Crooked councillors

[armaghniac]

RTE have a programme with a sting operation with some councillors offering to help for a generous contribution.

Fair play to RTE for doing the legwork here.

[Hardy]

The gombeen man from Monaghan is now saying he played along to trap and expose RTÉ!

[mikehunt]

Pity they didn't aim higher than councillors. If they were prepared to look hard enough it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Journalistic appetite to go after the bigger fish has been dampened by Denis O Brien backed by Fine Gael or should that be Fine Gael backed by Dennis O Brien.

Sitting independent TD's giving loads of information out but the messenger gets attacked rather than the message being investigated. Nama immediately threatened legal action against Mick Wallace, not once did they think his claims could possibly be true. Noonan refusing to answer Catherine Murphy. Kenny telling Paul Murphy to toddle off when he asked a legitimate question about the numbers paying the Irish Water bill. This govts' answer to any valid question is to try and smear the person asking the question. Claire Daly bringing up the Guarda whistleblower inaction and is promptly arrested (incorrectly) for drink driving. Investigative journalism has been bullied out the door. They are now trying to stop our TD's from raising these issues in the Dail.

[Shamrock Shore]

Heard that ex-FG Monaghan tool on Newstalk.

Sweet Lord - if that's the sort of gobshite Monaghan people elect then we are worse than I could ever have imagined.

"I was reeling them in!", "one of dem reporters used her mobile phone while driving", etc

[AZOffaly]

The thing is most of us could probably name a few lads at least that you'd think wouldn't be averse to that sort of financial lubrication. 'Doing a turn' or 'Pulling a stroke' is a time honoured facet of parish pump politics.

When I heard the headline, I immediately thought of 2 lads that I wouldn't be surprised if they were on the  show

[Tony Baloney]

The line is that these boys are getting things done. If a few quid greases the wheels of democracy then everyone's a winner

For every man slagging the Healy-Rae's of Irish politics, there is another saying "sure what about the money he got for the roads and the hospital".

[AZOffaly]

The line is that these boys are getting things done. If a few quid greases the wheels of democracy then everyone's a winner

For every man slagging the Healy-Rae's of Irish politics, there is another saying "sure what about the money he got for the roads and the hospital".

'Sactly. Sometimes we want our cake, and eat it too.  However, getting bribes to do something for an external agency would be different again I suppose.

[imtommygunn]

I always wondered why the last minute u turn in Belfast with regard to the black hacks using the new bus lanes...

[AZOffaly]

It would be good to know who these lads are, too.

Some, according to Ryan, immediately rebuffed journalists, saying that informal contact in relation to planning permission would be inappropriate or illegal.

[johnneycool]

The line is that these boys are getting things done. If a few quid greases the wheels of democracy then everyone's a winner

For every man slagging the Healy-Rae's of Irish politics, there is another saying "sure what about the money he got for the roads and the hospital".

Funnily enough was down in Kilarney last summer and got talking to the lad on the jaunting car, came up about the Healy-Rae's, ( I think he was giving out about the laneways around Muckross house were to be tarmac'd and the Healy-Rea's would have got it done).
I mentioned the article about the drink driving and he wouldn't have a bad word spoken about them as he'd rang one of them and they were able to get his old mother an orthopedic bed or something in no time and those useless hoors somewhere or other were taking ages.

I asked him who lost out so that his mum could get one and got no response strangely enough.

[muppet]

The line is that these boys are getting things done. If a few quid greases the wheels of democracy then everyone's a winner

For every man slagging the Healy-Rae's of Irish politics, there is another saying "sure what about the money he got for the roads and the hospital".

Funnily enough was down in Kilarney last summer and got talking to the lad on the jaunting car, came up about the Healy-Rae's, ( I think he was giving out about the laneways around Muckross house were to be tarmac'd and the Healy-Rea's would have got it done).
I mentioned the article about the drink driving and he wouldn't have a bad word spoken about them as he'd rang one of them and they were able to get his old mother an orthopedic bed or something in no time and those useless hoors somewhere or other were taking ages.

I asked him who lost out so that his mum could get one and got no response strangely enough.

Irish politics in a nutshell.

Of course the politician needs to be able to phone someone, the fixer, who can get the deed done that no one in the history of mankind could have ever done. For a system like this to work, you need the completely uncooperative civil servants, who then immediately reverse their earlier decisions upon receiving a call from the local hero. And of course this can only happen if you were fully entitled to what you requested in the first place, otherwise it would be blatant corruption.

So in conclusion, you are being deliberately denied a bed, medical card, pension etc, which you are perfectly entitled to, forcing you to phone the sitting TD. He/she then phones someone who gives you what you should already have. But now you are indebted to our hero. Which is the object of the exercise from their point of view.

As johnneycool's car driver said he 'wouldn't have a bad word spoken about them'.

We need some of the decent civil servants to become whistleblowers on this sort of thing.

But then maybe that is where RTE got their info..........

[Orior]

RTE have a programme with a sting operation with some councillors offering to help for a generous contribution.

Fair play to RTE for doing the legwork here.

They could do the same programme on every occupation and easily flush out crooked people. Why do politicians deserve more spotlight than policemen, doctors, clergy, teachers etc?

[mikehunt]

The line is that these boys are getting things done. If a few quid greases the wheels of democracy then everyone's a winner

For every man slagging the Healy-Rae's of Irish politics, there is another saying "sure what about the money he got for the roads and the hospital".

Is it true that the Healy Raes were involved with the company that was awarded the contracts to do some of the roads? One of the sisters working in revenue. Have to say they had all angles covered once Bertie's dowry was awarded.

[deiseach]

They could do the same programme on every occupation and easily flush out crooked people. Why do politicians deserve more spotlight than policemen, doctors, clergy, teachers etc?

I've written a few abortive replies to this. All I can come up with is to say that the idea that policemen, doctors, clergy, teachers etc get a free ride from the meeja is . . . misconceived.

[ashman]

Jesus it took us millions of euro in the tribunals to kind of expose them .

We have found a new way !!! The sting !!