Leo Varadkar story in The Village??? - Mod Notes and banned Users in OP updated 16/05

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Alan Kelly is not a lefty.

He is now it suits them. They switch wings like an ambidextrous footballer. Labour themselves were originally left wing, but depending on how much power they got in government they quickly disbanded with their ideals convenient

Edgware

[Deleted User] wrote: »

He is now it suits them. They switch wings like an ambidextrous footballer. Labour themselves were originally left wing, but depending on how much power they got in government they quickly disbanded with their ideals convenient

They are all left wing until they see the trough. S.F. are moving to the centre nice and steady too. The Armagh/Tyrone lads were never really into that equal distribution of wealth stuff

Muahahaha

I found this interesting too

https://twitter.com/paddycosgrave/status/1325397034208292866

So Leo went into the Dail and under Dail privilege he threw Maithiu under the bus on tv and in front of the nation. Leo was free to charaterise O'Tuathail in any way he wanted knowing full well that Dail privilege does not fall under defamation laws and that O'Tuathail would not have a right of reply in that forum. That has got to have pissed off O'Tuathail in a big way and now we learn that he met Cosgrave last Friday for three whole hours so it wasnt just the weather they were discussing.

This now seems like it could be a case of my enemys enemy is my friend and O'Tuathail could be about to strike back on Leo. "Leo always delivers" he said, are we about to find out about the other things Leo has delivered on?

stockshares

Article in the Indo by Philip Ryan. It's behind a paywall and I'm not giving this crowd any money because they constantly shill but it appears they are trying to smear Bowes.

Not sure what relevance the piece in Bold has.

Quote
The controversy surrounding Leo Varadkar's decision to leak a confidential GP contract to a friend has many strands, with the story behind the story almost as fascinating as the political debacle.

At its most basic there is the betrayal of at least one friendship and one businesses relationship. Beyond that there are frustrations of a would-be health entrepreneur with anti-Israeli and pro-Russia views teaming up with a tech millionaire who fell out with the Government.

Then there is the internal coalition strife over Fianna Fáil and Green Party backbenchers being forced to blindly support a Fine Gael leader in a no-confidence motion vote less than five months into the formation of what was supposed to be a historic Government.

RickDeckard

Sexem wrote: »

Leo to get the bullet this week or not? What do we think?

I volunteer to do the shooting.

Edit, Garda online squad, don't get you knickers in a twist, bitter joke so it all is.

Tiger20

2pm tomorrow. Just saying.

FrancieBrady

I wonder will tomorrow's publication be details of something else he delivered for his friend not a friend friend?

cameramonkey

FrancieBrady wrote: »

I wonder will tomorrow's publication be details of something else he delivered for his friend not a friend friend?

It is beginning to feel like death by a thousand cuts, if it keeps in the news much longer Leo will have to walk the plank.

Nobotty

stockshares wrote: »

Article in the Indo by Philip Ryan. It's behind a paywall and I'm not giving this crowd any money because they constantly shill but it appears they are trying to smear Bowes.

Not sure what relevance the piece in Bold has.

Quote
The controversy surrounding Leo Varadkar's decision to leak a confidential GP contract to a friend has many strands, with the story behind the story almost as fascinating as the political debacle.

At its most basic there is the betrayal of at least one friendship and one businesses relationship. Beyond that there are frustrations of a would-be health entrepreneur with anti-Israeli and pro-Russia views teaming up with a tech millionaire who fell out with the Government.

Then there is the internal coalition strife over Fianna Fáil and Green Party backbenchers being forced to blindly support a Fine Gael leader in a no-confidence motion vote less than five months into the formation of what was supposed to be a historic Government.

"For me this is about health reform and how the back-slapping boys' club works and how if you can access that club you get handed an advantage over others," Chay Bowes said on Friday afternoon.

Bowes is the Dublin businessman turned whistleblower at the centre of the Varadkar leaking controversy. A phlebotomist by trade, he worked for years with the VHI before trying his hand at other ventures such as a 1916 sightseeing tour and outdoor clothing store.

He also attempted to set up a gun range in the Dublin Mountains. Around three years ago, he was pushing what he calls a non-profit medical organisation called Community Health Ireland (CHI). Bowes believed the idea of more community-focused hospital care, which was in line with government policy, would lead to a better healthcare system. He was in talks with the HSE but they didn't get far.



‘Utterly ruthless’: how Leo Varadkar makes friends and influences people
Varadkar lacks loyalty to any cause other than his own ambition
A HSE source said Bowes was "very likeable" but his proposal was "unachievable" as it required investment capital the health service wasn't willing to cough up. "It was horrendously complex and got caught in a chicken and egg scenario," a source said.


Bowes persevered and he tied in with the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP) in the hope they would support his project. This is when he met NAGP president Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail.

The young GP said he could use his access to Varadkar to get the proposal before the then Taoiseach. Bowes claims at one point Ó Tuathail texted him a photograph of himself and Varadkar with the caption "CHI sorted".

Meanwhile, in early 2019, the NAGP ran into serious financial difficulties and Bowes offered to use his business acumen to look under the hood of the union. It was during this audit he gained access to phone records which detailed how Ó Tuathail convinced Varadkar to send him a copy of a GP contract the Government had just agreed with their rival and more established organisation, the Irish Medical Council (IMO).

Dr Ó Tuathail would describe himself as an "acquaintance rather than a friend" of Varadkar, according to a source who knows them both.

However, Ó Tuathail is a very close friend of the Tánaiste's partner Dr Matthew Barrett since the two worked together as junior doctors in St Vincent's Hospital.

"Maitiú and Matt would be very good friends and would have met up most weeks for pints before the pandemic and Leo might tag along sometimes," the source said.

"Maitiú would never give Leo a shout for pints because after five minutes the conversation would die a death," the source added.


Ó Tuathail was pictured at the launch of Varadkar's Fine Gael leadership bid but sources close to the doctor say he does not support the party and he has only ever canvassed for his cousin Social Democrats candidate Niall Ó Tuathail in Galway. He has also spoken at political events for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

In the Dáil, Varadkar dismissed suggestions they were close and accused Ó Tuathail of "over-egging" their relationship. He insisted the GP did not have special access to him.

However, in text messages produced by Village magazine, the NAGP president writes: "Leo constantly pulling strings for me - you've no idea," before adding that he did not want to "f**k that up".

Ó Tuathail's access to Varadkar may have been over emphasised to his NAGP colleagues but he did convince the Tánaiste to send him a copy of a contract marked 'confidential not for publication' in the second week of April last year.

The NAGP had been excluded from Government negotiations on a new GP contract which would have led some members to questioning why they were paying their union fees. This coupled with the financial problems meant Ó Tuathail getting his hands on the contract was quite a coup at a difficult time.

Bowes insists he has no "axe to grind" with Ó Tuathail despite publishing his private text messages. He says the GP is an "excellent doctor who has made a series of bad mistakes and judgments. But the question has to be asked when you're talking about Maitiú was he being used by the council of the NAGP because of his access," he adds.

Yesterday details of social media messages posted by Bowes have emerged in which he appeared supportive of Russia's invasion of Crimea


"Ukraine is the USA dog, and the EU holds the leash, the Russian army should crush Ukraine," he said in one of many tweets supporting Vladimir Putin's regime

Yesterday, Bowes said: "It's not illegal to support Russia and it is not illegal to have an opinion on Crimea."

"It's not illegal to have opinions about politics and its not illegal to think fascism is wrong," he added.

The other question is how did a Rathfarnham-based businessman asked to audit a financially mismanaged union turn whistleblower.


On April 1 of this year, not long into the first lockdown, Web Summit owner Paddy Cosgrave took to Twitter to make unsubstantiated claims about Dr Ó Tuathail.

The GP asked Cosgrave to take down the comments but the outspoken tech event planner refused and the GP initiated legal proceedings. The case was settled in recent weeks and Cosgrave paid damages which Ó Tuathail donated to the charity Safetynet.

Separately, Cosgrave struck up a relationship with Bowes and, according to the businessman, they are soon planning to set up a think tank called Health Reform Ireland.


"Paddy's a good guy and his heart's in the right place. He wants healthcare reform which is what I want," Bowes said. "We are working on a couple of projects over the coming months on healthcare reform," he added.

Cosgrave said he did not want to comment for this article. However, Bowes said during his discussions with Cosgrave he raised what he had seen during his brief period overseeing the NAGP.

Cosgrave put Bowes in touch with a US-based organisation called Whistleblower Aid which provides advice to people seeking to make disclosures.

The organisation, which is branching into Ireland in co-operation with Cosgrave, says they are working with Irish solicitors, advocates and media specialists to "provide free support for those reporting wrongdoing by health care organisations, governmental agencies, and other institutions mishandling the response to the Covid-19 pandemic".

Cosgrave also put Bowes in contact with Village magazine's editor Michael Smith who first published details of Varadkar's decision to leak the contract to Ó Tuathail.

Cosgrave has had a long- running battle with Fine Gael-led governments dating back to a row over a lack of State support for his Dublin-based technology summit while Enda Kenny was Taoiseach. He has also been a vocal critic of Varadkar.

The Tánaiste survived the first Dáil grilling with the support of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. But on the same day this week he will once again stand in chamber and face a barrage of opposition criticism over his explanation for posting the GP contract to Ó Tuathail's home address after Sinn Féin tabled a no confidence motion.


Last week, he insisted he sent the document to the GP because he was hoping to secure the support of the NAGP for a contract which would provide free care for under-sixes and see more services provided in GP surgeries.

Varadkar said he was only motivated by getting the deal over the line and thought Ó Tuathail could convince his members to back the final deal. The opposition didn't buy his explanation but his government partners gave him the all-clear after the Dáil debate and are expected to do the same this week.

Bowes said giving the document to the NAGP had "the serious potential to derail the agreement".

"The NAGP's plan was to scupper IMO's engagement with their membership. That was their stated plan. I have documentary evidence to say this," he added.

Varadkar's team initially ignored the media request about the leak allegation they received from Village magazine more than two weeks ago. They dismissed it as a non-story and even when it was published Varadkar considered continuing to ignore the claims over fears issuing a statement would just give the story legs and allow other media organisations follow up the claims. However, he spoke to Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who insisted the issue had to be addressed and both agreed a statement would be released and Varadkar would take questions in the Dáil.

Varadkar issued a statement confirming the basis of the Village magazine article but insisted he broke no laws or codes of conduct by passing on a document to Ó Tuathail.

The next day, the Taoiseach gave his conditional support to Varadkar ahead of his Dáil questioning. Later in the week, Martin came under fire from his TDs for failing to take a tougher line with the Tánaiste.


The Green Party was less enthusiastic in their support of Varadkar and during a private parliamentary party meeting TDs discussed the impact the Tánaiste's action may have on pay talks. "If you're looking for serious engagement in pay talks and you have Leo sitting across from you it seems obvious that you'd say you don't have faith in this person," said a source.

When asked publicly about these concerns Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin dodged questions. However, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said Michael McGrath, the Minister for Public Expenditure, is in "constant contact" with the unions on pay issues.

A source in McGrath's office said there will be no impact from Varadkar's actions on pay talks because "documents won't be flying around the place".

"It'll be managed tightly in the department and Cabinet will be kept informed of progress," a source said.

For now, all eyes are now on Village magazine ahead of the motion of no confidence in Varadkar next Tuesday in the Dail. Sources say the magazine has more revelations which it plans to release before the Dáil motion. Whether that happens - and whether it will have an impact - remains to be seen.

The Tánaiste and his team are waiting nervously to see what emerges.

markodaly

Muahahaha wrote: »

A very interesting article indeed

The hypocrisy is strong in this one, Leo sees cabinet leaks as "a very serious matter" yet during his answers to the Dail last Tuesday Varadkar admitted that he has previously leaked information from cabinet meetings.

Noonan says doing so is a breach of the Official Secrets act which means we now have Varadkar himself on the Dail record admitting he that broke the law.

You do know this was in relation to Cabinet leaks?
The agreement was approved by cabinet at least one week before it was handed over to the NGAP and large tracts of it were public knowledge.
Lets not pretend these were the nuclear codes or some thing like that.

Apples and Oranges....

Village have no fear of any defamation action being launched because they were telling the truth, Leo is indeed a lawbreaker and has admitted as much.

Not at all. Leo would be 100% to pursue the Village for this, as in the eyes of the courts and law, today, he has not broken any law. Remember, everyone is presumed innocent first and foremost, there is no trial by media that sends people to jail.

For Leo to be a Law Breaker, he has to be given due process and his day court.... then if found guilty of breaking a law, then he is indeed a lawbreaker.

Yes, I know the Twitter folk won't really care for due process and all that, but anyway, that is how it works.

Leo would win a defamation case, but it would cost him politically to pursue it. However, he may just wait a bit to see if the Village hang themselves a bit more, as they seem to be both amateur and reckless. VB and Paddy Crossgrave are involved in this magazine as well afaik, both have zero love for FG and are using the outlet to serve some personal vendetta.

FrancieBrady

markodaly wrote: »

You do know this was in relation to Cabinet leaks?
The agreement was approved by cabinet at least one week before it was handed over to the NGAP and large tracts of it were public knowledge.
Lets not pretend these were the nuclear codes or some thing like that.

Apples and Oranges....



Not at all. Leo would be 100% to pursue the Village for this, as in the eyes of the courts and law, today, he has not broken any law. Remember, everyone is presumed innocent first and foremost, there is no trial by media that sends people to jail.

For Leo to be a Law Breaker, he has to be given due process and his day court.... then if found guilty of breaking a law, then he is indeed a lawbreaker.

Yes, I know the Twitter folk won't really care for due process and all that, but anyway, that is how it works.

Leo would win a defamation case, but it would cost him politically to pursue it. However, he may just wait a bit to see if the Village hang themselves a bit more, as they seem to be both amateur and reckless. VB and Paddy Crossgrave are involved in this magazine as well afaik, both have zero love for FG and are using the outlet to serve some personal vendetta.

The Tanaiste has been forced to go into the Dáil to tell an unsatisfactory to many tale and now faces a vote of confidence and The Village are 'amateur's'?

Gooey Looey

markodaly wrote: »

You do know this was in relation to Cabinet leaks?
The agreement was approved by cabinet at least one week before it was handed over to the NGAP and large tracts of it were public knowledge.
Lets not pretend these were the nuclear codes or some thing like that.

Apples and Oranges....



Not at all. Leo would be 100% to pursue the Village for this, as in the eyes of the courts and law, today, he has not broken any law. Remember, everyone is presumed innocent first and foremost, there is no trial by media that sends people to jail.

For Leo to be a Law Breaker, he has to be given due process and his day court.... then if found guilty of breaking a law, then he is indeed a lawbreaker.

Yes, I know the Twitter folk won't really care for due process and all that, but anyway, that is how it works.

Leo would win a defamation case, but it would cost him politically to pursue it. However, he may just wait a bit to see if the Village hang themselves a bit more, as they seem to be both amateur and reckless. VB and Paddy Crossgrave are involved in this magazine as well afaik, both have zero love for FG and are using the outlet to serve some personal vendetta.

Welcome back Mark, we've missed your hand waving

McMurphy

This is interesting, story about the Gardai that were arrested this morning because they're facing corruption allegations.

Note why 3 including a detective, an inspector and a super were arrested.....

An Garda Síochána first suspected in early 2019 that information had been disclosed about a Criminal Assets Bureau investigation into the activities of a criminal gang in Munster.

The gang is suspected of being involved in various criminal activity including drug trafficking and was targeted by the CAB.

The Bureau carried out eight searches in the south of the country in March of last year and seized 115 cars and thousands in euro and sterling from the gang, which it believes to be the proceeds of crime.

However, CAB also suspected that information from its investigation had been leaked to members of the gang.

Three members of the Garda, including a detective, an inspector and a superintendent were arrested and questioned last year following a series of co-ordinated searches.

The superintendent subsequently failed in the High Court to have his suspension lifted and all three remain suspended along with the eight gardaí who were suspended yesterday.

The superintendent who has denied the allegations in the High Court is due to retire from the force at midnight tonight and the disciplinary proceedings against him will be halted as he will no longer be a member of An Garda Síochána.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2020/1108/1176711-an-garda-siochana/

markodaly

I like the way Paddy Cosgrave is going on about the story not about him, yet he is jumping up and down and waving his arms frantically telling everyone 'Look at Meeeee!!'

Maybe get off Twitter Paddy, if the story is not about you?

Need I remind people what type of person Paddy Cosgrave is?

https://twitter.com/paddycosgrave/status/1190667341375385607

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=97121993

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=107140544

markodaly

FrancieBrady wrote: »

The Tanaiste has been forced to go into the Dáil to tell an unsatisfactory to many tale and now faces a vote of confidence and The Village are 'amateur's'?

A vote of no confidence that even SF supporters agree will fail and will cost the taxpayers a nice sum because it has to be done in the convention center, not the Dail?

McMurphy

markodaly wrote: »

A vote of no confidence that even SF supporters agree will fail** and will cost the taxpayers a nice sum because it has to be done in the convention center, not the Dail?

**Lol......

FrancieBrady

markodaly wrote: »

A vote of no confidence that even SF supporters agree will fail and will cost the taxpayers a nice sum because it has to be done in the convention center, not the Dail?

Votes of No Confidence rarely fail Mark. This one is intended to pressure on several levels and is already.

Politically a brilliant move really.

markodaly

McMurphy wrote: »

This is interesting, story about the Gardai that were arrested this morning because they're facing corruption allegations.

Note why 3 including a detective, an inspector and a super were arrested.....


An Garda Síochána first suspected in early 2019 that information had been disclosed about a Criminal Assets Bureau investigation into the activities of a criminal gang in Munster.

The gang is suspected of being involved in various criminal activity including drug trafficking and was targeted by the CAB.


https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2020/1108/1176711-an-garda-siochana/

This is not even apples and oranges, it is apples and tractors.

Gardai leaking information to Criminal gangs is the same as Leo giving the head of the NGAP (who represented 40% of GP's) an heads up of a new and agreed upon deal between the government and the GP's represented by the IMO?

I know now people are just losing the argument when they come up with this nonsense.

FrancieBrady

markodaly wrote: »

This is not even apples and oranges, it is apples and tractors.

Gardai leaking information to Criminal gangs is the same as Leo giving the head of the NGAP (who represented 40% of GP's) an heads up of a new and agreed upon deal between the government and the GP's represented by the IMO?

I know now people are just losing the argument when they come up with this nonsense.

What's the difference in law Mark? And who 'decided' these are different? The law is fairly clear.

markodaly

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Votes of No Confidence rarely fail Mark. This one is intended to pressure on several levels and is already.

Politically a brilliant move really.

Rarely fail?

See, it doesn't take much for you to overreach and display your total lack of knowledge of the subject matter.

There have been 30 confidence motions taken against an Irish Government since the foundation of the state.

Only 2, yes TWO of these have succeeded.

So, in your eyes, a success rate of 2/30 (6.6%) is 'rarely failing'

Brilliant, just brilliant. :D

markodaly

FrancieBrady wrote: »

What's the difference in law Mark? And who 'decided' these are different? The law is fairly clear.

There is, of course, a difference in law, as has been spelled out to you before.

The comparison between Leo and corrupt Gardai passing information to Criminal Gangs is obvious only for the diehards, and the diehards, like Trump supporters, will believe what they want to believe.

McMurphy

markodaly wrote: »

This is not even apples and oranges, it is apples and tractors.

Gardai leaking information to Criminal gangs is the same as Leo giving the head of the NGAP (who represented 40% of GP's) an heads up of a new and agreed upon deal between the government and the GP's represented by the IMO?

I never said it was the same thing, I said it was interesting, I didn't think I'd need to clarify why given the week that's in it, but personally I thought it was interesting during this controversy where Leo is accused of corruption, 3 X guards were arrested for leaking information, in an article about alleged corruption.

I know now people are just losing the argument when they come up with this nonsense.

Given the above manure where you literally did come up with nonsense, this is irony on a massive scale.

FrancieBrady

markodaly wrote: »

Rarely fail?

See, it doesn't take much for you to overreach and display your total lack of knowledge of the subject matter.

There have been 30 confidence motions taken against an Irish Government since the foundation of the state.

Only 2, yes TWO of these have succeeded.

So, in your eyes, a success rate of 2/30 (6.6%) is 'rarely failing'

Brilliant, just brilliant. :D

Yes, they failed to dislodge their target.

But they rarely fail to do damage, and even FGers here have accepted that their is damage being done to the FG brand. Not to mention causing absolute ructions in the FF party. The Greens are shipping some more damage too.

McMurphy

markodaly wrote: »

Rarely fail?

See, it doesn't take much for you to overreach and display your total lack of knowledge of the subject matter.

There have been 30 confidence motions taken against an Irish Government since the foundation of the state.

Only 2, yes TWO of these have succeeded.

So, in your eyes, a success rate of 2/30 (6.6%) is 'rarely failing'

Brilliant, just brilliant. :D

I think you need to reread the post you seem to be sneering at.

FrancieBrady

markodaly wrote: »

There is, of course, a difference in law, as has been spelled out to you before.

The comparison between Leo and corrupt Gardai passing information to Criminal Gangs is obvious only for the diehards, and the diehards, like Trump supporters, will believe what they want to believe.

So you haven't spelled out what the difference is.

BTW they won't be 'corrupt Gardai' until they are found guilty...know the law Mark.

blindside88

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Yes, they failed to dislodge their target.

But they rarely fail to do damage, and even FGers here have accepted that their is damage being done to the FG brand. Not to mention causing absolute ructions in the FF party. The Greens are shipping some more damage too.

I would agree, the major success in this is that it’ll force FF to side with FG and further play into the narrative of SF that we are all the same.

markodaly

McMurphy wrote: »

I never said it was the same thing, I said it was interesting, I didn't think I'd need to clarify why given the week that's in it, but personally I thought it was interesting during this controversy where Leo is accused of corruption, 3 X guards were arrested for leaking information, in an article about alleged corruption.

So, in effect, it has nothing to do with this topic.
Yet you bring it up anyway.

Come on, I am not stupid. Its an age-old trick of disinformation and bringing up other strands of 'similar' stories to muddy the waters.
If it were a Tweet about Leo, it would come with a Twitter fact check warning

markodaly

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Yes, they failed to dislodge their target.

So now the expected goal post shifting of what you said.



Own what you said, Francie, you said they rarely fail, which is clearly wrong.

markodaly

FrancieBrady wrote: »

So you haven't spelled out what the difference is.

I'll take a line you used on me.

'I am not here to educate you'

RandomViewer

markodaly wrote: »

This is not even apples and oranges, it is apples and tractors.

Gardai leaking information to Criminal gangs is the same as Leo giving the head of the NGAP (who represented 40% of GP's) an heads up of a new and agreed upon deal between the government and the GP's represented by the IMO?

I know now people are just losing the argument when they come up with this nonsense.

Your definition of corruption seems to differ from the rest of the world,