The Cruiser dies

[ardmhachaabu]

Odious man. A so called Constitutional politician who revelled in the persecution/torture of his political enemies in the Nationalist/Irish Language/Gaeltacht activists etc.
A poster boy imo for the nasty elements in this country. Won't shed any tears. The Indo will wet themselves in their plaudits .......CCOB was another sacred cow who got an easy ride from the "official Ireland" media.

Couldn't have put it better.

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

West Brit of the very worst kind, 91 sure he got a good long life, sympathies to his family, it's always hard to lose a loved one.

[guy crouchback]

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Re: The Cruiser dies
« Reply #12 on: Today at 09:07:47 AM »
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Odious man. A so called Constitutional politician who revelled in the persecution/torture of his political enemies in the Nationalist/Irish Language/Gaeltacht activists etc.
A poster boy imo for the nasty elements in this country. Won't shed any tears. The Indo will wet themselves in their plaudits .......CCOB was another sacred cow who got an easy ride from the "official Ireland" media.

what ever about the nationalist thing i dont know where you got the galetacht stuff. he was married to  maire mac an tsaoi

[Canalman]

GC, there was State harassment of Gaeltacht activists (campaigning about roads,the language, setting up co operatives etc in Gaeltacht areas). The 1973 coalition very wrongly assumed that they were IRA related and classed them as a threat to the state. Very nasty things done I'm sad to say in the name of the State.
TG4 have done a number of documentaries about this era. CCOB despite his lowly ministerial status had the ear of the Govt of that time and was a huge proponent of this imo unnecessary harrassment.

[guy crouchback]

fair enough, i stand corrected.

[red hander]

As dead as his mate Bob McCartney's political career

[T Fearon]

He will never be remembered. Standing beside that other egotistical asshole Mc Cartney I always though Booze O'Brien resembled Father Jack and talked as much sense as him as well. Interesting to see the unionist turnout at his funeral

[Main Street]

I don't know the man personally.

It is his political and social commentator personality which is public knowledge.
He did take part in a classic (priceless) RTE radio debate with Vincent Browne when Browne nailed him as a tax evader as in not declaring journalist income he thought he had not to declare  (ironically under Haughey's tax free scheme for artists).

I always admired his courage in defending democracy with section 31.
Also his courageous hatred of violence as a political tool with his uniquical love of the Heavy Gang.
As a historian of the present day he was remarkable for allowing his subjectivity cloud over the basic tenet of a historian - objectivity. Perfectly illustrated in his account of the Bloody Sunday civil rights demonstration.

[dublinfella]

Served his country and stood up for his beliefs. As much as could be asked of any man.

If you think collating a list of names and addresses of people who criticised his policies in the letter pages of the paper and passing them to the Gardai Heavy gang to have a 'word' (thankfully they declined) is 'serving his country', then you and I have fundamentally different views of what public service should entail.

[Donagh]

If you think collating a list of names and addresses of people who criticised his policies in the letter pages of the paper and passing them to the Gardai Heavy gang to have a 'word' (thankfully they declined) is 'serving his country', then you and I have fundamentally different views of what public service should entail.

I didn't say he served it well.

[carribbear]

Anyone hear the funeral arrangments? I'm pre-emptively buying some turnips to shower the cortege a la Lady Di

[Main Street]

That would appear to be disrespectful to a rotting corpse.

[stibhan]

I would normally follow the decorum of not speaking ill of the dead, but considering his comments about those who died in Bloody Sunday, he was a rotten f**ker who won't be missed muich for his political opinions. I feel that I have to say that he was a very intelligent man, however, and could have been one of the most brilliant Irishmen of all time if he had the right wits about him.

Hopefully the kiss of nature will give him some peace, and long live his legacy of intellectualism, if not the convictions which marred it.

[Rossfan]

I have nothing good to say about this cnut so I wont go on a rant except for one item ---
in 1973 he was appointed Minister of Posts and Telegraphs at a time when the Irish telephone system was about 10 years behind the rest of the world.
In 1977 when he got his just reward the phones were 20 years behind the rest of the world.

[Lar Naparka]

I have nothing good to say about this cnut so I wont go on a rant except for one item ---
in 1973 he was appointed Minister of Posts and Telegraphs at a time when the Irish telephone system was about 10 years behind the rest of the world.
In 1977 when he got his just reward the phones were 20 years behind the rest of the world.

The Cruiser was minister for Posts and Telegraphs and Labour spokesman for Norn Iron at the same time. He spent his entire time mouthing about the IRA and nationalist activists generally and devoted little or no time to his ministerial brief. Rossfan is right; he left the telephone service twice as bad as it was when he took up the job.
I remember a Fianna Fail spokesman (Brian Lenihan snr?) snapping at him one night on TV that if he had to use a public telephone box to phone in his comments we'd hear a lot less of his views on Northern Ireland.
About 18 months ago, I found myself sharing an ICU in Beaumont with him. I felt sorry for the old devil; if ever there was a dead man walking, it was him. He wasn't actually walking, if you follow me. It was plain to see that his walking days were well and truly over.
I'm more than surprised that he lasted so long.
Throughout his political career, he was fiercely hostile towards Charlie Haughey. Some political commentators have been reporting that it was a positive side to his character and that he deserved credit for tackling Haughey over, let us say, his unorthodox way of funding his lifestyle.
Maybe his reasons for hating Haughey weren't as altruistic as those commentators think.
The night before the '73 election I found myself having a quiet drink with the bould Charlie. It was an unplanned meeting and it as CJ was buying, Lar was prepared to pretend to be polite and listen. Haughey made some extremely accurate forecasts at that meeting.
Fianna Fail were going to lose the election the next day. That one was fair enough, although the pundits were predicting a close win for Jack Lynch. Haughey would top the poll in his constituency, thereby relegating the Cruiser to second place. (They obviously stood in the same constituency.)
Conor, sez CJ, was a complete egotist and would resent Haughey outpolling him for as long as he lived. Haughey went on to say the Cruiser would stop at nothing to do him down, as he put it.
He then went on to say that when he assumed leadership of Fianna Fail, he would have to contend with O'Brien's enmity ever step of the way. In his own words, he wouldn't give a f**k for the to**er but he would snap at his heels all along the way.

One final prediction: Haughey reckoned there would be a major war in the Middle East over oil resources before 1990 arrived. He was to be out by just 15 days.