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LUCINDA CREIGHTON HAS accused Independent News and Media (INM) of orchestrating an “unrelenting and unprecedented smear campaign” that she said was designed to unseat her from Dáil Éireann.
Creighton made the statement this morning in Portlaoise as she stepped down as leader of Renua Ireland, following the party’s disastrous general election performance.
Renua failed to get one TD elected to the Dáil, and its three sitting TDs – Creighton, Billy Timmins and Terence Flanagan – all lost their seats.
Timmins has since left the party, as has its former director of communications John Drennan.
Speaking at the National Members’ meeting this morning, Creighton said that she did not expect to be “departing the political stage” as early as she was.
“I did not imagine I would be departing the political stage as early as this, but democracy is a humbling experience,” she said.
I relished every moment of elected office, as a councillor, TD and Minister. They were the proudest years of my life.
Creighton said that if Renua had representatives elected, the party would have held the powerful to account.
She said this while taking aim at Enda Kenny for his failure to rule out the support for government of Independent Tipperary TD Michael Lowry during the election.
“I did this in the face of an unrelenting and unprecedented smear campaign from Independent News and Media designed to unseat me from Dáil Éireann,” said Creighton.
”Mistakes that we made”
Creighton acknowledged “key mistakes” that the party had made during the election campaign which had led to their failure.
She said that the Flat Tax proposal (whereby all citizens would pay the same rate of tax) “never captured the public imagination” and that it was “wrongly depicted” as a policy for the rich.
She said that party failed in its presentation of the proposed measure and that it was something the party could learn from.
“Everyone in Renua Ireland shared the goal of making work pay but we should, and could have presented our tax policy in a way that was not seen to divide society but instead reward it,” she said.
She also said that the part “failed to shine a light” on its lesser known candidates and that the party “should and could” have done better in this regard.
She said that the party had gotten much right, and that she would “welcome” other political parties stealing their policy proposals.
She also said that she regretted that Eddie Hobbs did not run in the election.
New Voices
Creighton finished her speech by saying that there were members of the Oireachtas who “can and will make a difference” but that more were needed.
She singled out Denis Naughten as well as her former party colleague Leo Varadkar as people who would reform current Dáil practices.
She also said that it was now time for the “new voices” of Renua to be heard.
“It’s time for me to move on from leading RENUA Ireland and allow new voices to be heard,” she said.
I leave my role as party leader perhaps more humbled, but no less proud of all that we have achieved together and what can be accomplished in the future.
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Good move!!
@offtheball: I’ll believe it when I see it – NPHET are running this country; don’t forget that Dublin, Limerick and every other county are under continual threat of lockdown until we learn to ‘behave’ and NPHET takes the shackles off this government.
We used to mock the Taliban for banning music
@Monster Munch: I think there is a minor nuance between health reasons versus moral idealogism, maybe, just a smidgin
@Monster Munch: Why’s there no televisions in Afghanistan?
@michael: Because of the telly ban…
@michael: They don’t even get to to see The Flintstones. But those in Abu Dhabi do.
@Fergus: Ah you’ve had a humour bypass I see. They used to allow encourage face coverings…
@Monster Munch: Also*
First song on the play list. “Don’t stand so close to me”……
@Joe Toner: We’ll drink a drink, a drink
To Lily the Pink, the Pink, the Pink
The savior of the human race
For she invented medicinal compound…
@Joe Toner: Second by The Rolling Stones: “Please two metres,hope you guess my name”
@Joe Toner: and don’t forget ” I will do anything for love but I won’t do that, No I won’t do that
@Thomas Corrigan: Followed by “From a Distance”
@Thomas Corrigan:
“Your so far away ‘Carol King…..
@Joe Toner:
“Get Back”…
@Joe Toner:
And when the Gardai raid the place the Grand finale ” Like a bat out of hell”….
@Joe Toner: Something to eat before heading home though. There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis.
@Larry Betts:
T
H
There was a guy who drank in a pub I worked in and his song was ” You took a fine to leave me loose heel, four hundred children and a fox in the field” I would pIss myself laughing!!
@Joe Toner: What about that song by America? You’d think at some stage across the desert he would have thought about giving that poor horse some sort of a name.
@Larry Betts:
Probably suffering from dehydration waiting for the pubs to open.
@Joe Toner: Should have headed for Hotel California. You can check out anytime you want but you can never leave.
@Larry Betts:
Might have tried Alice’s Restaurant where you can get anything you want?
@Larry Betts: excellent
Its like squealer the pig in Animal Farm when he sticks the new rules to the Barn Door every day. Its just made up as they go along.
@Maurice O Neill: Reminds me of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FvoXJCrBhQ
@Maurice O Neill: what’s wrong with making rules as you go along? Should they have made all the rules back in March and stuck with them regardless?
Great news but give me strength : TV not aLOUD and music ( that not live ) kaput. Just please for the love of baby Jesus and the dalai lama start making sense .
Yehaw….
@Sean O’dowd: bring on the 2nd 3rd and 4th waves….
@Canyon: Bring it on baby….I’ll be waiting with my Guinness in hand ready to knock it back to China.
But can’t have a tv on loud. Right.
@Maalouf: They may be now allowed to turn the tv up for The Angelus.
@Larry Betts: hahaha
A complete contradiction to the govt message of last night which said “no music and the TV turned down”..typical shambles of a govt.
you can’t sing at mass but you can sing down the pub. .theres no joined up thinking at all
Loads of live music down gorey way at the moment
Thank God. The virus has gone at last.
Would DJ set be considered as live performance?
@BuffaloSoldiersky: I’d say Mark McCabe would take issue with that question
@BuffaloSoldiersky: yes, I’m
Back.
I know this is going to be a stupid statement but I’ll say it anyway. This virus is not going to go away. A vaccine could take a long time to come about. I know a lot of people have died because of it and of course it is tragic but if we keep people away from it for so long nobody will be able to try and build up an immunity to it. We have to try and get back to a level of normality without people thinking they might die if they’re are more people in a single setting there should be.
@David O Brien: not stupid at all
@David O Brien: Build up immunity? There’s no evidence yet of any long lasting immunity.
@Thomas O’ Donnell: and no evidence there is not
Great won’t have to worry about turning the television down.
@Mac Dara Powell: now that was the most ridiculous one of them all, even the Taliban wouldn’t come out with that, NPHET need to be kicked to touch, the mess that is the Health budget shows us what happens when you let doctors have an influence on financial and economic decisions
@Mac Dara Powell: now that was the most ridiculous one of them all, even the Taliban wouldn’t come out with that, the mess that is the Health budget shows us what happens when you let doctors have an influence on financial and economic decisions
@Paul O Neill: what was their reasoning?
@Thomas O’ Donnell: they said if the tv is too loud people might have to raise their voices, and this spreads the virus more, you couldn’t make this stuff up
@Paul O Neill: No you couldn’t make it up. You would have to employ experts in the field to study whether talking louder increased the likelihood of spreading the virus. And it does.
@Thomas O’ Donnell: if your in a pub and you have the virus, if your close enough to people your gonna spread it anyway, so a loud tv won’t matter
@Paul O Neill: It’s only the truth. Remember that choir in America?
Can the publicains TURN the volume up on their televisions now when they open.
@Philip Martin: What’s the deal with mute TV? Supermacs have them as well in their restaurants, have never been able to figure out why they bother.
@Fon_Ellard:. That’s probably because Supermacs don’t sell substantial meals costing
a minimum of € 9 each …..
No Ed Sheehan or oasis covers under penalty of exile
Reasonable.
In some of the smaller pubs it will definitely have to be a one-man-band kind of job.
Plenty entertainment in the pubs opened in my village – fighting mostly, what can you do when there’s no music to dance to but beat the head off each other? Do people not go to the pub for a conversation anymore? Packed in like sardines too, no Gardai in rural areas to police the rules.
@Fon_Ellard: adults cannot do that for themselves?
While it’s great that its allowed – unless there is extra funding for it – you would have to be a pretty generous publican to employ musicians when you would be stretched to cover staff wages. You could save €5K by not renewing the commercial Sky Sport subscription.
@Conor Nolan: A sports bar without sport would be pretty pointless though to be fair
@fergal o connor: I think TV is banned from Bars under the Covid rules – Someone above mentioned that.
Pubs I. Swords have had live music since they’ve been allowed open as Restaurants
guessing a punk concert complete with gobbling is out though ?
@ed w: only if you’re gobbling a nine euro meal
Your are joking
For how long? With recent spikes I notice construction workers sharing transport & no face coverings worn. When sites close and they are out of pocket, they might cop on. See it every day in garages when they go for breakfast.
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