John O'Donoghue and his travel spending spree

07-10-2009 1:56pm

lollzypop wrote: »

That's how opinion polls are done for god's sake.

I disagree.

Opinion polls are supposed to be carried out by selecting a representative cross sample of the population that is large enough to reflect trends. Not simply stopping people on a street and shoving a mic in their face. I live in a town in South Kerry and I don't know one person who has defended John O'Donoghue or thinks he should remain, and that's from without and outside FF in this town. They also wouldn't be that impressed by the attitude that they are 'morons' because a vox pop was done outside John O'Donoghue's house and people supported him. I could do a vox pop outisde a pub in Dublin and conclude that all Dublin people are complete skangers with a taste for spousal violence and tattoos, but would that be fair?

lollzypop · 07-10-2009 2:05pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I disagree.

Opinion polls are supposed to be carried out by selecting a representative cross sample of the population that is large enough to reflect trends. Not simply stopping people on a street and shoving a mic in their face. I live in a town in South Kerry and I don't know one person who has defended John O'Donoghue or thinks he should remain, and that's from without and outside FF in this town. They also wouldn't be that impressed by the attitude that they are 'morons' because a vox pop was done outside John O'Donoghue's house and people supported him. I could do a vox pop outisde a pub in Dublin and conclude that all Dublin people are complete skangers with a taste for spousal violence and tattoos, but would that be fair?

It'd be totally fair, Dubs are all skangers!

Take your point, of course a vox pop isn't as representative as an opinion poll and calling people morons is patronising, but given the Irish public have repeatedly reelected corrupt politicians before it's not totally beyond the realms of possibility that the people interviewed represent the majority.

But then again I don't live in Kerry....

Elba101 · 07-10-2009 2:06pm

This whole scenario really sickens me.

He said he'll resign on Tuesday which means if the Government falls before then, he falls with them and never actually 'resigned'. In effect, keeping his job.

While people's lives are falling apart and families are struggling to make any sort of living, he has the audacity to claim back on £1 donation he made to UNICEF.

He stands for everything that is wrong in society and for some reason feels that he's entitled to all this?!

Not only am i sickened by him, but embarrassed. Embarrassed by him. Embarrassed by Fianna Fail. Embarrassed by the state of Irish politics.

It’s time someone grew a pair and did what’s best for the country and its citizens rather then themselves.

deadhead13 · 07-10-2009 2:08pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I disagree.

Opinion polls are supposed to be carried out by selecting a representative cross sample of the population that is large enough to reflect trends. Not simply stopping people on a street and shoving a mic in their face. I live in a town in South Kerry and I don't know one person who has defended John O'Donoghue or thinks he should remain, and that's from without and outside FF in this town. They also wouldn't be that impressed by the attitude that they are 'morons' because a vox pop was done outside John O'Donoghue's house and people supported him. I could do a vox pop outisde a pub in Dublin and conclude that all Dublin people are complete skangers with a taste for spousal violence and tattoos, but would that be fair?

Do you think John O'Donoghue will be lose his seat in the next general election? I don't. And it has nothing to do with vox pops or the fact he is from South Kerry. There is a whole rogues gallery of Irish policitians whose questionable behaviour was ignored come election time.

bonzos · 07-10-2009 2:28pm

Why is there all this talk about how we should still show some rersect for JOD .....does he deserve respect?he didnt show much respect for the taxpayer when he abused our money!he was not even man enough to apologize to the irish people,all he say was that he regretted if this expensies seemed obsessive and gave a half arsed apology to his mates in the dail.....in recent times we have been told by FF that people like ray burke,rody malloy and now JOD deserve respect ,what an insult!this guy tried using every trick in the FF book to avoid facing the music and now he has one last trick which is bank on the greens to save him .he is a total disgrace :mad:

Biggins · 07-10-2009 2:29pm

bonzos wrote: »

Why is there all this talk about how we should still show some rersect for JOD .....does he deserve respect?he didnt show much respect for the taxpayer when he abused our money!he was not even man enough to apologize to the irish people,all he say was that he regretted if this expensies seemed obsessive and gave a half arsed apology to his mates in the dail.....in recent times we have been told by FF that people like ray burke,rody malloy and now JOD deserve respect ,what an insult!this guy tried using every trick in the FF book to avoid facing the music and now he has one last trick which is bank on the greens to save him .he is a total disgrace :mad:

I suspect that most here will agree with you.
I do!
Funny enough, besides a few blind faithful in his own constituency, I suspect so does the rest of the country that are struggling just to pay bills and hang onto their jobs!

donkey balls · 07-10-2009 2:35pm

what will happen to JOD special advisor will he get a pay off as well?

Biggins · 07-10-2009 2:36pm

donkey balls wrote: »

what will happen to JOD special advisor will he get a pay off as well?

If he's on a contract and/or state weekly wage, probably.
Boils down the fine print.

Elba101 · 07-10-2009 2:41pm

donkey balls wrote: »

what will happen to JOD special advisor will he get a pay off as well?

I would love to see the job description for that role

Trotter · 07-10-2009 3:13pm

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Fine Gael's Alan Shatter said he was 'astonished' that the Labour Party had agreed to Mr O'Donoghue being allowed to remain in office until next week.

Give me a break.. Fine Gael would still be calling for him to pay the money back if Gilmore hadn't grown a pair when he did. FG playing catch up as usual.

aidan24326 · 07-10-2009 3:26pm

Biggins wrote: »

JOD is resigning at 2.30 Tuesday. Reorganising staff and dealing with his papers is his reason for the delay.

And why is it to be 2:30 on Tuesday aftenoon? Because that's when they resume Dail business after the weekend! Poor lads need Monday off you see, takes a long time to get back from the country in your chauffeur-driven merc.

They never hold Dail business on a Monday and afaik they rarely sit on a Friday either.

jprender wrote: »

It's disgusting tbh, and I really do hope that he will have to face the electorate again. I assume his constituents will not feel that his actions were alright and sure "he's a nice lad". :rolleyes:

If he runs for election again in South Kerry he'll get back in, you can bet on it. The likes of him, Idiot Cullen and Clueless Coughlan should be given a resounding thumping in the next election, but will it happen? I wouldn't hold my breath.

Our man in Havana · 07-10-2009 3:30pm

Biffo will still get 2 quotas in Laois/Offaly.

walshb · 07-10-2009 3:30pm

bonzos wrote: »

Why is there all this talk about how we should still show some rersect for JOD .....does he deserve respect?he didnt show much respect for the taxpayer when he abused our money!he was not even man enough to apologize to the irish people,all he say was that he regretted if this expensies seemed obsessive and gave a half arsed apology to his mates in the dail.....in recent times we have been told by FF that people like ray burke,rody malloy and now JOD deserve respect ,what an insult!this guy tried using every trick in the FF book to avoid facing the music and now he has one last trick which is bank on the greens to save him .he is a total disgrace :mad:

It's very very hard to have respect or sympathy for a guy like John. I do however feel that his family, children especially, should be considered here. They will suffer from this and have had to endure an awful lot of negative and damaging coverage. If only greedy John could have thought about the what if before he acted in such a despicable way.

07-10-2009 3:31pm

deadhead13 wrote: »

Do you think John O'Donoghue will be lose his seat in the next general election?

Not sure. His vote will go way down. But sadly we're not blessed with the calibre of candidate in South Kerry!

JP Liz · 07-10-2009 3:57pm

Fine Gael TD Alan Shatter has expressed concern that the Ceann Comhairle may be "making an each-way bet" by deciding not to resign until next week.

John O'Donoghue announced last night that he would stand down next week following months of controversy surrounding his expenses claims.

The Labour Party has welcomed the announcement, but Mr Shatter said today that Fine Gael had concerns that Mr O'Donoghue may be adopting a "wait-and-see" approach.

Mr Shatter says the Dáil could be dissolved if the Green Party conference this weekend fails to approve a new Programme for Government.

If this happens, Mr O'Donoghue would be automatically re-elected because of his position as Ceann Comhairle.

why cant he resign straight away?

jprender · 07-10-2009 4:00pm

JP Liz wrote: »

why cant he resign straight away?

If the Govt falls before he is out of office officially, he gets automatically re-elected.

The Greens have a very important meeting this weekend that has the potential to bring down the Govt.

Also, he has lots of paperwork to do :rolleyes:

Darsad · 07-10-2009 4:02pm

JP Liz wrote: »

why cant he resign straight away?

Because this is Ireland !

Darragh29 · 07-10-2009 4:13pm

JP Liz wrote: »

why cant he resign straight away?

Because if the government falls on Saturday, and John O' Donoghue hasn't formally resigned before the president is asked to dissolve the Dail, John O' Donoghue is automatically re-elected to the next Dail as the Ceann Comhairle is automatically re-elected to the subsequent Dail.

So the people down in his Kerry constituency will be in a very funny pickle if the government falls this weekend. As things stand, they could well be stuck with John O' Donoghue for another five years...

murfie · 07-10-2009 4:19pm

jprender wrote: »

If the Govt falls before he is out of office officially, he gets automatically re-elected.

Darragh29 wrote: »

Because if the government falls on Saturday, and John O' Donoghue hasn't formally resigned before the president is asked to dissolve the Dail, John O' Donoghue is automatically re-elected to the next Dail as the Ceann Comhairle is automatically re-elected to the subsequent Dail.
...

Ha interesting although I don't think the government can dissolve without it sitting can it, if (and i hope, pray even) the green pull their support it wont be till Tuesday that anything is done. Am i wrong?

I doubt it will happen, wishfull thinking.

Darragh29 · 07-10-2009 4:36pm

murfie wrote: »

Ha interesting although I don't think the government can dissolve without it sitting can it, if (and i hope, pray even) the green pull their support it wont be till Tuesday that anything is done. Am i wrong?

I doubt it will happen, wishfull thinking.

The Dail is dissolved by the President upon the request of the Taoiseach. This happens whether the government has served its full term in office, or if the government falls because it no longer has a majority. It doesn't have to sit to be dissolved. So if Cowen has to make a trip to the Aras to dissolve the Dail at any time after Saturday and O' Donoghue has still not formally resigned his position, then constitutionally he is still a Ceann Comhairle and on that basis, he is automatically re-elected to the Dail.

The Green's could pull the plug on Saturday, ten minutes later Cowen could be on his way to the Aras, if O' Donoghue still hasn't resigned by then, then he gets automatically re-elected to the Dail.

Biggins · 07-10-2009 4:58pm

Darragh29 wrote: »

...The Green's could pull the plug on Saturday, ten minutes later Cowen could be on his way to the Aras, if O' Donoghue still hasn't resigned by then, then he gets automatically re-elected to the Dail.

Anyone know how to fix a car so that it won't start until Gilmore can get to the Dail first!

Spiritoftheseventies · 07-10-2009 5:12pm

jprender wrote: »

If the Govt falls before he is out of office officially, he gets automatically re-elected.

The Greens have a very important meeting this weekend that has the potential to bring down the Govt.

Also, he has lots of paperwork to do :rolleyes:

my understanding is that Gilmore has not removed that motion of no confidence in O Donoghue. So regardless of how greens vote at weekend, it looks as if O'Donoghue wont be ceann comhairle.

Darragh29 · 07-10-2009 6:03pm

Look at this...

John O Donoghue has reclaimed a £1 donation he made into a charity bucket for UNICEF. The link to the document and the article can be found below.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/ceann-comhairle-reclaimed-pound1-donation-to-charity-1905969.html

I know this looks like I'm joking but it's serious...

Biggins · 07-10-2009 6:04pm

Biggins wrote: »

For some time now the whole of the Dail was quietly hoping that the issue would die off.
They didn't want to move on the issue for fear that their own expenses might fall under the same light.
I suspect that this will now happen as JOD slowly falls out of the limelight.
On order to try to get in there first before this can happen, I suspect (going on previous devious behaviour patterns) that FF and co will quickly try to change the expenses guidelines quickly - if only to deflect away from themselves and their individual expense statements asked to be paid for.

LOL Damn I'm good!

6 news on RTE!
In light of bla bla there will be changes... finance minister! :pac:

sceptre · 07-10-2009 6:06pm

Darragh29 wrote: »

John O Donoghue has reclaimed a £1 donation he made into a charity bucket for UNICEF.

If you actually read the article you'll clearly see that a charity bucket wasn't involved. The hotel in question adds one unit of local currency (in this case a pound) to the bill as a charitable donation to unicef unless the guest indicates that they don't wish to pay it.

The entire last three paragraphs outline how and why so you might have missed them as they're at the end. But it being on the bill from the Sheraton, which is pictured with the article, should have been a big clue that there wasn't a charity bucket involved.

Darragh29 · 07-10-2009 6:10pm

sceptre wrote: »

If you actually read the article you'll clearly see that a charity bucket wasn't involved. The hotel in question adds one unit of local currency (in this case a pound) to the bill as a charitable donation to unicef unless the guest indicates that they don't wish to pay it.

The entire last three paragraphs outline how and why so you might have missed them as they're at the end.

Yeah I stand corrected on the bucket element of the story, the fact remains though that he billed the taxpayer for a £1 charity donation...

Spiritoftheseventies · 07-10-2009 6:10pm

Biggins wrote: »

LOL Damn I'm good!

6 news on RTE!
In light of bla bla there will be changes... finance minister! :pac:

Amazing how Gilmore devoted his alloted time in leaders questions to confirm that he would not be withdrawing his motion of no confidence in JOD and asking about the protocol for electing new CC and commissioner.
Kenny to be fair asked the more pressing question this morning as to whether guarantees has been secured from banks over issue of lending to small businesses if and when NAMA legislation was enacted.

Darragh29 · 07-10-2009 6:20pm

What I'm wondering is should JOD not have to repay the taxpayers money he used, regardless of the fact that he has resigned??? Say they can get 100-200K off him, that would pay for 3-6 teachers for a year...

DirksDiggler · 07-10-2009 6:22pm

Darragh29 wrote: »

What I'm wondering is should JOD not have to repay the taxpayers money he used, regardless of the fact that he has resigned??? Say they can get 100-200K off him, that would pay for 3-6 teachers for a year...

Mate, this is Ireland

John O'Donoghue and his travel spending spree

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