Sinn Fein? They have gone away, you know.

[armaghniac]

I think Griffin deserves credit for his gesture, even though this kind of thing is not the way forward.
http://www.thejournal.ie/brendan-griffin-kerry-fybough-national-school-499297-Jun2012/

[lawnseed]

The gimp wont face him in a one to one debate anyhow weak and all as ger is

You don't debate with anyone either.

You just rant endlessly.

I can see why you admire Paisley.

Oh i'm sorry was I ranting about traitors again. You dont find that type of thing topical at the moment?
Im searching for a speck of decency in irish public life something to cling to in a tsunami of shite feel free to highlight that speck should you find it. So far its ming pot head who donates some of his tds salary to good causes.. Hes top of the pile

Brendan Griffin TD (FG) donates half his salary to employ a primary school teacher in Kerry. If that's your measure.

It certainly was a noble gesture by any standards but maybe there's more to this story than meets the eye. All serving teachers who get elected to the Dail may continue to to draw their teacher's salary and are only obliged to pay their replacement the going rate for temporary teachers.
There could be a considerable difference there and the teacher can pocket whatever is left after paying the sub. Furthermore, if for any reason the teachers leave Dail Eireann, they can walk back into their old jobs and the sub loses out.
Temps don't get holiday pay or, AFAIK, any allowances for posts of responsibility while teachers continue to move up the incremental pay scale as if they were still employed in the schools they had taught in.
Enda Kenny is the only TD I  know of who gave up his unearned salary and only did this when he became the leader of his party. It wasn't a voluntary gesture either as he was coming under public pressure to do so.
Maybe Griffin did likewise but I think I would have heard of it if he did.

I knew I smelt a rat
so he continues to get teacher pay increments even though he not actually teaching and paints himself as a goody goody in the process.. money well spent I'd say. why doesn't he try the average industrial wage for a year or two and give the rest to something else

[armaghniac]

I knew I smelt a rat
so he continues to get teacher pay increments even though he not actually teaching and paints himself as a goody goody in the process.. money well spent I'd say. why doesn't he try the average industrial wage for a year or two and give the rest to something else

Is there any evidence that Brendan Griffin was ever a teacher? If he wasn't a teacher how could he get increments?

[glens abu]

Doesnt appear to have been a teacher but maybe has other reasons for this.

Brendan Griffin (born March 1982) is an Irish Fine Gael politician.[1][2] A former publican, he was elected as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry South constituency at the 2011 general election.[3]

Griffin is a former member of Kerry County Council representing the Dingle area from 2009 to 2011. He was the subject of controversy for hiring his wife Róisín as his secretarial assistant and his cousin Tommy Griffin as his parliamentary assistant. Both these positions were filled without interview and have salaries paid for by the state. In addition, Griffin helped another cousin, Matt Griffin, get his old council seat.[4] He takes half of his TD salary, at first giving the other half directly back to the exchequer and then in 2012 for donating this other half of his salary to pay for a third teacher in a small rural Kerry school.[5]

[Hardy]

If Adams admitted being in the IRA he would be arrested.

Of course Kenny's "were you in the IRA, Deputy Adams?" mantra is tiresome, but presenting this line of argument with a straight face always makes me laugh. It doesn't seem to occur to the faithful that it defeats the purpose of deifying Adams to present his motivation for lying as no different to that of any common criminal.

[Nally Stand]

If Adams admitted being in the IRA he would be arrested.

Of course Kenny's "were you in the IRA, Deputy Adams?" mantra is tiresome, but presenting this line of argument with a straight face always makes me laugh. It doesn't seem to occur to the faithful that it defeats the purpose of deifying Adams to present his motivation for lying as no different to that of any common criminal.

Most of "the faithful" don't regard a conviction for IRA membership as being a mark of a common criminal. If Adams was in the IRA (and I'd be very disappointed in him if he hadn't been), then more power to him for staying out of jail. Up the Provos

[Hardy]

If Adams admitted being in the IRA he would be arrested.

Of course Kenny's "were you in the IRA, Deputy Adams?" mantra is tiresome, but presenting this line of argument with a straight face always makes me laugh. It doesn't seem to occur to the faithful that it defeats the purpose of deifying Adams to present his motivation for lying as no different to that of any common criminal.

Most of "the faithful" don't regard a conviction for IRA membership as being a mark of a common criminal. If Adams was in the IRA (and I'd be very disappointed in him if he hadn't been), then more power to him for staying out of jail.

Point missed completely.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

If Adams admitted being in the IRA he would be arrested.

Of course Kenny's "were you in the IRA, Deputy Adams?" mantra is tiresome, but presenting this line of argument with a straight face always makes me laugh. It doesn't seem to occur to the faithful that it defeats the purpose of deifying Adams to present his motivation for lying as no different to that of any common criminal.

Most of "the faithful" don't regard a conviction for IRA membership as being a mark of a common criminal. If Adams was in the IRA (and I'd be very disappointed in him if he hadn't been), then more power to him for staying out of jail.

Point missed completely.

This SF attitude of the faithful is why SF will never make proper inroads 8n the Republic, the Provos are as despised as the Loyalist terror groups and drug gangs.

[glens abu]

If Adams admitted being in the IRA he would be arrested.

Of course Kenny's "were you in the IRA, Deputy Adams?" mantra is tiresome, but presenting this line of argument with a straight face always makes me laugh. It doesn't seem to occur to the faithful that it defeats the purpose of deifying Adams to present his motivation for lying as no different to that of any common criminal.

Most of "the faithful" don't regard a conviction for IRA membership as being a mark of a common criminal. If Adams was in the IRA (and I'd be very disappointed in him if he hadn't been), then more power to him for staying out of jail.

Point missed completely.

This SF attitude of the faithful is why SF will never make proper inroads 8n the Republic, the Provos are as despised as the Loyalist terror groups and drug gangs.

would be surprised if Johnny Adair or the Monk would have topped the poll on Louth.but you might be right

[shawshank]

lol

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

If Adams admitted being in the IRA he would be arrested.

Of course Kenny's "were you in the IRA, Deputy Adams?" mantra is tiresome, but presenting this line of argument with a straight face always makes me laugh. It doesn't seem to occur to the faithful that it defeats the purpose of deifying Adams to present his motivation for lying as no different to that of any common criminal.

Most of "the faithful" don't regard a conviction for IRA membership as being a mark of a common criminal. If Adams was in the IRA (and I'd be very disappointed in him if he hadn't been), then more power to him for staying out of jail.

Point missed completely.

This SF attitude of the faithful is why SF will never make proper inroads 8n the Republic, the Provos are as despised as the Loyalist terror groups and drug gangs.

would be surprised if Johnny Adair or the Monk would have topped the poll on Louth.but you might be right

Louth is full of blow ins from the North, with views more consistent with north of the border.

[johnneycool]

I remember watching RTÉ news and their current affairs back in the pre-ceasfire days and it was a WTF moment for me, they were peddling the British government propaganda almost as much if not better than BBC and ITV could have managed.

Then you've the print media of the Sindo with Ruth Dudley Edwards, Conor Cruise O'Brien and the lot printing lies one sunday after the next, unchallenged to the masses.

It's hardly surprising Enda has a very black and white view of what happened in the north.

[Feckitt]

Louth is full of blow ins from the North, with views more consistent with north of the border.
[/quote]

Ye haven't a clue what your talking about

[Nally Stand]

I remember watching RTÉ news and their current affairs back in the pre-ceasfire days and it was a WTF moment for me, they were peddling the British government propaganda almost as much if not better than BBC and ITV could have managed.

Then you've the print media of the Sindo with Ruth Dudley Edwards, Conor Cruise O'Brien and the lot printing lies one sunday after the next, unchallenged to the masses.

It's hardly surprising Enda has a very black and white view of what happened in the north.

Indeed. The dictatorship style Section 31 was in force until 1993 and was used and abused with gusto by the media.

This link makes some good points.
http://www.academia.edu/166361/How_RTE_censored_its_censorship

It notes that on the announcement of the Hume/Adams document, RTE's Brian Dobson announced that John Hume was unavailable for interview since he was in the US. The article then goes on..."but what of Adams? Was the audience told that although the other end of this political double act was physically available, RTE could not interview him either? No they were not. Adams remained a non-person in a story named after him for two whole weeks". The article also tells of how RTE was ruled by the Supreme Court of having acted illegally by using Section 31 as an excuse to prevent Larry O'Toole (SF) of speaking on an industrial dispute he was involved in and was a spokesperson for, and on RTE's appeal, delcared in court that it would not allow a SF voice actor to advertise a bar of soap, had they a say. The article lifts a quote from a US newspaper of the time as follows, "We are astonished that RTE, instead of welcoming this liberal interpretation of an abhorrent censorship statute, is asking the Irish Supreme Court for a greater restriction of it's free-speech rights". The article also refers to Mary McAleese's autobiography in which she referred to "the unfortunate Forbes McFaul being denounced as a "f**king provo" after he broadcast an objective account of the growth in nationalist support for the hunger strikers". Anyone who didn't toe the line "were sent to agriculture, children's or religious broadcasting".

Of course it wasn't just an RTÉ driven thing. When the Irish Press published an article about maltreatment of Republican prisoners, the coalition FG/Lab government attempted (unsuccessfully) to prosecute them.

One arsehole on this board some time back informed me that he was well qualified to speak on the troubles for no other reason than because he heard about it on the news in the south. It's honestly amazing that some of those who grew up under such draconian state censorship honestly think they are in a position to lecture.

[AQMP]

If Adams admitted being in the IRA he would be arrested.

Of course Kenny's "were you in the IRA, Deputy Adams?" mantra is tiresome, but presenting this line of argument with a straight face always makes me laugh. It doesn't seem to occur to the faithful that it defeats the purpose of deifying Adams to present his motivation for lying as no different to that of any common criminal.

Most of "the faithful" don't regard a conviction for IRA membership as being a mark of a common criminal. If Adams was in the IRA (and I'd be very disappointed in him if he hadn't been), then more power to him for staying out of jail.

Point missed completely.

This SF attitude of the faithful is why SF will never make proper inroads 8n the Republic, the Provos are as despised as the Loyalist terror groups and drug gangs.

would be surprised if Johnny Adair or the Monk would have topped the poll on Louth.but you might be right

Louth is full of blow ins from the North, with views more consistent with north of the border.

I looked this up the time of the 2006 census and it memory serves me right I think the population of Louth who were born in the North was somewhere round 5% - 6%.