John O'Donoghue and his travel spending spree

Villain

Next Tuesday for 2 reasons:

1. He gets to issue explanations at the commission tomorrow evening.
2. As said above if the Greens pull the plug on Saturday he won't have to run for election

Berti Vogts

Rte reporting it as a done deal that he will resign next week.

Villain

On Radio??

Berti Vogts

Yes, Radio 1, David McCullagh on now. Statement from Press Office confirmed it.

Biggins

Possibilities wrote: »

Rte reporting it as a done deal that he will resign next week.

Next week LOL - so if the Greens don't back FF this weekend, the government falls - by automatic perk of the CC job and he still in it, he gets re-elected to his current position again under what will probably be a new house.

Clever, very clever.
JOD is clearly no dummy. He gets yet another chance to screw the country a little while longer!

Irish politics - ya couldn't make this crap up!!!

Villain

Labour had welcomed Statment so it seems they will let him stay the week

kerry4sam

Biggins wrote: »

Next week LOL - so if the Greens don't back FF this weekend, the government falls - by automatic perk of the CC job and he still in it, he gets re-elected to his current position again under what will probably be a new house.

Clever, very clever.
JOD is clearly no dummy. He gets yet another chance to screw the country a little while longer!

Irish politics - ya couldn't make this crap up!!!

As a constituent of his, and haven worked within FiannaFail with him, this is one serious under-statement ... skilful, astute, shrewd, crafty to say the very least.

I would be certain in saying however that if he were to run for election again, he would NOT have the support down here and me thinks he knows that all too well.

Biggins

The man must think ALL of us, the public is stupid not to see through his actions even now that he makes.

It only re-inforces my conclusion that he is a scumbag of the highest order and anyone that lets him stay on and agrees to this farce of Tuesday, will NEVER get my support again.

Berti Vogts

There's going to be just as big a controversy tomorrow about this proposed delay. He's trying to be a bit too clever, given the circumstances.

kerry4sam

Possibilities wrote: »

There's going to be just as big a controversy tomorrow about this proposed delay. He's trying to be a bit too clever, given the circumstances.

but seriously do people expect anything less from John O Donoghue? :eek:

jank

FG might push for him to go now. This is all getting very messy!

Berti Vogts

Paddy Power still offering 9/4 on a general election to take place in 2009. All this stuff is going to make the mood at the Green conference interesting to say the least!

Villain

Kenny can try to redeem himsef now and force him out before the weekend

Our man in Havana

Did you see the selection of voters from his home town on last nights news? They said they would all vote for him and that he has done nothing wrong.

Facepalm.

mike65

Just to show even Swedes do this sort of thing

After the Social Democrats’ election victory in 1994 Mona Sahlin re-entered the Government on 7 October, this time as both Deputy Prime-Minister and Minister for Equality. Almost at once she began to use her official credit card for private purposes, first for three cash withdrawals, each of 2000 SEK, then for some clothes purchases and hiring a car, and then again further cash withdrawals. After officials had spoken to her about the matter she promised to put the card away, but she didn’t pay off the outstanding debt, which totalled 9,855 SEK. On 28 December 1994 she again used the card to pay a bill of 9,187 SEK for a hired car. It was not until 6 February that she paid the original 9,855 SEK, while the car-hire bill remained unpaid, and more cash withdrawals were made (Aftonbladet 1995).

On 7 October 1995 Expressen revealed her cash withdrawals. In her defence Sahlin claimed that she had mixed up her cards. The following day she changed her story and instead claimed that it was an advance of salary. The then Prime Minister, Ingvar Carlsson, commented by noting that she had paid the money she owed. Not until 10 October did Sahlin pay the car-hire bill that had been outstanding since 1994. On 12 October it was revealed that she was still using the card, despite her promises not to use it for private purposes (Aftonbladet 1995). On the following four days all the Swedish daily and evening papers, as well as the radio and TV channels were filled to the brim with revelations about Sahlin’s various expenses and payment difficulties, including among other things that she had not paid a school bill on time. The leader columns of the Social Democratic papers criticised her, saying that she had damaged the Party.

On 16 October 1995 Mona Sahlin held a press conference [...] She made a long statement in which she accused the journalists of a witch-hunt against her. “You take pictures through the kitchen window and say she is hiding indoors […]You pry into the bedrooms with your tele-lenses. I feel dirty but I wonder how you feel, you who have been part of what I am describing […]” (Sahlin 1996: 295). [...]

At the same time the Public Prosecutor was making preliminary enquiries. And in the speculations about who should succeed Ingvar Carlsson, Mona Sahlin became more and more of an outsider. To get as far away as possible from all this fuss, she booked a holiday for herself and her family. In Mauritius. To be able to keep in touch with the Ministry, she took her secretary with her – whose stay was paid from public funds. When she came home her holiday destination was the main subject in all the headlines. In its leader on 6 November the evening paper Expressen wrote:

"The journey to Mauritius was for many yet another proof that the political classes now consider themselves above the people they represent. Not only is Sahlin behindhand in paying her bills at the play-school, while supplementing her pay with public funds, but she goes off to the millionaires’ island too. And she even has the cheek to take her secretary with her at the tax-payers’ expense."

On 10 November the pressure became too much and Mona Sahlin resigned. The Public Prosecutor then dropped his enquiry and she decided to give a first press conference. Erik Fichtelius was at the microphone. He asked whether she had now paid all her play-school bills. Yes, I think so, she replied. She thought wrong. Fichtelius said he had just checked up, and it seemed that there was still an unpaid school bill, and a reminder was on its way. Once again other media started to investigate, but eventually the media coverage died down. She returned to Government three years later and her political career seemed to pick up speed again. There the journalistic pack-hunt against Mona Sahlin might have ended. But history repeats itself.

In November 1999 it emerged that Mona Sahlin had received 98 parking-tickets in two years, of which 32 had gone to the public Debt Collector. Once again the pack-hunt set off. Scarcely a year later, in August 2000, came the next blow – the revelation that her file had been noted because she was three months late in paying a supplementary tax bill of 40,000 SEK. For Sahlin, who had launched a Social Democratic campaign under the motto “It’s great to pay taxe [sic]!”, this was yet another reminder that she didn’t practise what she preached. In case she had forgotten it, the media were only too ready to refresh her memory. In 2002 came the next media posse, when it was discovered that a double ban had been put on Sahlin’s Volvo, because she had neither put it in for its MOT test nor paid the annual vehicle tax (Molin 2002). In contrast to the first pack-hunt, however, none of the subsequent ones led to her resignation.

jos28

Irish Times reporting that JOD has released a statement and will resign next week
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/1006/breaking67.htm

kerry4sam

Bond-007 wrote: »

Did you see the selection of voters from his home town on last nights news? They said they would all vote for him and that he has done nothing wrong.

Facepalm.

I did and I know some of them. He is an icon to staunch FF'ers down here in South Kerry and can do no wrong to some! That won't ever change. People will always have their die-hards behind them but the numbers of people those die-hards can rally up to also support the man will diminsh. Of that I have no doubt.

Daysha

Am I right in thinking that by wanting to stay on the extra week, surely JOD is confirming to the country there is a realistic possibility the government is going to collapse?

Does he know something we don't?

kerry4sam

Daysha wrote: »

Am I right in thinking that by wanting to stay on the extra week, surely JOD is confirming to the country there is a realistic possibility the government is going to collapse?

Does he know something we don't?

We can all only speculate here what that man knows and doesn't know. Only he himself can answer that Daysha.

Biggins

Is it possible that a deal was done with the Greens?
Stay with us in power and when JOD goes, a Green will get his position!

FG James O'Reilly has already said on RTE Monday that a number of Green names has been mentioned by then!

efb

Knock knock

Enda Kenny poison chalise for you!

December budget

jank

Suppoesedly Gormley has met Cowen twice today to discuss the PFG. Those meetings musn't have gone well so there is a real possibilty that the government will fall this weekend. JOD probably knows this and is pulling one last cute 'hore stroke on us all.

FG should push for a motion tomorrow, make JOD call his bluff and see if FF vote for their man.

As the saying goes "We can do this the easy way or the hard way..."

djsupreme

Is it possible that a deal was done with the Greens?
Stay with us in power and when JOD goes, a Green will get his position!

I doubt it. The position of Ceann Comhairle always goes to a politician with many years experience in the house - a person that is generally respected by all parties. I can't see any Greens who would have that support, except perhaps Gormley - who I doubt would give up the ministerial role. (Although perhaps the prospect of being automatically re-elected would interest him.)

Pride Fighter

Open the champagne, he is gone.

deadhead13

djsupreme wrote: »

Is it possible that a deal was done with the Greens?
Stay with us in power and when JOD goes, a Green will get his position!

I doubt it. The position of Ceann Comhairle always goes to a politician with many years experience in the house - a person that is generally respected by all parties. I can't see any Greens who would have that support, except perhaps Gormley - who I doubt would give up the ministerial role. (Although perhaps the prospect of being automatically re-elected would interest him.)

Trevor Sargent?

efb

Mary White (Green)

ballsymchugh

kerry4sam wrote: »

I did and I know some of them. He is an icon to staunch FF'ers down here in South Kerry and can do no wrong to some! That won't ever change. People will always have their die-hards behind them but the numbers of people those die-hards can rally up to also support the man will diminsh. Of that I have no doubt.

happens all the time....

michael lowry anyone?? and the fella from north kerry too!!

don't see why JOD still gets to wait til next week. he should just go, now.

nowuckenfurries

Looks like he is going to resign next week http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/odonoghue-will-step-down-429187.html

Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue announced tonight that he is to step down from his position.

Amid the controversy of his expenses scandal, the former Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism has bowed to pressure and will officially tender his resignation next week.

More to follow…

Read more: http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/odonoghue-will-step-down-429187.html#ixzz0TCQBsUP4

Our man in Havana

He must be banking on the government collapsing at the weekend.

lugha

Wikipedia doesn't hang about. They're proclaiming that he has resigned!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_O'Donoghue_(politician)