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GE2024RyanairLAST UPDATE | 10 Nov 2024
FINE GAEL MINISTER Peter Burke has distanced himself from comments made by Michael O’Leary about teachers after the Social Democrats demanded he clarify his stance.
The Ryanair boss gave a resounding endorsement to the Fine Gael Westmeath candidate at a campaign event last night and encouraged the public to transfer votes between Burke’s party and Fianna Fáil.
O’Leary claimed the country needs politicians who “get shit done” during his address to the crowd in Clarke’s Bar in Mullingar last night and made clear who he did not want to be in government: The Green Party, Sinn Féin and teachers.
He said: “I think in Peter [Burke] we have a candidate who comes from the private sector which is absolutely vital. The Dáil is full of teachers, nothing wrong with teachers I love teachers, I have four children.
“But I wouldn’t generally employ a lot of teachers to go out and get things done.”
“I think it’s important that we have people who come from the private sector, like Peter. I think we need more accountants – we may lack personality, but we make up for in action and energy what we lack in personality.”
The crowd at the Fine Gael candidate’s launch event can be heard laughing at O’Leary’s comments. Asked on RTÉ Radio One’s This Week programme this afternoon, Burke said he “absolutely” disagreed with O’Leary but commended him for his record in business.
Primary teaching union the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation condemned O’Leary’s remarks today, labelling them “outrageous” and “insulting”.
“Teachers are the backbone of our country, shaping futures, inspiring minds, and driving the success of our society,” the unions’ general secretary John Boyle said.
“The recent comments made by the Ryanair CEO at Minister Burke’s campaign launch were outrageous and an insult to the dedication and hard work of our teachers,” he added.
The Teachers’ Union of Ireland similarly branded the controversial comments as extremely offensive and hugely insulting”.
The union said that ahead of the election, political parties and candidates would be “better served” by communicating to the public how they intended to address “critical issues such as, for example, the teacher recruitment and retention crisis that sees students lose out on subject choices as a result of continuing inaction by our policy-makers.”
General Secretary of The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), Kieran Christie, said that the “ignorant and risible” comments “compounded by a cheap and sycophantic reaction by Fine Gael activists” cannot distract from the “real issues in this election from an ASTI perspective”.
He said that the postponement of the Senior Cycle redevelopment programme to allow for “badly needed adjustments”, the chronic recruitment and retention crisis, and increased investment in education in Ireland were more deserving of attention.
“Rather than insulting the teaching profession – which has a sterling track record of educating the youth of the country – with baseless jibes, efforts to iron out the enormous challenges within the system would be a more productive endeavour,” he said.
The Social Democrats’ education spokesperson Gary Gannon was first to call on Burke to clarify the businessman’s remarks, adding that teachers have often “felt like the butt of a joke” under the outgoing government.
“However, last night’s open mocking was a stark revelation about where Fine Gael’s loyalties lie.
The Dublin Central candidate said that O’Leary’s comments reflect the ‘ethos of Fine Gael’ and Minister Burke should now confirm if he agreed with the statement or not.
“Teachers and other public servants would like to know,” he added.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin, a former teacher, said that O’Leary’s remarks “are insulting and fail to recognise the enormous contribution they have made to Irish society, economy and enterprise.”
He added that the “high quality” of teaching in Ireland has transformed the country. “We owe teachers, who work so well in our schools, a lot.”
Speaking at her party’s campaign launch this afternoon in Dublin, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said: “I think it’s very disappointing to hear anyone in public life taking snipes or sneers at teachers.”
Bacik and the Labour Party called on Fine Gael to distance itself from the remarks and for O’Leary to retract his statement.
Labour councillor in Kilkenny and candidate for Carlow–Kilkenny Seán Ó hArgáin – who recently retired from teaching after 34 years – said:
“This is very serious – we have a crisis in teaching at the minute. We want to encourage young people to join the sector, we want make improvements to younger teachers’ pay and that there is an attractive clear career path for them here.
“Michael O’Leary doesn’t help that situation ever but he’s very sorry to accept their cash when they go abroad.”
Bacik and the Labour Party called on Fine Gael to distance itself from the remarks and for O’Leary to retract his statement.
The Ryanair CEO has been at loggerheads with government this year over the passenger cap on Dublin Airport. O’Leary argues the cap, which limits passenger flows to 32 million people a year, is restricting the tourism and aviation sector in Ireland.
As part of this row, O’Leary has frequently blamed the issue on the Green Party and with how senior Green Party ministers Eamon Ryan and Catherine Martin were handling their respective portfolios, transport and tourism.
Ministers have engaged with the businessman about the issue over many months and leaders have openly supported the idea of removing the cap but say the issue must be resolved with the local authority, Fingal County Council.
“The sooner we get rid of the Greens, the better it will be for everybody in this country,” he said.
O’Leary added that the left-wing parties’ ‘tax and spend’ approach is also “not the way forward” and claimed that Sinn Féin would not be able to run a government. He called on Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil voters, respectively, to transfer between the two parties.
O’Leary that he would be supporting Peter Burke of Fine Gael and Robert Troy of Fianna Fáil as his first and second preference. Troy has welcomed the endorsement but said he plans to campaign on his constituency work record.
The second day of the election campaign is underway, with canvasses continuing throughout the day today. Tánaiste Micheál Martin is in Tipperary while Taoiseach Simon Harris is on a whistle-stop tour of rural Ireland.
The Labour Party, Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats are holding events in Dublin today, with some of parties announcing plans and policies which will be included in their manifestos.
Includes reporting by Emma Hickey.
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Taking tips off the staff would be a low thing to do and would not promote good service ,the tip is for a service that the customer feels is due to the receipen not for the employer
@FlopFlipU: Tips given generally for all staff including in the kitchen I would have thought. If you include the tip on a card staff don’t get tip for a while until worked out by book keepers. Tip as cash gets to staff faster.
@Gillian Scully: you know this for sure what about the presentage supplied what does the chef get as opposed to the waiter get ,it needs to be trashed out in my opinion ,
@FlopFlipU: no would bes..it happens all the time
@Gillian Scully: I would generally reserve it for the server…but this can depend on the size of the premises. Small places, generally a tip jar for all and in larger establishments the person who has served me.
the management and owners deserve a share of the tips also.
@frank murphy: No they dont…….
@FlopFlipU: The tips are intended for the waitress at least that is what I thought..As regards the chef he is been better paid than the waitress so in future a waitress should have some kind of bag or purse to keep the tips intended for them..If employers paid a proper wage to the waitress there would be no need to tip..But a waitress who gives good service to the customer deserves a tip
I am delighted to see this legislation, I tipped a young girl in a restaurant in Trim , she was so pleasant and even advised us of places of interest, but she told us that she would only be allowed to keep two euro per hour tip as the employer kept the balance of all tips and she was required to hand in her tips to the head barman, for her four hour shift, she was handed eight euro in tips , I was astonished that any employer would withhold tips from staff, I always assumed employers would have no right to such gratuities, this is a greedy practice and this legislation will put manners on employers who dip into their staffs tips.
@Honeybee: name and shame.
@Honeybee: that waitress sure did spend a lot of time talking to you ..
@Honeybee: that is horrible. The tip is from the customer and they make the decision to give it directly to the one person for their great services…I’d be fuming to think the employer took the tips and decided how they were divided out. If an establishment is small and there’s a tip jar and many hands made my night special I would like them all to receive a % of the tip. But if i directly hand it to a server for their good work, then it’s theirs.
I worked in this industry the tips were great. But why do we have tips. Was in Dunnes the other day the young girl working went our of her way to find a product for us. Tips should be across the board were people go beyond their duties.
@: __ Perhaps you should have given her a tip?
Hardly ever tip..food and already overpriced as it is.
That on top of the fact servers are earning at the very least minimum wage anyways.
@Leroy: hope you like eating boogers and cum
@Leroy: __ It’s a good job we’re not all skinflints.
@Fergus Sheahan: __ He probably would eat those rare delicacies, as long as they weren’t overpriced.
@Leroy: yea, someone on minimum wage, possibly second job/part time to make ends meet, prices aren’t the servers fault. If you can afford to eat out you can afford a small gratuity for someone you feel deserves it. Miserable attitude.
@Leroy: So you’re a tosser then? Could’ve just said that.
@Leroy: wow Leroy, your generosity knows no bounds
Tips are so important to the people in that industry….not sure why we decide to pick and choose who we deem worthy of a tip though…I tipped some young lad who brought down my Mc Donald’s meal to my table for me and the kids…look of gratitude on his face was worth the 2 quid.
Fair play, Bill.
Not doing this out of the goodness of there hearts. The revenue has been trying get there hands on cash tips for years
Government is a bit two faced here. Staff working in what is considered to be a tipping zone have their tax free allowance cut to take account of the possibility of extra income.
This is bull.
Must I tip now when I dine out in Ireland?
The whole point of the tip culture originates from a country with low minimum wage attributes, and no sick leave/holiday pay or any other kind of niceness.
The country is the USA.
I won’t be tipping you for doing your job in Ireland. A job which has benefits that are more than are afforded to me.
@Oliver McLoughlin: No, you need not tip, leave that to decent and generous people.
Who does this Bill think he is?
good
YES employers should not withold tips.. but WTF does this have to be regulated, oh I guess its to trumpet in the wonderful new leader of SF.
In some places its completely necessary for the employer to have dibs on the tips – there may be policies that tips are shared to kitchen staff or others, or it funds staff voluntary perks. Upset that balance and staff morale could be a mess… Or what do you do when the owner is a member of staff. Is he not allowed to have a part of the tip, what if the owners wife or son is …
There are so many tipping policies possible and now SF want busy bodies enforcing it..
Twould be easier if someone like tripadvisor had a seal/icon to say ‘staff-friendly-tips’ or ‘staff-shared-tips’ or no tipping.
Would SF every go back to laundering diesel properly…
Service charges should be outlawed , the price quoted should be the price to be paid.
Staff should be paid proper rates of pay ,which is included in what you are buying so no need for tipping .
Sinn Fein are trying to get on Pension gravy train .
Three Years for a Pension for Life. Is a great temptation ,ridiculous and should be brought to an end .
Those People with a Ministers pension in their pocket are the same people saying a Civil Servant pension after 40 / 45
Years is too generous ???.
Moons ago when waitressing, we all had set tables to wait, yet had to hand over all tips after each table left, which was than divided out to all staff which was cruel but kind as than everyone was included, but boss kept big portion for himself. In current Job not allowed except gifts/tips exception Christmas and everything pooled and raffelled out, We have to inform boss and ask permission to accept anything, it’s to prevent conflict of interest.
have your say