RETIRING FIANNA FAIL TD Ned O’Keeffe has said that the situation in Ireland has become so bad that an army coup is a “real possibility”.
The comments have been published in today’s Cork Evening Echo. He stood by the comments when contacted by TheJournal.ie.
O’Keeffe also told the paper that he had been correct in his prediction about the country’s financial woes.
He has previously been an outspoken critic of Taoiseach Brian Cowen and said that both Cowen and Finance Minister  Brian Lenihan had made such big mistakes that it could lead to a military intervention in Ireland:
Our political system is going to fail further. The two Brians have made a right mess of the country and I see the real possibility of an army coup.
People thought I was mad with all the things I have predicted through the years, but I foresaw the economy collapsing due to lax regulation on building housing estates and unwanted shopping centres.
When contacted by TheJournal.ie this afternoon O’Keeffe was not immediately aware of the comments that he made but said he stood by them:
I said what I said and that’s it. I said it because of the state of the economy.
The country is in crisis and the Fine Gael manifesto is totally going to destroy the country.
It’s not the first time O’Keeffe, a former junior agriculture minister, has been outspoken with his views. In 1995, he called for the film ‘Babe’ to be banned because it could harm Christmas ham sales.
Last month, in his last address to the Dáil, he claimed that Fianna Fail had become the “party of the racehorse owner”.
The Cork East TD is stepping down after 29 years in the Dáil. His son Kevin is running for the seat.
Read Padraig Hoare’s story in today’s Cork Evening Echo >
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371 days ago #
Good man Ned. I never thought an elected representative of the people would float the idea of a Coup d’Etat. He would want to watch it, as even to mention such a thing could be construed as treason.
371 days ago #
What army is that?
371 days ago #
Where is it?
371 days ago #
It is an indictment of the Irish electorate that eejits like this have been elected to public office.
371 days ago #
True it is indeed as sad indictment. What will really be more sad is when the Irish people vote for their tag team partners Fine Gael.
RTE are presenting Fine Gael/ Labour abortion industry lobbyists as victors. The point of it being that they will flog every national asset that we own. The will finish the job which Fianna Fail have started. Let’s not be fooled by the ‘slim’ margin whereby the budget was passed. It passed and I am not fooled by amateur theatrics.
The only people who deserve a vote are those who promise out and out default. It is not our debt to pay. Burn ALL bondholders. If you don’t agree with that then fair enough but, remember that you have no right to saddle your chlidren with the gambling losses of billionaire playboys.
Then again, at least Labour would create jobs. Somebody has to put dead infants in the bin.
371 days ago #
Wow! My cousin is a captain & I will find out from him if planned coup is true or not!
371 days ago #
If this is the mind set of Fianna Fail TD that have run Ireland for years, God help us.
Wow . I’ve just realized that Michael Collins was the de facto founder of Fine Gael, but he was also the first Commander in Chief of the Army. So maybe the bowld Ned is being a bit more subtle than I thought he was capable of.
371 days ago #
From where I’m from, if you make a statement like that you either go ahead with the Coup in the next 30 minutes or else you flee the country before they put you in jail for treason.
371 days ago #
you actually have to have a viable military before there can be a military coup…..don’t you?
Treason? A coup would not be treason. Leinster House is the seat of treason. It was built on the slave trade and it continues to trade on the back of debt slaves.
A coup would be liberation from treachery.
371 days ago #
“His son is running for election”…,It’s like 1840, with the ascendency landlords and their sons in turn being elected as hereditary Irish MPs. What a joke.
371 days ago #
An Army Coup? Jeasus holy christ…. Is there anything left to say after that? Maybe 29 years as a TD has left the man a step from madness… I don’t know….
371 days ago #
Wonders why RTE didn’t report this…
Maybe because RTE would be the first place to be occupied. They’d all lose their jobs.
He should be interviewed by the Special Branch and asked about any knowledge he has that leads him to that conclusion.
371 days ago #
Relax folks. I seem to remember that a vast number of our soldiers received vast deafness compensation awards. Being deaf they will not be in a position to hear the call to arms…MickeyMac
370 days ago #
Whats thaaaa..?
371 days ago #
Military Coup?
Part of me wants to say bring it on, part of me always worries about crackdowns that follow coups. Would the army be seeking to impose an economic programme, a right-wing corporatist programme? Stranger things have happened, I would say, keep your eyes open, but dont stress too much…370 days ago #
i agree with Ned o Keefee that finegael is going to be as bad as fianna fail and thats bad so voters do not give fine gael a full mandate
370 days ago #
If Ned is so concerned he and his fellow party retirees should hand back the lump sums the get for leaving their jobs and try living on the state pension, but no he will gladly take €150k a year like the rest of the Fianna ” Fail ” wasters !!
370 days ago #
we realey do need the men with the white coats to get them FF headers
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