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ONE YEAR ON from the general election, United Left Alliance TD Joan Collins has said that she does not regret accosting Bertie Ahern after his last day in Dáil Eireann.
The Dublin South-Central TD, who verbally lashed Ahern when he was leaving the Dáil, also admits that it is probably what she is best known for.
“People who probably don’t know that work that I have done around the area and the campaigns I have been involved in, that’s probably what they know me as. They would know me for what I did that day,” said Collins.
I don’t regret it. I think he should have been challenged a long time ago. I think it actually gave a lot of people a bit of get up and go about it. I believe that during the General Election out in his area, constituency people were challenging him at the doorsteps, whereas they would not have done so before.
The 50-year-old TD, who was a councillor at the time, added that she believes that standing up to Mr Ahern endeared her to the public.
“It was totally out of the blue. To see Bertie Ahern coming out on his last day in office talking about the Bertie Bowl being his biggest regret and I just got so annoyed,” she said.
“I think it did have a big impact in relation to the election.”
Despite Collins’ actions attracting a lot of media attention, she says her Fianna Fáil counterparts in the Dail have never brought it up in conversation.
“I believe Fianna Fail are a peculiar animal, to a certain degree. They take that sort of thing in their stride. They pretend to be in opposition. They pretend to be the knights in shining armour to the ordinary man and woman. They have never approached me on it,” she said.
Collins, who was expelled from the Labour Party in the 1980s for being too militant, also says that she enjoys her work, but that the Dáil is an unusual place where she and her ULA colleagues are seen as different.
“The issue that [Ceann Comhairle Seán] Barret is making about our clothes and attitude [shows they look at us differently]. The way we view it in the United Left Alliance is that we represent ordinary people,” she said.
“The idea that you have to have a suit to be a politician is quite a deliberate ploy and always has been.”
Watch the interview with Joan Collins:
This interview is part of a series of interviews with politicians one year on from the 2011 general election. Tomorrow: Paul Gogarty on what he thinks of the electorate now – and why he can never do a duet with Dan Boyle…
I worked as a teacher in a school which catered for a nomadic tribe of sheep and goat herders in East Africa. One of my former pupils is now a Professor of Astrophysics, another is a Professor of Mathematics, still another an Ambassador for his country. (I claim no credit for any of these successes). The astrophysicist was an orphan who was taught to count with stones in the sand by an Irish medical missionary sister. I suspect that I got more out of my volunteering than my pupils did. I would recommend the VSO experience as challenging but life enhancing.
If there weren’t so many volunteers, donors, NGO’s and agencies tripping over themselves trying to “help”, maybe Africans could actually get up on their own two feet and do it for themselves for a change.
I think the general idea is to bring over professionals to help and teach.. Ya know teach a man to fish etc..
People going over to help build or something else they are not skilled in is silly to me when there’s already people in Africa who can do it, free holiday volunteers..
The British government had a similar attitude towards the Irish during the great famine, “Why should we intervene, let them sort it out”. Result 1,000,000+ needless deaths – but Margaret don’t let that stop you from making pig ignorant comments.
Don’t worry, I don’t usually let bleeding heart, gullible, soft touch idiot types, stop me from saying what I think. But thanks for your concern.
Not only did they not intervene they exported food out leaving people to starve! Slightly different situation!
Like Ireland in the 1840′s, Africa is a resource rich country. The resources are mis-managed by a corrupt ruling elite, resulting in the deprivation we see today. So no Colette, it’s exactly the same situation. Europe messed up Africa and became fabulously wealthy as a result. It will take years to undo the damage.
Even if the food exported had been kept here, there would still have widespread starvation.
This country was the breadbasket for Britain, for years Britain had not been producing enough food to feed its own population. Ireland was not developed industrially for this reason, it suited the Brits to keep us agricultural and poor. We also provided vast numbers for the Brit armies and navy, I think 30% of the Brit navy in the battle of Waterloo was irish.
The Brits commissioned reports all through the 1800′s about the situation here and time after time they were told that this country was a disaster waiting to happen. Their callousness when the inevitable tragedy struck is on the record: they used the famine as a tool to clear people from the land so it could be more profitably used for food production.
That would be an interesting thing to do for a year or so.
Anyone who participates in this scam is a fool. How about you take the €1200 you were going to spend on a flight to Africa and give it to a starving family instead? This is just an outlet for smug, middle-class champagne socialists to prove to their facebook friends how “liberal” they are.
I really think that is such an unfair comment. As mentioned above, schemes like this are aimed at providing people with skills to take them out of poverty. They are looking for people to go for a min of 12 months thats a serious committment.
This ain’t about “starving families” mate. It’s about skilled professionals going over to impart their skills to locals for one + years. Get over yourself and you stick-it note global policy solutions.
Don’t ever pay to volunteer – it’s a scam! The money goes to paying people’s wages and not towards the organisation. Anyone can get a flight to Africa / Asia or wherever and volunteer for local charities there without paying to volunteer. People really need to research this more
spoken like a true bleeding heart! bet you’re a great volunteer in your own area too!
Aye, this of course has nothing to do with the VSO it should be emphasised.
You don’t pay to volunteer with vso.
Err Fiona, can’t volunteer as I work long hours as it is. But go ahead be a judge of how wonderful a person is by how much they volunteer at home…! ;)
Charity begins at home,not in africa.
Look up what charity begins at home actually means. It might surprise you.
F’in HATE that saying, spoken by people who haven’t a clue of the suffering of people in other less fortunate countries.
Begins at home but where should it end?
Where do I get my P.P.S number when I get there…..
Do the agencies supply bullet proof vests and body guards?
Most of the CEOs of these Charity’s pick up around 150000 per year, charity for who? The head of Goal went to the High Court last year about a fall out between themselves, I think it cost them 500,000!
Jesus Christ ! The absaloutly horrendous remarks of some people on this article truly make me ashamed to be Irish ! Why do your very best to see the faults in everything ! It’s takes a truly sad individual to find a problem with people wanting to help the less fortunate !
Apparently I haven’t got what it takes as I applied to VSO as an Accountant, via their online application system in 2009. I got an automated response and no other follow up. Very professional and courteous! I subsequently took up a volunteer position with an other INGO, for whom I still work (having worked with them in various roles in 4 African countries).
Did you follow up the initial rejection slip ? The online application system seem stupid to me ….pandering to modern technology. Surely face to face meetings would be more appropriate??
Enough help needed at home. Let them sort themselves out. Most of these countries could not give a flying F about us, and in many cases despise the very people who send or give aid..
Ignore the begrudgers. There are some commenters that can’t tell the difference between VSO and a scam company that might charge 4k for 3weeks ‘volunteering’. It’s probably better those commenters stay at home since they clearly are short on the cop-on you’d need to be a successful volunteer.
Fantastic to read the testimony of people that have actually volunteered and learned how great it feels to give some honest help to people. Yes, there are many political changes needed to make our world more just and getting to know people in poorer parts of the world is one way to begin to understand that. Step up if you have the time.
Standard anti-Limerick comment. Surprised the usual suspects didn’t beat me to it.
And why exactly should these countries give a flying f## about us? Are you really that small minded as to think that their problems are less important then ours ? Also you clearly have never gone out of you way to help anybody from any of these countries and experience their sheer gratitude ! Typical uniformed comment to say the least!
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