Send Coughlan to Brussels!

Sizzler

Probably the most ironic headline I have seen this year.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/headache-for-cowen-over-coughlan-eu-post-1925920.html

wrote:

THE EU has posed a major headache for Taoiseach Brian Cowen by lobbying for Tanaiste Mary Coughlan as Agriculture Commissioner.

The Irish Independent has learned she was proposed to government officials as the prime candidate for the plum job at a crucial juncture in the reform of farm subsidies.

Mr Cowen is also under pressure from the head of the European Commission to put forward a female candidate for the post.

However, if the Taoiseach were to accede to the requests he would further risk his already slim majority at a time when he is trying to push through a tough Budget.

And it would also be perceived that he was yielding to criticism of the Tanaiste's poor showing as Enterprise Minister.

Ms Coughlan is held in high regard in Europe from her time as Agriculture Minister, in stark contrast to her much-maligned performance in her current role at home.

The French government is backing an Irish appointment for the job in the new commission, which will take up office towards the end of the year.

On the basis Mr Cowen is unlikely to appoint a government minister, the firm favourite for the commissioner position remains former Fianna Fail minister Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, who is currently a member of the European Court of Auditors.

Ms Geoghegan-Quinn's claim to the job would not be as strong as Ms Coughlan's, but she still ticks a lot of boxes so can't be ruled out.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has demanded gender balance in selections from countries and Ireland has never had a female commissioner.

Ms Coughlan was mooted in European circles as a possible candidate for the job.

How exactly is losing Coughlan a headache for Cowen He should be packing her bags for her and driving her to the airport FFS!

ANXIOUS

Sizzler wrote: »

Probably the most ironic headline I have seen this year.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/headache-for-cowen-over-coughlan-eu-post-1925920.html



How exactly is losing Coughlan a headache for Cowen He should be packing her bags for her and driving her to the airport FFS!

I think the headache comes from the bye-election that it would trigger. Which they would be hard pushed to win, also their has to be a bye election in the same county for Pat the cope. Plus couglan is belived to be one of his closest confidants.

dudara

She was, by all accounts, a good minister for Agriculture. She is however, woefully unsuited to being Táiniste. Being in Brussels might be best for her.

spadder

"And it would also be perceived that he was yielding to criticism of the Tanaiste's poor showing as Enterprise Minister."

Incompetence being rewarded yet again, I think she has been a shambles in enterprise,trade & employment.

Long Onion

The woman is an incompetent monkey cock. Personally I would like to see her take up the agriculture post in Zimbabwe. In my humble opinion she is as ill skilled to serve the interests of the EU in Brussels as she is to represent the interests of the people at home.

She will not be sent due to the ensuing election, my money is on the Attorney General, this would leave the Dail seats unchanged. This would be a complete derrogation of the governments duties, but hey, this is Fianna FAIL.

LostinBlanch

How long does Cowen have before he is forced to call a by election by law?

LostinBlanch

Also, from politics.ie, another reason why Cowen didn't want a byelection in Donegal.

There is a very simple explanation for this. The Tanaiste is the sitting TD in the constituency. By tradition, she now becomes the senior TD of her party in that constituency. Whoever is to try and get a 2nd seat for FF in DSW cannot be allowed to become a threat to the Tanaiste. The Tanaiste must therefore remain the cleverer, sharper and more able FF presence in DSW. Ipso facto, the second string TD must be less clever, less sharp and less able than the Tanaiste.

brettmirl

Sounds to me like the spin doctors are spinning this story...

Perfect way to get rid Calamity Coughlan and spin as "the EU wanted her, what could we do? And look at us now, we got a great portfolio to help the poor farmers of Ireland".

jimmmy

It does not say much about the competency or institution of the EC if they are lobbying for a failure like Tanaiste Mary Coughlan as Agriculture Commissioner.

Aidric

brettmirl wrote: »

Sounds to me like the spin doctors are spinning this story...

Perfect way to get rid Calamity Coughlan and spin as "the EU wanted her, what could we do? And look at us now, we got a great portfolio to help the poor farmers of Ireland".

That would be my take on it as well. She has been nothing short of abysmal at home, so she is in no way deserving of this post.

ednwireland

LostinBlanch wrote: »

How long does Cowen have before he is forced to call a by election by law?

i dont think theres a time limit, we have already lost one TD with pat the cope getting an mep's job (bet he's drawing 2 salaries) and no sign of a byelection (lisbon ref should have been the obvious time)
really annoying FF dont and never have given a sh*t about donegal i can see mary going to brussels and dinny mcginley (FG) been our only representative in the dail.

there should be a time limit of 4-6 months IMO to have a by-election

it'll never happen because if she went i guess they would have to have a byelection for 2 seats and they would prob. lose both at the moment so i doubt she'll get the job no matter how much she wants it.

Lame Lantern

The reason he doesn't want to move Coughlan on is that it would be more difficult for him to justify not putting Hanafin or Martin in the role, two potential leaders he has tried to marginalise since coming to power (Hanafin in the form of a demotion, Martin by shipping him overseas) now that his polling is so dire.

jmayo

dudara wrote: »

She was, by all accounts, a good minister for Agriculture. She is however, woefully unsuited to being Táiniste. Being in Brussels might be best for her.

I know a fair few farmers who would disagree with that.
Yeah, I remember seeing her leading the charge against Mandelson's WTO proposals :rolleyes:

jimmmy wrote: »

It does not say much about the competency or institution of the EC if they are lobbying for a failure like Tanaiste Mary Coughlan as Agriculture Commissioner.

It could be the EU's way of finally screwing agriculture.
Their idea might be to put a complete moron in charge, and where better to find one than in the pesky Irish government.

Pride Fighter

FF dont want SF to win a seat in Donegal, they would never send Coughlan to Brussels as a result.

The Saint

It's good to see Ireland get offered such an important portfolio as agriculture. However, Coughlan should be placed in a rocket and fired into the sun rather than be sent to Brussels. I'm sure there'd be plent more space for more government ministers on the rocket in order to get value for money.

jmayo

The Saint wrote: »

It's good to see Ireland get offered such an important portfolio as agriculture. However, Coughlan should be placed in a rocket and fired into the sun rather than be sent to Brussels. I'm sure there'd be plent more space for more government ministers on the rocket in order to get value for money.

Tell a certain minister, whose hubby may or may not have been flown for a night to Vegas, there is a free bar on it and they will be on it like a shot. :rolleyes:

JonathanAnon

Look, were stuck with her until at least 2012, bar another election is called. And being a Minister in this parochial country, she will certainly be voted back in by the people in Donegal. Not for her competence, but simply because she is a Minister and this gives her constituency more pull.

So given that we are stuck with her, on a personal level I would like her to be sent off to Europe. She is incompetent, naive (spent 160K going to have Michael Dell tell her the bleeding obvious), lacking in decorum, not particularly well clued in (Einstein's theory of Evolution??), and pretty much a embarrassment to the nation.

I would be more than happy to see her having her wellies valeted, chauffeured to the to the airport in a limo, and handed a one way ticket to Strasbourg, but this is unlikely to happen for the political reasons mentioned above.

Mr.Micro

Imagine all the red faces when Calamity makes a mess of the portfolio if given the job. It is breathtaking to think she is a standard for this type of job if she is being sought out. Buy her ticket now or put her out to graze in Donegal out of harms way hopefully.

slippy wicket

For the love of god noooo!!!!:eek:

As a farmer and having seen the impact of her time in charge of agriculture, having this cretin in charge of european agriculture is a sure way for there to be a famine of biblical proportions.

She truely has the faecal touch.

mikemac

There are many, many farmers who will disagree that she was a good minister for Agriculture
Sure she got heckled at the ploughing championships by cattle farmers and that made the evening news. Very embarrassing for her

Though it's great that the EU want to offer the extremely important agriculture position to Ireland, now all we need is a top candidate

Mr.Micro

mikemac wrote: »

There are many, many farmers who will disagree that she was a good minister for Agriculture
Sure she got heckled at the ploughing championships by cattle farmers and that made the evening news. Very embarrassing for her

Though it's great that the EU want to offer the extremely important agriculture position to Ireland, now all we need is a top candidate

I agree mikemac and she sure aint the best candidate by the longest stretch of imagination. The boys and girls in Brussels will not be asking us for a candidate in future if Calamity gets the job.:eek:

old boy

considering the result of lisbon can she be expected to do any better in bye elections

dodgyme

I dont think we should just send einstein coughlan.

Lets send
Martin 'barrier free, shut that helicoptor door' leech Cullen,
Bev 'claim money for being independent and in FF, NIB' Flynn,
JOD Mr ex CC,
JHR,
JHR's son also with the cap? not the common agri policy cap!
Willie oDEa
Frank Fahy
Ivana 'cant get elected coz everyone cant stand her her but has a senate seat anyhow' Bacik
David 'Narrow minded' Norris
Bertie
MArtin 'strutter at every question' Manserigh

Between them all they could have a shot at the job but in the meantime could perform in the EU Drama society production of 'calamity coughlan' or 'willie get your gun'

Arnold Layne

Just think of all the committees that she could start and reports that she could commission on a far wider scale than we could have imagined:eek:

Darsad

Its quite simple this woman is probably one of the worst public representitve's I have ever come across. A senior civil servant in her department is reported to have told a reporter that she is probably the most stupid person he has ever had any dealings with!
As she is tipped as one of 6 FFer's guaranteed to be returned at the next election I dont think it is her that is the most stupid !
I still shudder to think what Michael Dell though of our high powered delegation of Coughlan
and O'Dea when they rolled into his office!

Darragh29

Sizzler wrote: »

Probably the most ironic headline I have seen this year.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/headache-for-cowen-over-coughlan-eu-post-1925920.html



How exactly is losing Coughlan a headache for Cowen He should be packing her bags for her and driving her to the airport FFS!

Yeah the auld "Irish" solution to an Irish problem. We have an incompetent person in government, so because she is useless in her current role her, we'll promote her to a higher office just because we don't want to actually deal with her.

If she is an imcompetent person, then that is what she is and she should be kept out of key positions that she is clearly unable to perform in to any degree. She has presided over almost 500,000 people joining the dole queue here in the last 2 years. She is in charge of the Dept. of Enterprise Trade and Employment, we are around 2 years into this crisis and she has yet to come to the country with a viable plan for creating jobs. She hasn't a clue and the best that we could hope for is that she coule be giving a job licking stamps in some back office somewhere, she is about as useless a person as I have ever seen hold a public office, entirely devoid of the slightest degree of vision or immaginative thought.

This is what piss*s me off about this country, we cannot deal with incompetent people, we are afraid of them and their "natural rights", we promote them because we are usually afraid of them.

Darragh29

Darsad wrote: »

Its quite simple this woman is probably one of the worst public representitve's I have ever come across. A senior civil servant in her department is reported to have told a reporter that she is probably the most stupid person he has ever had any dealings with!
As she is tipped as one of 6 FFer's guaranteed to be returned at the next election I dont think it is her that is the most stupid !
I still shudder to think what Michael Dell though of our high powered delegation of Coughlan
and O'Dea when they rolled into his office!

I've never seen anything like her in my life. The look on her face when she is asked on camera about the jobs crisis, she puts on a big dopey face and says, "we have to wait for the next global upturn". Then we wonder why we have no jobs left in the country!?!?!?! When the person who is responsible for job creation reckons that we'll just sit ourselves down and wait for someone else to do the heavy lifting for us, maybe in 2 years time when we have 700,000 people on the dole???

Best thing we can do for ourselves is start a space program and start putting people like Mary Coughlan into some far far distant orbit...

paddyland

The best thing she could do for agriculture is to put her in a field full of potatoes, point her towards the far end, and let her start crapping on them.

Tricity Bendix

Being heckled by farmers wouldn't make someone a bad Agriculture Minister in my book.