11.30.06
McDowell
I must say I did enjoy McDowell’s taunt to Sinn Fein yesterday that they needn’t go knocking on the door of the White House for a St. Patrick’s Day invitation if they refuse to take the word of Ms Rice. However, one can’t help noticing that that comment made all the news bulletins yesterday while Enda Kenny’s contribution was ignored, despite the fact that Enda got the better of him later on..From the ever reasonable Michael O’Regan in the IT
“More of the same was expected when Enda Kenny demanded an explanation for the “catastrophic” state of neurosurgery services around the country. According to experts, key services to brain injury victims are on the verge of collapse, and are worse now than they were 30 years ago.
Deputy Kenny outlined a frightening litany of neglect, from bed and staff shortages to equipment used in surgery that regularly breaks down.
You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to know that neurosurgical services cannot be supported by clapped out machinery and long waiting lists. You don’t even have to be a famously intelligent barrister to know that the situation, as outlined by Enda, is a disgrace.
The Tánaiste listened with a sour expression – maybe because he would shortly have to stand up and talk his way around this debacle, and he wasn’t in the comforting confines of the Four Courts either.
Enda wound up to a withering finish. “I’d like to ask you, Tánaiste, to tell the House, tell the Dáil,” he began. “No. On second thoughts, don’t tell the Dáil, because you treat this House with derision and contempt anyway.
“Tell the camera, because you love the camera . . . and tell through the lens to the people of this country waiting for neurosurgery treatment, what you and your Government have done in the last 10 years to deal with this problem.”
Tánaiste McDowell was taken aback by nice Enda’s anger. The best he could manage in response was a feeble “obviously the deputy got out on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”
Then he reverted to Bertie’s standard trick and read out a long list of statistics to highlight all the great measures introduced by the Government to improve the health system. But he couldn’t get his head around the neurosurgery question, so he ignored it. The Opposition was disgusted, and let him know.
Tánaiste McDowell didn’t take it well. “I think you are making a collective disgrace of yourselves, and if you don’t want to hear the answers, I won’t go any further,” he pouted. A spot of Violet Elizabeth-style scweaming loomed large.
As Michael sulked and considered his options, Enda increased the pressure. Did the Tánaiste really expect the 426 people on the waiting list for brain surgery at Beaumont hospital to listen to that “rubbish” he had just spouted and think it alright? Taking refuge in statistics never worries Bertie. But Michael, to his credit, appeared embarrassed.
“The deputy seems to be engaging in amateur theatricals here” wailed the acting head of Government. “Again, the shouting starts,” he huffed.
“Answer the question!” returned the chorus.
“No. That’s the end of it,” sniffed Michael, stung. He sat down and stayed quiet.
If he had a ball he would have gone home with it. And there it was. His perfect Reverse Violet. None of the usual scweams, just a sullen silence.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte was amazed. “I didn’t know there was any question that the Tánaiste couldn’t answer,” he marvelled. “And now he’s gone into a sulk.”
Leon said,
November 30, 2006 at 1:20 pm
It’s funny I see Kenny as a potential Taoiseach (I think he would be better than Homer Simpson was anyway) but no one agrees with me.
I do think that he has disgraced himself on the Rossport issue.
Why don’t FG realise that they need distance between themselves and FF; after all as Sarah has reminded us over the past couple of weeks they have nothing to learn from FF when it comes to corruption.
Rabbitte is just a windbag.
Darren Mac an PhrÃora said,
November 30, 2006 at 7:46 pm
Sarah, he may be a gaelóir but most people don’t like his American-Republican style. It doesnts work in Ireland. From the brief segment I saw on Oireachtas Report last night I was impressed with Kenny but overall people are sick with him.
You didn’t advise the party to go that right-wing personalised way did you?
Sarah said,
November 30, 2006 at 8:20 pm
What is bullshit about pointing out that neurological services are on the verge of collapse?
Daniel Sullivan said,
December 1, 2006 at 1:42 am
Leon and Darren, your problem is that you can’t find someone on the hard left that would get elected by a majority and so you send your time carping at those in the centre and on the right for lacking the qualities you value but no one else does. Instead of making the government who after all are in power the focus of your attention you prefer to moan about Rabbitte and Kenny. Go find yourselves a candidate with the purity and right-on-ness that you desire and get out canvassing and doing the drudge work or run yourselves and we’ll see how many actual voters you’ll convince..
Darren Mac an PhrÃora said,
December 1, 2006 at 2:29 am
I don’t like FF or the PD’s. But I don’t like the FG and Labour leaders, and I cannot see how they could mix in Govt. God knows how the Greens would fit in.
At least with the current Govt. we have stability- albiet right-wing a lot of the time.
It is perfectly reasonable to point out the bad qualities in the opposition. If they were better I might vote for them.
I am not hard left by the way.
I frankly find centre parties rather disgusting. While independent activists and workers, like me, struggle with dealing with the coal face of poverty and its related issues- knowing what policies are needed- FF and others stay in the centre waiting, often, for the ideas to come to them.
FG are reactionery.
Darren Mac an PhrÃora said,
December 1, 2006 at 2:34 am
At least Labour- who are at the coal face of poverty often- have pledged billions to tackle poverty if they get elected. FG want bootcamps….
Lets look at the core of the problems first, instead of looking at potential periperial solutions.
As I said before, FG will not do well in Dublin.
Darren Mac an PhrÃora said,
December 1, 2006 at 2:36 am
FG are held together by predominately rural voters voting for the personalities of individual canidates. Their canididates are careerists- even if most of them mean well.
What ideology does FG have???
People like to know who they are dealing with, you know.
Sarah said,
December 1, 2006 at 11:05 am
Daniel is SO right. I am so sick of the shite. Fianna Fail have been in government for 18 of the last 20 years. Any time FG suggest anything different they get leaped upon. For example I heard Billy Timmins on TodayFM discussing the “boot camp” idea. Except he didn’t call it a boot camp. Apparently some tulip in their press office put that name on it. He was debating with Billy Kelleher from FF and a guy who worked with youths in trouble. He was brilliant! He said it was a “course” and finishing the course and being given a certificate would be a huge boost to the self esteem of the participants. He referred to previous experiments in the US and the UK and could quote those that failed and why and those that succeeded. The ones that succeeded had a huge raft of support staff like social workers and pyschologists and that this would be a core part of the plan. Kelleher just sounded stupid because he kept saying that Timmins had thought of this”off the top of his head” when quite clearly he hadn’t. The clincher came when the social worker guy said that he thought it was a great idea and pleaded with the government to just give it a chance, since the government ideas had clearly all failed. Timmins won the debate hands down. So what happened? Cooper wrote a column on Sunday saying that Timmins and FG better stop coming up with stupid ideas off the top of their head. The fact is that when FG suggest anything the columnists are lining up to rubbish the idea while FF have hundreds of staff PAID FOR BY YOU to annihilate the ideas but DO NOTHING THEMSELVES. And what? The Darrens with their negativity join and what will you get? Five more years of Fianna Fail. What is FF’s ideology? Get in power and stay in power and it doesn’t matter how much it costs?
How about five more years of:
M50 Toll Bridge
Patients on Hospital Trolleys inspite of the increase in spending, private medical insurance, etc
Nurses pay not in line with inflation
Poor planning
Poor road building
Electronic Voting Machines
Lying about detection rates of murders (Calling cases solved before they get to court)
Lying about 2000 extra gardai on the streets – and that’s before the Garda reserve came in
Weapons Amnesty – cost about 30,000 per weapon recovered – none of which were used in a crime anyway. Effectively they paid 30,000 for a breadknife
Paying 30 million for land worth less than 5 million for new superprison. Didn’t go through normal tendering process.
Any government project obscenely over budget
Any when the going get rough and the Tanaiste is told that neurosurgery services are about to collapse he gets thick and sits down. And you complain about Kenny? Please.
What’s your ideology? Bitch and moan thus ensuring that status quo remains?
Paul Newton said,
December 1, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Jaysus, who got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning?
EJP said,
December 1, 2006 at 3:06 pm
Darren, you forgot the other candidate of FG voter; those who do so because it’s family tradition.
EJP said,
December 1, 2006 at 3:07 pm
EDIT: for ‘candidate’ above, I meant to say ‘category’
Leon said,
December 1, 2006 at 3:26 pm
In fairness Danny the ‘hard left’ might not be able to find someone to get elected, but Fine Gael and Labour can’t ‘t either.
Sarah said,
December 1, 2006 at 7:04 pm
Alright, so I had a most pleasant lunch with Ardmayle accompanied by a very nice Montepulciano and am feeling a little mellower. We agreed politics in general is dismal. But what can you do?
Darren Mac an PhrÃora said,
December 1, 2006 at 11:50 pm
Sarah, for the last time, I am an active republican ie. I don’t sit around moaning about the status quo all day. I know several politicans, am active in my community and in other things.
I don’t sit on the fence.
If FG were Nationalist I might vote for them. You may think that politics is dismal sometimes, but at the end of the day you are going to vote for FG.
I am not. I am seriously probably not going to vote for any candidates in the next GE as I hate them all, all for different reasons.
I will still be a repubican though. What are FG?
James said,
December 2, 2006 at 12:28 am
FG have been in government over the last 50 years and neurosurgery services have declined, so whos fault is it. It isn’t right but the party in oposittion at the moment isn’t given options just giving out
faolain said,
December 2, 2006 at 12:31 am
Two thoughts:
How many people is Darren? Many of ‘his’ mailings seem to have a number of (sometimes contradictory) ideas.
I recently abandoned another blog because it became totally one-sided politically (pro-USA Republican/anti-arab [to say the least]). I should be sorry to see this one become so one-sided.
Darren Mac an PhrÃora said,
December 2, 2006 at 12:37 am
“How many people is Darren? Many of ‘his’ mailings seem to have a number of (sometimes contradictory) ideas.”
Please give one example.
Bernie Goldbach said,
December 2, 2006 at 10:59 am
Just dropping by to say I appreciate thoughtful summaries like this one on deputies debating the State of the State. It’s refreshing to read well-informed commentary appended to the blog post that ignited the cross-talk.
Sarah said,
December 2, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Ah, not voting at all! How constructive. So we CAN have another 5 years of FF and their lip service. Because, hey the most important thing is empty rhetoric on the subject of a 32 country Ireland and not how we treat people who need brain surgery in a 26 county Ireland.
As for James….definitely one of the more pathetic defences I’ve come across.
Darren Mac an PhrÃora said,
December 2, 2006 at 5:32 pm
The impression I got from watching Oireachtas Report was that the minster did not answer the question because the oppostion wouldnt shut up shouting.
Sarah, the unique think about the Govt. is that they are hated big time BUT more people prefer to relelect them than to elect FG and Labour.