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MICHAEL LOWRY HAS said that a Labour TD gave a private note he wrote to Enda Kenny to a journalist “with malicious intent”.
Over the weekend, it emerged that the Independent TD sent a note to the Taoiseach asking him to consider reappointing Valerie O’Reilly to the board of the National Transport Authority.
In the note, the Independent TD described O’Reilly as “bright, intelligent and not bad looking either”.
This evening, Lowry told TheJournal.ie that Labour leaking the note had brought politics to “a new low”.
This action was a concerted effort in that Labour came into possession of the note on Wednesday night and held it until Friday evening to maximise its publicity through the Sunday Independent.
Lowry said the action “lacked common decency and brings politics to a new low”.
Earlier today, Environment Minister Alan Kelly – who shares a constituency with Lowry — said the TD should not blame Labour for the note becoming public.
He should just hold his hands up and admit it was silly comment instead of trying to blame the Labour party. The Labour party didn’t write the note.It was a stupid and silly comment … It shouldn’t have been made and maybe it showed that Deputy Lowry was used to working in a different generation.
Lowry said he thought the note was given to a journalist “with the full knowledge of Alan Kelly”.
He added that the public will “adjudicate on Alan Kelly’s new style of politics” in the general election.
Complimenting women
Yesterday, Lowry told Tipp FM that the remark about O’Reilly’s looks was “unnecessary”.
In a further interview, with RTÉ’s News at One, the former Fine Gael TD said said the practice of handing notes to the Taoiseach wasn’t unusual, and stressed that it wasn’t a demand, merely a suggestion that O’Reilly be reappointed based on her capability.
Kelly told reporters this afternoon that he has never received a note from a TD recommending the appointment of a person, and certainly not based on their looks.
On the question of whether or not the note was sexist, Lowry told RTÉ he had never had a situation where “a woman took exception to a compliment on her appearance, or on her nice dress, or a pair of shoes or a hairstyle”.
O’Reilly worked for Lowry as a press advisor in recent years, particularly around the time the Moriarty Tribunal report was published in 2011.
Additional reporting: Hugh O’Connell and Daragh Brophy
Originally published: 18.06
Background: What’s wrong with complimenting a woman on “on her nice dress, or a pair of shoes, or a hairstyle”?
This evening, Lowry told TheJournal.ie that Labour leaking the note had brought politics to “a new low”.
In fairness Lowry would be a good judge on what can bring politics to a “new low”
He seriously needs to stop blaming others for his own mess ups. If he hadn’t written that on the note there wouldn’t have been anything to give to the journalists now would there?
Agreed Lowry is an expert bringing politics to a new low, we must believe him….
POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK , POOR TIP FCUKER>
Mike doesn’t like leaks about his politicking – I wonder why ?
Anything out of Tipperary brings politics to a new low..
This note is in his own handwriting so it is the truth of the man and he calls it a new low -
and he having been in Court for much more serious offences …..
This guy has no conscience it would seem and that to put it in biblical terms, if true, is Evil personified !
Lowry playing the victim again. Pathetic.
The Tip. Electorate keep on voting for this dinosaur. It beggars believe.
I walked into a friends house today and there in his post was a leaflet from the local FG …T.D.
Didn’t read it buy the headline was “Update on budget 2015 “…..
The timing of the election is pencilled in when you see that !
Would you prefer to vote for Kelly the labour hasbeen
Come on Tipp you have to have better than both !
Pork barrel politics.
Time the big cities took on these mountainy men, and refused to be saddled with high property taxes and high inheritance taxes, when farmers can pass on their assets to their children free of inheritance tax.
Time you went to bed Sean. You’re getting far too excited for this time of night.
OMG what a laugh. Lowry accuses someone of bring politics to a new low:
Wikipedia :
“Lowry is a former Chairman of the Fine Gael political party and was Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications between 1994 and 1996. He resigned his ministry in some controversy, and Fine Gael barred him from standing for their party again. Thereafter, he ran as an independent candidate and has maintained his seat in the Dáil ever since. The Moriarty Tribunal concluded “beyond doubt” that Lowry was a tax evader and had assisted businessman Denis O’Brien’s consortium Esat Digiphone in acquiring a lucrative mobile phone licence in the mid-1990s, during Lowry’s time as Communications Minister. O’Brien went on to become one of the richest men in Ireland.[2]
Lowry also initiated a defamation lawsuit against Irish Independent journalist Sam Smyth, over an article Smyth had written regarding the Moriarty Tribunal as well as comments Smyth had made on a TV3 show. The defamation lawsuit was thrown out of several courts and Lowry was ordered to pay Smyth’s legal costs. In more recent times his relationship with Kevin Phelan has come under scrutiny, with the emergence of a recorded conversation in which Lowry claims to have made an undeclared payment of €250,000.”
When you’re a cowboy in the morning,
You’ll be a cowboy in the evening..
And you sir are some Fooking cowboy…
The people of Tipperary should be ashamed of themselves for constantly electing this man.
But he gets the roads fixed and appears at the opening of post offices. It is the same with the Healy Rae’s. As long as it’s ‘one of their own’ people turn a blind eye. Brian Cowen is still a hero in Offaly and Bertie in north Dublin and look how much they screwed us over
He did promise them a Casino in fairness.
Not all of Offaly beano is cowen a hero. Only down where his from or his fellow ff crowd.
I love in North dublin beano and Bertie is not considered a hero here. Not by a long shot. He’s a completely busted flush. Back into the cupboard with him!
He is a sexist ignorant pig
You’re not bad looking Gillian!! Oops sorry!
I agree Hal . Much ado about nothing . Headline seeking article.
Why? Have you never said a person was not bad looking ?
What if it a code for something else ?
Soon we even hear anything negative about these TDs unless the gov says so…. The propaganda media machine in Ireland just got turned up a few more notches… http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/broadcasters-must-not-undermine-authority-of-state-under-new-guidelines-30941115.html
iPhone Joan is at it again – The Mrs. Thatcher of Irish Politics, is out to do in that lovely chauvinist guy , Michael Lowry !
My golly , it gets funnier by the minute , with this useless lot of a Coalition .
Undermine the authority of the State ….
and what about the Bailout without referendum …?
Well the night of the Long Knives failed – (seanad abolition) so the burning of the books is going to blow up in their faces as well !
This is just so embarrassing. What a joke.
Lowry on the aboltion of slavery: ‘its poltical correctness gone mad’
Sounds like he had a Mr Burgess, good girl Sharon moment.
Why is this man allowed to sit in the Dail. Politicians are in enough disrepute already without this character? In the UK he would have been suspended
It’s a long way from House of Cards. What a shower of useless gimps in that place. Even the opposition. Where in the name of sweet jebus are the focused, talented and sharp people of this country?
People from outside of politics need to start seriously thinking about becoming involved in it, bringing new approaches and their own expertise. People with ability and ideas would eviscerate those clowns in debates – and be guaranteed seats.
Our politicians are like school in summer. No class.
Least me now know how the Country is fecked.. To get a top job in the civil service all is needed is somebody to pass on a note saying how good looking you are… The debs committee in your local school is run better than our Government
Stupid as a fox. He has the bumpkin idiot brigade in Tipperary convinced he’s the messiah.
You all have lovely bottoms
I guarantee the women in question is secretly delighted while being outwardly outraged
The wording of the note is not the issue. It is the fact that it’s the same old canvassing and cronyism still carrying on. Neither Lowry or Kelly do themselves, or politics in this country any credit. Then again you would be a fool to expect anything else from these self serving parasites.
Do ye remember the R.T.E. programme investigating an overspend on a public building in Tipp …
the place had a fortune spent on it and it was still in very poor condition…
“If we had another millin we’d finish it !” was the quote from the local Geronimo who had been involved in the project …
What do you do with that – no concept of any possible wrongdoing ……
A FAS job to boot !
Says it all really about our politics. Lap gate / note gate …
Who was the other Fine Gael former Minister who got unwanted press over a press secretary or some such ?
Ah yes, it was Philip Hogan !
Love it when a politician says ‘How dare you report my corruption to the media!’
“stupid and silly” could have been on the smug election posters…..for both of them.
The man is a leach on Irish society. He might do the people of North Tipp the odd favour, but he is a Me Feiner. He treats the people of Ireland with contempt, and should be treated similarly by the people of Ireland
His pal Dennis O’B, is one very fat leach too..
Make a start.
Boycott Topaz..
His right Kelly the labour party didn’t write the note but they did give a note addressed to the taoiseach to a journalist.
Not bad looking up his own arsêhole.
The calibre of politician we elect in this country truly boggles the mind. Michael Lowry, corrupt as they come, is lecturing other people in relation to low standards and “malicious intent”. Breathtaking…
No doubt Lowry is totally antediluvian in his attitude to women but the actual note wasn’t really as bad as the hype made it out to be!
Yes it is, it’s cronyism pure and simple.
He’d probably get up on a cracked plate.
A big fuss over nothing. She’s very attractive.
What would Lowey know about decency he is a sleeveen and should not be in Government, he betrayed the Irish people when he stood with DOBBY.
I’m trying to figure out which of the two issues people are more incensed with. The fact that he canvassed or called a woman “not bad looking”.
Personally, the ‘not bad looking’ remark is annoying, but does not surprise me. It does, however, show a remarkable lack of judgement on Lowry’s part. He’s made himself look like a right gobsh!te. The canvassing does bother me, however. Is this really the way business is conducted in the Dáil?
Agreed, the comment and the manner in which he related it is idiotic. But it should be separated from the fact that cronyism is alive and well despite repeated promises to the contrary. That’s what we should be focussing on. The most decent men and women in this world will always make mild innuendo. it doesn’t mean we disrespect each other.
Why are people focusing on this note? The guy is only one step removed from a gangster. He’s seems to have done some very dodgy deals over the years but Id hope, when I’m 61 that Id get away with saying someone is ” not bad looking ” without national uproar. To me the passing of the note to a journalist is a bigger crime, one akin to telling tales in the schoolyard.
Day 2 and it’s still news ?? It was a note passed between two people , it’s a fuss about nothing . all he said was that the woman was not bad looking .. It’s not a crime !
Canvassing for State appointments is actually against the Law !
@joanie He us corrupt and a s&@€b&g . Not fit to be in givernment. Who cares that he said a woman wasn’t bad, anyone else with his reputation would keep their head down and shut up not him though
Transparency is the new low? Much better back in the day when the ‘ol boys could say what they want about the ladies without fear of derision from a politically correct meeja gone mad with liberalism
It was a private note between two people so who cares. If he said she has big b@@bs or fine a$$ it would be different. It was a compliment and thats it.
It was canvassing for a State appointment
the description of what she looked like is not the real story here !
Let’s say Enda had appointed her to the board and the note came out afterwards – then we wouldn’t be discussing the “bad looking ” comment but a different “bad looking ” altogether !
She’s a fox. Id lend her one. If I wasn’t married I mean. Ahem.
With all the who ha over this note will have to educate myself about this lady. Her qualifications her experience and of course how good looking she is. After I have conducted my in depth research I will decide if I am to be outraged or not. If she ticks all 3 boxes give her the job!!! Seriously though he has done a million times worse things and brazened them out. Can’t see him losing too much sleep. It’s like being back in school passing notes around. That’s the most worrying thing. A storm in a tea cup in the grand scheme of things and he knows it
The biggest eejits are the voters that keep re electing cowboys like Lowry
Him being a chauvinist of course is perfectly acceptable-seriously with idiots like this being elected is it any wonder the country is in the state it is!
In fairness….
She does have a lovely arse!
For feck sake she is a good looking woman ! Get over it !
The sad thing is the people that believe him,’god love them,
Michael Lowry. Politics begins low, it’s up to the man or woman who prefers to follow this profession to raise their ambitions and to convince their voters that they are a little higher than low, it’s not easy. Most politicians fail to do this but after a while can pull it off. You can’t.
“Malicious intent” versus corruption…Ireland a great little country to do corruption in.
The women in North Tipp luvs him…
Yes Michael, of course they did it to tarnish your unblemished pristine reputation.
The corrupt fighting with the corrupt, a pox on both their houses.
It seems to me that Mr Lowery knew exactly what he was doing. He knew what would go down well with Mr Kenny, he phrased his note in that way because he knew it would be appealing. Why would he think it was ok to word a request like that at a Dail session? There is an undercurrent of sleaze in this whole affair that is not right, regardless of politics. Would anyone like their daughter, sister or mother to be sold in such a way? It this what the leaders and peers of our country really of our women, sure if nothing else she’ll be good to look at! Get real people!
I would…….
More incensed that he can pass notes like a schoolboy to Einda and get away with his sexist remarks!! Why would Einda entertain any of his ideas? Aw because he is a friend of Denis the Menace and Einda needs to help both of his goody buddies out. Grrrrrrrrr
Journalists, it doesn’t matter what you throw at Lowry; sexism, grand fraud, war crimes, regicide, it just doesn’t matter. The people of N Tipp will always vote for him because he fixed the road.
Labour leaked the note with malicious intent you have got to be, jokeing labour wouldent even tell a lie, and as reguards to your one been good looking they are all the same in the dark
…..23 years .
A new low from Lowry is this guy trying to be funny ??
The people of Tip should be proud having consistently stood by Lowry by supporting him at election time. Ya Lowry its the other guys fault, poor you !
The people of Tip must be very proud of Lowry as they consistently re elect him and speak out in support of him….. With Lowry he’s always the victim. They knew i what i am like and were waiting for me to slip up so they could get me. – GO LOWRY PLEASE.
Is this what the leaders and peers of our country think of our women?
Lets have a tribunal
Surely cctv would reveal who the rat is..
Who is judge Seamus Noonan .?
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