Willie O'Dea admits false & defamatory statements, pays damages to Councillor Maurice Quinlivan
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Tuesday December 22, 2009 10:55
by Joe
Minister for Defence admit false evidence to High Court
Irish Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea admits making false and deflamatory statments against Limerick Sinn Fein Councillor Maurice Quinlivan. Minister O'Dea also admitted making false stements in evidence to the High Court in an earlier action, when he falsely denied having made these statements. Minister O'Dea has publically apologised to Mr Quinlivan, agreed to pay damages as well as paying all legal expenses.
From the rte.ie website
Monday, 21 December 2009 14:48
Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea has apologised to Limerick Sinn Féin Councillor Maurice Quinlivan for making false and defamatory statements about him in an interview with the Limerick Chronicle newspaper last March.
He has also apologised for denying having made such statements in an action taken by Mr Quinlivan last April to prevent the statements being repeated.
The Minister has also paid damages and costs to Mr Quinlivan, who is Sinn Féin's joint national treasurer.
Mr Quinlivan took a defamation action against Mr O'Dea after the article appeared on 10 March.
In an apology read to the High Court this afternoon, Mr O'Dea said the article contained implications which reflected on the personal conduct and character of Mr Quinlivan.
He said he accepted that these implications emanated from him and in particular from statements he made in an interview with a journalist from the Limerick Chronicle.
Mr O'Dea said he accepted all such implications and statements were false and defamatory of Mr Quinlivan.
He said he withdrew them in their entirety and apologised to Mr Quinlivan both for making them and for denying having made them.
Mr Quinlivan said he accepts there was no intention to mislead on the part of Mr O'Dea in making this denial.
Mr O'Dea continued that he accepted Councillor Quinlivan was a person of the highest integrity and fully entitled to the good reputation he enjoys at a local and national level.
Comments (7 of 7)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7This is a serious matter. If O'Dea made false statements in court or in an affadavitt then he committed perjury. More details are required.
The RTE website seems explicit enough: " Minister O'Dea also admitted making false stements in evidence to the High Court in an earlier action, . . ."
But our record isn't good on this kind of thing.
Check back on recent and not-so-recent history, going back (say) to Haughey in the witness box. Then certain builders . . . . .chances of being done for perjury? Well, check the record but essentially minimal. If you're Joe Fuck from down the street . . . chances are 100% certain! See Transparency International website.
Just as there are banks and developers deemed 'to big to fail,' there are those who are deemed to fall under the notorious 'appalling vista' category, whereby the State cannot be seen to be wrong. Once you start subjecting serving TDs to the rigours of ordinary law, the country could fall into anarchy. If O'Dea committed perjury, there is no question but that he should stand trial for it. But don't hold your breath. It would set a nasty precedent. Watch newspaper reaction (if any) at the weekend.
True for you: the higher up the ladder, the less chance of paying for your sins in this country. In the rarified air up there, all moral bets are off.
Brian Cowen, in today's Irish Daily Mail, makes it all clear. In a piece in which, naturally, he backs Willy 'Make-My-Day' O'Dea, he says no laws or codes have been violated and that he regards the codes for ethical conduct and so on which pertain to serving ministers, as well as the Law itself, as 'arrangements.'
No, I am not making this up. So that's it said plain really. Freudian slip? Most likely. To Fianna Fáil, as we have seen for years, the Law is an inconvenience, something which gets in the way of reasonable men of status. Joe Bloggs doesn't matter, he's dole-meat, and so are his family. The Law can be applied to them and if they fumble, forget, or fart sideways in court its a contempt charge right away.
The Law does not apply to serving ministers. Just as it does not apply to certain builders who get caught out in porkies while under oath. Joe DoleFodder can be stopped by dole-police on any country road and questioned as to whether he's working and claiming and God help him if he, eh, forgets or makes a mistake in his responses. If Joe's son, Jermayn, waves a gun at someone he will be probably be shot dead or at the least arrested, even if he's doing it for a joke; but Willy 'Clint' O'Dea can point one directly into a photographer's lens and have his picture in the papers, ha-ha, isn't he a great lad altogether! One of ourselves!
But never make the mistake that Willy-Boy or Big Bee Cowen or any of the Brudders in the Leinster House Hood are the same as us. They are not. For us there's the Law. For them, there's bothersome arrangements.
The Limerick Leader has said it will be releasing the tapes of the interview with O'Dea at one o'clock on it's website.
"THE Limerick Leader website will release the tape recording of the interview conducted by our reporter Mike Dwane with Minister O'Dea at 1pm.
This follows numerous requests from the national media, as well as comments in the Dail yesterday by Labour deputy leader Joan Burton."
See link for more.
Willie o'Dea has done the decent thing and has resigned , it's only the tip of the iceberg .
some reports have suggested the liar o'dea is in line for a parachute payment of Euro 100,000 .
Ridiculous inter party political shitetalk/piss and wind masking any form of present realities, that would have you believe we actually have a democracy. I 'can't' wait for the next election when in all probability they'll vote the same shower in or their nearest sycophants.
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