bold boy but he paid for his crimes as did Adams. FF and the plasterers, Manu supporters, horseracind pundits and developers have not paid anything, yet!

In another thread I've been seeking (without success) to find a positive reason for voting for SF. SF supporters (and I'm not suggesting you are one because I simply don't know if you've any allegience) seem to operate on the basis of saying 'we're no worse than FF'. I'd prefer the idea of finding someone to support who was maybe a bit better.

That said, this particular incident certainly isn't as serious as, say, the Jim McDaid business and there are other substantial reasons for not choosing SF that this incident should not overshadow.

InFront wrote:

If we assume for a minute that he's telling the truth, then that kind of alcohol over the course of an evening, for a man, would be scratchy enough, wouldn't it?

The short answer is yes, that should put a normal person over the limit. But apparently its not an exact science. Depending on exactly how soon after drinking some was tested and the physical characteristics of the drinker, one pint might put someone over the limit. On the other hand, it might be possible for someone to have a glass of wine with a meal followed by a couple of pints and pass. We'll only know as events develop what happens in this case.

E92

I'd love to say it will affect his chances of getting re-elected, but this is the constituency which a gave a man who was a member of the IRA the highest first preference vote 5 years ago, so it might actually increase his vote. I suppose we should be greatful that he was only in a machine that can kill people on suspicion of driving drunk, then using a machine which will kill people, as he may have done when he was a member of an organisation that Sinn Fein thought was the country's government. Either way, he'll still unfortunately get in(to Dáil Éireann), and safely in. A lot of rural places(thats not Cork;), for those Dubs who might be surprised to know that life does actually exist outside the pale:D ) think its ok to drink and drive, something I obviously think is not.

Now I know that a former Fine Gael councillor suggested that it was ok if you had a few pints(as did another FF councillor whose name escapes me, and I think he still is in the their party) but you'll note that Enda expelled him from the party, before anyone criticises the party I support on this issue.

Schuhart

E92 wrote:

A lot of rural places(thats not Cork;), for those Dubs who might be surprised to know that life does actually exist outside the pale:D ) think its ok to drink and drive, something I obviously think is not.

Given that you're obviously still living at home and possibly considering marriage to your sister as the only way of avoiding foriegn influences entering the gene pool, you may be surprised to hear that by and large Dubliners are recent decendants of people who settle there from somewhere West of Maynooth. Hence, we tend to have close relations in some other part of the country that makes us quite aware of the country beyond our doorstep. If only this understanding was shared in the opposite direction, life might be a little more straightforward. Unfortunately, there are people out there who have an experience of Dublin and Dubliners that's limited to watching the crowd in Hill 16 occasionally.

But, of course, you're right on the main point. If enough Kerry people are happy electing a gunman (or Jackie Healy Rae for that matter) then they'll hardly baulk at a possible drink driving offence. It simply reflects the fact that many people elect gob****es because that's what represents them.

gandalf

Schuhart banned for a week for personal abuse.

iamhunted

if he is convicted of drink driving then sinn fein should act responsibly and review his placement in the election campaign. to be honest, if ferris didnt get in, another sf candidate would anyway.

Judt

iamhunted wrote:

if he is convicted of drink driving then sinn fein should act responsibly and review his placement in the election campaign. to be honest, if ferris didnt get in, another sf candidate would anyway.

The level of political debate around SF is thus. "We used to be a bunch of terrorists, so a bit of drink driving ain't so bad!" Of course SF isn't the only party letting its folks away with blue murder, but that's another debate. I heart Irish politics.

LordSutch

I still cant get my head around the the fact that the good people of Kerry might vote for Ferris in the first place
(whilst fully being aware of his past) ...................

Enright

whilst im not a fan of either Martin or his party, surely he is innocent until prooved guilty!!!

When the results of the bllod test come back, let the people of kerry judge him then

Raiser

Had to laugh at his weak attempt to spin this one for the voters in da Kingdum. Apparently after 2 pints and a glass of wine [admitted to so far] he thought he was sober enough to drive towards a Garda checkpoint that "he knew was there" - Quoted in the that rubbish rag for the short-armed da Independent today

........Surely this proves that either his judgement was impaired to the extent that he shouldn't be in charge of a motor vehicle or else that he is too fcukin' thick to be driving a car in the first instance.

- sure poor auld Jim McDaid only had a few Wine Gums that time

Dyr

Twisted07 wrote:

How can the people of Kerry do this,like the people of Dublin keep electing Pat Rabbitte and De Rosa whilst fully being aware of their past.

Indeed, voting for reformed comrades from the workers party. Disgusting

Mighty_Mouse

if he is convicted of drink driving then sinn fein should act responsibly and review his placement in the election campaign. to be honest, if ferris didnt get in, another sf candidate would anyway

Not the first politician to be done for drink-driving.
Is it a case of double-standards? Should we set the precedent that every politician from now on caught drink-driving should be fired & expelled from their political party?

Are we losing sight of punishment fitting the crime?

Is this just another case of where anything republican-related gets twisted into an opportunity for people to jump up and down shouting: "terrorist, baby-eaters, murderers.........."

seamus

Mighty_Mouse wrote:

Not the first politician to be done for drink-driving.
Is it a case of double-standards? Should we set the precedent that every politician from now on caught drink-driving should be fired & expelled from their political party?

I think you'll find that people call for the resignation of any such politicians, not just those from Sinn Fein.
New Labour in the UK has a policy that once a member gets a certain amount of continuous bad press (48 hours or something), then they must resign from the party.
However here in Ireland, their parties just rally around them, tell them to keep their head down, and pretend that everything's OK. I firmly believe that a politician could drive through a playground hammered, kill 10 kids, and still manage to get re-elected (whenever he gets out of jail), purely because of the smokescreen politics that all of the parties engage in.

Are we losing sight of punishment fitting the crime?

Not in the slightest. If a Garda was found to have committed a criminal offence, he'd be fired. If an HR executive in a big company was found to have engaged in nepotism, he'd be fired. If an accountant was found to be fiddling a company's books, he'd be fired.
Whatever job it is that you do, there are certain actions that you just absolutely cannot do, and certain offences that are completely at odds with the job that you do, and your ability to do it. Politicians are no exception to this. Any party that fails to dump a member who has openly flouted the law aren't worth looking at.

Liam Byrne

Erm - like Ministers for Finance signing blank cheques ?

Anyways, I was thinking....isn't it the case that Ferris & Co don't recognise our state or our law enforcement (well, they do probably do "recognise" them when they're in the sights of a rifle, but they don't acknowledge their state-given legitimacy), so they're probably not breaking any of what they view as "laws".

A bit like the guys who robbed the Northern Bank didn't commit a "crime" :rolleyes:

Villain

Should have known better than to try and drive after having 2 pints, although having worked in a bar for 8 years in this state I know a lot of people do it on a daily basis, at least he came out and said that people shouldn't drink drive not like the FF Councillor earlier in the year!

mike65

Whats the status of this saga? Is he going to get 'done' or not?

Mike.

gandalf

It was a FG Councillor I believe and he lost the whip because of it.

Villain

Sorry Gandalf you are correct it was a FG concillor although I think I remember others from FF and FG agreeing with what he was saying i.e. rural people driving home after 4 pints isn't that bad and they were very much against Garda checks the next morning.

My point was simply that Ferris at least looks to be against drink driving even though that may just be to save face now.

gandalf

You're against drink driving when you don't do it. Ferris is just paying lip service because its what is expected by the media. This won't effect his election chances at all, as stated down there it will probably enhance it, a very sad reflection on Irish society and standards.

nacho libre

gandalf wrote:

You're against drink driving when you don't do it. Ferris is just paying lip service because its what is expected by the media. This won't effect his election chances at all, as stated down there it will probably enhance it, a very sad reflection on Irish society and standards.

Exactly. He is like a child caught misbehaving- it's only an act of contrition. If you abhor drink driving you simply don't do it. Some people also think the law doesn't apply to them.

Villain

gandalf wrote:

This won't effect his election chances at all, as stated down there it will probably enhance it, a very sad reflection on Irish society and standards.

Probably true, a bit like Bertie's rating after his performance with Dobson on six-one.

E92

gandalf wrote:

This won't effect his election chances at all, as stated down there it will probably enhance it, a very sad reflection on Irish society and standards.

I totally agree with you,as Garret Fitzgearld said(well words to the effect) at the time of the Bertiegate controversy,''there are no standards in Irish politics because the Irish people have no standards''. I mean where else in the world would the support of a party whose leader did what Bertie said he did go up by 8%? In any other country he'd be gone and FFs support would go down(though of course it has thankfully gone down subsequent to this whole affair).

Unpossible

ArthurF wrote:

I still cant get my head around the the fact that the good people of Kerry might vote for Ferris in the first place

From what I remember he was known for getting things done and he was known for "helping" clean up the streets. 5 years ago he was charged with some vigilante charge, but people seemed to support his little group. I was told he cleaned up certain areas of Tralee, and in a town like Tralee where we see crime ever increasing that kind of thing strikes a cord with us.

Didn't somebody on this board also mention in the past that its Sinn Fein's grass root politics thats gaining votes for them? They always seem pro-active in Tralee anyway.