John O'Donoghue and his travel spending spree

Liam Byrne

I've a more appropriate paraphrase :

"It is my considered opinion that in the fullness of time, history will record the greatness of O'Donoghue's expenses and it will be at the taxpayers expense"

Seth Brundle

can of worms opening?

The transfer between terminals at Heathrow was in accordance with standard protocol. This is a long established custom and practice whereby an incoming Minister is greeted by an Embassy official. My case was no exception. It has happened on hundreds of occasions in the past to others who have held office.

bonzos

The reason that this clown and all the other clowns who appaulded him see nothing wrong with his behavour is because they have no morals and are out of touch with ordinary people.How can someone who makes €250k+ a year know what it feels like to try and live on €204 pw? It the same as joe duffy or gerry ryan telling some unemployed mother who rings their radio show that "i know how you feel." total bullsh1t

Liam Byrne

kbannon wrote: »

can of worms opening?

I reckon that happened a few mins after the front door opened @ 5pm after the new Ceann Comhairle rang his bell and called time.

dodgyme

bayviewclose wrote: »

It is amazes me how the likes of Cowen, Bertie and O Donoghue can never get a suit that fits them.

Well the suits of the people in power here for the last 30 years dont fit because if you ever notice there is one large inside pocket in most suits, usually for the right hand to delve into with a few envelops. Once the weight of these builds up it ruins the shape of the suit.

I mean today JOD looked like a cleaner who had stolen a university robe for a laugh except the taxpayer was the only one taken to the cleaners.

"you can only be true to your people and yourself" - thanks john but dont worry about the taxpayer who are the 'people' --NO JOD?

sceptre

jonnyfingers wrote: »

I think it's also discraceful how the other members of the Dáil applauded his speech.

Looking at the video, I noticed a big chunk of minimal or no applauding as well. Definitely the Labour kids had their hands folded long before the FFers stopped clapping. I'm disinclined to watch it again so I don't know whether they did cursory applause or none.

dodgyme

bonzos wrote: »

It the same as joe duffy or gerry ryan telling some unemployed mother who rings their radio show that "i know how you feel." total bullsh1t

Pat kenny on frontline. How can he keep a striaght face when pretending to ask difficult questions about accountability when he earned nearly 1 million. Who else but a state run licence sucking monopoly could justify this.

Even tonight yourman on rte - JOD did a great speech b*llS**t. IT was like he watched the worst roman empire type 60's film, nicking the speeches in it and took a loada cocaine, forgot what he did and went to the dail to wandering into the chamber by accident. He is that outta touch.

I reckon if JOD had become taoiseach he would make CJH look like a virgin enya.

Liam Byrne

The key giveaway was the lack of any real reference to expenses incurred and trips coinciding with race meetings SINCE he switched to Ceann Comhairle.

Whatever about going way OTT when you're doing a job for the country being objectionable enough, going way OTT when your "role" is a referee during Dail days and you've no official capacity outside the house is unforgiveable.

But absolutely no mention of that in his "apology".

thebman

Mary Harney says she never misused goverment jet and that the hold up of the freedom of information request was due to staff personal issues.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1013/harneym.html

Wonder what the personal issues were? :rolleyes:

Liam Byrne

thebman wrote: »

Mary Harney says she never misused goverment jet

The problem is that they have a different dictionary definition of "misused" to the rest of us; their sense of self-importance and "entitlement" mean they view that they only "used" it.

They just don't understand the meaning of the phrase "you shouldn't do that".

blackbetty69

wow 60,000 a year between him and his wife? thats dowright wrong, when u look at the pple that are trying to survive on a tenner a day. I think they should reintroduce the death penalty for this man and his wife, or throw them into the middle of the sea or something

Spiritoftheseventies

Yes given that Dev was referring to Collins there in original quote "its my considered opinion that in the fullness of time, history will record the greatness of Collins, and it will be recorded at my expense" I don't think it would harm a few of our politicians to get on their bike like the big fella used to. Time to decommission our govt jet!

Biggins

John O'Donoghue resigned yesterday and when he did so I never heard such a vocalisation of self-loving in all my life. Blaming everything and anything but himself for his removal from his position, the ignorant bullish man instead also said the system was at fault - not he!

Well Mr O'Donoghue, the system didn't physically strong arm you in just one example; into plane hopping more times in six days alone, going from Dublin to Cannes France to London to Dublin to London To Cannes France, over and over like a raving nomadic lunatic!

The "system" didn't stop you from making use of €500 limo's for what the rest of us is a five minute walk!
And by the way you big ass, you didn't explain the following either:

* Trips coinciding with race meetings in France.
* 174 internal flights from Dublin to Kerry.
* 44 internal flights by his wife.
* Substantial cost of hotel rooms.
* Limos on 24-hour standby at the races.
* Local newspaper advertising for his clinics.
* Garda cars following him from Dublin to Kerry to pick him up from the airport.

...and thats just the tip of the iceberg!

No Mr O'Donoghue, your fat ass used the system to treat yourself to the taxpayers money like it was water coming out of a tap. Your a disgusting piece of work who even now is so sickeningly blind to your own antics that it appears that according to your twisted reasoning, the whole world is to blame and you are the only innocent party!
In short - your full of bullschit!

The even sickening part still was after he finished. The sight of others clapping him as he finished his self-loving vocal rant was stomach churning. The fact that a lot, an awful lot of those that were clapping him, were/are up to the same antics, is a clear sign that they don't give a fcuk what the public think and they continue to congratulate those that decide to screw the system and take it for all its worth.

In England you get a court sentence - in Ireland you get clapped at, paid off handsomely, allowed keep you massive paid job as a TD and still collect your massive extra bonus payments for resigning.

The crowd of crooks that currently infest the Dail are an unmitigating national disgrace - and any idiots that still votes for them still are just as guilty - for they are helping to prop this corrupt way of doing things up!

Ya get what ya vote for!

Spiritoftheseventies

Yes the impression that I got off O Donoghue from his speech that because it was protocol for ministers to be ferried between terminals and that it was practice that happened frequently. Which made it alright
Yet Green councilor was telling Browne a week before that circumstances had changed and as such he should tear up their list of election promises.
So what we are seeing is a two tier system here where certain politicians believe they have to be treated like princes while we live as paupers.

coup1917

I'd say JOD can't wait for the next election in Kerry....
You just know he'll top the vote.......Us against the rest of the country type mentality...
As long as they're playing/talking/living 'Ga' down there and they don't give a sh*te who's screwin them out of their money..

bamboozle

bayviewclose wrote: »

Yes the impression that I got off O Donoghue from his speech that because it was protocol for ministers to be ferried between terminals and that it was practice that happened frequently. Which made it alright
Yet Green councilor was telling Browne a week before that circumstances had changed and as such he should tear up their list of election promises.
So what we are seeing is a two tier system here where certain politicians believe they have to be treated like princes while we live as paupers.

very little mention that the limo company in London belongs to the son of an ex FF TD who is also a nephew of one of J O D's constituency advisors.

yop

Well his site is there for us to contact him, will he read it, will he give a fup, probably not.
The man is a joke, as said here and on so many places he is pig ignorant, self obsessed, but then again so is EVERY single one of them, FG, FF, Greens etc.

Why is it that we are paying for these guys but why does it feel we are so helpless, they can reward each other with payoffs for wrong doing, we pay for it and they reward it, yet we can't do a SINGLE jit about it.

I for one, just even to make myself feel better am going to lambast this pri(K in an email, if he reads all the better.

http://www.johnodonoghue.ie/contact.php4?PHPSESSID=be9445f2b0940c29b52eb29c6d6ba929

walshb

The Daily Star seems to be all for John today. Claiming the speech was so memorable and that he knocked lumps off Gilmore, and deservedly so?:rolleyes:

They claim his basic point was magnificent in its sheer simplicity.:rolleyes:

Making out that we Irish deplore mob rule and that John deserved
a fair crack of the whip?

Fair crack my arse. This man has rode us for thousands upon thousands of pounds and Euro. He had his craic, and it was for far to feckin' long.

Jip

walshb wrote: »

The Daily Star seems to be all for John today. Claiming the speech was so memorable and that he knocked lumps off Gilmore, and deservedly so?:rolleyes:

I was shocked when I heard that this morning on Morning Ireland, what the hell was that all about ? I thought the Star where the working mans paper, why are they supporting him while he wallows in self pity ?

Darsad

yop wrote: »

I for one, just even to make myself feel better am going to lambast this pri(K in an email, if he reads all the better.

http://www.johnodonoghue.ie/contact.php4?PHPSESSID=be9445f2b0940c29b52eb29c6d6ba929

Just sent him an e mail also noticed he has not update his profile to reflect his current position.
Should be interesting to see how he words that.

Darragh29

I wonder if you were to say to JOD, "Look, put aside for a moment the fact that you are hiding behind the system as you call it and stating that you did not break any official rule, do you think it was morally right that you claimed such sums of taxpayers money to sustain an extravagant standard of living while claiming to be on official state business, while we still have people homeless on the streets of our capital cities???"

We might have momentarily been a wealthy country, but nowhere during that time did we deal with any of our key problems in Ireland, such as homelessness, reforming the health and educational system, (to the point where it was actually improved for the customer/end user and that is my definition of what actual reform is, not some soundbyte that gets thrown out everytime there is a scandal which is what the word "reform", is used most for in this country)...

My point is that even though we appeared to be wealthy, in fact we as a nation were as disadvantaged as ever or a certain proportion of us were, and is it morally right that JOD can claim taxpayers money for going to horseraces while we still had a substantial number of people living below the poverty line, we still had waiting lists for hospitals, we still had kids being taught in prefabs...???

To come out and claim that you "broke no rule", to me is adding a huge insult to the injury. Morally was it the right thing to do??? No, so stop trying to defend the indefensible then...

vincenzolorenzo

Does anyone have a link to a website where I could watch him giving the speech? Missed it yesterday

Drumpot

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

Does anyone have a link to a website where I could watch him giving the speech? Missed it yesterday

I dont have a link to it, but want to say that I felt masochistic listening to bits of it on the radio yesterday . .

I wanted desperatly to turn it off, but for some fecked up reason I was compelled to listen to him squirm . .

In a nutshell, he has learned nothing . . The muppits who will vote for him, have convinced him he has led a fantastical crusade for good and that he has done nothing to be questioned on . .

I nearly got sick listening to it . . The very fact that Ill educated people will vote him and his likes back in, is the very reason our country is in such a mess (and will be for longer then it has to be).

The message is clear . . Milk the state and you get to make an address to the nation, self serving & complementing yourself on a job well done . .

People who vote for him should feel ashamed of themselves (if they even understand what shame is) . .

Quandary

Someone made an interesting suggestion in this thread about the people of his constituency being taxed in order to get back what he stole from the country. His south Kerry blinkered die hard supporters might think twice before voting him again in if they have to pay directly for his lavish lifestyle!

Judgement Day

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

Does anyone have a link to a website where I could watch him giving the speech? Missed it yesterday

Listen to it hear from Tom Dunne's show on Newstalk this morning - it would bring a tear to the eye.
http://newstalk.ie/newstalk/programmes/32/tom-dunne.html "The Bull's Goodbye" under Show Recommendations.

sceptre

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

Does anyone have a link to a website where I could watch him giving the speech? Missed it yesterday

This should do, short advert first, then 31 minutes of video.

Personally I think you need the video to roll your eyes at the "to create an ugly grasping black caricature of the man that I am" bit.
(if anyone's short on time you can catch that bit at the start of yesterday's Prime Time).

juuge

Quandary wrote: »

Someone made an interesting suggestion in this thread about the people of his constituency being taxed in order to get back what he stole from the country. His south Kerry blinkered die hard supporters might think twice before voting him again in if they have to pay directly for his lavish lifestyle!

Spot-On! What a great idea !

murphaph

dodgyme wrote: »

"you can only be true to your people and yourself" - thanks john but dont worry about the taxpayer who are the 'people' --NO JOD?

No mate. That was a direct call to the people of South Kerry. He doesn't care about the general public. He only cares about convincing the people of South Kerry to re-elect him. I pray to god the good people down there see through him and give him the boot.

oeb

juuge wrote: »

Spot-On! What a great idea !

Not everyone here in Kerry South votes FF

jmayo

Well two notable connections to the racing world retired this week.

Sea The Stars has retired, probably to stud.
He gave the racing world joy, brought honour and glory to his owners, his trainers, his jockey, the Irish horse racing industry and indeed the country by winning 6 Group 1 races in a season including the Derby, the 2,000 Guineas and lastly the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Sea The Stars was a class act, probably a one off that we may never see the like of again.
His progeny will be worth millions and many hope may inherit some of their fathers ability.
We have to wait and see.
And lastly he provides a useful by product often used in mushroom growing.

On the other hand John "the bull" O'Donoghue retired, well actually resigned belately after being politely pushed, from his position as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Eireann.
Even though he did visit many racecourses over the last number of years courtesy of us the Irish taxpayers, I can't say he ever brought us the highs and the glory that Sea The Stars graced us with.
O'Donoghue lived a classy lifestyle courtesy of the Irish taxpayer, but the words class act can rarely be used with reference to him.
We have yet to see what the progeny (two sons and one daughter) of O'Donoghue bring the world of racing or politics.
One or other will probably follow in their daddy's footsteps as is the norm, but here's hoping they don't inherit their daddy's fondness for spending other people's money on their own lavish lifestyles.

Oh and lastly AFAIK the by product of the Bulls utterances on his spending is rarely used in mushroom growing.