Róisín Shortall Resigns As Junior Health Minister

Millicent

Junior Health Minister Róisín Shortall has resigned a week after her very public questioning of James Reilly using his position to bump centres in his constituency up the list.

Her statement (in part):

It is no longer possible for me to fulfil my role as Minister of State for Primary Care because of lack of support for the reforms in the Programme for Government and the values which underpin it.

The public have a right to expect that decisions on health infrastructure and staffing will be made in the public interest based on health need and not driven by other concerns.

(The rest can be found on the Journal here).

This is a crying shame. How sickening to see a politician with decency, honesty and integrity pushed out of her position by that odious excuse for a Health Minister abusing his position to soap up constituents. I was hoping she might turn the tide for that sort of parish pump politics but I had a sinking feeling last week that her days were numbered.

James Reilly is a disgrace and Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore should be ashamed for accepting her resignation and not, instead, insisting James Reilly stepped down.

Sickening.

yoyo

Hopefully this supposed ban on alcohol sports advertising and minimum pricing will go with her. Stupid moves so good riddence :pac:

Nick

HeyThereDeliah

It is a shame and yes James Reilly should step down hopefully this might bring some change. He is a terrible minister. Enda is out of his depth tbh.

Millicent

yoyo wrote: »

Hopefully this supposed ban on alcohol sports advertising and minimum pricing will go with her. Stupid moves so good riddence :pac:

Nick

Why? You may not agree with her politics but are you happy that she has resigned while someone who was caught out abusing his position to the advantage of his constituents remains?

Jelly 292

SHOCKING NEWS-

IRISH MINISTER RESIGNS FOR A PRINCIPLE!!

Gotta be a first...

Not into the alcohol/nanny state thing but fair play to the woman, restores a tiny, tiny bit of respect to the whole rotten edifice...

Shelga

I'm so glad I don't live in Ireland anymore

efb

She has a point about the alcohol thing, but lets ignore that cos its not populist...

Sir Pompous Righteousness

You could have predicted that her term in office would have been Shortall along.

yoyo

Millicent wrote: »

Why? You may not agree with her politics but are you happy that she has resigned while someone who was caught out abusing his position to the advantage of his constituents remains?

I don't agree with either of them, both chancers as far as I'm concerned. I thought her proposals for minimum pricing of alcohol and also that sports advertising should be banned as ridiculous, so I am happy she has stepped down if it would mean these policies won't be brought in. Talk about a bloody nanny state with all these ridiculous proposals. Wouldn't mind seeing Reilly go next though!

She has a point about the alcohol thing, but lets ignore that cos its not populist...

Setting a minimum price for drink won't stop alcoholism, nor will it stop binge drinking. All it means is people that enjoy a drink responsibly have to pay more, because some ejits can't handle it. Considering most alcohol related medical issues are probably as a result of people who drank in pubs/clubs, I don't see the benfit of just attacking the off trade prices.
Not to mention sport competitions that are sponsored by drink companies bring in money to the economy, there is no guarantee if drink companies were banned from spnsoring them, they would continue.

Nick

eth0

Sir Pompous Righteousness wrote: »

You could have predicted that her term in office would have been Shortall along.

I keep misreading her name as 'Shortfall'

hardCopy

Fair play to her for sticking to her guns.

I can't really understand the loyalty to Reilly, he was caught rapid and had zero explanation for it.

Benny_Cake

efb wrote: »

She has a point about the alcohol thing, but lets ignore that cos its not populist...

Oh no, this is Ireland. She could give us the best health service in the world but that would win her no credit if she put a couple for extra cents on a can!

Seriously though, sorry to see her go, looks like we'll be stuck with Father Stack for the long haul.

Wacker The Attacker

Why do I get the feeling we will have a FF government quicker than we think

drunkmonkey

This is the same lady that claimed pot gives you throat and lung cancer. She was a spoofer, good luck and good riddance.

Wacker The Attacker

Benny_Cake wrote: »

Oh no, this is Ireland. She could give us the best health service in the world but that would win her no credit if she put a couple for extra cents on a can!

Seriously though, sorry to see her go, looks like we'll be stuck with Father Stack for the long haul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SQwJJW6vgs

Micky Dolenz

Shelga wrote: »

I'm so glad I don't live in Ireland anymore

No family or friends there?


I think it's an absolute shambles. Enda's balls better drop soon or we are fooked.

usernamegoes

Millicent wrote: »

Why? You may not agree with her politics but are you happy that she has resigned while someone who was caught out abusing his position to the advantage of his constituents remains?

This.

I don't agree with her politics, but she raised questions about the stroke politics happening in Dept. of Health.
Plus, I don't mean to suggest she hasn't done Parish Pump politics, but I am just not aware of it.

drunkmonkey

usernamegoes wrote: »

I don't agree with her politics, but she raised questions about the stroke politics happening in Dept. of Health

Who gives a **** she lied about the dangers of pot and therefore should rot in hell with any other politician that lies to the general public. She has no morals, Riley could see that and thankfully so.

efb

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Who gives a **** she lied about the dangers of pot and therefore should rot in hell with any other politician that lies to the general public. She has no morals, Riley could see that and thankfully so.

where's the link on that DM?

usernamegoes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Who gives a **** she lied about the dangers of pot and therefore should rot in hell with any other politician that lies to the general public. She has no morals, Riley could see that and thankfully so.

No argument from me there. My point was directed purely towards the issue that she raised the issue of improper use of the ministerial role.

dirtyden

Shelga wrote: »

I'm so glad I don't live in Ireland anymore

Because Roisin Shortall resigned?

Bit of an extreme reaction.

Micky Dolenz

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Who gives a **** she lied about the dangers of pot and therefore should rot in hell with any other politician that lies to the general public. She has no morals, Riley could see that and thankfully so.

He must be a smoker.

Heh, don't worry, you'll still be able to get weed no matter what they say about it. It's not like it can be made illegal :P

Benny_Cake

drunkmonkey wrote: »

usernamegoes wrote: »

I don't agree with her politics, but she raised questions about the stroke politics happening in Dept. of Health

Who gives a **** she lied about the dangers of pot and therefore should rot in hell with any other politician that lies to the general public. She has no morals, Riley could see that and thankfully so.

Are you honestly suggesting that James Really has a differing view to Roisin Shortall on pot? Every politician gives pretty much the standard line on that, the only one who makes a sensible argument on it is Ming Flanagan. Unfortunately it's the only sensible opinion he holds.

Side Show Bob

James Reiley bullied her and that was wrong and indefencable but she wanted to bully all of us and impose her anti alcohol opinions upon us, so good luck to her and its one more politition that I hope we never have to endure again.

risteard7

Great news for some :cool:

maringo

Sorry to hear that Roisin Shortall resigned. However, my view is that if you are on a team you have to work as a team. The country is in an emergency situation and I think it has to be all shoulders to the wheel to bring us out of this recession. I was gobsmacked to hear her speech in the Dail. I think whoever has responsibility for health has a massive job of work to do. Members of my family are really struggling to survive through this recession so the last thing I need to see is squabbling among the people elected to run this country. Am really p ssed off and wish they'd just get on with the job.

Duiske

Wasn't it heartening to see her party colleagues, including my local Labour TD, speaking tonight about how great a Minister she was, and what a great job she was doing. What a bunch of backstabbing, power hungry muppets.

Side Show Bob

Duiske wrote: »

Wasn't it heartening to see her party colleagues, including my local Labour TD, speaking tonight about how great a Minister she was, and what a great job she was doing. What a bunch of backstabbing, power hungry muppets.

Yea Emmet Stag spoke highly of her....

humbert

Side Show Bob wrote: »

James Reiley bullied her and that was wrong and indefencable but she wanted to bully all of us and impose her anti alcohol opinions upon us, so good luck to her and its one more politition that I hope we never have to endure again.

This (or at least her misguided approach to reducing alcohol abuse), and one less teacher in the Dail.

usernamegoes

humbert wrote: »

This (or at least her misguided approach to reducing alcohol abuse), and one less teacher in the Dail.

She's not resigning her seat, just the whip and government post.

emo72

maringo wrote: »

I think it has to be all shoulders to the wheel to bring us out of this recession.

to be honest, it seems to all shoulders to the wheel to stay in power.

meant to be getting a deal on the debt? get people back to work? wheres the stimulus? water tax? property tax? reform of allowances? seriously?

they dont seem to give a **** about us. all shortall is doing is playing her game. re-election mode for her. **** them all to hell. honestly.

Side Show Bob

usernamegoes wrote: »

She's not resigning her seat, just the whip and government post.

Has she resigned her teaching position or she on extended leave?

Pottler

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Who gives a **** she lied about the dangers of pot and therefore should rot in hell with any other politician that lies to the general public. She has no morals, Riley could see that and thankfully so.

Jasus, pot-head much? If I was going to dump on a politician, that would be somwhere waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down my list of reasons. I though she had some guts, didn't totally toe the line. Probably a cnut anyway as shes a pol, but whatever. Pot???? Yeah, good issue, I'm raging she refused to support our campaign to legalise, err, some crap no-one much cares about. Good one.

Bannasidhe

Seems like you are damned if you do and damned if you don't in this country.

Shorthall is being pilloried for not being a team player when our last government were pilloried for putting their particular team before the good of the country. Yet, it seems to me it is Reilly who was not being a team player and who deemed in unnecessary to consult with his junior ministers.

She is being condemned for wanting to put a minimum price of alcohol - seriously, of all the problems this country has not all of them are financial as anyone who has attempted to negotiate or city streets at night can see - we have a huge issue with the abuse of alcohol and our drinking culture. But how dare a minister try and do something about that.

Side Show Bob

drunkmonkey wrote: »

This is the same lady that claimed pot gives you throat and lung cancer. She was a spoofer, good luck and good riddance.

Are you Ming?

_feedback_

Pity to see all the "good riddance" posts...

I didn't like all of her proposals, but she actually gave a shít about the country and its people. I was delighted to hear her speak out recently about the glaring problems with the health system.

It was disappointing to see her vote confidence in Reilly, but maybe she was trying to get on with the job and it was the only way to do it. Perhaps on further reflection afterwards she realised it just wasn't going to happen with the "team" she was on.

This might have a bigger impact too, although if they sacked her it might have made them look worse.

Isn't it incredible, the only way an enthusiastic, well meaning, hard working, honest politician in Ireland can make an impact is by resigning...

Heroditas

Never a good thing to see a minister resign.
However, I also don't like seeing a politician taking what many might say was the easy option.

Hannibal Smith

I'd say Reilly and Shortall never got on. I think Reilly is a decent enough man, he always seemed pretty transparent and fairly to the point. Less face it, the health minister, who ever it is, always has to make tough decisions and is always disliked. You could see over interviews over the past few weeks with them both that there was little or no communication between their offices.

So shortall threw her toys out of the pram and resigned...yeah good one, so instead of staying in the job and fighting your corner for the better of the country, you run away crying, leaving the rest of us to deal with him? I don't believe that and it makes you a pretty crappy politician if it is true.

This whole 'getting a centre for his constituents' is a mountain out of a molehill. And no, I'm not one of the constituents, but I remember a big to do about Mary harney organising treatment for her mother, who was seriously ill. The media went mad about it, but I'd say they would all have done the same in her shoes.

Side Show Bob

elviscostello wrote: »

Pity to see all the "good riddance" posts...

I didn't like all of her proposals, but she actually gave a shít about the country and its people. I was delighted to hear her speak out recently about the glaring problems with the health system.

It was disappointing to see her vote confidence in Reilly, but maybe she was trying to get on with the job and it was the only way to do it. Perhaps on further reflection afterwards she realised it just wasn't going to happen with the "team" she was on.

This might have a bigger impact too, although if they sacked her it might have made them look worse.

Isn't it incredible, the only way an enthusiastic, well meaning, hard working, honest politician in Ireland can make an impact is by resigning...

Her vote of confidence in Rielly was short lived, she wanted to bring Prohibition into all of the homes in this country that have to pay the new property charge

humbert

Bannasidhe wrote: »

She is being condemned for wanting to put a minimum price of alcohol - seriously, of all the problems this country has not all of them are financial as anyone who has attempted to negotiate or city streets at night can see - we have a huge issue with the abuse of alcohol and our drinking culture. But how dare a minister try and do something about that.

Nobody's denying there is a problem, it's just her proposed solution sucks balls.

Bannasidhe

humbert wrote: »

Nobody's denying there is a problem, it's just her proposed solution sucks balls.

Exactly why does it 'suck balls' as you so eloquently put it?

ahnowbrowncow

Side Show Bob wrote: »

Has she resigned her teaching position or she on extended leave?

I don't think so, that post is hers if she wants it, the school will probably have to kick out or move the new employee that replaced her. Just like Margaret Conlon who lost her seat in 2011 and wanted her job back as vice principal and of course she got it, displacing the new one vp. If you leave your post for 4 years you should not be entitled to it back whenever you want

yoyo

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Seems like you are damned if you do and damned if you don't in this country.

Shorthall is being pilloried for not being a team player when our last government were pilloried for putting their particular team before the good of the country. Yet, it seems to me it is Reilly who was not being a team player and who deemed in unnecessary to consult with his junior ministers.

She is being condemned for wanting to put a minimum price of alcohol - seriously, of all the problems this country has not all of them are financial as anyone who has attempted to negotiate or city streets at night can see - we have a huge issue with the abuse of alcohol and our drinking culture. But how dare a minister try and do something about that.

Because her proposals would do f*ck all to stop the alcohol problem, and as I stated in a post previous may stop sports competitions running which bring money into the economy if they went ahead.
Also if her proposal was meant to stop alcohol abuse, she forgot about the pubs and clubs where this also takes place, more frequently. Its not a cost thing, but as you said a culture one. People wont stop if they put the price up, but it simply means the responsible drinkers have to pay more.
This idea that because people are pre-drinking before they go out on the town and thats why all these alcohol issues occur after nights out is stupid. Conveniently left out was the fact the people had 10 Jager bombs in the club and "went mad". No it must have been the pre-drinking that is to blame :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Nick

Bannasidhe

yoyo wrote: »

Because her proposals would do f*ck all to stop the alcohol problem, and as I stated in a post previous may stop sports competitions running which bring money into the economy if they went ahead.
Also if her proposal was meant to stop alcohol abuse, she forgot about the pubs and clubs where this also takes place, more frequently. Its not a cost thing, but as you said a culture one. People wont stop if they put the price up, but it simply means the responsible drinkers have to pay more.
This idea that because people are pre-drinking before they go out on the town and thats why all these alcohol issues occur after nights out is stupid. Conveniently left out was the fact the people had 10 Jager bombs in the club and "went mad". No it must have been the pre-drinking that is to blame :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Nick

So what do you propose should be done?

Uriel.

I think her resignation from the party whip is more of a story to her resignation as Junior Minister.

She clearly wasn't getting support from her parliamentary party colleagues and one would have to wonder if this is the first major sign of division and split, not just in Government, but in the labour party.

It is also clear that there are division lines in Fine Gael (dating back to pre election). You'd have to wonder what the parties will be like in 2 years, if they survive that long

Lord Trollington

It all comes back to this government and the government before being unwilling to tackle the public sector reform.

They intended to save €75million on Public sector perks. PERKS. Not direct wages. PERKS. But ended up only shaving €3mill.

Instead of doing this they are cutting other departments and taking the easy option.

Side Show Bob

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

I don't think so, that post is hers if she wants it, the school will probably have to kick out or move the new employee that replaced her. Just like Margaret Conlon who lost her seat in 2011 and wanted her job back as vice principal and of course she got it, displacing the new one vp. If you leave your post for 4 years you should not be entitled to it back whenever you want

This too is equally as bad as stroke politics, she's been happy enough with her absorbent wages and super long extended holidays, didn't decide to try out the private sector did she! its look after number once again!

_feedback_

Hannibal Smith wrote: »

So shortall threw her toys out of the pram and resigned...yeah good one, so instead of staying in the job and fighting your corner for the better of the country, you run away crying, leaving the rest of us to deal with him? I don't believe that and it makes you a pretty crappy politician if it is true.

So she should just stay and do what she is told?

You could change the names in these scenarios and it is always the same. Get in, follow what the party says and enjoy the benefits. Try to keep the constituency happy for the oul votes too.

Father Stack made those changes to that list for no good reason that Shorthall could see. It's glaringly obvious what he was at.

She came out and said just about all she could publicly and followed the sheep and voted confidence. I'd say she was fúckin raging about that. Imagine going in to that job full of ideas and promises and wanting to actually make a change, then being forced in to this crap of voting for someone you don't have confidence in.

Obviously something forced her to make that decision in the end. Maybe he said something like "If you ever speak to the press like that again, I'll put your head through the wall".

Pottler

Heroditas wrote: »

Never a good thing to see a minister resign.
However, I also don't like seeing a politician taking what many might say was the easy option.

No, just NO, on many levels. Bring on resignations, I have a list, somwhere of just who should.

humbert

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Exactly why does it 'suck balls' as you so eloquently put it?

Because minimum pricing is good for the vintners and does nothing to stop binge drinking in pubs and nightclubs, just like closing the off licences early. Absolute balls.

Bannasidhe

humbert wrote: »

Because minimum pricing is good for the vintners and does nothing to stop binge drinking in pubs and nightclubs, just like closing the off licences early. Absolute balls.

So what do you propose we should do about the rampant abuse of alcohol in our society?