Well said !!

Well said Steve .

You view wouldn’t happen to be a tad biased Steve Wrenn? What did Shorthall actually achieve? Would you say close to zero! Or maybe her achievement has yet to be realised with a massive hike in the price of drink in the next budget.

Superbly put Steve. However in this country it’s still all about the parish. Ms Shortall is too good for what now constitutes the Labour Party

well said! its great to see someone in politics with sum bottle and courage of their convictions! good on you roisin as one of your voters in dublin north west l am glad and proud sumone in the dail is sticking up 4 whats right and standn up for the man and woman in the street and the vunerable .d?

and your party is sending the entire population into poverty.
Labour my arse, a party devoid of morals.

Agree…she’s shown something very rare in Irish politics…ethics. This will bode well for her in future.

@Blathin what has Reilly achieved in 18 months besides adding 2 primary care centres in his own back yard to a short list? Please tell me I’d really like to know.

Kerry Blake, do you think Deputy Shorthall has what it takes to succeed where Mary Harney failed? Would the evidence before you show that when the going gets tough we should have people in power that can handle it?

What has Deputy Shorthall achieved while at the Dept. of Health? My assessment would be close to zero.

Well said Steve.

It is infuriating that some politicians see these as two separate approaches: Doing the right thing vs. getting elected.

Oh please. The dog on the street knows from day one Roisin Shortall clashed daily with Reilly. She picked the moment to strop that she deemed would have the most impact. Typical Labour- no discipline. This at a time when the country needs a united Government more than at any time in its history.

Steve- just reading your comments and twitter feed. You do know your party is in Government with Fine Gael?

James Reilly is just using the public purse to feather his own nest.

@Blathin Notice you didn’t answer my question on Reilly is it because the answer would be nothing?

As for Shortall I’d guess she had the enough principles (rare in politicians) to resign because policies announced by the government were not being followed?

Kerry Blake, your question suggested that you were going to answer “nothing” all along. So Shorthall achieved nothing and Reilly achieved nothing. So what is Shorthall going to achieve from now on? Nothing! There is a lot of nothingness in your analysis.

Press Association – Mon, Sep 17, 2012
A breakthrough on Monday morning saw senior medics agree to revise working arrangements and rules on public and private beds following marathon weekend negotiations. The new hospital consultants’ contract will save 200 million euro a year and will mean more patients being treated quicker.

Does this answer your question or will you ignore the evidence in order to keep the wool over your own eyes.

Reilly isn’t doing a great job at making sure he gets re-elected, in fact he’s doing a fantastic job at not getting re-elected.

The Party whip system is the only mechanism through which the National interest is served above parish pump politics. You only have to look at Michael Lowry and Jackie Heali Rae to see how things work when it’s a free for all for local politicians.

Eh Vincent did not FF use the party whip and look where that got us. National interest lol

Kerry- Stunning political commentary there. Fianna Fáil messed up. Lets blame the political system that put them there instead of the people who voted them in time & time again. If you want to see how the absence of the whip system can bring chaos and more importantly gives too much power to small niches with the balance of power, look no further than the rise of the Tea Party in the US. No whip in the Republican Party lets a small group of extremists run the show. The tail wagging the dog. What I’m saying is, yours is a ridiculous retort.

Interesting example. Personally I would have chosen the UK where party members often speak their mind without being castigated by their leaders. Should free speech not be an entitlement awarded to TDs? It is after all the fundamental principle of democracy.

Conor, fair comment. The difference is the first past the post system in the UK tends to deliver thumping majorities. That’s not the case here. It could take 80 mavericks to overturn a Government vote there. 5 TD’s could do it here. Look at the power Michael Lowry and Healy Rae exerted. If you want to say what you want and vote how you want, run as an independent. If you wrap a party flag around yourself at election time you have to stand with the party in public. Your democratic right to express and opinion and vote needs to be exercised within the confines of the party. This is particularly true at times like this when Governments are making awful cuts. Party discipline comes from pragmatism, not fascism as many on here would contend.

Exactly!

Which we should admire

No. This is called throwing your toys out of the pram when you don’t get your way. It was disgraceful how she was publicly undermining her own Government.

This is called opportunism. This is called betrayal.

Vincent, she wasn’t looking for “her” way, she was looking for the pre-agreed programme for government’s way. Looks like FG (unsurprisingly) lied to Labour as well as to the rest of us.
Not that that absolves Labour of their hypocrisy and cowardice.

Integrity….I would say not having the stomach to do her job.she let personal differences get in the way from the start,her remit was primary care,but used the airwaves to constantly run a crusade about the price of alcohol,forgive the pun but it was ‘small beer’ compared to the task she was appointed.

now she can knock on doors come the next election looking for a seat,in the opposition,where she is more comfortable.IMHO.

Yes Reilly should! Hogan based on household charge and not in relation to the traveller issue

Both?

They’ll never go, far to comfortable with the reins of power now.

Thank god she’s gone. Hopefully this will put the publicans plans to stop the supermarkets selling Alcohol at reasonable prices on hold for a while.

Both should go but it would probably cost a fortune to get rid of them

Well Conor can’t believe I’m agreeing with you. The core problem for Fine Gael is that they are in danger of becoming Fianna Fail Nua.
Dishonesty, shortsightedness and a complete lack of planning were the hallmarks of the Fianna Fail years- Hogan and Reilly are posterboys for these principals
Of

Gerry, Fianna Fáil between 2002-07 was the biggest wasted opportunity the country ever had. 2007-2010 was simply disaster mismanagement. Even the most hardline anti-FG’er had hoped that things would be different. Anglo, education cuts, health privitisation, jobs-bridge, cuts to capital spending etc beg to differ.

I think what I said on a tread here months ago. This Government is going to fall like dominoes before end of October. Sadly and very worryingly, who and what will take its place.

Fine Gael had good teachers on how to be arrogant, short of the truth, disrespect to many elders in society for what and how they made this country what it is today, disrespect and not a care in the world for the children, the future of my country, the minorities in society, the special needs children/adults in this country. Fine Fail were good but Fine Gael are brilliant at it!

To see families from Priory Hall, nearly a year on, still have no answer as to where they will end up, where they can continue to live in a place they can call home and continue to pay, as they are, their morgs. To me, this is the worst, most awful thing that has been ignored by all politicians for over a year. It’s appalling, shame on every one of them.

I represent myself, my children, where they are today in life and nobody will take that away from me. I take all the credit for rearing my children, to be the best they can be. No politician in the Dail can dare, attempt to take the credit. All they’ve done, is put negativity and brick walls between the minorities and a great future.

I wonder what odds there are of “Gilmore for Taoiseach” leading Labour into the next election? Same old ill-disciplined Labour….

@M.Bowe… This Government have achieved a lot really…. 1) they have shown the People of Ireland that Bully Boys are alive and well.2) They have shown total disregard for the people 3) They have Achieved to somewhat Conquer and Divide Public Sector and Private Sector 4) They have also achieved to give away Billions of all our hard earned income to the UNSECURED BONDHOLDERS just to be patted on the head by the “Big Boys” in Europe which will more than likely be defeated by the people in their next elections 5) And Reilly himself has achieved a lot by destroying our Hospitals and services And putting Our lives at risk by closing A+E DEPT’s without the infrastructure in place first Reilly is a Bully along with Kenny and Little Leo And Gilmore does not have the backbone to take a stand against what Roisin Shortall stood up this evening and said no more fair play to her.

hopefully!

@Blaithin and maybe that’s exactly why she’s resigned. Because what she wanted to implement wasn’t being listened to. It seems like she was banging her head off a brick wall. But apparently it’s just the price of alcohol you’re worried about, not the health care system

Yawn. Every Government is corrupt, right? We have the most honest Taoiseach in place since Jack Lynch, doing an extraordinarily difficult job having been handed a economic catastrophe by this Governments predecessors. Shortall betrayed her colleagues day in, day out.

Enda Kenny one Christmas ‘it is not our debt’
Enda Kenny in Davos shortly afterwards “We Irish went a bit mad”

Honest yeah right. Enda Kenny is on record as saying he (meaning the Irish tax payer) is going to pay back all the bank debt even after Noonan on the 29th of June interpreted his own farts as a seismic shift in EU policy. If you want to find betrayal look to Enda and co not someone who resigned on principle. But then again principle is in short supply in Irish politics so many would not reconise it.

He’s honest as an old dog looking for people to pat him.
Kenny’s a fool pure and simple

Why do people equate making lots of noise with being a good politician. Takes more to Govern.

Congratulations Roisin, for having the guts to walk away from this corrupt government. When Fine Gael tell Labour to jump they ask how high, its about time someone had the guts to do whats right, I wonder what the rest of her party will do now, hopefully they will walk also

To fart in the direction of the Minister is about as childish as it gets.

@Paddy Rodgers: To fart in your general direction is from a Monty Python sketch which in this instance seems rather apt considering Minister O’Reillys tenure in office has been very like something you would see in a monty python sketch….

Agree totally.

Kathleen knows how to behave….Shirthall was cruising for a bruising since she didn’t get the full car. It was certainly a bad pairing but she’s kissed any future goodbye now! Idiot.

What mandate? Anaemic performance by Labour last time out. Precisely because people knew they’d self destruct if ever they were given a serious job to do. Sniping from the sidelines is their comfort zone.

I’m afraid I can’t. Passive Paddy’s passivity over the last four years is what has allowed O’Reilly’s type of corrupt behaviour to flourish and the Labour Party free of any popular pressure.

He added them, along with 13 others. Do you think that might be why no one asked who else lost out?

dont forget vhi have swift care in Swords.

And her accomplishments were what exactly? Do tell.

There’s no honour on turning on your own. There’s no dignity in sniping from the sidelines.

Yes, who cares if you disagree with what the government’s doing? Just keep your mouth shut and maybe you’ll win the next election. Party over people!

Yep, another billion this coming Monday

Well Pat at least one woman has proved she is trying to change that .

What tired rubbish

@alan you could

I have heard it from many a politico, that if you don’t like the way politics is done, you should stop moaning, come down from the fence, get involved and make a difference!
The fact is, you can’t change the sytem in Irish politics… it changes you…. or you don’t survive in it!
Ask George Lee…

Well Thank God for Sinn Fein and hopefully soon they will be in power so keep your prejudice to yourself. At least Sinn Fein have the courage to confront this government and the more they do it the more they will get votes because we are sick of panderers. And you uses the same old tired label in the usual effort to slander Sinn Fein adding the Ira. The IRA have disbanded and very publicly put their arms beyond reach so change the record. But maybe thats your mission in life who knows.

Her vote wouldn’t of mattered. id say she knew this was coming, and that’s why she kept herself in the party to make the biggest impact. if she had voted against his vote of confidence then she never would have had the chance to even sit down and meet him. this is politics you know, its dirty. but full credit to Rosin for doing this. I can imagine there will be repercussions, especially among the back benchers.

YEP, Cheers!

good man! you have your priorities right!!! id imagine bottler o’reilly wil claim d drink crusade as his own – he is a bad brendan grace tribute act!!!!! we would be beter off with brendan grace as minister for health -he couldnt do much worse!!!!

And if they all go, who should replace them?

Yeah you’re right…what right has anyone to criticise government and its takes some courage to say what you want….do what you want… all the time knowing your cronies will back you up and you’ll face no penalties or censure…
“tax defaulter?…..ahh don’t worry”…”racist?….ahh you’ll be grand. we’ll circle the wagons”

John get real . She was never going to win against the ‘buddy buddy’ system that exists in the Dail where politicians seem to leave their promises and their principals at the door !!! Fair play to her .

John she resigned the party whip she will not be sitting with the government back benches.

I don’t agree at all! She has shown her metal and people will follow her IF she chooses to carry on! I think if she handles this well and uses her position wisely, it most certainly won’t be the last we hear from her.

How can you call someone a cry baby for doing what they want , I call that having balls

Most idiotic comment of the week, well done.

Boildyeeggs

Why dont you comment on here with your real name Instead of a fake one?

What “balls” did she have? She’s an opportunist. Waited until Gilmore was out of the country to stick the knife in.

@ John
if I was you I’d use a fake one coming out with that bull, scarleh for ya!!!!

Principals sometime require quitting.

Vincent, are you a member of fine gael by any chance?

Vincent the more you comment the more you are sounding increasingly deranged. Please please just go away back to Fianna Gael fantasy land.