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PETER MATHEWS’ RESIGNATION from Fine Gael yesterday came as no surprise to those in his constituency given his frequent clashes with the party over the past two-and-a-half years.
In a brief statement yesterday, Fine Gael wished Mathews well but said little else: “We note that Deputy Mathews has decided to resign his membership of Fine Gael. We wish him well. ”
The former chartered accountant joined the party a month before the general election in 2011 having been a frequent and outspoken critic of the previous government at the height of the financial crisis.
His departure yesterday via a letter to the Taoiseach came three months after his expulsion from the parliamentary party for voting against the abortion bill. He has since joined the Reform Alliance of expelled Fine Gael TDs.
Mathews was one of three Fine Gael TDs elected in Dublin South in February 2011 finishing with 12.5 per cent of first preference votes, more than current Justice Minister Alan Shatter and just behind Olivia Mitchell.
One of the reasons for this was a late leaflet-drop in Mitchell’s stronghold areas of Foxrock and Mount Merrion. The 5,000 leaflets urged voters to switch their first preference to Mathews to ensure he was elected along with Mitchell to the Dáil for the constituency that is now known as Dublin-Rathdown.
A source said that Mathews had spent the last two years telling the local constituency organisation “how grateful he was” for their support to get him elected in 2011 but that as soon as he made his views on abortion public he stopped showing up to such meetings. Mathews said “there were a few meetings I missed” but said this had been “magnified as an observation”.
At Dublin-Rathdown branch meeting in mid-September, which Mathews did attend, there was a frank exchange of views where members expressed their dissatisfaction with Mathews regarding his actions in relation to the abortion bill.
Again Mathews played this down when speaking to TheJournal.ie last night: “There was no storming out (as had been reported), I trickled out.”
The feeling locally is that Mathews had been ‘parachuted’ into the constituency originally, without much say from the local branch though many were happy to work with him and campaign for him as they did during the election in 2011.
But, said the source, “it was just like George Lee, it started to come back and bite us” referring to RTÉ journalist Lee’s election to the Dáil in the same constituency in a June 2009 by-election. He would end-up resigning the seat and from politics altogether less than a year later.
Local Fine Gael councillor Neale Richmond – who managed Mitchell’s campaign in 2011 – said that Mathews’ departure from the party is no surprise “to anyone in the party or any watcher of politics”.
“It’s been brewing since long before the abortion bill. There’s some dissatisfaction among the members. His absence at local party meetings and his unwillingness to engage with the membership has been extremely disappointing,” Richmond said yesterday.
“He came in as an outsider and I think he had a fairly strong lack of understanding about how politics works. It’s put an end to a fairly long saga that’s become increasingly frustrating.”
Mathews told this website he had signed the party pledge prior to the general election but had “put the party’s senior officials on notice… of my conscience positions” and that “for example, life begins at conception”. He said the officials accepted this at the time.
But Richmond said he was disappointed to hear this and said it showed a “lack of awareness” as it was a legal contract with the Fine Gael party. He called on Mathews to resign his seat immediately and run as an independent to get a new mandate but admitted this is unlikely to happen.
In liberal south Dublin Mathews position on abortion was never going to enamour him to the local party but it was not the only conflict with Fine Gael.
Shortly after he was elected he claimed he was more experienced than Finance Minister Michael Noonan and later he attended a bondholder protest leading to him being reprimanded by party whip Paul Kehoe.
Mathews also orchestrated a rare government defeat in an Oireachtas Finance Committee vote on calling Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan to appear before it in March 2012.
In bizarre circumstances Mathews put forward a motion to call the Governor before the Committee and then, in line with the government, voted against it.
He said last night that now he has left Fine Gael he wanted “to focus on the main thrust of why I put my name forward” which was the problems with Irish banks and work with his “165 colleagues in the Dáil”.
Amnesty and others should be ashamed of themselves coming out with this kind of gift wrapped propaganda for Russia, theres only one side commiting war crimes and it aint Ukraine
@Buí agus Gorm: The rules of international humanitarian law are there to protect everyone. If you deny one side’s responsibilities you open up the Pandoras box. And a breach of international humanitarian law is not necessarily a war crime. War crimes are reserved for serious breaches. And you are right: the only war crimes that I have seen have come from the Russian side. But Amnesty should not be ashamed for standing up for international law.
@Nicholas McMurry: every rule is being broken by Russia who cares about the Russian pow’s getting a bit of a video taken of them they are getting off lightly.
@Nicholas McMurry: agreed. To put it simply, two wrongs don’t make a right.
Hang on a minute, they are not POW’s as Herr Putin has said it is not a “war”
I wonder if “organised” groups like paid Syrian mercenaries or Chechen terrorists are to be treated as POW’s? Given their track records of brutality and human rights abuses, they should be shot out of hand.
@Paul Shepherd: mercenaries are not entitled to combatant nor prisoners of war status afforded under the Geneva Convention. As for ‘terrorists’ if they are members of a local opposition, clearly identifiable and openly carrying weapons they are entitled to such status.
@D. Memery: I’m sure their victims will be relieved that their human rights will be respected.
@Paul Shepherd: perhaps you should direct your critism at the authors of the convention and the International Red Cross so! If you read the link you will note that although mercenaries are not entitled the combatant status they are permitted to be detained and tried for any crimes committed under civilian law.
If some dude came to my country and attacked my family n friends and then I captured him. I wouldn’t be caring if some yolk from the UN thought filming him was degrading. To be honest i probably wouldnt be keeping him alive in the first place.
@Rob Gale: What is the point in defending our values if we don’t have any?
I’m sorry but did Russia worry about all the innocents they have killed in cold blood? Women, children, the old and the sick. And those soldiers looked like middle Eastern blokes that joined up.
@Roy Dowling: oh b1. te me you @$$ wipe. I’m not gender biased I’m on the side of those unable to defend themselves. Why are there such €€jits here making such immature uneducated comments in the middle of a conflict.
@Anna Carr: hopefully I’ll never get close enough to you to b1.te you. People like you are why are to the problems of this world. You expect all men capable to defend themselves but no women are capable to defend themselves. Makes it more gender bias on your side.
I think Ukraine needs to take the high ground and not engage in tactics Putin would use.
Civilians didn’t sign up to the Geneva convention to protect Russian invaders. When this goes full guerilla warfare those sad phone calls will be public executions.
The general perception is that Putin started a war. I would suggest cautiously that Putin started an invasion. By way of Ukraine’s defence, a war began. Compare this war to the US troops exiting Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda (although already largely present with the country) carried out an invasion. Not a war. While I admire Zelenskyy’s bravery and hope the best for him, I can’t help but think he’s not being realistic in meeting Putin halfway. That Ireland voted to fast-track Ukraine into the EU will only stoke the fire. But then Ireland is just an EU provincial government. France / Netherlands who both vetoed the move is a tad more realistic.
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