Ministers behaving badly
Snakes alive! After a recent question in the Dail (Irish Parliament) about Government Ministers snorting the marching powder, another Minister (and I'm wondering why I chose to capitilise that word...) has been accused of verbally abusing members of the public. In a pub. In Limerick.
Simon Coveney, A Fine Gael TD, challenged Bertie Ahern to respond to allegations that a serving minister regularly enjoyed coke. (And not out of a bottle...). He quoted the minister:
'Yes, I take drugs, only coke, and I am not the only one'.
Obviously, this question was swept aside my Bertie's monkey-in-a-suit, Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue (you can see Johnny-boy in action here) and went unanswered. Frankly, I wasn't surprised at Coveney's question at all, considering some of the reprobates Bertie has in his party.
Which brings me to the one and only Willie O'Dea. Ah Willie. The Irish Examiner is reporting he got into a bit of a kerfuffle in a pub in Limerick, when challenged on his inability to turn up for votes in the Dail. Specifically, the vote concerning Aer Lingus pulling out of Shannon, an area O'Dea represents in the Dail.
"DEFENCE Minister Willie O’Dea verbally abused two people during a pub row over Shannon Airport and offered to fight one of them, it was claimed last night.
John Fahey, chief executive of the Meet Limerick/Shannon conferencing promotion group, and Geraldine Morrissey, spokeswoman for Aer Lingus workers at the airport, are demanding an apology from the minister over the remarks they say he made.However, Mr O’Dea claimed last night it was he who had been abused and denied he offered to fight.
People asked him to explain himself on Shannon. When he tried to speak, Mr Fahey interrupted him only for Ms Morrissey to say, “Let him make his petty point”. Mr O’Dea admitted telling Ms Morrissey to “get lost”, but denied using stronger language or challenging anybody to a fight.The row happened after Mr O’Dea called to South’s pub in Limerick last Saturday night with Tánaiste Brian Cowen. Mr Fahey, a prominent hotelier in the mid-west, was there with his wife and Ms Morrissey.
Ms Morrissey said she was stunned at Mr O’Dea’s behaviour. However, Mr O’Dea insisted the allegations were “rubbish”. He said he returned to the pub to collect his wife only to be “roundly abused”.
“Mr O’Dea was there with the Tánaiste,” said Mr Fahey. “Then they both left together. As they did, a number of people said, ‘What about Shannon, what about Shannon?’”
A short time later, Mr O’Dea returned. Mr Fahey said when Mr O’Dea approached their group, Ms Morrissey challenged him over not being present in the Dáil for a vote on the Shannon issue.
“She asked him why he did not take part in the Dáil debate,” Mr Fahey said. “He said he was the minister for defence and I said, ‘You did not defend the interests of Shannon very well’. At that, he turned around and said, ‘Who is that big p***k?’ and asked me out saying he would like to hit me. I told him, if he was any bigger I might. He then turned to Geraldine Morrissey and said, ‘I don’t give a f**k about you’.”
Some might argue his first mistake was to go out for a drink in Limerick at all, never mind with Brian Cowen, a man whose face invites abuse from the general public. I would argue it was Willie's moustache that got people riled up. It's incredibly ridiculous, potentially stuck on with glue, and is obviously a feeble attempt from a small man to appear more important. I think we'd all agree that he has failed in that attempt.
An alternative explanation could (emphasise could) be linked to the story above and the potential for some of Bertie's boys to be high as kites. I mean, coke is known for its ability to get people riled up, super-confident and a bit fighty. (Yes, fighty in a word). Could these two senior ministers have popped out of the pub for a few lines, and returned confident in their ability to take on the entire pub?
Just asking, that's all.
Sits back awaiting threatening letters from Leinster House...
