John Waters on the Quinns

The man is getting madder by the day, I tuned into the Last Word on my way home this evening and found myself for once agreeing with Hook. Water's arguments were ridiculous, one listener thought the Water's interview was a Mario Rosenstock/Gift Grub gag
 
Why were the people of cavan out in support of him, I thought he lived in the north of ireland all his life, and tried to become bankrupt up there, oh wait, maybe that was another lie.....
 
Niall M said:
Why were the people of cavan out in support of him, I thought he lived in the north of ireland all his life, and tried to become bankrupt up there
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That's not really the point though, is it?

It doesn't matter to them where he lives or claims to live. They're supporting him because the people he hired were in Cavan and Fermanagh (and Navan, Newbridge, Galway, Longford, Dublin, England, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Slovakia, Russia and the Czech Republic).
 
Just ask the lovely [broken link removed].

I used to take the view that John Waters had simply "got God" and gone a bit nutty, or nuttier than he was. But lately I've had to conclude that he really just likes toadying to the rich and powerful, in or out of a collar.
 
I've seen it all now - Fintan O' Toole on the ball with a very clear, logical and well thought through argument!

One of the more worrying things or me is how political the GAA have become recently. Several current county managers have run for election to the dail (many successfully), many of them were wheeled out for Lisbon, they refused to talk to RTE over RTE's internal GAA commentry rostering and now this. Whatever happened to "Shut mouth catches no flies!"
 
DerKaiser said:
One of the more worrying things or me is how political the GAA have become recently.
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This is unfair. The GAA, by its own rules, is a strictly non-political, non-sectarian organisation. It is not permitted to take part in, or facilitate, political movements or causes.

Its a free country. GAA/IRFU/FAI/ICA/charity membership should not debar individual members from running for election or expressing opinions in a personal capacity.

And if Mickey Harte decides not to talk to RTE (particularly after the John Murray Show made fun of his dead daughter), he is free to do so if he feels like it.
 
I agree that the GAA is non political and I'm an admirer of it as an organisation, but I wouldn't accuse it of being non-sectarian.
 
T McGibney said:
This is unfair. The GAA, by its own rules, is a strictly non-political, non-sectarian organisation. It is not permitted to take part in, or facilitate, political movements or causes.
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I think you will find that their rules state that they are strictly 'non-party political'.

I know they have made massive strides in recent years but historically, I don't think anyone can claim that the GAA were non-political. Rule 21 comes to mind. There are still pockets of the GAA that are extremely political.

I agree that it is a free country though and the people are free to show their support.

As for Mickey Harte and RTE, there was also that 4 page letter and boycott he organised against RTE about their treatment of his good friend Brian Carthy. He was free not to talk them after that sketch but he organised other managers to boycott RTE because of Carthy.
 

Agreed. But it has been GAA policy at all levels for many years to steer as far clear as possible from politics. That is not to say that occasional breaches occur.

Again, its a free country. Harte and his fellow managers have no moral or contractual obligation to speak to RTE or other media. Regardless of the merits or otherwise of his arguments, he was well within his rights to canvass support amongst his peers. That he did so is utterly irrelevant to the issue of politics within the GAA.
 

However Quinn does have a legal obligation in regard to his debts to Anglo. You can't have your cake and eat it.
 
T McGibney said:
Why?
http://ulster.gaa.ie/2011/04/2011-cuchulainn-cup/
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There's more than a little historical overhang there.
I agree that they are moving in the right direction but they are not there yet.

I support my local GAA club. I go to Croke Park for Hurling matches. I'm a fan. That doesn't mean I'm blind to the historical and cultural shortcomings of the organisation or what it overcame to get to where it is.
 
People have to realise that there's a constituency out there, beyond the Pale, that haven't much time what a high court judge has to say, or the righteousness of the media. They know their man who delivered them jobs and did good things where the apparatus of the State was lacking for so long.

I know it's simplistic - and I'm not saying its right - but all I'm trying to do is explain why 5,000 turned out in Cavan - maybe it's Planet Quinn but it doesnt seem that alien to me.

Re the GAA - beyond the 6 counties its probably the most successful institution in the history of the state, and for a bit before then. In the 6 counties the stated nationalist ethos morphed into Republican ethos and there's still some extracating to be done there - at least the PIRA are out of business so its not an active link at this stage. It would of course help the cross community appeal (&non-politicisation of sport in general) if clubs werent called after 'volunteers' and there no more of the carry on like that medal presentation.
 
Betsy Og said:
People have to realise that there's a constituency out there, beyond the Pale, that haven't much time what a high court judge has to say....
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Are you genuinely comfortable with Quinn's shenanigans in Russia/Ukraine?

For me it doesn't sit well with the image of an honest, low key, big hearted, country fella who just wanted to work hard and create a few jobs for the area.
 
DerKaiser said:
Are you genuinely comfortable with Quinn's shenanigans in Russia/Ukraine?
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As I said from the outset its not right but its understandable, desperate times call for desperate measures. So no, I'm not comfortable with it, but it doesnt fully overturn the previous good (does a heck of a lot of damage to it mind you, as does the greed/recklessness/downright stupidity in the Anglo dealings, and being loose with the law on the UK insurance side).

All I can say is that I dont think he deserves the same bile as I'd reserve for Seanie, David Drumm etc etc, because a) the scale of their destruction, b) the lesser positive contribution up to that & c) being v. honest here, they wouldnt ever have been "my kind of people".

5,000 in Cavan say "he's our kind of guy", "he's one of our own", no more no less for many of the 5,000 I'd say.
 
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