Ger Gilroy who is standing in for Eamon Keane on Lunchtime on Newstalk 106-108 fm was told today by Donegal North East TD and former Sport and Tourism Minister Dr Jim McDaid that Fine Gael’s should stop flogging a dead horse in pursuit of Mr John O’Donoghue, the Ceann Comhairle of the Dail (pictured left), who has announced that he is to resign next week.
“You know Denis (Naughten, Fine Gael TD), we’re all part of the political system and I would really ask all you in Fine Gael, and I shouldn’t use the word horse, but would you stop flogging a dead horse. Eamon Gilmore got the head of John O’Donoghue, and what Fine Gael is trying to do now is to get the left ear of his decapitated head.
“Will you for heaven’s sake stop flogging the head of a dead horse? Let the man go and resign in peace. You made a mistake here. There’s this perception that Eamon Gilmore actually did manage to outdo you on this occasion. Accept it but for heaven’s sake would you stop going on with this nonsense of resigning now as opposed to resigning next week?
Deputy McDaid claimed The Greens are a “threatened species” and “won’t vote for extinction” in their party meeting on Saturday: “I’d put a good bet on it that the Greens will still continue on in Government. They’re a threatened species and they’re not going to vote for extinction.
“And whatever hopes they have of staying within the realms of Government at this point in time, they would be extinct if there was a general election in Spring. I can see no party, despite the fact I have called for a general election myself in Spring, I can see no appetite for it. And if you can get a good bookies, go down on have a bet on them because they’ll be there until Christmas and well after Christmas.”
Meanwhile former Kerry great and buddy of the Ceann Comhairel also gave his tuppence worth:
“Do they want him to stay in a B&B?” Paidi O’Se hits back at John O’Donoghue’s critics.
All Ireland winning Kerryman Paidi O’Se today asked if John O’Donoghue’s critics “want him to stay in a two star hotel, or do they want him to stay in a B&B?” Paidi told how he was appointed by Mr O’Donoghue to the board of Failte Ireland and that Ireland needs to use “every political advantage that we have” when it comes to attracting tourists here.
“Eamon Gilmore got the head of John O’Donoghue, and what Fine Gael is trying to do now is to get the left ear of his decapitated heard. Will you for heaven’s sake stop flogging the head of a dead horse?”. He also said the Green Party is a “threatened species” and “won’t vote for extinction” in their party meeting on Saturday.
Paidi O’Se told Ger: “Well first and foremost I’m a personal friend of the Ceann Comhairle’s, John O’Donoghue. I’m actually back here in a Fianna Fail cumann in Cuas at the moment. We’re absolutely flabbergasted that such an incident happened. I’ve been out of the country for the last two weeks so I’m not up to speed with the extra expenses that occurred but I can tell you that as a director of Failte Ireland, which Mr O’Donoghue put me on the board, I’m serving there at the moment and I’ve been serving there for six years. There are a couple of issues here I think that need to be brought into the public domain.
Dr Jim McDaid TD
“Tourism is a very very important industry in this country. Mr O’Donoghue while he was Minister for Tourism had to carry the flagship and had to sell Ireland abroad. I’d like to wonder, do they expect Mister O’Donoghue to stay in a three star hotel over there in Cheltenham, or a two star hotel or do they want him to stay in a B&B?“
Paidi spoke of the life John O’Donoghue lives in South Kerry: “Mr O’Donoghue travelled as a statesman to sell Ireland. He wanted to meet people. He wanted to bring industry; he wanted to bring work into the country. Point number two: He has come from a dynasty, a dynasty of a family who have given their life to public life, to the colour jersey that I wear. My experience of John O’Donoghue is that he is a very very humble man. I met him above actually in the All Ireland. He is a man who works diligently in his constituency. At the end of the week his leisurely time is he likes go to the racehorses, he likes to have a few pints in the Fiachra Bar in Cahirciveen and he likes to go to a local match in South Kerry. That’s my experience of John O’Donoghue.”
And Paidi criticised the opposition parties for seizing on O’Donoghue: “The third thing is there are opposition parties who are using it to their political advantage. You have Labour, you have Fine Gael, you have everybody. We’re now dealing with an economic worldwide crisis whereby in the 80s-I remember when I opened my pub in the 80s we had an economic problem and at that stage we were in a position where our people and in Ventry, I remember, there were 30 or 40 of them and they were able to go to New York and they were able to go to London. There’s no place to go now.
“We are now in a position at the moment where we have to use every political advantage that we have. He had people to entertain, people to move around with, he was doing his best. That’s what you do when you’re in Tourism”
