Former Green Party leader, now junior minister, Trevor Sargent has rejected an allegation that he tried to influence gardaí to drop a prosecution against one of his constituents.


The Minister for Food and Horticulture is alleged to have sent several letters to gardaí investigating a complaint against the constituent who was later convicted of threatening and abusive behaviour and fined €500.

Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy has requested an urgent report regarding Mr Sargent's correspondence with gardaí about the prosecution from the head of Garda division which investigated the case.

Political Quote thinks the Greens have become more Fianna Fail than Fianna Fail itself!

Willie O'Dea Resign in Peace

Senator Dan Boyle lobbed a live grenade into Irish politics before taking a dive into his bunker in Cork where he will now hide out until the issue dies down, Dan wants to flag to his supporters that he's a good guy with principles but he lacks enough principles to force Willie to go.

Danny-Boy said he had no confidence in Slick Willie O’Dea, the diminutive, mustachioed mouse-that-roared-lies to a court, from Limerick.

Danny-Boy is not alone in not having confidence in Slick-Willie and indeed it could be argued that very few people have any confidence in this Government, it must be said that the vast majority of people in this country feel that Willie did wrong and that Willie must go.

While FF seem to be immune to this sensation of accountability the rest of us are not. We are weary of sleeze, we are weary of corruption in high office and we are weary of Government Ministers not being accountable for their actions.

Danny-Boy may lack the courage to back up his words but the rest of us should not, so email that Taoiseach taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie and tell him that Willie has to go!

I'm beginning to pity "colour" writers like Miriam Lord. Irish politics is becoming so absurd it is hard to mock even in a surreal way.

POPE Benedict sets an "informal tone" for discussions with critics of the church

Superman is my favourite in this!

Is Willie O’Dea Pinocchio?

Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea is to make a personal statement to the Dáil later today regarding a sworn affidavit he made in defamation proceedings that he later admitted was untrue.

This is a fan made tribute to one of the best films of the 1970s and certainly one of the most perfectly acted and scored thrillers of all time.

New York grouchiness, sarcasm and humour, an imaginative and credible plot, fantastic performances from Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw and Martin Balsam and a fantastic score from David Shire made this an unforgettable movie.

The remake with Denzel Washington and John Travolta was immediately forgettable.

A valentine's message with a difference!

Its Saturday, the weekend starts here!

Nothing like some good tunes, a smoke and a shower to set the tone for the weekend activities.

See you all on Monday!

This is the advert they are calling the worst political advert of all time. 

What do you think?

Political Quote likes it!

Political Quote is proud to bring you the Canadian version of a Paul Gogarty TD outburst. You seen it here first folks! Here a Canadian politician gives his opponent the finger, then challenges them all to a fight. He must have Irish blood or a least be a cousin of Paul Gogarty's!

Comments on a post card please!

Green Party TD Paul Gogarty has accused his former colleague Deirdre De Burca of making 'outrageous' and incorrect claims about the party. [Brilliant example of Gogarty at his best]

Mr Gogarty said the claims were 'clearly designed to deflect from the real reasons' for her resignation. He said there was no question over the leadership of John Gormley following the resignation.

The TD said the party were 'shell-shocked' by her announcement, but he said the Green Party was a united party.

Paul Gogarty is the same TD who resigned as his party's spokesperson for Education but held onto the chair of the paying position of Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Education, the same TD who threw himself on the ground and faked a fit when he was criticised at a public meeting and the same TD who told Deputy Stagg to fuck-off in the Dail.

Who cares what Gogarty's opinion on De Burca is?  A man who behaves as he does cheapens politics.

Millward Brown/IMS Poll

Fianna Fáil support is up two to 27% - but despite losing George Lee, Fine Gael is up even more, by four points to 34%.

Labour and the Green Party both drop three points, to 19% and 2% respectively; while Sinn Féin gain one to 8% and Independents are unchanged at 10%.

"I believe that we have lost our way as a party and have gradually abandoned our values and our integrity since becoming part of this Government" says former Green Party Senator Deirdre De Burca in her final letter to John "Gormless" Gormley.

 

Ms De Burca, in her resignation letter, has shown the qualities which made her such an attractive (politically speaking) candidate for the Greens and showed why once upon a time the Green Party were a noble party.

 

Despite the vitriol and spite reigned on the Greens (from this blog and others) it seems that deep down inside the Green Party there is (or was) the heart and soul of what made the Greens such an honest and respectable party they once were.

 

The Greens were respected by the electorate as a honest, left leaning, and caring party of the environment who genuinely wanted to make this country a better place.

 

However this respect was soon worn away after just a few months of government with Fianna Fail and was evidenced by the absolutely soul-destroying local election results of June 2009 which saw the Green party completely abandoned by the electorate.

 

Ms De Burca is completely correct in stating the Greens had lost their way; that is obvious to all political commentators.  With every passing week the line differentiating between the Greens and Fianna Fail is becoming harder and harder to see.  According to Ms De Burca "in many respects [The Greens] have become no more than an extension of the Fianna Fáil party"

 

Ms De Burca went on to tell Mr Gormley "It is with regret also that I must also inform you that I have lost confidence in you as party leader" and in that, she joins the ranks of the wider electorate including many within the Green Party and its supporters.

 

Ms De Burca goes on to say what everyone else is thinking, namely that the Greens are "slowly haemhorraging support because of a growing public perception that we have lost the courage of our convictions and have become no more than an obedient 'add-on' to Fianna Fáil".

 

In her resignation letter De Burca showed the courage and principle which built the Green Party, however her letter is now a footnote to the demise of that same political force.

 

The only fault Political Quote has with Ms De Burca and her resignation is that it came too late for her and for her party but for one shining moment Ms De Burca showed, once again, the principles which made her and her party universally respected.

 

Just over a year ago three councillors quit amid claims of a growing split between the leadership and grassroots.

When Letterkenny town councillor Neil Clarke resigned in December 2008 he said he had become disillusioned with the party chiefs and felt he could not go before voters again as a Green.

Within weeks, Cork city councillor Chris O'Leary and Dublin representative Bronwen Maher left the party.

Mr O'Leary, who had been one of the most senior party figures in Munster, said he believed the Greens had followed a "stay in government at all costs" agenda.

Ms Maher accused the leadership of unethical conduct and criticised its failure to speak out at Budget cuts.