We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
LAST UPDATE | 27 Jan 2020
AONTÚ PARTY LEADER Peadar Tóibín has withdrawn his application for a High Court injunction preventing a planned televised political debate tonight.
Lawyers acting for the Meath West TD told Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds on Monday afternoon that after some consideration, the application was no longer going ahead.
The court was told that the time constraints involved in bringing such an application were among the reasons why the TD and party leader was not proceeding with his action.
The debate will see the leaders of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Labour, the Green Party, the Social Democrats and Solidarity-People Before Profit face off in one of two seven-way debates ahead of next week’s general election.
It will be broadcast on RTÉ One.
Outside of court, Tóibín said he was “disappointed” with RTÉ’s decision to exclude a representative of his party from participating in the debate.
With the level of preparation of documents involved, there was not enough time to have the action heard in advance of the planed debate, he said.
It was “unfair” that Aontú cannot take part when other political groups with smaller or similar support were, he added.
The party had previously claimed that the national broadcaster’s reasons for excluding it from tonight’s Leaders’ Debate on Claire Byrne Live are “arbitrary and unfair”.
He said there had been discussions about the debate with Aontú and RTÉ up until Tuesday of last week, adding that he had hoped those talks would have ended “amicably.”
He added that he “radically disagreed” with RTÉ’s criteria for inclusion on the show, and add that other options are being considered, including referring the issue to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI).
Counsel said the proposed action was been brought arising out of Deputy Toibin’s “exclusion from the debate” by the national broadcaster and the TD was going to look for an order preventing the planned debate, which the leaders of seven political parties are expected to participate, from being broadcast.
The party had formerly pointed to its higher vote share than the Social Democrats and People Before Profit in a number of by-elections held in November, as well as its higher vote share than People Before Profit in last year’s local elections, as grounds for its inclusion.
Toibín had said that RTÉ facilitated debates with up to nine candidates for the recent European elections, one of which had criteria that the participant was an elected TD.
He added that new political parties such as Aontú would never have a chance to challenge established parties in live debates if the grounds for the party’s exclusion stood.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
but but but Poots took legal advice …… god save us
@Jim Buckley Barrett: Did you hear who he took that advice from? I’m not even kidding here, Jamie effing Bryson. The loyalist headbanger. .
@Pete Gilmartin: the Poundshop Lawyer, mar a deir Colum Eastwood. The absolute catastrophe that is the leadership of far-right Unionism, is like an elixer of youth for me today, its like drinking pure happiness. Can’t wait for this Assembly election now.
@Pete Gilmartin: Are you serious? Bryson hasn’t even passed the bar.
@Pete Gilmartin: Had to go and Google that… Seems you were kidding, Poots got his legal advice from John Larkin the former Attorney General in the North.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: Yep, but Bryson claimed in a radio interview he gave it. Anything to try to make himself relevant.
@Isa: That’s it, he’d say mass…
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: No Kidding – Bryson is claiming in todays Belfast Telegraph that he had been advising Poots and the DUP with all the legal implications of the Protocol for months.
Poots said yesterday that he also received legal opinion from John Larkin but didnt clarify what that opinion was and which opinion he eventually went on before acting. Mind you, I dont think the DUP was ever in the business of taking advice from anyone.
@Angela McCarthy: that’s a scurrilous remark ! DUP take advice from Doctor No.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: Bryson never passed a bar in his life, especially when Edwin in buying.
If this judicial review shows that Edwin Poots broke the law then he should suffer the consequences of his actions.
@Joe Johnson: while I agree in principle, he can say it was based on legal advice and legal advice often differs, even though what he was trying to do was a wrecking tactic, it’s probably not criminal. In any case, he hasn’t managed to be selected by his party to run in the now consequent election, so his punishment will be to live on in ignominy as one of the most incompetent politicians in the history of Ireland or Britain. And probably the World.
Playing bigoted politics to get what you what to the detriment of workers across the whole island should not be allowed happen, he somehow needs to be sanctioned
You couldn’t write what’s happening in the UK at present. Brexit is a disaster and will have long lasting negative ramifications. Throw in the DUP and Borris and the asylum starts rocking to ABBA….
There’s no one driving the red bus these days, they’re all partying down the back.
@Kevin Conway: I quote Professor Anton Muscatelli principal and vice chancellor at the University of Glasgow from 2018.
“the most unhinged example of national self-sabotage in living memory.”
I think the legal opinion that Poots received must have been given to him at an Orange Lodge, or in a pub.
@Angela McCarthy: The News Letter says he got it from John Larkin the former Attorney General in the North.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: Jamie Bryson is claiming credit for it on Twitter
@James Beattie: Forgive me for not believing Mr. Bryson.
Here it is for all unionist supporters to see, the UK government does care about Northern Ireland or even consider it as part of the union. Serious questions need to be asked by the people of NI, and in particular the six counties, if they see themselves as been part of the UK moving forward, with the likes of the DUP.
@Michael: I presume you meant to say – ” does not care” in which case I agree with you 100%
@David Abbott: yes.
Well that’s embarrassing…
That’ll poots him in his place
Better call Saul…..
Pussin Poots
The Befast High Court did’nt give two hoots for Edwin Poots.
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say