Rabbitte's early career...

...have heard much rumour and speculation about his pre-Workers Party days, much of which could not be printed here.

Without testing his Solicitors knowledge of defamation, what did he do? Take even the harmless stuff that the left wing throw at him, the 'he never worked a day before becoming a politician' stuff, what did he do? Was he ever a firebrand, or always just a centrist with a red tie?

Jonny Arson

What has this got to do with the General Election Conor? :rolleyes:

Heinrich

Deleted User wrote:

...have heard much rumour and speculation about his pre-Workers Party days, much of which could not be printed here.

Without testing his Solicitors knowledge of defamation, what did he do? Take even the harmless stuff that the left wing throw at him, the 'he never worked a day before becoming a politician' stuff, what did he do? Was he ever a firebrand, or always just a centrist with a red tie?

This is **** stirring for the sake of **** stirring.

One thing he did not do is receive compromising dig-outs nor keep his dosh in a safe whilst holding the second highest office in the land. Maybe the former Finance Minister was against payments of interest by banking institutions.:D

Jonny Arson

Jonny Arson wrote:

What has this got to do with the General Election Conor?

He's the leader of one of the main parties. The Labour Party.

Did you make the same point on the 'Bertie's education' thread?

Heinrich

Heinrich wrote:

This is **** stirring for the sake of **** stirring.

Huh?

Explain?

Heinrich

Deleted User wrote:

Huh?

Explain?

If you need that explained to you I doubt if you would understand anyway.

Jonny Arson

Deleted User wrote:

He's the leader of one of the main parties. The Labour Party.

Did you make the same point on the 'Bertie's education' thread?

Yeah I actually did. Both are highly irrelevant on the whole grand scheme of things.

Seth Brundle

FF supporter wants dirt on Rabbitte? Not **** stirring?

delta_bravo

Is that you, Conor Lenihan ?;)

Heinrich

Heinrich wrote:

If you need that explained to you I doubt if you would understand anyway.

Now now, there's rules about getting personal.

Just deal with the thread and gimme chapter and verse on his career, or don't. If Bertie's history is open to scrutiny, then Pat's is too. Each is as relevant as the other.

delta_bravo

delta_bravo wrote:

Is that you, Conor Lenihan ?;)

Not I. Suspect he's knocking on doors at the moment.

gandalf

Conor here ya go http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Rabbitte

Google is a wonderful thing.

Btw I have no problem with threads questioning various politicians but we could also use the defamation line about Bertie maybe, lots of rumours about his domestic past for example but we won't go there either eh.

gandalf

gandalf wrote:

lots of rumours about his domestic past

Great, I love envelope pushing!

Any suggestion of criminal activity on behalf of any group or organisation?

InFront

And a bit more here,
http://www.labour.ie/patrabbitte/biography.html

he has a pretty impressive record, it's great that you brought it up Conor. It seems that his leadership skills were spotted early too, apparently he's a past president of USI (I take it that means nobody is doubting this guy's third level participation)

Voipjunkie

Heinrich wrote:

This is **** stirring for the sake of **** stirring.

One thing he did not do is receive compromising dig-outs nor keep his dosh in a safe whilst holding the second highest office in the land. Maybe the former Finance Minister was against payments of interest by banking institutions.:D

Yeah I bet Bertie wishes he had just printed his own money

Voipjunkie

InFront wrote:

And a bit more here,
http://www.labour.ie/patrabbitte/biography.html

he has a pretty impressive record, it's great that you brought it up Conor. It seems that his leadership skills were spotted early too, apparently he's a past president of USI (I take it that means nobody is doubting this guy's third level participation)

Thats odd pat makes no mention of Sinn Fein the Workers party or the Workers party in his bio
It says elected to Dail Eireann in 1989 but makes no mention of the party he was a member of then.
Even his Wikipedia entry is wrong it says he became involved in politics in 1985 but sure Pat
stood for election in 1982 for the Workers Party

wow sierra

Conor - I assume you know the origin of Democrat Left???

If not - in brief they came from a split in the Workers Party which originally came from a split in Sinn Féin (and the Workers Party were previoulsy called Sinn Féin - the Workers Party)

Apologies if this is known to everyone on this thread as I assume it would be, but it doesn't seem clear that it is.

I don't have a problem with Democratic Lefts past - its their Coalition partner of choice and their present I don't like.

I don't know if Pat Rabitte ever had any links with "the arms struggle" as many of the original member of SFWP would've had. In fact given his attitude to the North I doubt it - but I don't know.

I don't know if thats what you are looking for when you are wondering about his past - but as I say I certainly wouldn't have a problem with a Republican or far left past if he had one. Its the present I'm not too impressed with.

brianthebard

What is his attitude on the north out of interest?

InFront

He's very strong on denouncing paramilitary activity and IRA criminality, he is no fan of militant republicanism by any stretch of the imagination.

Anyway, even if someone were attempting to establish a link, I'm not sure it would do him any harm, given the way the SF vote has gone here in the south.

mafi97xx

Deleted User wrote:

...have heard much rumour and speculation about his pre-Workers Party days, much of which could not be printed here.

Without testing his Solicitors knowledge of defamation, what did he do? Take even the harmless stuff that the left wing throw at him, the 'he never worked a day before becoming a politician' stuff, what did he do? Was he ever a firebrand, or always just a centrist with a red tie?

I think what you may be referring to relates to his role in the Veha strike in Wicklow Town. Veha was a radiator company and main employer in the town. It would be good to hear the great socialist explain how a town finished up without it's main employer. Also, why DID he interfere?? And does he ever question his motives in those dark hours of the night when there is only you and your conscience.

The_Minister

Conor, I think I know what your asking about, but no-one can't post it here due to defamation. There's a book, with a title somewhere along the line's of "Labour's Printing Press" (that's not it though), which contains the full allegations and evidence.
I would suggest that the mods lock this thread before some bright spark posts up allegations that are not provable.

Gobán Saor

Rabbitte was never associated with the worst excesses of the Workers Party in the bad old days. Although its true to say he was a member at a time when it was generally accepted that the party had an active paramilitary wing - the Official IRA. Incidentally, the Officials are on ceasefire but have never decommissioned their arms.

This report in the Sunday Business Post might be of interest: http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2005/10/16/story8856.asp

Sean Garland may be wanted by the United States government for his alleged role in a plot to produce millions of counterfeit “super dollars", but what we know about the finances of the Workers' Party president would suggest a businessman of more modest means.

Garland was arrested nine days ago as he stood poised to deliver a broadside against the Provisional IRA and “US imperialism'‘ at the party's annual conference in Belfast.

After a three-year investigation involving officials from the CIA, FBI, Pentagon and State Department, the US government is preparing to seek Garland's extradition.

He is currently on bail and living with a friend in Downpatrick, Co Down.

Garland, who lives in Kentstown, Co Meath, is accused of helping to mastermind a conspiracy to distribute millions of forged US dollars.

American officials claim the plot originated in communist North Korea as part of its “global criminal activities'‘.

The US justice department claimed last week that the supernotes “were manufactured in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea under the auspices of the government and transported worldwide by North Korean individuals acting as ostensible government officials.”

It will be the first time the US has officially charged North Korea with an illegal activity in court.

Garland denies the charges. The Workers' Party leader, who is 71, has a long political history. He played a major role in the ill-fated IRA border campaign in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in which he led an attack on Brookeborough RUC station in Co Fermanagh.

The resulting shoot-out saw the deaths of Sean South and Fergal O'Hanlon. Garland was wounded.

He was also at the centre of the IRA split in the early 1970s that led to the formation of the Provisional movement.

While the Workers' Party has dwindled through the years due to splits and defections, Garland has remained steadfast in his commitment to its cause. Although he has been accused of accruing substantial amounts of counterfeit notes, Garland seems to have little in the way of substantial personal wealth.

According to the Companies Records Office, (CRO) he is a registered director of at least two small companies - Finndale Chemicals and a printing company, Repsol.

Abridged accounts for Finndale, which is based in Ravensdale, Co Louth, shows it to have share capital of €1,269, 738 and shareholders' funds of €29,818.MarkMcLaughlin is the other director.

The directors of Repsol, which is based in Dublin's Gardiner Place, are listed as Garland, Workers' Party members Seamus Harrison, Seamus Lynch and Desmond O'Hagan, and deceased Official IRA leader Cathal Goulding. The company, based at the rear of the Workers' Party's headquarters, produced pamphlets and books on, for example, Lenin's thoughts on the Irish question, the IRA in the 1970s and James Connolly.

In 1983, gardai launched an investigation into the alleged forgery of $5 notes at Repsol. Garland denies that any counterfeit notes were ever found on Repsol properties.

However, during the celebrated libel battle between former senior Workers' Party member Proinsias De Rossa and Independent Newspapers, De Rossa claimed that a party member, Brian Lynch, “disappeared off the face of the earth'‘ once the investigation began.

Garland initially attracted US attention in relation to the most recent allegations of dollar counterfeiting in his capacity as director of GKG Communications International.

According to reports in the Washington Post in 2001, US intelligence noted a 1997 meeting between Garland and the bureau director of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party, Cao Xiaobing.

The paper said Cao's department was Beijing's official channel for supporting foreign communist parties.

A US air force reconnaissance plane was alleged to have picked up details of the meeting while monitoring communications near the Chinese coast. A leaked National Security Agency report stated that Garland and Cao had discussed “unidentified business opportunities'‘.

The same top secret report said that Garland was “suspected of being involved with counterfeiting US currency, specifically the supernote, a high-quality counterfeit $100 bill.” It noted that he was a director of GKG Communications - even though the company is understood to have been dissolved some time before then.

Garland claimed that the journalist who wrote the article, Bill Gertz, was “a raving right wing anti-communist'‘. He pointed out that the Washington Post was owned by the Moonies, a cult known “for its anti-communism and its organising of mass weddings of deluded people'‘.

It was not the first time that Garland had been linked to a foreign communist superpower. He wrote to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the 1980s in a bid to secure funding for the Workers' Party which was then in dire financial difficulties.

During his libel case, De Rossa said that Garland had admitted seeking Soviet money to help run the party. De Rossa claimed that it was brought to his attention at a meeting of the Workers' Party's ard-chomhairle in 1992.

The US government is seeking a total of seven men in connection with the alleged counterfeiting operation, including three Irish citizens - Garland, Christopher John Corcoran and Hugh Todd.