Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

O'Keeffe (right) pictured with Brian Cowen in 2009 Fianna Fail
GE11

Ned O'Keeffe says army coup a 'real possibility' in Ireland

The retiring Fianna Fail TD told TheJournal.ie that he stands by the comments.

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 >

Your Voice
Readers Comments
22
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.