Bertie officially thanks the Sindo for their support

Time Magazine

Eoghan Harris, the Sunday Independent journalist who endorsed Fianna Fáil on The Late Late prior to the election, has received a nomination for a seat in the Seanad from an Taoiseach.

Harris, one of the few journalists to support Bertie when allegations of financial misappropriation were made, was previously an advisor to Fine Gael, the UUP and the Workers' Party.

From the Dept of An Taoiseach

Taoiseach’s Nominees to Seanad Éireann 3rd August, 2007

The Taoiseach, Mr.Bertie Ahern, T. D. today (3rd August 2007) announced the following appointments to the Seanad:

Dan Boyle (Green Party)

Dan Boyle was Chief Whip and Finance spokesperson for the Green Party in the last Dail. He narrowly lost his Cork South Central Dail seat in May but remained as part of the Green Party's negotiating team in the talks to form the present Government. He has twice been elected to Cork City Council and his background is in youth and community work.

Martin Brady (FF)

Public Representative. Elected to Dail Eireann in 1997 and again in 2002. Former member of Dublin City Council.

Ivor Callely (FF)

Public representative. First elected to Dail Eireann in 1989. Former Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children and at the Department of Transport. Former Chairperson of the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business. Former member of Dublin Corporation.

Ciaran Cannon (PD)

Elected to Galway County Council in 2004 and based in Athenry. He was the CEO of the charity Irish Pilgrimage Trust up until August 2006 when he resigned to take up politics full time. He and his wife run a pub in Carrabane, Galway.

Maria Corrigan (FF)

Elected to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council in 1999, she is a psychologist specialising in the area of disabilities and special needs. Maria is a member of the European Council of the Regions.

Deirdre de Burca (Green Party)

Elected to Wicklow County Council in 1999 and re-elected to the County Council and to Bray Town Council in the local elections of 2004. She has worked in the disabilities and mental health sectors and is a member of an Taisce and Feasta.

John Ellis (FF)

Public representative. First elected to Dail Eireann in 1981. Former member of Leitrim County Council. Former Senator from 1977-1981 and 1983-1987.

Eoghan Harris

A former RTE television producer and currently a political columnist with the Sunday Independent. He is also a part time lecturer at the centre for Film Studies at UCD.

Lisa McDonald (FF)

Elected to Wexford County Council in 2004 and currently the Vice Chair of the Council, she is a practising solicitor.

Brian Ó'Domhnaill (FF)

Elected to the Board of Udarás na Gaeltachta in 1999 and to Donegal County County Council 2004 where he is Chair of the Planning and Economic Development Committee. Brian qualified with a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Ulster in 1999 and is very involved with athletics. He is a full time public representative.

Fiona O'Malley (PD)

Fiona O'Malley was a T.D. for Dun Laoghaire up to the election in May. Formerly a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children and also the Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. She was formerly a member of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

The Taoiseach has also appointed Senator Donie Cassidy as Leader of Seanad Éireann.

What a fecking disgrace. Is there anyone out there who thinks this nomination is not a thank you for his support in the run-up to the General Election? Bertie has the media in this country sewn up.

flogen

Democracy in action.

mike65

Harris talking on radio one said it may well have been a factor which won't please Bertie!

Mike.

jdivision

Unbelievable. GUBU all over again

popebenny16

Highlights the irrelevancy of the Seanad I'm afraid.

Ivor Callely as well. Not fit for the Dail by Bertie's command but fit for the Seanad by his command. Shows what he thinks of the place as well.

Rumours flying around Tipp that Mick Smith was to get the nod thankfully have proven to be false. Even Bertie wouldn't stoop that low.

Jonny Arson

this is exactly what you get when you return the incompetent leader of an incompetent government three times in a row, they feel they are at a liberty to take the piss

Ahern appointing his cronies to positions as high up as the Seanad is setting an incredibly dangerous precedent for Irish democracy. also appointing your regular cronies is one thing but appointing a cronie like Eoghan Harris! :eek: Ahern confirms once again the absolute disgrace he his for pulling this stunt, i'm amazed he didn;t go as far as appointing Paddy the Plasterer!

how on earth can the Green Party put on a brave face for this?!

flogen

Jonny Arson wrote:

Ahern appointing his cronies to positions as high up as the Seanad is setting an incredibly dangerous precedent for Irish democracy.

No it's not - the Seanad has long been a dumping ground for the Government's rising stars and devoted (but unelectable) loyalists.

Harris' appointment is particularly cynical, though, and Pat Carey's attempt on Newstalk to compare his appointment to the election of other Seanad "personalities" like David Norris and Shane Ross is a bit stupid. While the University panels aren't exactly democratic, at least they're elected by some of the public and are answerable to them.

Akrasia

Eoin Harris was on Newstalk talking about his appointment. It made me sick to my stomach.

He actually said that the reason he was appointed was 'Probably because I have never written a bad word about the taoiseach'

How utterly ****ed up is that?

He then went on a shameless rant about how Bertie has nothing to answer for and alleged that we are now onto 'bertiegate 3' even though all that's happening now is that Bertie's original story is being investigated in the tribunal.

He seems to think that once a story is told it should stay told and nobody should ever ask any questions about it. (I doubt he'd apply the same standards to anything Sinn Fein had to say about anything)

lostexpectation

and where is ahern still in galway, has he spoken today? surely he should have to read this list out live on tv and he keeps a straight face we'll approve of them.

The_Minister

Maybe we should change the title, since it implies something that is either untrue or unprovable?

SeanW

See Akrasia's post above.

oscarBravo

The_Minister wrote:

Maybe we should change the title, since it implies something that is either untrue or unprovable?

I think it's sufficiently obvious that it's satirical.

Villain

I do wonder sometimes if Irish Politics is a comedy show being directed by Bertie, so along with appointing people he knows to nice jobs on public boards not because they gave him money but because they are his friends he now appoints Harris to the Seanad for his support and Ivor Free Paint Job Callely. LOL It is actually funny only problem is its real!

Akrasia

The_Minister wrote:

Maybe we should change the title, since it implies something that is either untrue or unprovable?

Isn't pretty much every stroke pulled in politics 'unprovable' seeing as we don't have access to the darkened rooms where these discussions take place. We are left to speculate based on the limited evidence we have (or accept blindly the decrees and statements of those directly involved)

If we are to forbid conclusions based on inductive reasoning under the premise that if it can not be fully provable, then it is wrong to speculate, then what we are left only with one option, and that is to take all of the statements and spin from politicians and their PR departments at face value because we can not usually prove that individual statements are misleading even if there is a very long and previously proven track record of deception

It's quite ok to speculate as to legal actions,but not ok to accuse of illegal actions here pre judice so theres nothing wrong with the speculation regarding why Mr Harris was knighted.

I'm more concerned with Ellis and Callelly being put in there-both wrong decisions in my opinion.

But then if we had elected a neo communist government headed up by some random comrade,then we'd probably have 11 communists on the Taoiseachs list..just like if the rainbow had suceeded then we would have had FG and Labour heads on that panel.
The bulk of the posts on this thread are from people who advocated the latter so the "irk" factor is to be expected.

Akrasia

The Senate should either be abolished completely or given more powers and elected with universal sufferage (perhaps concurrently with the local and european elections)

I object wholeheartedly to its existance as a monument to cronyism from all political parties and the highly detrimental effect it has on the results of general elections. (Senators have a massive advantage compared with other 'inexperienced' and 'unknown' candidates simply because of the political capital the title senator gives to the average voter.)

monument

The Sindo and the Indo have used words like "reward", so I can't see all that much wrong with the header.

Muiriosa

Eoghan Harris clearly and disgracefully intervened in the general election that just passed, he swayed many people on the Late Late debate with his leave bertie alone rant. The powerful elements of the media in this state have a clear preference for the current administration and to reward Harris for his tripe is a real sickener. The worst thing is, many people seriously can't complain - they voted these guys back in. Shamble.

monument

That's quite a strange post, isn't the point of commentators like Harris to get their point across, to intervene?

Would any intervention my a commenter on the other side also have been disgracefully? Or is it only disgraceful for people who disagree with you views to voice their opinion?

flogen

Muiriosa wrote:

Eoghan Harris clearly and disgracefully intervened in the general election that just passed, he swayed many people on the Late Late debate with his leave bertie alone rant. The powerful elements of the media in this state have a clear preference for the current administration and to reward Harris for his tripe is a real sickener. The worst thing is, many people seriously can't complain - they voted these guys back in. Shamble.

Harris himself would disagree with you that "The powerful elements of the media in this state have a clear preference for the current administration"; in fact most of his recent rants have suggested that he and his paper stood alone in defending Bertie while the rest of the unpatriotic, soulless animals bayed for his blood.

Pride Fighter

Bertie Ahern is nothing but a right wing neo-con. The sooner as himself and George Bush are out of politics the better.

monument

And then the left wing liberals that are FG will take power. :rolleyes:

Pride Fighter

Irish politics 2 main parties are more or less the exact same, its the same in America. Futurama slags it off in the Presidential debate between the two guys who are exactly the same!!

Muiriosa

monument wrote:

That's quite a strange post, isn't the point of commentators like Harris to get their point across, to intervene?

Would any intervention my a commenter on the other side also have been disgracefully? Or is it only disgraceful for people who disagree with you views to voice their opinion?

No, not at all. Obviously commentators are there to comment and give their own opinions but the extent to which Harris went about it (not just on the late late but for months in the Sindo) he was strongly appealing to people to vote FF back in with Bertie. And what does RTE do or Pat Kenny? Nothing. His rant is let go on - which is clearly biased and based on ****e philosophy rather than facts or real politics. But that night he swayed people and has vehmently supported Ahern all the way in the Sindo.

Did you see anyone on that show throwing their weight entirely behind Enda Kenny or FG?? Did u see any respected publication do that? No.

It's not disgraceful for people to voice opinions different to mine, but when mine aren't represented alongside these broadcasts in a balanced manner I start to worry about Irish democracy and the control this current administration has on the irish media. There was no balance. Ultimately that cost alot of votes. Very unfair I think most will agree.

monument

Muiriosa wrote:

which is clearly biased and based on ****e philosophy rather than facts or real politics. But that night he swayed people and has vehmently supported Ahern all the way in the Sindo.

If it was as clear as you say people can make up their own minds.

Muiriosa wrote:

Did u see any respected publication do that? No.

Yes, I did, a newspaper called the Irish Times. It was their problem if it was mostly confined to leaders.

Boggle

Muirosa wrote:

There was no balance. Ultimately that cost alot of votes.

Think about it though; we are living and working in a country controlled ultimately by people who would listen and vote according to a man like Harris.

And what does RTE do or Pat Kenny?

Its hard to have any respect for RTE. There was an outbreak of cryptosporidium (NOT a clue how to spell that one!!) here in Clonmel last week and there was barely a mention of it, barring to briefly mention a boil notice the next day. We then get a leaflet in the door telling us its a DIFFERENT strain to Galway... Trouble is, according to a friend in the council (who deals with water) its supposedly a more deadly (his words) version than the one in Galway.
Now if I can find that out without trying then where are our friends in the national media who should be houding the crap out of the council???
I know thats way off topic but its just an insight into the standard of journalism in this country - particularly once you leave the pale!!

Zaphod

Tristrame wrote:

I'm more concerned with Ellis and Callelly being put in there-both wrong decisions in my opinion.

Bertie's just playing the three-card trick. By nominating Harris, he pulled the media's attention away from the two other poltroons. No doubt Ellis will provide excellent represenation for the farmers of Sligo Leitrim while Ivor the Engine will be primarily concerned with the welfare of painters and decorators.

The nomination of Harris has the additional benefit of giving "two fingers" to those elements in the meeja who forced poor Bertie to cry on television.

irish_bob

the appointment of eoghan harris is hardly that surprising , id have thought its classic BERTIE
while i enjoy reading eoghan harris , the man is as mad as mad man from maddington with madman disease as blackadder once put it
he seems completeley unaware of the irony of him accusing all in sundry in the media of having an agenda against bertie when he himself and his paper had an agenga in favour of him , with harris it seem , its bias for one newspaper to be against a particular politican but its not bias for another newspaper or journalist to show the same kind of adoration to a politican FOX NEWS does of president bush
the man,s pompous self rightousness is only matched by his absurdity

in todays sunday indo , he talks about different tv shows that were on in the past week , he mentions john pilgers war on democrocy and predictabley dismisses it as anti american conspirocy , harris it seems can simply overlook cold hard facts like how the white house spokesman claimed that chavez men were behind the shooting dead of innocent people during the coup in venezuela in 2002 when in fact as the pilger docu showed was in fact the work of the opposition who were at least diplomatically backed by the usa
i dont need harris to try and spin this into some kind of anti american blather
i saw the coverage of the white house spokesman with my own 2 eyes
harris must not have much respect for the readers of the sunda indo when he thinks that mereley dismissing any critical piece of his beloved usa and specifically the bush administration as anti americanism
in the same piece he then goes on to make a lame joke involving john pilger and george galloway
to use the great john pilger in the same sentence as that charlatan geroge galloway was the most offfensive part of the entire phoney piece

as i said at the start , harris is always entertaining to read but its important to remember how crazy this guy is