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It’s Monday Mourning & we are in the midst of a Sahara Desert if Shocking Statistics:
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Sylvester “Sil” Fox (87)...fake news
"...no Joe, you rang me !..." A.Caller.
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If we don't get GOLD today from this triumverate of tossers we'll never get it.
That said, it could be puke-inducing vomit shlt show for 75mins too.0 -
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sweet lurd
The woman claimed that as her friend said “Smile”, “Mr Fox proceeded to put his hand on to my lap, on to my groin and he tickled my vagina, and doing so he said, ‘You will always remember where this picture was taken’."...no Joe, you rang me !..." A.Caller.
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dvcireland wrote: »No Joe you rang me
He gets some value out of that blue jacket, wears it almost as much as Mr. Duffy wears de red velour waistcoat so to speak as they say.0 -
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Soundbite from English female commentator on the Irish Cricket documentary there:
And Trent Johnson the Irish captain leaps around the groud like a leprechaun.
Sigh. Lazy and ignorant sterotyping so to speak.
It would be like George Hamilton saying
David Beckham celebrating like a tattooed shaven headed lager lout chav on holiday in Magaluf.0 -
I'd like to call in today to offer a diferent view on Calorie. A truly despicable person.
Bad enough his solicitor was on a few years ago for a 45minute puffpiece about how wunderful, fantastic his client was, now the man himself.
"hasn't he suffered enough?" said Mr. Duffy of Calorie previously.0 -
ButtersSuki wrote: »I BELIEVE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He/his wife should take a case against that wan for putting him through that ordeal without just reason. Not nice for anybody, but a man of his age. He so easily could not have been able to defend himself in court. His crime is against comedy, but I don’t think the legal system deals with that.0 -
ButtersSuki wrote: »I'd like to call in today to offer a diferent view on Calorie. A truly despicable person.
Bad enough his solicitor was on a few years ago for a 45minute puffpiece about how wunderful, fantastic his client was, now the man himself.
"hasn't he suffered enough?" said Mr. Duffy of Calorie previously.
PLEASE DO, on a burner phone, and you can select one of your lesser heard accents so to speak.0 -
Just some of Ivan's "misdeeds" so to speak as they say:
Ivan, the gift that keeps on giving :
Insurers pay out for Ivor's west Cork yacht and run
Byline: John Lee POLITICAL EDITOR
IT WAS the alleged hit-and-run which saw former minister Ivor Callely make a media splash for all the wrong reasons.
But eight months after the senator's yacht collided with two other vessels in the waters of west Cork, the politician's insurer has paid out, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.
Two boat owners have been paid almost [euro]45,000 after the incident in which an unidentified woman was seen at the controls of Mr Callely's vessel when it apparently went out of control as he tied it to its moorings.
Mr Callely's insurance company, Marine & General, paid [euro]23,000 to a yacht owner and [euro]21,900 to the owner of a motorboat to repair damage caused when his vessel crashed into theirs in Baltimore Harbour last July.
The settlement was paid about six weeks ago, more than six months after Mr Callely accepted full liability for the accident.
One of the boat owners had initially said he would accept [euro]10,000 if Mr Callely paid up immediately as agreed. Mr Callely and his insurance company delayed payment for unexplained reasons and this particular settlement was doubled due to boat hire costs and legal expenses.
Within a few days of the incident, Mr Callely had accepted liability and said he would pay up through his insurance. However, a few days later he was not available to take calls from the boat owners.
The owner of the smaller vessel, a rigid inflatable boat (RIB) would have accepted [euro]10,000 if Mr Callely had paid immediately as he could have carried out temporary repairs and used his boat last summer. In the event, Mr Callely stalled, the RIB owner was forced to rent a boat and incur further legal fees. His costs eventually came to [euro]21,900.
It is not clear whether the former minister paid any of the settlement out of his own pocket. His own vessel, Serendipity II, sustained considerable damage but it is not known if Mr Callely paid for repairs on the vessel.
Ivor Callely
Bertie Ahern’s second controversial nominee Ivor Callely was another surprise choice. Callely became embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that while chairperson of the Eastern Health Board, a construction firm who had won health board contracts had, to use that quaint Ahern term, given Ivor a “dig out” with home improvements after one of his other contractors had let him down.
Even though Callely has consistently denied any wrongdoing, he was forced to resign his junior Transport ministry and was judged to have tarnished last December’s Fianna Fáil budget bonanza giveaway by hogging headlines in his last stand refusal to quit.
Callely has also had his share of business disasters. In 1992 a company called Eurokabin went bankrupt with debts of nearly €9 million. It is still unclear what Callely’s relationship was to the business.
In 2002 the Sunday Business Post reported that Callely has at various times said he was and then wasn’t an employee of the firm. However, he also said he was and then denied being a director of Apollo Engineering which also went into liquidation and which operated from the same site and used the same telephone number as Eurokabin.
The Nealon Guide to the 26th Dail, gives Callely’s business address as Apollo Engineering, Baldoyle Industrial Estate, and his name was on the firm’s notepaper as a director!
However, controversy has continually dogged the North Dublin TD. In December 2005, a year before his eventual ousting, it was revealed that Callely had offered his constituency secretary Niall Phelan a free car as a bonus not to resign.
At the time of the car fiasco Bertie Ahern simply said Callely’s actions were “not advisable”, and when in the day before Callely eventually resigned as minister and was seemingly uncontactable Ahern merely told the Dáil that he was “not impressed”.
Ivor Callely attacks Select Committee
Tuesday, 13 July 2010 18:22
Senator Ivor Callely has told the committee investigating his expenses claims that he fulfils his duties to the Seanad from different locations and the sale of his residence in west Cork was not an issue.
Senator Callely is appearing for the second time before the Select Committee on Members' Interests.
It is investigating complaints that he claimed travel and subsistence expenses from a house in west Cork while retaining a home in Dublin.
Independent Senator Joe O'Toole asked why Mr Callely had not mentioned that the Kilcrohane house was currently on the market given that he had repeatedly insisted it was his principal residence.
However, Senator Callely said that was not relevant and said the Committee was diversifying away from the original complaints.
When Mr O'Toole questioned information on his website, Senator Callely responded by claiming information on the former INTO chief's own website was itself misleading.
Later, Labour Senator Alex White repeatedly asked if it was not worthy of comment that the Senator justified claiming expenses for staying in his family home in Dublin.
Senator Callely responded by insisting he was within the regulations.
The tension rose when Senator White pressed him on personal circumstances, which he had alluded to in his opening statement.
Senator Callely said he was entitled to a separate private life.
He protested that he would not be bullied when asked repeatedly whether he still attended clinics in Dublin.
Senator Callely forfeited the Fianna Fáil whip over the controversy.
Story from RTÉ News:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0713/callelyi.html
The Seanad Members' Interests Committee has recommended that Ivor Callely be suspended from the House for 20 days without pay.
The proposal follows three meetings of the committee, which investigated Senator Callely's expenses claims.
RTÉ News understands the report finds that he misrepresented his principal residence as his home in Cork.
The Seanad is to reconvene later tonight to consider the recommendation.
Senator Ivor Callely has twice been questioned by the Committee about travel and subsistence claims from a home in Kilcrohane, Co Cork, while he maintained a base in Dublin.
He denies any wrongdoing in claiming €80,000 in expenses.
Yesterday's Committee hearing was marked by sharp exchanges between Senator Callely and his colleagues.
Senator Callely refused to be drawn on his suggestions that his personal circumstances were changing at the relevant time, insisting that his private life should remain private.
Perhaps the biggest surprise came when Senator Callely admitted he did not own the west Cork house at the centre of the affair but merely had 'a right of residence'.
The Committee did not pursue this disclosure.
Receiver takes control of site in which Ivor Callely had interest
First published: Mon, Dec 7, 2009,
A RECEIVER appointed by Investec bank to seize a Dublin property co-owned by Fianna Fáil Senator Ivor Callely is expected to try to maximise the value of the site, possibly by reapplying for planning permission, before seeking to sell it.
Investec took control of the site at 59-60 Clontarf Road last week. The bank is owed some €8 million in loans provided for the site, which the owners planned to redevelop.
The receiver, Simon Coyle, a partner with Dublin accountancy firm Mazars, had no comment to make on his appointment.
The site is owned by a partnership comprising four investors including Mr Callely. Galway-based developer John O’Dolan, who died in tragic circumstances in February, was another investor.
Efforts to contact Mr Callely last night proved unsuccessful.
The purchase of the site, which covers almost an acre, was completed in January 2007 for some €10 million.
The co-investors had sought planning permission to demolish the existing houses on the sea-front site next to St Anthony’s Church in Clontarf and build 44 apartments and three shops on the site.
However, this plan was rejected by An Bord Pleanála late last year after being approved by Dublin City Council.
The planning application was submitted in the name of Mr O’Dolan’s property company O’Dolan International.
Mr Callely lists his share in the property in the Seanad register of interests as an “investment” in co-ownership with three other individuals.
A former Fianna Fáil junior minister, Mr Callely was first elected to the Dáil in 1989 but lost his Dáil seat in the 2007 general election.
He was nominated as a senator by then taoiseach Bertie Ahern. He served as minister of state for health and for transport.
Receiver takes control of site in which Ivor Callely had interest
Mon, Dec 7, 2009, 00:00
A RECEIVER appointed by Investec bank to seize a Dublin property co-owned by Fianna Fáil Senator Ivor Callely is expected to try to maximise the value of the site, possibly by reapplying for planning permission, before seeking to sell it.
Investec took control of the site at 59-60 Clontarf Road last week. The bank is owed some €8 million in loans provided for the site, which the owners planned to redevelop.
The receiver, Simon Coyle, a partner with Dublin accountancy firm Mazars, had no comment to make on his appointment.
The site is owned by a partnership comprising four investors including Mr Callely. Galway-based developer John O’Dolan, who died in tragic circumstances in February, was another investor.
Efforts to contact Mr Callely last night proved unsuccessful.
The purchase of the site, which covers almost an acre, was completed in January 2007 for some €10 million.
The co-investors had sought planning permission to demolish the existing houses on the sea-front site next to St Anthony’s Church in Clontarf and build 44 apartments and three shops on the site.
However, this plan was rejected by An Bord Pleanála late last year after being approved by Dublin City Council.
The planning application was submitted in the name of Mr O’Dolan’s property company O’Dolan International.
Mr Callely lists his share in the property in the Seanad register of interests as an “investment” in co-ownership with three other individuals.
A former Fianna Fáil junior minister, Mr Callely was first elected to the Dáil in 1989 but lost his Dáil seat in the 2007 general election.
He was nominated as a senator by then taoiseach Bertie Ahern. He served as minister of state for health and for transport.
Callely considers appeal against Seanad committee judgement
Thursday, July 15, 2010 - 08:58 AM
Senator Ivor Callely is today considering an appeal after strenuously rejecting the findings of the investigation into his expenses.
The Dublin-based Senator, under fire for claiming expenses from a West Cork address, is to be suspended from the Seanad for 20 sitting days, which will run to almost seven weeks.
In a short sitting of the Seanad last night, Green Senator Dan Boyle announced the findings of the Seanad Committee on Members' Interests.
The committee found he intentionally misrepresented his normal place of residence in claiming €80,000 in expenses by using the West Cork address.
Citing it as 'grave and serious', the Committee does not have power to get the money back, though noted his offer last month to do so if found to have done wrong.
Senator Callely is now looking into what options are open to him to appeal, including seeking legal advice, adding that he has made no decision about paying back the money.
Callely denied early release to avoid media attention, court hear
Thursday, November 06, 2014 - 05:05 PM
Former Junior Minister Ivor Callely claims he is being kept in jail unfairly over fears his early release would attract unwanted media attention.
The 56-year-old former politician of St Lawrence’s Road, Clontarf in Dublin was sentenced last July to five months in prison for making bogus mobile phone expenses claims.
Ivor Callely's lawyers claim he is being punished on the double for being a politician.
They say it is one of the reasons he received a five-month custodial sentence and now it is being used to keep him in Wheatfield Prison.
The High Court heard his request for one-third remission has gone unanswered and that the Justice Minister has found him unsuitable for temporary release.
Minister Frances FitzGerald based her decision on the view that a breach of trust and abuse of public funds by a member of the Oireachtas must be considered in the most serious terms.
The former Junior Minister has been granted permission to challenge that decision which he claims relates to concerns that his early release would attract "unpalatable" media attention.
Callely claimed over €4,000 in false mobile phone expenses, court hea
Tuesday, July 22, 2014 - 04:54 PM
The sentencing hearing of former junior minister Ivor Callely has heard he made over €4,000 from claiming false mobile phone expenses.
The 56-year-old, with an address at St Lawrence's Road, Clontarf, admits submitting fake invoices at Leinster House to back up the claims for handsets and car kits between 2007 and 2009 while he was a member of the Seanad.
He paid most of the money back in 2010 after a journalist made a freedom of information request about four of his expenses claims.
During a search of his business premises, gardaí found blank paper bearing the letter heads of businesses named in the fake claims.
Following his arrest, the former Fianna Fáil politician said he had submitted the invoices in good faith.
Former Minister Callely pleads guilty to further three charges
Tuesday, July 22, 2014 - 04:04 PM
Former Junior Minister Ivor Callely has just pleaded guilty to a further three charges relating to false mobile phone expenses claims.
The 56-year-old had already pleaded guilty to one charge of using a false instrument at Leinster House.
The sentencing hearing has now begun and is expected to last around 40 minutes.
Ivor Callely claimed expenses on forged invoices... Taxpayer defrauded in phone scam
By Luke Byrne
Updated: 02:35 GMT, 1 August 2010
Ivor Callely used forged documents to claim almost 3,000 euros n Dáil expenses
Ivor Callely used forged documents to claim almost €3,000 in Dáil expenses, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
A two-month investigation into the Fianna Fáil senator’s expenses claims show he was paid the cash on foot of invoices indicating he had bought four mobile phones in five years from a north Dublin firm. But the MoS has established that the company, Business Communications Ltd, went bust over a decade before Callely’s claim.
A former director told the MoS the invoices had not been generated by his company – and that Business Communications Ltd had never sold a mobile phone to Ivor Callely.
While Callely this weekend refused to comment on the damning revelations, they seem certain to spell the final chapter of his ignominious political career.
He has already been suspended from the Seanad for 20 days after the furore over his dodgy mileage claims. But faced with evidence that he pocketed taxpayers’ cash using forged invoices, even Taoiseach Brian Cowen is likely to have to accept that he must do what it takes to ensure Callely’s removal from public office.
The devastating evidence is contained in a series of detailed expenses claims submitted by Callely after he lost his Dáil seat in 2007. To help ease his disappointment, he was appointed to the Seanad by his friend, Bertie Ahern, but seemed to then set about claiming every penny he could in expenses from his time in the Dáil.
In November 2007, he submitted a claim to the Oireachtas Commission – which oversees members’ expenses – for almost €3,000 in expenses for mobile phones.
Under the so-called Direct Purchase Scheme, TDs were allowed to claim for the cost of buying mobile phones up to a maximum of €750 every 18 months.
Callely provided four such receipts, each amounting to in or around €750. Each ‘purchase’ took place around 18 months after the previous one.
A Business Communications LTD. invoice, the firm went bust in 1994 - eight years before Callely says he bought a mobile phone from them
The first was dated January 2002 and was a €528 bill for a ‘Nokia PC 68/28 mobile phone installation and car kit’. The next was dated July 7, 2003, for €451.57 ‘for purchase of Nokia Mobile phone suite’ and ‘full installation of car kit’.
The third receipt was dated January 12, 2005: it records a payment of €476.50 for ‘purchase of Nokia mobile phone suite’. It added: ‘Car kit installed.’ The final document was dated July 7, 2006, and recorded a sum of €451.57 ‘received for purchase of Nokia Mobile Phone (Ref 07/35)’ as well as ‘full installation of car kit’.
All of the claim forms submitted with the receipts to the Oireachtas included a standard insurance maintenance and miscellaneous expenses claim of €250.
Damning: The receipts that Callely submitted used the Business Communications Ltd stationery
They had six-digit phone numbers and pound signs even though the euro was in use when they were submitted
This figure was added by the Oireachtas Commission to all such claims under the Direct Purchase Scheme, which was paid on the basis of the receipts provided by Callely. The receipts, addressed to Callely at his constituency office address, included the company’s registration number, VAT number, and company logo.
But the MoS has established that Business Communications went bust in 1994 – eight years before Callely says he bought a mobile phone from the firm. In fact, the company was officially liquidated in 2001, making it an offence for it to carry out any business at all.
Moreover, an examination of the receipts concerned showed that they all carried a six-digit phone and fax number for the firm. However, a seventh phone digit was added to all Dublin phone numbers in 1994.
While the signatures on all four receipts are different, two of them – one from 2002 and one from 2006 – share the same mis-spelling of the word ‘received’, rendering it as ‘recieved’ instead.
Long gone: The company ceased trading in 1994 yet the first of Callely's four claims was dated January 2002
And although the euro was introduced in 2002, the pound symbol was used on all the receipts, suggesting they were printed on the same machine.
The MoS also spoke to Kevin Baxter, one of two former directors of Business Communication Ltd. Mr Baxter, who said he knew Callely from their shared membership of Clontarf Golf Club, said he had no idea how the receipts had been generated: ‘I wouldn’t have a clue. I wouldn’t have a clue how they came about. There would have been four or five people with access to those letterheads.’ Asked to confirm that company did not provide receipts after it had stopped trading, he said: ‘No, why would we?’
Feeling the strain: Ivor Callely helps with the shopping in Bantry this week
Asked again about the receipts submitted by Callely, he added: ‘I know we didn’t issue them anyway.’ Asked if the company had ever provided services to
Ivor Callely, he said: ‘There would have been business with Ivor Callely; I think there was one telephone system up on his premises but I didn’t deal with it.’
The liquidator who wound up the firm, Brendan Foster, also confirmed it did not trade after it went into liquidation in 1994, nor afterwards. He said: ‘It certainly wasn’t. It was a court liquidation, I remember. It certainly wouldn’t have been trading, I would have been just winding down the assets.’
Worst of all, Callely already had all his phone bills between 2002 and 2005 paid for him by the departments of which he was a minister, including the purchase of new phones.
According to documents obtained by the MoS, he received a €1,113.20 mobile phone from the Department of Health on August 2, 2002. He also had an €898 Nokia 9500 purchased for him by the Department of Transport in 2005. While a junior minister, his two departments paid €33,000 in phone bills for his constituency office, mobile and home phones.
When the MoS tried to contact the senator through email, text and voice message to ask why he had submitted claims for the phones, given that he was in receipt of mobiles from his departments, his secretary contacted the paper. She said: ‘Ivor just phoned into the office there a few minutes ago and I put it by him.
‘He just gave a comment to pass on to you. He’s not getting any emails, his blackberry is in for repair and he’s not getting any emails and stuff or texts, but he just said that any entitlement to mobile phones from the department or the Oireachtas, he had been advised to put in claims as submitted, which were approved by the relevant authorities and payment paid. That’s all he said to me. That’s his comment.’
Callely 'giving politicians a bad name'
Tuesday, August 03, 2010 - 01:01 PM
Ivor Callely has today been accused of 'dragging the entire body politic through the gutter'.
The Dublin Senator is under renewed pressure to step down after further revelations concerning his expenses claims.
He has yet to respond to the latest reports that he submitted questionable invoices for his mobile phone expenses.
He has already been suspended from the Senate after it was found he had wrongly used a West Cork address to claim €80,000 of travel allowances.
Pressure grows on Callely after new expenses allegations
03/08/2010 - 09:14:10Back to Ireland Home
Pressure is mounting on embattled Fianna Fáil Senator Ivor Callely to break his silence following accusations that he forged invoices to claim expenses.
It follows reports that Mr Callely claimed mobile phone expenses of €3,000 despite the phone company closing down over a decade before the claims were submitted.
The fresh allegations follow a suspension from the Seanad for 20 days after controversy regarding his mileage claims
FG urge Garda inquiry into Callely
IRISH TIMES REPORTERS
Tue, Aug 03, 2010
The matter of Senator Ivor Callely’s expenses should be investigated by the Garda Commissioner, Fine Gael said today.
The party’s Seanad spokesman on Justice, Senator Eugene Regan, called on Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to ensure the issue was investigated.
He said reports today outlining measures to tackle social welfare fraud were “in stark contrast” to the Government’s inaction in bringing Mr Callely to account following accusations made against him.
“Reports in today’s media outlining legislative provisions that are being used by the Department of Social Protection to tackle fraudulent social welfare claims, only serve to illustrate that there is one set of rules to deal with fraud among the public and another for Government parties.”
The Irish Times today reports that the Department of Social Protection has targeted taxi drivers, security staff, fishermen and even greyhound owners in its efforts to clamp down on social welfare fraud.
“The damage Senator Callely has done to the public perception of politics and politicians is immense and he continues to bring politics into further disrepute by refusing to comment on the allegations against him,” Mr Regan said.
“No rational explanation has been provided by the Minister for Justice or the Garda Commissioner as to why a Garda investigation has not been carried out into Senator Callely’s €81,000 expenses claim or the latest revelations [about claims for mobile phones].”
Mr Regan said the suggestion that a formal complaint had to be made to An Garda Síochána before it could take action had “no basis in law”.
He said Mr Ahern had the capacity to direct a Garda investigation into claims of alleged fraudulent practices by Senator Callely and that if he was to fulfil his duty in upholding the law, he should do just that.
Earlier today, Green Party TD Paul Gogarty and Independent Senator David Norris joined calls for the resignation of Mr Callely following controversy about his expenses claims.
Mr Norris said it was not in his nature to “gloat” in relation to others’ misfortune or tragedy. But this was “a tragedy brought upon himself by Ivor Callely”.
“It is now at the point where I think a whole series of principles have been violated.
“If the newspaper reports are true, and one assumes they must be. Then we are involved in what looks certainly like matters that require the attention of the police.”
Speaking on RTɒs Morning Ireland , he said if the reports about Mr Callely’s expenses were true and that he had used “bogus” documents to claim for mobile phones, it was “impossible” to see how he could continue.
On the same programme, Fianna Fáil mayor of Galway Michael Crowe said Senator Callely’s behaviour was “completely unacceptable” and that he should resign now.
He said this was the view of party councillors in Galway city and county, but that Taoiseach Brian Cowen would “have to speak for himself” in relation to the matter.
Separately, Green Party TD Paul Gogarty said he had written to the clerk of the Seanad to make a formal complaint about Mr Callely's conduct.
Speaking on RTÉ this afternoon, Mr Gogarty said Mr Callely should "take the honourable decision and step down" until any questions regarding his expenses were answered.
Mr Gogarty said other people in a similar position would have "stepped down straight away", citing former junior Green Party minister Trevor Sargent, and former minister for defence Willie O'Dea.
Speaking at the weekend, TD and former minister Mary O’Rourke said Mr Callely had brought “shame and disgrace” on Fianna Fáil and should be expelled from the party.
“I don’t know how you put a person out of the party, but all I know is he’s bringing shame on the party by his carry-on and the antics of him, and we don’t know what is next,” Ms O’Rourke said.
“He is bringing shame and disgrace on the party . . . he should be just expelled from the party.”
Green Party chairman Dan Boyle, who is deputy leader of the Seanad and a member of the committee that ruled against Mr Callely in a recent travel expenses investigation, said he could not be removed from office. Mr Boyle called on Mr Callely to consider his position at the weekend.
“He can’t be removed from office. It’s either a choice for him or action being taken elsewhere by other agencies,” he said yesterday.
Denis O’Donovan, from Bantry, Co Cork, said there was a “strong possibility” the Committee on Members Interests of Seanad Éireann could be reconvened to investigate the matter. “I’m conscious of the fact if we were asked to reconvene, any comment might prejudice my position.”
However, another committee member, speaking on the basis of anonymity, said on Sunday: “What is alleged . . . should be a matter for the gardaí”.
A Garda spokesman said: “We do not wish to make any comment on named individuals.”
Fianna Fáil has refused to comment on Mr Callely's situation.
Mr Callely, who resigned the Fianna Fáil whip in June, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Oireachtas documents show Mr Callely was paid €2,879.64 in November 2007 under a mobile phone reimbursement scheme and a “direct purchase scheme”, to purchase telephone hardware and insurance, for which invoices relating to three separate 18- month periods in 2002, 2003 and 2005 were submitted together.
The invoices, referring to the purchase of Nokia mobile phones, car-kit installation and other costs, were on headed notepaper of Business Communications Ltd.
The Companies Registration Office records show this company, with an address in Fairview, Dublin, filed its last annual return in 1993, had a liquidator appointed in 1994 and was later officially dissolved.
Mr Callely was appointed to the Seanad by former taoiseach Bertie Ahern. He lost his Dáil seat in the 2007 general election, having resigned his minister of state position in 2005 over having had his house painted for free, in the 1990s, by a building company.
The Constitution states: “Every member of Seanad Éireann shall, unless he previously dies, resigns, or becomes disqualified, continue to hold office until the day before the polling day of the general election for Seanad Éireann next held after his election or nomination.”
© 2010 irishtimes.com
Callely issues statement on expenses
Senator Ivor Callely has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding his expenses. It is alleged that Mr Callely claimed expenses using mobile phone receipts from a company that had ceased trading.
In a statement this evening, the Senator that he submitted to the Houses of the Oireachtas in November 2007, the four receipts to cover the period of January 2002 to July 2006, totalling €1,907.64.
Mr Callely said he did not know how these receipts were issued by a company that had ceased trading and had no reason at the time to believe that they were not in order. He said he received the receipts in good faith and submitted them in good faith for vouching purposes in the belief that they were correct.
The statement said Mr Callely had 'refunded all monies to the Leinster House authorities in respect of the said invoices concerning the amount paid on mobile phone expenses (Total €2,879.45 ).' Earlier this week the senator was suspended from membership Fianna Fáil, pending an internal inquiry into allegations. Green Party TD Paul Gogarty lodged an official complaint with the gardaí about the expense claims.
The Senator's statement indicates that recent media coverage has caused his family considerable distress, and while he regrets the difficulties his expense claims have caused, he has contacted his legal advisors, to assist the investigation and vindicate his position.
IVOR CALLELY - WORKING WITH YOU.
"As the most severe difficulties hit the Irish and Global economies, we are all faced with a massive task to come through this difficult period.
I understand that there has been very careful assessment of the extent of our problems and of the exceptional effort it will take to improve the situation. We have to turn the tide of our present difficulties and put our economy back on a sound footing once we have our public finances under control.
I am determined ‘with every beat of my heart’ to resolve the difficulties this country now faces. Our ability to come together in difficult times has never been more important. Working together, we can help each other climb out of these difficulties. We all have a share in each other’s success, because the more each individual succeeds, the more we all succeed.
We are at a point in our history where we have never been able to see more clearly what we can achieve. Ireland has undergone a transformation, we are a small, open and pulsating economy, now energised by some of the most sophisticated industries and services in the world.
We have a proven track record in our economic performance, especially during the period 1995 to 2005 which consistently reflected our success, our determination and our ability to succeed. Our ‘can do’ attitude has characterised our success before, all the more necessary now. We have the basic ingredients, an entrepreneurial and well educated population, a good infrastructure, diverse markets, established trade links and a tremendous reputation on the world stage.
I have a clear vision that involves new thinking of getting us moving again along the road we successfully travelled in the past ant learning from our mistakes."
Ivor Callely
The above is an excerpt from Ivor Callely's website.
Well it seems that people like Ivor Callely and Fianna Fail senator Larry Butler never do learn, because there is no incentive to do so. Butler is the latest politician who has been caught claiming travel expenses - from the public finances - claiming through a distant holiday home rather than his actual residence, this time to the tune of €20,000 a year.
Callely, of course, had to resign his cabinet position in 2005 after it was discovered that a builder who had public contracts painted his house (his main residence) for freepence. He subsequently lost his seat in the 2007 general election, even though 7,003 upstanding citizens of Dublin North Central still thought him worthy of their first-preference votes. But that is a constituency with a particularly sorry history. A constituency where Sean Haughey, son of Charlie, the godfather of corrupt politicians, romped home with 9,026 first-choice votes - presumably on the strength of daddy's bad name.
That lot are beyond hope, but some of us in Ireland would like to see corrupt and expense-fiddling politicians brought to book. Nothing short of expulsion of Callely and Butler from public office will discourage such behaviour in the future.
The ultimate goal, however, must be to abolish that institution of undemocratic freeloaders, the Senate, in its entirety.
Garda Commissioner seeks Callely clarification
Wednesday 04 August 2010 22.06
Ivor Callely - Suspended from the Fianna Fáil party
The Garda Commissioner has tonight written to the clerk of Seanad Eireann seeking clarification of certain matters over controversial expenses claims from Senator Ivor Callely.
The allegations relate to the use of mobile phone receipts from a company that had ceased trading.
Minister of State Conor Lenihan has called on Senator Ivor Callely to clarify his position in relation to fresh expenses allegations which have emerged against him.
Senator Callely has been suspended from the Fianna Fáil party in the wake of the revelations, while a formal complaint has been made to gardaí by Green Party TD Paul Gogarty.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio, Mr Lenihan said the revelations are very serious and need to be addressed urgently.
Deputy Gogarty went to his local garda station in Lucan this morning and requested that an investigation be launched into Senator Callely's expense claims.
On RTÉ Radio's News at One Mr Gogarty said the allegations were 'serious' and that they needed to be explained.
Deputy Gogarty said he believed he had a duty to bring the matter to the attention of gardaí and request an investigation.
Yesterday, Mr Callely was suspended from Fianna Fáil without prejudice following fresh allegations in the Irish Mail on Sunday relating to the use of mobile phone receipts from a company that had ceased trading years earlier.
It is not known if the senator is still living at his Cork house as the internal Fianna Fáil investigation gets under way.
The Fianna Fáil party has said it has reviewed certain matters in the public domain and said that the information establishes a possible prima facie case of conduct unbecoming to a member of the Fianna Fáil organisation.
A five-member internal investigation team will report to the Fianna Fáil Ard Chomhairle in September.
Seanad Committee to meet
The Seanad Committee on Members' Interests is to meet at the end of this month to discuss the latest developments in the controversy.
The meeting will be held in private.
Mr Callely has already been suspended from the Seanad by the Committee for 20 sitting days.
Garda Commissioner contacts Seanad over Callely
05/08/2010 - 07:08:30
The Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy has written to the clerk of the Seanad, after receiving requests for investigations into Ivor Callely's expenses.
Last night, Gardaí confirmed they had received a number of approaches following allegations published in the media regarding the embattled Senator, including one from TD Paul Gogarty of the Green Party.
The Gardaí are currently considering what action is required by them in the context of the allegations.
And the Garda Commissioner has written to the Clerk of the Seanad seeking clarification of certain matters.
The Seanad Committee on Members Interests - which previously suspended Ivor Callely over unjustifiable mileage claims - is to carry out a new inquiry into his expenses.
Shane Phelan: This building was meant to be the making of Callely -- now his career's crumbling
Published 05/08/2010 | 05:00
MARCH 30, 2007 was a fateful date in the life of Ivor Callely. It was the day he made a number of major financial decisions that would later come back to haunt him.
Sitting in the offices of WB Gavin and Company Solicitors at the Crescent in Galway, he formally signed up to what he hoped would be the investment to put him on easy street.
Along with three other investors -- Galway businessmen John O'Dolan, Daragh Sharkey and Denis Kenny -- the then TD put pen to paper on a €10m mortgage loan from Investec Bank.
Mr Callely's wife Jennifer and solicitor Barry Gavin were also present when the deal was done.
On the mortgage documents, Mr Callely gave his address as O'Dolan International, Dock Road, Galway -- which in fact was the address of one of John O'Dolan's companies.
The huge loan drawn down by the four investors was to be used to purchase and then demolish two houses on the seafront in Callely's native Dublin suburb of Clontarf, before building 44 apartments and three shops in their stead.
The investors believed they would make a killing.
Located close to St Anthony's Church at 59 and 60 Clontarf Road, it was a prime site and, subject to planning, all involved could expect a nice return on their investment.
But to get involved in the deal, Mr Callely needed to come up with substantial funds.
Although he and his wife owned a lot of property around Dublin's northside, they opted not to sell any of these.
Instead, they drew down a series of new mortgages.
So, on the same day as he joined the Clontarf site consortium, Mr Callely and his wife remortgaged several of their properties.
The sums being drawn down were not recorded in public filings, but all of the cash was borrowed from Allied Irish Bank.
The paperwork was also completed at WB Gavin and Company in the presence of solicitor Barry Gavin.
The mortgages were taken down against houses at St Brendan's Avenue, Coolock; Brookwood Road, Artane; Furry Park Road, Killester; Hawthorn Terrace in the East Wall; Brookwood Grove in Artane; and Greenwood Walk on the Malahide Road.
On each of the mortgage documents, career politician Mr Callely listed his profession as "businessman", while his wife listed hers as "hairstylist".
Within months, however, Mr Callely suffered a major setback, losing the Dail seat he had held in Dublin North Central since 1989.
Although nominated to the Seanad that August by then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, he had to contend with a €30,000 drop in his salary.
It was around this time that he told the Oireachtas he had changed his principal residence from his family home in Clontarf to his holiday home in west Cork, which he and his wife had owned since 1992.
The move would net him €81,000 in travel expenses over the next three years but when it was discovered following a shake-up of the Seanad's expenses regime, it would cost him a 20-day suspension.
During 2008, Mr Callely's Clontarf development plans would take a turn for the worse and he would also lose one of his co-investors in tragic circumstances.
Although planning was initially approved by Dublin City Council, local objections meant that An Bord Pleanala ended up taking a fresh look at the project.
The planning board decided to overturn the council's decision, placing the development in a precarious position.
To make matters a great deal worse, John O'Dolan, the driving force behind the plan, tragically took his own life. He was found hanged in a disused shed on lands he owned on the Barna Road in Galway.
Mr O'Dolan had been seen as an up and coming businessman, with some of his projects, including the €28m Island of Ireland development off the coast of Dubai, garnering international headlines.
But an inquest would later hear how the property crash had severely impacted on his businesses, with a receiver appointed to his hostel and property sales company in Galway.
By December of last year, the same fate had befallen the Clontarf apartment project.
Seeking to protect its loans, Investec had Simon Coyle, a partner with accountancy firm Mazars, appointed as a receiver.
In the months that followed, Mr Callely would transfer the ownership of his controversial west Cork home into his wife's name. He has refused to clarify the reason for doing so.
That property is now on the market with an asking price of €650,000, but it remains unclear whether the senator plans to sell any of his other properties.
Hanafin: Callely expenses row 'embarrassment' to party
Published 06/08/2010 | 12:51
The controversy surrounding Ivor Callely's expenses is an embarrassment to Fianna Fail, a senior Government minister accepted today.
Heaping further pressure on the embattled Senator, Tourism Minister Mary Hanafin said politics as a profession was being discredited by the revelations.
She said the former junior minister must deal with the issues facing him.
A parliamentary watchdog, due to reconvene at the end of the month to deal with allegations that Senator Callely used forged documents for expenses claims, has brought forward its hearing to Monday.
Ms Hanafin said she hoped the controversial Senator would provide answers at the Seanad Members' Interest Committee hearing.
"It is an embarrassment and it also discredits the whole of the political profession," Ms Hanafin said.
"I really think it's important that any issues that are outstanding for Ivor Callely that he would deal with them immediately."
Fianna Fail suspended Senator Callely, without prejudice, earlier this week as it launched its own investigation into the allegations that he claimed around €3,000 for mobile phones from a company that had gone out of business.
The Tourism minister said the expenses regime had been tightened in the last year.
"This type of thing cannot happen again. It is much more accountable now," she said.
"We're also bound by the standards in public office commission regarding all declarations. There are legal requirements there.
"They have to be upheld and I hope that Senator Ivor Callely ensures that he's able to provide the answers to the stories that we're reading."
Complaints from the public surrounding the allowances of two further Fianna Fail Senators will also be considered by the Seanad Members' Interest Committee on Monday.
Senator Ann Ormonde reportedly claimed expenses from her holiday home in Waterford for a time in 2004 despite her main residence being in Donnybrook, Dublin 4.
Senator Larry Butler resigned the Fianna Fail party whip in June after it emerged he allegedly claimed expenses from a home in Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny, even though his home was in Foxrock, south Co Dublin.
Senator Callely is already facing a garda investigation after Commissioner Fachtna Murphy wrote to Seanad clerk Deirdre Lane requesting clarification on certain matters.
Ivor breaks silence and gives phone cash back
I won't quit says Callely, claiming he was given the receipts 'in good faith'CONTROVERSIAL: Callely
Beleaguered Senator Ivor Callely has broken his weeklong silence on the latest expenses controversy to claim that he received mobile phone receipts "in good faith" and had no reason to believe they were not in order.
The senator has also revealed that he handed back a cheque for €2,879.45 in expenses which he claimed for mobile phones, when he went to Leinster House last Friday.
"I do not know how these receipts were issued by a company that had ceased trading . . . it is now clear that these claims should not have been made," he said in a statement given to the Sunday Independent yesterday. "I regret the difficulties that this has created, all of which will be fully dealt with in the course of the investigation," he said.
Mr Callely said he would be "assisting" with any inquiry and he had also contacted his legal advisers to help "vindicate his position".
In an exclusive interview, the former Minister of State said that he was being targeted by powerful interests and hit back at his critics.
"I am a target -- it is absolutely amazing the messages I am getting. People are saying I am being targeted and this continuous drip-drip is a witch-hunt. I don't know why they are picking on me," he said.
Full statement and analysis Pages 22, 23
And Senator Callely declared that he would not be stepping down from his €80,000 a year position in the Senate, where he sits as one of the Taoiseach's nominees.
"As most people have said, stepping down is running away from it. I am not doing that. If I have done wrong, I will deal with the issue. If I have to pay a penalty I will pay it -- whatever it is. I have spoken to my family and it (resigning) is not on the agenda," he said.
It is now understood that gardai will seek to question Senator Callely about the allegations regarding his expenses claim for mobile phones. They are also said to be seeking copies of the mobile phone receipts which were lodged with the Oireachtas authorities and other documents relating to the expenses claims made by him arising from six complaints, including one by Green Party TD Paul Gogarty.
Mr Callely was under huge pressure to explain how he submitted receipts for four mobile phone car kits in November 2007, which he claimed to have purchased between 2002 and 2006. It emerged last Sunday that the company Business Communications Limited, based in Fairview Strand near Mr Callely's Clontarf, Dublin, home, went into liquidation in 1994, although a liquidator was involved with the company for the following 10 years until 2004 when it was finally wound up.
"I received the receipts in good faith for vouching purposes, in the belief that they were correct. I had no reason to believe that the said receipts were not in order," Mr Callely told the Sunday Independent yesterday.
He was also adamant that the invoices were "original" and he brought his wife Jennifer to Leinster House with him on Friday to verify this.
"I am not hiding from anything," he said.
But when he was questioned by one associate about who actually supplied him with the invoices, the senator said "nobody is going to own up to that".
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Independent, Mr Callely also admitted that his property dealings -- including a €10m investment near his Clontarf, Dublin home -- went "belly-up" with the collapse of the property market.
"I am not nearly as well-off as I was five years ago," he said yesterday. "I am a workaholic, I love a challenge and I will work out a solution on this (the property) issue. I don't think I am any different to many people in this country. Yes, there are financial pressures and challenging times. I got involved in the property market, which a lot of people did, and it went belly-up.
"My wife is back working, my daughter is working, I am working. My attitude is that there is nobody dead, we have to cut our costs like everybody else and get on with it and that's what I am doing."
A Senate committee on Members Interests is due to meet tomorrow to discuss the latest expenses allegations and Fianna Fail are carrying out their own internal inquiry into the affair.
Senator Callely has caused huge embarrassment to the current government since the Sunday Independent revealed that he had claimed €81,000 for travelling expenses from his holiday home in Kilcrohane, Co Cork, when he was using his home in Clontarf, Co Dublin.
He was suspended from the Senate for 20 days after an inquiry by the Oireachtas committee and last week, after the fresh allegations emerged, he was suspended by Fianna Fail "without prejudice" pending an internal investigation into allegations of "conduct unbecoming" of a member.
Callely breaks his silence: 'Yes, the invoices are fake... but I did not know they were forged'
By Luke Byrne
Updated: 02:21 GMT, 8 August 2010
Embattled Senator Ivor Callely has finally broken his week-long silence to admit: Yes, the receipts I used to claim almost £2,500 in mobile phone expenses were forgeries.
Mr Callely, who was suspended from Fianna Fáil after last week’s Irish Mail on Sunday revelation that the invoices he submitted were from a firm that went bust in 1994, had refused all week to explain himself - even to the Taoiseach.
But this weekend he finally came out fighting, claiming he had been the victim of an extraordinary fraud in which somebody else gave the fake receipts to him.
Embattled: Mr Callely shopping with his wife in Cork. He claims the invoices were given to him be an unnamed third party
In a last-ditch bid to save his career, Mr Callely said he had repaid the money he had wrongly claimed. But if he did buy the phones in question, he would be perfectly entitled to keep the money.
The senator told the MoS that someone else had given him the forged receipts, which he accepted in good faith. But he refused to say who, and also refused to say whether he had reported the forgery to the gardaí, or taken any steps to ensure that the alleged culprit is apprehended.
In a statement issued last night from his personal email, Mr Callely expanded on his explanation. Referring to himself in the third person, he writes: ‘He does not know how these receipts were issued by a company that had ceased trading. It is now clear that these claims should not have been made.
‘He therefore withdraws these claims and refunded all monies to the Leinster House authorities in respect of the said invoices concerning the amount paid on mobile phone expenses (Total £2,395).
‘He regrets the difficulties that this has created, all of which will be fully dealt with in the course of the investigation, and he will be assisting with any inquiry concerning same.
‘He is also aware of the impact and concern of the general public and his colleagues in Leinster House. Ivor Callely has also contacted his legal advisers today for the purpose of assisting the investigation and vindicating his position.’
'Senator Callely has been found out again and has been forced to acknowledge that the expenses claims he submitted should not have been made. His statement is simply not credible and offers no explanation'
He told one downmarket newspaper that he had no intention of resigning: ‘It is not on the agenda.’
It is not clear whether the senator will name names to the Fianna Fáil, Oireachtas and Garda investigators that are all looking into the affair.
However, his decision to pay back the cash may cause more problems than it solves, because if the senator did buy the four mobile phones that he claimed to have purchased, there is no reason for him not to keep the money he spent.
If, however, Mr Callely means that the phones were not bought as he had claimed, or were bought for different amounts than stated, he would appear to have wrongly signed a declaration that stated: ‘I hereby certify that the expenses claimed have been actually and necessarily incurred by me in relation to my membership of Dáil Éireann and the particulars furnished herein are in all respects true.’
Mr Callely’s statement was last night described as inadequate by Paul Gogarty, the Green TD who reported the senator to gardaí. It was dismissed by Fine Gael Senator Eugene Regan who said it was not credible.
Mr Regan described the statement as ‘a buying-time exercise which ludicrously passes the buck to an unknown third party for his false expenses claim'.
'Senator Callely has been found out again and has been forced to acknowledge that the expenses claims he submitted should not have been made. His statement is simply not credible and offers no explanation.’
Heaping on the pressure: Fine Gael Senator Eugene Regan, who says Mr Callely's explanation has been wholly inadequate
Mr Callely will still have to say how he came to buy a new mobile phone every 18 months in addition to the phones that were provided him by his department; produce evidence of the purchases such as a credit card statement (unless they were bought with cash); explain why he didn’t claim for them at the time he bought them; detail the circumstances by which fake receipts were given to him; and provide evidence of what happened to the phones he says he bought.
The receipts he handed in only list one specific make and model of phone – a ‘Nokia PC 68/28’.
But bizarrely, this weekend Nokia said there was no such model.
Even if he can prove that he knew nothing of the forgeries, Mr Callely could still be held responsible.
Asked about members’ responsibilities under the law, a statement from the Oireachtas Commission, which deals with expenses claims, said: ‘Oireachtas Members are responsible themselves for the veracity of the claims which they sign and submit… The system of expenses paid to Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas operates on the basis that the Members are responsible for the declarations and documentation that they supply in claiming those expenses, and that such documentation is bona fide.’
Mr Callely’s first response to the affair came on Friday in a letter to the MoS from Dublin solicitor Noel O’Hanrahan.
The MoS submitted further questions to Mr O’Hanrahan asking who had provided the receipts to Mr Callely, whether he had reported the incident to the Garda, and why it had taken so long to reply.
He was also asked if Mr Callely could provide any evidence that he received and paid for the phones.
In response, Mr O’Hanrahan wrote that Mr Callely would ‘fully cooperate’ with the Fianna Fáil inquiry and that he ‘will not be further commenting on the matter at this time’.
How stoking Ivor's political engine has cost more than €4m - so far
Ivor Callely’s ‘service’ to the State has cost the Irish taxpayer more than €4 million in his 21 years as a career politician, an MoS investigation has established.
Since he was first elected in 1989, the price tag includes his salary, expenses and all of the staff he has employed over the years from the public purse. In salary alone, and before any expenses or allowances, he has earned €1,273,709.
Following his rejection by Dublin North Central constituents in the 2007 general election, Callely was appointed to the Seanad by his friend Bertie Ahern. It was during this period that Callely set about ensuring he claimed as much as possible from the Oireachtas expenses system.
Five years ago Ivor Callely resigned as junior minister over allowing a State-contracted building firm to paint his house for free. Since then he has been paid around ¿743,300 for salary, expenses and for his secretary
In its recent findings against him over a mileage claim for €81,000, the Committee on Members’ Interests of Seanad Éireann decided he had acted ‘intentionally’ in ‘misrepresenting his normal place of residence for the purposes of claiming allowances’.
In the five years since his humiliating resignation as junior minister in 2005 over his having allowed a State-contracted building firm to paint his house for free, around €743,300 has been paid out to him in salary, expenses and for his secretary.
He also spent that five-year period claiming his ministerial pension of €6,637. He was one of the last to give it up in April this year.
The total figure is reduced by measures taken by the senator to reduce his expenses in 2009 as the controversy over what politicians could claim exploded. In 2009 he claimed just €9,408.52 in his Oireachtas allowance.
This year, in an apparent attempt to cover his tracks, he sent back a cheque for €3,987.50 which he received from the Oireachtas Commission. He did not claim under the new Travel and Accommodation Allowance (TAA) in April or May while all payment in June was ‘ceased pending investigation’.
But it was when he was a junior minister at the Department of Health and later in the Department of Transport that Callely could really rack up costs.
As a senior member of the Dáil, Callely’s pay as junior minister began in 2002 at €76,359.33 and had hit €137,001 by 2005.
The MoS has established that in the period between his appointment as ‘minister with responsibility for older people’ in May 2002 and his resignation in December 2005, he cost the exchequer €2,378,418.
The figure includes an estimate for the salary of all the staff a junior minister can employ, including two drivers, seven private office staff and five constituency office staff, all on the departmental payroll.
A 2006 survey found a full complement of staff like this costs an average of €445,000 a year.
In the period Mr Callely also had his mobile, home and constituency office phone bills paid for at a cost of €33,000, as well as two phones costing €1,113.20 and €898.
Upon first entering ministerial office, he also demanded a complete refurbishment that comfortably exceeded €20,000, including Venetian blinds and a blue Munster Supreme Velvet carpet.
As a junior minister he was also entitled to annual expenses including a ‘general allowance’ of €12,170, a ‘special secretarial allowance’ of €8,888 paid as a cheque straight into his pocket, and a vouched €11,591 portion.
He was allowed an €8,888 constituency office maintenance allowance and travel and subsistence costs which we estimate at around €104,000 for the duration of his office.
Before his appointment as junior minister, he spent 13 years on the Fianna Fáil backbenches where his salary began at €31,460 in 1989 and hit €84,564 by 2002.
In total, he was paid €626,990 while a sitting TD in that period. Expense records are not available back that far but it’s known that he claimed €28,708 in 1999 and it is likely that his expenses claims, not including any staff, were around €280,000.
If he should retire, he will be entitled to a tax-free lump sum of €158,539 and an annual pension of €55,838.
Outrage over RTɒs reluctance to report the MoS revelations
Hush: Morning Ireland presenter Aine Lawlor
RTÉ has received widespread criticism for ignoring the Irish Mail on Sunday’s revelations about Ivor Callely’s expense claims.
Even though the evidence to support our story was available from last Sunday, RTÉ News chose not to report the story until almost three days later – long after the rest of the nation’s media had picked it up.
And even when the State broadcaster finally decided to treat the revelations on their merits, many of its broadcasters seemed strangely reluctant to credit the MoS with having come up with the scoop.
A blind eye was turned to the devastating revelations from early Sunday morning, when the Marian Finucane show – presented by Rachael English – refused to read out the story or even discuss it.
The revelations were also absent from every one of RTɒs radio and television news bulletins that day.
This paper released the documents online via political transparency blog www.thestory.ie on Monday – making the receipts and claim forms available to all – yet RTÉ said it didn’t run the story because it had to ‘verify’ it. But RTÉ News made no effort to contact the MoS at any point to seek verification.
Asked why the story did not run for almost three days, a spokesman for RTÉ news said: ‘Really, what we had to do was to journalistically substantiate that story for ourselves and once we were satisfied then we went with it on Tuesday.’
In fact, the affair was only picked up by RTɒs news department after Fianna Fáil declared on Tuesday night that they would suspend Callely from the party – in other words, as one online poster alleged, after Fianna Fáil had officially ‘authorised’ the affair as a story.
Internet forums lit up over the national broadcaster’s failure to report the story, with many posters asking why the national broadcaster was not pursuing the Callely affair more vigorously. On Tuesday, a politics.ie user ‘oceanclub’ posted the email address for RTÉ, suggesting that people complain.
When Morning Ireland covered the story on Tuesday and Wednesday, there was no mention of the MoS. The Morning Ireland team only credited the paper with its scoop on Thursday, following our complaint.
Callely facing ruin if bank attempts to recoup the €8m it lent his consortium
By Michael O’Farrell
investigative reporter
Ivor Callely could face ruin if the bankers behind his failed development decide to demand their money back, it has emerged.
A business partner of the senator has confirmed that the controversial politician gave a personal guarantee for a multimillion-euro loan on the doomed development in Clontarf.
And he says their consortium stopped repaying the loan last year.
The north Dublin site was bought in 2007 but ran into planning permission trouble and is now worth a mere fraction of its original cost.
The personal guarantee means that Investec – the specialist bank which lent the consortium €8m – will be able to pursue the private and personal assets of Callely and his three business partners.
It is not clear whether Callely has the assets to repay his slice of the cash straight off: most of the rest of his property empire is heavily mortgaged already.
All eyes will now focus on Investec, and whether it decides to let Callely off – or, like banks such as ACC have done with other developers, pursue the money aggressively.
Galway businessman Denis Kenny confirmed that he and Callely were two of four partners who purchased Nos. 59 and 60 Clontarf Road on March 30, 2007 for €8m borrowed from Investec.
Another partner was John O’Dolan, the owner of the islands of Ireland and Britain in Dubai, who sadly took his own life last year. Also in on the project is O’Dolan’s nephew and business partner, Daragh Sharkey.
Speaking to the MoS last week, Mr Kenny, who has a one-sixth stake in the Clontarf project, confirmed that all of the consortium members had given personal guarantees to Investec.
He said they had made interest-only payments on the loan until ‘about a year ago’ before stopping.
And he said he now fully expected Investec, which appointed a receiver to the site last December, to aggressively pursue the private assets of the consortium members.
Before the investment soured, Callely and his co-investors had planned to demolish existing houses on the lands next to St Anthony’s Church with a view to developing 44 apartments and three shops.
However, it now appears that Callely has, like many embattled property developers, sought to protect his assets by transferring ownership to his wife. Records show that the infamous Cork holiday home from which he claimed more than €80,000 in milage was transferred to his wife Jennifer just over three months ago, on April 12.
In addition to the holiday home, Callely owns a traditional farmhouse beside it that is currently on sale with a guide price of €390,000.
It is described as a ‘traditional stone-built farmhouse’ on c.8.5 acres with ‘breathtaking views’ over Bantry Bay. The two properties are on sale for a combined €1m-plus.
Callely has a long track record of putting properties in the name of Jennifer, a hairdresser who, after a hiatus in recent years, has returned to that profession. All eight of the couple’s investment properties are in her name although the mortgages on the houses are joint loans.
The MoS has also discovered that the Callelys’ only daughter, Aoibhínn, is the owner of two Dublin investment properties, bought when she was just 20. The two- and three-bed houses in Donaghmede were purchased for more than €600,000 in total and funded by AIB mort0 -
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After the above:
Thank you for your e-mail which was passed to me by the Complaints Department.
It is the essence of Liveline to return to stories on consecutive days and/or at a later date. The interview with Ivor Callely’s solicitor was just one more angle on the story.
Liveline has been covering the Ivor Calelly expenses story since June of 2010 when it was discovered he had been claiming mileage expenses at a higher rate than he was entitled to in 2004 and also claimed mileage expenses for the same month in 2005. This only came to light in 2010 when Liveline first took up the story. We have gone back to the subject on several occasions, for example when the mobile phone expenses came to light in August 2010 and when he resigned later the same month. We covered his arrest in 2012 and we covered the sentence he received in July 2014. Not only that we have had many debates on the programme about unreceipted expenses for TDs and Senators since September 2010.
In relation to your comments on the discussion around the judge….the presenter was clarifying the extent to which the judiciary can be criticised and the fact that you can criticise a sentence handed down by a Judge.
Listeners expect to hear viewpoints they disagree with on this programme. In relation to the presenter of Liveline he often gives voice to thought-provoking views from time to time; these are not, however, presented as his personal opinions but as a professional technique required to encourage participation and discussion.
Thank you again for your e-mail, the points you make will be discussed at our weekly editorial meeting.
Kind Regards
This was the response to the complaint I made about Tuesdays show!
BAI looks to be my next call.0 -
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Former TD Ivor Callely and his wife sued over €2.9m in outstanding loans on property investment
October 14 2019 05:04 PM
Former junior minister Ivor Callely and his wife Jennifer are being sued in the Commercial Court by a finance company over €2.9m that's outstanding on loans to them in 2013 for property investment.
Everyday Finance DAC is seeking judgment against Mr Callely, Howth Road, Killester and Jennifer Callely, St Lawrence Road, Clontarf, both Dublin, arising out of €2.4m in loans advanced to them by AIB to purchase investment properties. The loans were sold to Everyday Finance in 2018.
Mr Callely was not in court or represented because it had not been possible to contact him following an accident on his bicycle in the summer, Cian Ferriter SC, for Everyday Finance said.
However, Mr Ferriter said he is involved in a separate case and a court was told last week he should be in a position to give evidence in the other proceedings in coming weeks.
Counsel said he suspected therefore he was aware of this case. In those circumstances he asked for an adjournment for three weeks when, if necessary, an application to serve him with court papers, other than personally, will be sought.
His wife, who the court heard now goes by her maiden name of Foley, was represented in court and did not object to the adjournment.
Mr Justice Robert Haughton agreed to adjourn the application for entry of the case into the fast-track commercial list for three weeks and he noted an appearance on behalf of Mrs Callely.
Mr Callely is an former Fianna Fáil Minister of State and Senator who was jailed for five months in 2014 after he admitted fraudulently claiming €4,207.45 in expenses from the Oireachtas on forged mobile phone invoices between November 2007 and December 2009, while he was a senator.0 -
Ex-minister Ivor Callely served legal papers at his second-hand car business, over alleged €2.9m debt, court hears
November 04 2019 05:08 PM
Former junior minister Ivor Callely's second hand car business meant a summons server was able to meet him personally to give him legal papers over an alleged €2.9m debt, the Commercial Court heard
Mr Callely, who was described by a finance company’s counsel as being involved in a “running battle” over service on him of the court documents, claims he is in hospital five days a week recovering from a “horrific bicycle accident last August.
However, Cian Ferriter, for Everyday Finance company, said, despite his situation, it was quite clear he had resumed business and is now involved in second hand car sales.
Summons server Liam Farrell, who was employed on behalf of Everyday’s solicitors to serve the papers on Mr Callely, said in an affidavit he arrived at a home address given by Mr Callelly at Howth Road, Killester, Dublin, on October 18 last.
There was a sign over one door at the premises, which comprises a number of buildings, stating “Car Match Ireland”.
Making contact through a phone number on the sign with a man who called himself Oliver, they agreed to meet on Saturday, October 19, in the Clare Hall shopping centre car park where “Oliver” would show Mr Farrell a Mini he was selling.
Mr Farrell recognised the man who arrived in the Mini as Mr Callely. Mr Farrell said he put the papers on the lap of the former senator when he opened the door of the Mini.
When Mr Farrell returned to his own car, Mr Callely ran over and attached the envelope to Farrell’s windscreen wiper, the summons server said.
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Mr Callely disputes this description and claims Farrell threw the papers at him and walked off without saying a word, Mr Ferriter said.
Mr Callely said he would never accept something from a person he did not know in a public car park.
Everyday Finance is seeking judgment for €2.9m against Ivor and Jennifer Callely relating to €2.4m in loans advanced to them by AIB to purchase investment properties. The loans were sold to Everyday Finance in 2018.
Everyday is seeking to have the case admitted to the fast-track Commercial Court but Mr Ferriter said while Mrs Callely has been served and is represented in court, there were difficulties in serving Mr Callely.
Following the Clare Hall incident, Mr Callely sent a letter to Everyday's solicitors claiming he did not have a relationship with Everyday Finance, counsel said..
Mr Ferriter said it appeared he was well aware of the proceedings and is using his former family home address of St Lawrence Road, Clontarf, the address also given by Mr Callely's wife from whom he is apparently separated.
The papers were again served at the Lawrence Road address and Mr Callely rang Everyday's solicitor last Friday and said he was not in a position to attend court because of his medical situation.
Mr Callely, in correspondence, said the bicycle accident had necessitated spinal surgery which meant he was very sick and an in-patient in hospital from Monday to Friday. He is allowed home at the weekend as part of his medical programme.
While there was medical evidence dated September 19 last stating it was likely to be several weeks before he can resume his business practice, counsel said it was quite clear he had resumed business. He was also physically able to run over to the summons server’s car, counsel said.
Notwithstanding that his side have been "given the runaround" , counsel said they were not going to push the application to enter the matter to the list but wanted it adjourned for another two weeks. In that time, Mr Callely would again be served with the papers via email.
Mr Justice David Barniville agreed to adjourn both Mr and Mrs Callely's cases for two weeks. "I would be satisfied he has been properly served and the evidence does not paint a very pretty picture," the judge said0 -
Join Date:Posts: 13873
No one quote Butters Ivor post, ten minutes scrolling!
TLDR: Ivor is a (insert any expletive here)0 -
And then there's this one:
Callely blamed fraud on friend who took own life, court told
IVOR Callely tried to blame a friend and business associate who had taken his own life for the fraudulent invoices the former Fianna Fail junior minister submitted to claim mobile phone expenses, a court has been told.
The shocking revelation came as the disgraced former politician pleaded guilty to three further fraud charges at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The court also heard about the break-up of Callely's marriage 12 months ago.
Callely will be sentenced over the fraud offences, which carry a maximum prison term of 10 years, next Monday.
The court heard evidence from a member of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation that Callely suggested to detectives that his late business associate John O'Dolan might have been responsible for the invoices, which were used to claim over €4,000 in expenses from the Oireachtas.
Mr O'Dolan tragically took his own life in 2009 after battling with depression. Sergeant Adrian Kelly told the court Callely made the claim while being questioned by gardai in January 2012. Callely (56) had also denied any wrongdoing and said he did not recognise the invoices when they were shown to him by gardai.
However, at yesterday's hearing, Callely, of St Lawrences Road, Clontarf, Dublin, pleaded guilty to three of six charges made against him. He previously pleaded guilty to one other count last March.
Judge Mary Ellen Ring adjourned the hearing to allow counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Dominic McGinn SC, to make submissions on whether Callely's former position as a politician was an aggravating factor in the case and should be considered in sentencing.
She put it to Callely's counsel, Michael O'Higgins SC, that a politician was someone who set the legal parameters within which citizens live.
The judge said that when they “offend against the legal parameters, they effectively say: “Do as I say, not as I do.”
The court heard Callely used invoices from defunct businesses to claim expenses under an Oireachtas scheme which allows TDs and senators to claim €750 for mobile phones every 18 months.
Shortly after being appointed a senator in 2007, he began submitting for expenses at 18-month intervals.
He also submitted retrospective invoices from his time |as a TD, after being told he could do so by Oireachtas officials.
However, his use of bogus invoices was uncovered following a freedom of information request by a journalist and Callely had moved to repay most of the expenses.
Mr O'Higgins told the |court his client had “taken a shortcut in giving bogus receipts”. He said Callely had suffered “a number of pretty serious personal, political and financial setbacks in recent years”.
These included the break-up of his marriage to his wife Jennifer 12 months ago and an €11m court judgment against him over a failed property venture.
Mr O'Higgins said that Callely had suffered “a significant fall from grace” and “would continue to pay a significant price for that”. He said his client had suffered “enormous anxiety” as well as “humiliation and shame in his community”.
Callely served as a junior health minister and junior transport minister between 2002 and 2005.
However, he had to resign his ministry following revelations one of the country's biggest building companies, John Paul Construction, paid for work which was carried out at his home in Clontarf.
He lost his Dail seat in 2007 but was appointed to the Seanad by Bertie Ahern, where he remained until 2011.0 -
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missed the promo , but whoy is poor Ivor on the show ???0
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A-HA !!!!!
Well done,well done !!!
Although you have given my phone a nervous breakdown.
Thanks Butters.0 -
missed the promo , but whoy is poor Ivor on the show ???
because he has to tell de wurldid how wonderful fantastic he is so to speak and how he's recovering from his injuries after his bicyle accident and dat. Is a comeback on the cards? There's no "Honest Bertie" there to promote his case within the party now so to speak so he'll have to rely on friends to give him a bit of a dig out on the publicity front so to speak as they say........0 -
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ButtersSuki wrote: »And then there's this one:
Callely blamed fraud on friend who took own life, court told
IVOR Callely tried to blame a friend and business associate who had taken his own life for the fraudulent invoices the former Fianna Fail junior minister submitted to claim mobile phone expenses, a court has been told.
The shocking revelation came as the disgraced former politician pleaded guilty to three further fraud charges at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The court also heard about the break-up of Callely's marriage 12 months ago.
Callely will be sentenced over the fraud offences, which carry a maximum prison term of 10 years, next Monday.
The court heard evidence from a member of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation that Callely suggested to detectives that his late business associate John O'Dolan might have been responsible for the invoices, which were used to claim over €4,000 in expenses from the Oireachtas.
Mr O'Dolan tragically took his own life in 2009 after battling with depression. Sergeant Adrian Kelly told the court Callely made the claim while being questioned by gardai in January 2012. Callely (56) had also denied any wrongdoing and said he did not recognise the invoices when they were shown to him by gardai.
However, at yesterday's hearing, Callely, of St Lawrences Road, Clontarf, Dublin, pleaded guilty to three of six charges made against him. He previously pleaded guilty to one other count last March.
Judge Mary Ellen Ring adjourned the hearing to allow counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Dominic McGinn SC, to make submissions on whether Callely's former position as a politician was an aggravating factor in the case and should be considered in sentencing.
She put it to Callely's counsel, Michael O'Higgins SC, that a politician was someone who set the legal parameters within which citizens live.
The judge said that when they “offend against the legal parameters, they effectively say: “Do as I say, not as I do.”
The court heard Callely used invoices from defunct businesses to claim expenses under an Oireachtas scheme which allows TDs and senators to claim €750 for mobile phones every 18 months.
Shortly after being appointed a senator in 2007, he began submitting for expenses at 18-month intervals.
He also submitted retrospective invoices from his time |as a TD, after being told he could do so by Oireachtas officials.
However, his use of bogus invoices was uncovered following a freedom of information request by a journalist and Callely had moved to repay most of the expenses.
Mr O'Higgins told the |court his client had “taken a shortcut in giving bogus receipts”. He said Callely had suffered “a number of pretty serious personal, political and financial setbacks in recent years”.
These included the break-up of his marriage to his wife Jennifer 12 months ago and an €11m court judgment against him over a failed property venture.
Mr O'Higgins said that Callely had suffered “a significant fall from grace” and “would continue to pay a significant price for that”. He said his client had suffered “enormous anxiety” as well as “humiliation and shame in his community”.
Callely served as a junior health minister and junior transport minister between 2002 and 2005.
However, he had to resign his ministry following revelations one of the country's biggest building companies, John Paul Construction, paid for work which was carried out at his home in Clontarf.
He lost his Dail seat in 2007 but was appointed to the Seanad by Bertie Ahern, where he remained until 2011.
Of all the scummy things to do.......0 -
Anudder post from de past:
You weren't wit us den petal.
Now dis is from memory as it's a few years ago now, but it happened when Ivan Calorie was in prison for de creative expenses and dat. Calorie's solicitor was the first caller ready waiting at the start of the show to tell us about how great his client. He basically said dat imprisoning a great guy like Ivan was a waste of everybody's time, and listed all of his great, wunderful, and of course fantastic qualities. He told us wat a great orator Ivan was, and for some reason he decided to tell us dat Ivan was "a very fit man"; wit de implication being dat great orators and very fit men shouldn't be in de prison and dat reagrdless of de croyme so to speak. He also talked about how generous Ivan was to de udder prisoners and dat he was helping dem greatly by teaching them how to debate (seriously!) and also about fitness (again, seriously!). But he was worried for poor Ivan.
It was akin to a party political broadcast about how amazeballs Ivan was and how basically Ivan was the victim here. Of course we got de usual Duffy-logic like "it's not like he killed someone" (Note: sat's not an actual quote but you get the idea), etc. etc. It was de aural equivalent of a Barry Egan puff-piece about de love life of some RTÉ Z Lister. I don't recall any udder criminal's solicitor ever been given 45minutes of air time to extol de virtues of their entirely innocent client before or since on National Radio.
It was GUBU. Naturally I complained and got de usual "we're taking your complaint very seriously" auto-reply from RTÉ, but nothing else. A few udder boardsies complained at the time and they all got the same reply.0 -
I think Mr. Duffy's arrogance is on full display here today if he goes ahead with the Ivan Calorie interview. I just know I'll be writing a complaint on this one.0
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A short while ago as I was bringing plastic plates from Homestore&More in Nutgrove to my car, a man rolled down his window and started querying how I got the plates as he couldn’t do earlier. I told him they were unbreakable ones for outdoors, and he descended into a rant about the ridiculousness of the store layout, the “lies” about the danger of Covid spouted by our government, that it is no worse than a cold....bla bla bla. I told him through my mask that he was talking absolute shoyte and to look elsewhere for an audience. I could hear him cursing and signing away as I passed, got into my car and drove out past him. His missus seemed to be studying something on her lap.0
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Ivor and Joe do be members of the same gym in Fairview and would regularly be chattin' away in the changing rooms. Ivor, despite suffering an "horrific cycling accident" last summer doesn't appear to be suffering any consequences that would affect his fitness regime. If I wanted to be serving legal papers on Ivor, I'd be hanging around said gym0
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Loads more:
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime...ises-1.2720421
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime...debt-1.2677173
http://www.thejournal.ie/ivor-callel...76756-Jul2016/
https://www.irishexaminer.com/irelan...ly-434608.html
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news...-35873511.html
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news...-34746800.html
http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0517/789041-ivor-callely/
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime...ourt-1.2616297
http://m.independent.ie/irish-news/c...-34723293.html0 -
I'm a bit confused about why Ivan is such a pet project. Surely its damaging to FF to have this dirt bird brought to the forefront again? Is it a personal relationship with Ivan that somebody has?0
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[Deleted User] wrote: »A short while ago as I was bringing plastic plates from Homestore&More in Nutgrove to my car, a man rolled down his window and started querying how I got the plates as he couldn’t do earlier. I told him they were unbreakable ones for outdoors, and he descended into a rant about the ridiculousness of the store layout, the “lies” about the danger of Covid spouted by our government, that it is no worse than a cold....bla bla bla. I told him through my mask that he was talking absolute shoyte and to look elsewhere for an audience. I could hear him cursing and signing away as I passed, got into my car and drove out past him. His missus seemed to be studying something on her lap.
She might have been thinking she could with some unbreakable plates herself.
Not advocating anything mind . .0 -
I'm a bit confused about why Ivan is such a pet project. Surely its damaging to FF to have this dirt bird brought to the forefront again? Is it a personal relationship with Ivan that somebody has?
He's not in FF anymore but you can be sure they'll be sh*tting themselves when he comes on air.
Mr. Duffy has said previously of Mr. Calorie - "hasn't he suffered enough?", and this was before half of the above was made public. So the answer is yes.
If ever there was evidence that he's out of touch this is it.
I'm hoping for Pee Flynn-type car crash today.0 -
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Deleted User wrote: »A short while ago as I was bringing plastic plates from Homestore&More in Nutgrove to my car, a man rolled down his window and started querying how I got the plates as he couldn’t do earlier. I told him they were unbreakable ones for outdoors, and he descended into a rant about the ridiculousness of the store layout, the “lies” about the danger of Covid spouted by our government, that it is no worse than a cold....bla bla bla. I told him through my mask that he was talking absolute shoyte and to look elsewhere for an audience. I could hear him cursing and signing away as I passed, got into my car and drove out past him. His missus seemed to be studying something on her lap.bottlebrush wrote: »She might have been thinking she could with some unbreakable plates herself.
Not advocating anything mind . .
Wat colour were de plates?0
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This discussion has been closed.
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