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The Fianna Fáil leader flanked by colleague Niall Collins TD and Independent Senator John Crown. Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland

The Irish people said 'No' to the power grab - Micheál Martin

The Fianna Fáil leader told party faithful this evening that supporters are ‘pushing forward with rejuvenation throughout the country’.

FIANNA FÁIL LEADER Micheál Martin has sought to build on his party’s successful campaign to retain the Seanad by telling  members in Dublin tonight that today’s vote represented a “good day for Irish democracy.”

Addressing a  Cairde Fáil dinner in the city this evening Martin said that the ‘Yes’ side engaged in a “cynical campaign to push through the largest ever amendment to our constitution”:

They thought that no one would take the time to look beyond their slogans and attacks. Today they have been proven wrong. The Irish people said No to the power grab, they said they want real political reform not just empty spin about reform. They also said that they expect their leaders to be willing to debate.
“There is already a legislative template available to deliver on real reform of Seanad Éireann, this should be agreed and implemented without delay, ” he added.
The party has been in recovery mode since the crushing electoral defeat they took in the last general election but Martin but told the party faithful this evening that supporters have been engaged in a “rejuvenation” that is continuing.
Martin launched a direct attack on the government saying that ‘Fine Gael has taken a marked move to the right’ while the Labour Party are in disarray due to internal struggles:
Two and a half years away from an election they are in crisis not because of the deeply unfair budgets they delivered or the broken promises on education, health and welfare they enacted – but because they think they might lose lots of seats.

AS IT HAPPENED: The Seanad is here to stay as referendum defeated >

Read: ‘Reflection’ the buzz word but Taoiseach and Tánaiste appear open to Seanad reform >

Read: We put forward arguments which demolished Fine Gael and Sinn Féin – Fianna Fáil >

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135 Comments
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    Mute Declan Mannix
    Favourite Declan Mannix
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    Sep 29th 2012, 11:38 AM

    whoever hit this poor man should hand themselves in. from the paint fragments, not only can the gardai tell what type of car that hit him was, they can determine the year, and the specific batch of cars that was shipped to Ireland, and which dealer got them.. all manufacturers keep a sample of each batch of paint the use to spray maybe 100 white cars, this is analyzed and the results stored on some database which law enforcement agency’s can access.

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    Mute tony duggan
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    Sep 29th 2012, 12:25 PM

    Horatio mannix

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    Mute Mackie Sanz
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    Sep 29th 2012, 2:01 PM

    I think Declan has been watching to much CSI ….. Are u not exagerating a wee bit?

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    Mute jonathan kerr
    Favourite jonathan kerr
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    Sep 29th 2012, 10:11 PM

    my freind died due to a hit and run in letterkenny 4 years ago . after 3 week the driver handed himself in. aftervthe courts he got 7 month jail which ironicaly his release date was the 1st aniversary of lauras death.. the system sucks in this country…

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    Mute Declan Mannix
    Favourite Declan Mannix
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    Sep 29th 2012, 2:35 PM

    @tony

    ha ha… funny.

    quote from forensic paint analysis site.

    As paint is made up of three main components, the carrier, the binder and vehicle; our forensic paint experts are able to identify the different layers of paint in a hit and run or road traffic accident (RTA) for example. From this point our team will collate the chemical information they collect, allowing them to put together a report of makes, models and year of manufacture of motor vehicles where the paint may have originated.

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    Mute Declan Noonan
    Favourite Declan Noonan
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    Sep 29th 2012, 3:05 PM

    Declan, you should ring the police and help with their investigation. Btw great name you have :)

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