shhh…you didn’t hear it here first
You heard it here.
With Arthur Morgan leaving behind socialism for business (a first for SF?) the field is open for a new SF face in Louth.
Will Gerry Adams be declaring his hand at Edentubber?
Prepartions for Louth went well into the night
The good people of Louth would of course want this handy loyal supporter’s guide to Adams as a representative if he did step up to the plate.
Tags: election, Gerry Adams, Louth, out the door so fast his feet didn't touch the ground, sinn fein
Topic: Government, Politics, Society and Culture
Region: Ireland
Topic: Government, Politics, Society and Culture
Region: Ireland
Correct, Mark: we didn’t hear it from you first.
It was reported in The Herald on Thursday:
http://www.herald.ie/national-news/adams-ready-to-take-on-ahern-for-dail-seat-2416099.html
Would Tom Oliver’s family be cavassing for him around Cooley?
MMG: you’re a better revisionist that Adams
6cr,
Sorry about that – the Herald link ended up embedded in the image at the start.
Without your comment I wouldn’t have fixed it – cheers.
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We had the story about Arthur Morgan stepping down “to go back into business” before the BBC.
Just saying…
cheers mark!
Dunno whether it’s a first for SF. I have heard, though, that some people high up in PIRA did get involved in various business ventures.
Mark
Couldn’t see it happening. If so, would be a dreadful mistake.
Doubt very much that this will happen.
Gerry has at most about ten years left in front line politics and in any event the short term gain and publicity isn’t worth the potential problems this could throw up for SF in the wee county if someone who had done the ground work was overlooked.
Why Chris? The party might benefit from a more visible personality in the Dail. If all the rumours are true will his blogging nemesis Pierre Le Boulangere be moving South in hot pursuit after him?
I’m no expert, so correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t Sinn Fein oppose Double Jobbing and wouldn’t this make Adams a Triple Jobber?
So Adams will if elected will have three jobs, TD, MLA, MP triple standards if you ask me.
…..you forgot Author, Wit, Pundit, International Statesman …….. and all on the average industrial wage
What value we get
Latcheeco
It’s an unnecessary gamble to my mind, and one which flies in the face of what should be a strategy to promote a new generation of republican leaders in the south not viewed instinctively as an appendage to their northern leaders.
T and J
If elected I’ve no doubt Adams would give up the Assembly seat. Westminster he’d hold as the historical resonance of the dual mandate would not be lost on Irish nationalists across the island, and not least on his west Belfast constituents, who would be likely to deliver a resounding mandate for the maneouvre.
Chris Donnelly
” Westminster he’d hold as the historical resonance of the dual mandate would not be lost on Irish nationalists across the island, and not least on his west Belfast constituents, who would be likely to deliver a resounding mandate for the manoeuvre.”
No that would not be a good idea at this time. Most of us, especially in the south, would have both eyes firmly fixed on the very high salaries, the endless expense accounts, and the wonderful pension schemes. Giving up one salary etc might at first glance seem an option but no politician is that popular, and nor would many people fall for the ‘industrial wage’ story.
Isn’t it awful the day Suu Kyi is released from arrest in Myanmar (which Brits and RTE insist on calling Burma) this narcissistic tadpole, believed complicit in some of the very worst war crimes of the Troubles – the Disappeared, La Mon, Bloody Friday) grabs the headlines?
Wgat wil he do for Louth if elected? Well Joe Hendron saoid Adams only ever created one job oin West Belfast, his own Parliamentary one.
He has nothing to offer Louth and nothing to offer informed debate and discussion in the South.
Years ago the Free wales Army, whom the Sticks sold their guns to, started burning holiday homes in Wales with the phrase: Keep the home fires burning. The Sticks later got in on the act in Meath and elsewhere;. Will the Dinegal Riviera follow?
Maybe Adams will move his holiday home to Cooley, near to the Oliver family.
Alan you get out of the wrong side of the bed this morning, i know a bit of man not ball, his posts are hardly debate.
Quote from Aung San Suu Kyi, which I think is very relevant.
“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it, and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
Classic.
DC
“Classic”
Please explain
Classic response to the old SF classic of “average industrial wage” bull that gets trotted out.
Adams’ own book sales put an end to that crap – the proof of that wealth manifests itself in the form of a second holiday home in Donegal.
DC
So the money from the sales of his book, earned off the back of his notoriety gets added to the two salaries plus expenses etc. .And your point?
I’m not against him standing. The idea has some attraction but it also has major disadvantages and hanging on to two extremely well paying jobs plus perks, is in the present climate, just one of the disadvantages.
Anyone who thinks politicians pay, especially ostensibly socialist politicians, is going to slide by unnoticed is in denial.
My point is he’s a bluffer whose electoral strength fails to be converted into any hard policy that actually benefits his own constituency across the range, because largely he’s an old nationalist thinker ill-equipped for today’s challenges.
Today’s challenges consist of the legal, the financial, the social, the environmental and yes the political of course, but geo-political less so.
Giving up the assembly seat is hardly a big deal, he is hardly ever in the assembly when it’s in session, except when he’s making a big headline grabbing contribution, or when there is a debate about car crime or anti-social behaviour in West Belfast.
I am trying to figure out how much of a gamble it is. Morgan got in last time by polling a relatively strong first preference vote and topping that up with Green transfers. I wonder how different things would have been if it had not been for FG’s foolish decision to run three candidates, combined with the ill-feeling that now exists towards the Greens.
I suspect Adams sees this as his last hurrah. If he loses, that’ll be his cue to retire from politics and handing over the reins. If he wins, he’ll present himself as a credible leader with a mandate from a Southern constituency and use the airtime in the Dail to establish SF as a visible and credible alternative.
I am not a big fan of Adams or SF but I do have a certain sneaking regard for the will to take this kind of calculated gamble.
Yes, the two words that strike me are Adams becoming: electorally leveraged.
And we all know what happens to those that become leveraged. The gains can multiply as can the losses. It could all come crashing down on the common man and woman, particularly those in west Belfast, the base.
I will be amazed if he is able to digest two national frameworks and convert this into something meaningful and dynamic, given both nations are to varying degrees in a state of financial distress. The wee boy from west Belfast however adroit he is could lack the knowledge and skills to tackle this. Is he the superman, the ubermensch, previous forays indicate otherwise.
To me, Adams is at his most effective whenever he is outside of parliaments, but nothing new there.
I liked your last sentence. Adams the parliamentarian doesn’t amount to much at all. Nonetheless, he still has the highest personal vote in the UK.
“I am not a big fan of Adams or SF but I do have a certain sneaking regard for the will to take this kind of calculated gamble.”
CS I think your wrong about retirement but no doubt your right about positioning of SF to articulate an alternative view on the economic debacle. Finely calculated indeed.
Dreadful mistake? Ha
I know Mark….;)