Presidential Election

TarfHead said:
And MDH created all those jobs ? They wouldn't have existed without him ?

Fair dues.
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He set the policy, and drove the legislation. That's what good Ministers do.

You can be as cynical as you like, but that's all on the record.

It's make your mind up time folks - choose your FF bagman who has challenges in telling the truth, or MDH.
 
cork said:
Did MDH ever get involved in Lboutr fund-raising?
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I think we established that this wasn't the problem. The problem was that he caught in a lie. And he still hasnt answered the question of the loan properly.
 
Someone said to me today that the 7 presidential candidates mirror everything that was wrong with Ireland in the past 10-20 years;

Mitchell = Representative of the poor level of Opposition in recent years
McGuinness = The Troubles
Davis = Quangos
Gallagher = FF fundraiser businessman/builder
Norris = Perception that he is soft on child abuse (Unfair I think)
Dana = Religious fundamentalist who sees no wrong in the RCC
Higgins = Unions?
 
Sunny said:
Dana?
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Maybe: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...tional_01.jpg/220px-Dana_International_01.jpg

cork said:
Did MDH ever get involved in Lboutr fund-raising?
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Frequently. Did he every lie about NOT being involved in Labour fundraising - No. Did he ever get voluntary organisations to pay €5k personally to him to ensure that they get public grants from his boss? No.

http://www.independent.ie/national-...up-to-euro5000-for-grants-advice-2915300.html
 
Michael D was a member of Fianna Fail.
If elected, Michael D will be eligible for 4 pensions paid for by the taxpayer. Is that a record?
He is a regular at the Galway races, possibly a union tent? 2 or 4 man.
He is against the Corrib Gas project, a major source of employment.

Michael D is a gentleman and a scholar. He has coasted through this election by not having offended anyone. He will now coast in to retirement in the park and we will return to the the presidency having a relationship with an elite group and for the rest of the country the next we will hear of the presidency is in 7 years. For the artists and poets, they are in for a crackin' eight years in the comfort of the Aras.

Sean Gallagher has a lot more baggage/ skeletons that Michael D, if that I have little doubt. I do believe that Sean would work a lot harder than Michael D to utilise the role of the presidency for the nations benefit but he is a gamble.
 
ontour said:
Michael D is a gentleman and a scholar. He has coasted through this election by not having offended anyone.
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I wish I was around to vote today but unfortunately because of being abroad it is not an option for me

Happy voting everybody, may the best man or woman win!
 
Ah man, talk about clutching at straws with mentions of tents at the Races. We all know who was inside the tents at the Galway Races, and it wasn't Michael D. The reference to pensions is a bit silly. He has confirmed during the campaign that "I do not intend to draw my pensions from the Oireachtas, Ministry or whatever while I am President". If there is a problem with the current pension arrangement, then you fix the pensions problem for all recipients, not just Michael D. You don't choose your President based on his pension costs.

He hasn't coasted anywhere. The fact that he's given clear, straight answers has meant that the press get bored and move on to easier targets. This is a sign of his maturity and his political ability.

ontour said:
Sean Gallagher has a lot more baggage/ skeletons that Michael D, if that I have little doubt. I do believe that Sean would work a lot harder than Michael D to utilise the role of the presidency for the nations benefit but he is a gamble.
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Based on what came out this week about his charging of GAA clubs personal fees to get them public grants, I do believe that Sean would work a lot harder than Michael D to utilise the role of the presidency for Sean's benefit.
 
Purple said:
Has he really been pressed on why he supported the tax amnesties given by Ruairi Quinn?
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I think it was a FF minister (Bertie?) that introduced the tax amnesty but you're right, the Labour party supported it in government. This point was put to MDH on one radio interview and he basically said he was sorry and it was left at that. He certainly wasn't put under the sort of pressure he could have been.

I read one article were it said that when the Labour party put forward Mary Robinson in 1992 they were changing the style of presidency which was a bit of fresh air. In other words they were go against the typical retirement job for politicians it has previously been. It is ironic that with MDH, they seem to be going back down that road.
 
Why all this shame and scandal over the 1994 tax amnesty? It raised substantial sums for the taxpayer, enabled a lot of business people to clean up their tax affairs and allowed Revenue deal with and eliminate a whole host of legacy tax compliance practices that had been lingering in the economy since the 1970s & 1980s.
 
Complainer said:
Ah man, talk about clutching at straws.....
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Exactly ! None of those things have anything to do with whether or not Michael D would make a good president but the modus operandi for the presidential debate is to raise facts that can be interpreted negatively. I don't think that Michael D has done anything wrong in collecting 3 pensions and I don't think Sean did anything wrong is collecting 5k from GAA clubs for consultancy. I don't agree with someone collecting 3 state pensions and I do not believe in charging voluntary organisation for guidance but I would not demonize anyone who did either of those things.

Complainer said:
This is a sign of his maturity and his political ability.
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This is a sign that even though there are many negative things to say about the media, they still have a level of respect for an elderly frail gentleman.

Labour changed our expectation for the presidency when they gave us Mary Robinson. They are now changing it back to it's retirement home status. Ironically one of the few things that we do not need to reset to pre-Celtic Tiger !
 
ontour said:
I don't think Sean did anything wrong is collecting 5k from GAA clubs for consultancy.
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Oh let's give the full story please - do you think Sean did anything wrong by collecting €5k for GAA clubs for filling out grant forms and ensuring that his then boss 'looked after' the payees with public money?

If not, you've just created a whole new business sector of FAS employees, nurses, social welfare staff who can charge for nixers to make sure applications get public money and services.
 
Complainer said:
Oh let's give the full story please - do you think Sean did anything wrong by collecting €5k for GAA clubs for filling out grant forms and ensuring that his then boss 'looked after' the payees with public money?
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That’s a very serious accusation. Can you back it up with facts?
 

I agree with this. Having been the first party to use a bit of vision and imagination in putting someone forward for the Presidency, it is really disappointing to see them retreat back to using it to reward an elderly and somewhat out of touch party member with no new ideas to bring to the table.
 
Complainer said:
Oh let's give the full story please - do you think Sean did anything wrong by collecting €5k for GAA clubs for filling out grant forms and ensuring that his then boss 'looked after' the payees with public money
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When did this story break??
 
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