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Updated at 2.06pm
FORMER FIANNA FÁIL senator Des Hanafin has died, aged 86.
Hanafin, from Thurles in Co Tipperary, was first elected to the Seanad in 1965 after previously serving as a county councillor, and retained his seat until 1993.
He successfully ran again in 1997.
Hanafin was a chairman of the Pro-Life Campaign and launched an unsuccessful legal challenge against the results of the divorce referendum. Most recently he said that people who intended to vote against the same-sex marriage referendum had been treated unfairly.
Both his children also served as Fianna Fáil politicians – former minister Mary Hanafin and former senator John Hanafin.
In a statement, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin expressed his sadness at Hanafin’s death:
His dedication to public service was passed onto both his children: John and Mary, who both went into public life serving as a Senator and as a Government Minister respectively. I know that seeing both his children achieve high office was a source of great pride to him.
“I want to express my deepest sympathies to Des’ loving wife, Mona and to his children, at this sad time.
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They are clearly threatened by our ability to destroy the Brexit talks. For the first time in history we have the upper hand over Britain, and they don’t know how to take it..
@Sandra O’Fucáif: How did we take the wrong side in this battle ?
It was the UK that chose to leave the EU not Ireland. If you want to dance to the Tories tune then there is plane departing hourly !!!
@ianglen: The Brexiteers are behaving just like a National Front movement and they don’t like anything that gets in their way including the Irish problem as Britain likes to call it, which was caused by them in the first place. They poke with this good friday agreement and we will all suffer the consequences on both islands.
@ianglen: Brexit has shown that Unionist and the British agenda dominates NI and that Nationalist and the Irish Gov. opinion counts for nothing.
@Sandra O’Fucáif: I’m afraid you are on the wrong side of history Sandra. Sucking up to UK Governments composed of high Tories has never worked for Ireland. You refer to our close ties with London. Yes we have close ties with London. Most of these ties have been embedded through shared membership of the EU and the shared reality of negotiating the GF Agreement. The UK has chosen to leave the former and potentially destroy the latter in pursuit of an inchoate English nationalist dream. Let them at it that’s democracy. But to suggest that we should follow such a shower of delusional incompetents is to utterly ignore Ireland’s history. We are an after-though. That’s all. And that’s all we will ever be. We are better off forging our identity as a small open nation within the EU.
@John R: her profile doesn’t link to anywhere. I don’t think Sandra actually exists. I think she’s a bot.
@ianglen: Do not be so silly
@Sandra O’Fucáif: It’s an impossible scenario since the only sort of deal the EU would agree to is the UK remaining in the customs union and with no hard border, there’s no incentive for them otherwise. That sounds like a baseless scare tactic, it makes absolutely no sense.
@Sandra O’Fucáif: No links, no followers, shell profile. How is the weather in St. Petersburg?
@Sandra O’Fucáif: I am a bit confused by your claim that we took the wrong side we did not select any side we are remaining part of the EU which consists of a union of 28 countries [soon to be 27] it is the UK who selected a different path. Are you suggesting that we become part of the United Kingdom. We now have the opportunity of no longer hiding in the shadow of the bigger island to the East. Based on the performance of the current UK government it is difficult to describe the Irish Government as a shambles. History is usually written by the victors so it is more than possible that t does lie.
@Sandra O’Fucáif: There is something weird about your posts. It would appear that your native language is not English.
@Sandra O’Fucáif: People learn from history and move forward without having to repeat the mistakes from the past. The biggest mistake is stoking up tensions between former enemies who have proved that they can work together. Religion was never the cause of the troubles, it was blatant narrow-mindedness and ignorance on both sides. The same kind of ignorance which surround peoples fears of the EU.
@Sandra O’Fucáif: take the soup and drop the O’
@Sandra O’Fucáif: What a line of dimwitted obtuse nonsense typical of a serf mentality.
Always a bit baffled what Kate Hoey is actually doing in Labour, she is more right wing pro Brexit than your average UKIP member, and more Orange in her outlook than many DUP members.
@Brendan Luke Ferron: I think she could charitably be called a maverick.
@Brendan Luke Ferron: Brexit isn’t automatically right wing. With Jeremy Corbyn an early eurosceptic and a muffled Brexiteer, I suppose it’s fair to say that she’s simply saying out loud what is believed by certain Labour MPs, members, and voters. About Brexit as such that is, I should hope what she says about the GFA isn’t widely held at all.
In Corbyn’s dreams, Brexit affords freedom from the EU’s free market liberalism so he can build his socialist paradise. Which I suppose is all a load of balls, but at least Corbyn will at the same time support the GFA. He’d rather see a united Ireland.
@Mick Tobin: a United ireland .no health . In the north their is free health care with English speaking doctors who know what you want.
@Patricia Cooney: That is a bit of a myth I am afraid because healthcare in the north is at the mercy of the NHS and beibg cut to threads at the moment. For the past two years I have been getting cancer treatment in the Mater and can tell you that it is not only free, but also better than the UK provides.
@Chris Kirk: tell that to the people of nineteen year old who died in hospital where they couldn’t get a doctor on call . And he blends to death.
@Patricia Cooney: I think we all agree ireland has to 1) up its health service, preferably to a national health service which is free at point of care such as the NHS in the UK or Italy and
2) up its housing service with affordable rents, no repossessions and evictions, new/renovated builds for social housing, decent access to house purchase for young couples.
the problem Brexiteers have with the GFA is the role which it gives the Dublin government in relation to Northern Ireland and how the Irish question is the main threat to their grand plans.
Amazing how they couldn’t give a hoot about peace in Northern Ireland if it may interfere with their political wishes,I guess you could call them terrorists
@Adam O’Donoghue: The GFA was never a solution to the future of NI. It was just a fudge to stop the violence. Unionists and Nationalists want different solutions. Brexit has exposed the GFA as treaty with no teeth or substance.
The Irish side has been conned into thinking that NI could reform itself.
There’s a dangerous ignorance regarding how the north works within the brexiteer world, and Ruth ‘the truth’ Edwards suggestions regarding anything to do with the GFA should never be taken seriously for even half a second. A delusional woman.
@Speak Freely: that ignorance extends to all things Northern if you ask me. I’m not saying I’m clued in about the north but then again it’s not my job to be…
It’s true that the GFA enshrines sectarianism to some degree, but sectarianism would be alive and well in government with no GFA, so it’s a moot point.
Those saying the agreement has “run its course” have short memories. It was signed in 1998, not 1776. A lot of open wounds remain – the last thing anyone needs is the ripping off of the political bandages.
They seem to have no problem destroying the NI economy with Brexit.
@Drive for show & putt for dough: They seem to have no problem restarting a war..Don’t they think their security services will be stretched far enough after Brexit watching Islamic terror groups without everyone of the IRA’s launching independent campaigns in mainland Britain and NI… not to mention the UDA/UDF on the loyalist side kicking off…oh and then there’s the lunatics in the INLA… The Brexiteers are polishing the old armour of the Empire and preparing for a fight when Britain isn’t even strong enough to strap it on…
@Drive for show & putt for dough: Yes we know what the DUP are doing in their own selfishness to cling onto power.
Hoey + Hannon + Dudley Edwards = assorted nobodies.
Shame they didn’t have the same sense of urgency over the previous years when the Good Friday Agreement was being used as a political football to score points against SF instead of recognising it’s importance as an International Agreement underlined by votes and referendum on both sides of the Border, with the potential to unlock new relationships within the island of Ireland!
Still, better late than never!
nobody ever used the GFA to beat up you poor wee shinners. perpetual victims the lot of ye
@James Connolly: Ehh I think you have me confused with someone else, I am not a “Shinner” whatever that is!
You on the other hand are clearly a Govt Shill and I obviously hit a raw nerve!
The truth hurts?
big bad world ganging up on you poor shinners, let me get you a tissue : D
@James Connolly: Your clearly delusional, comes from hanging out with too many Spin Drs!
Perhaps sitting them down and explaining in detail how a person dies from injuries sustained during a bomb blast or what exactly machine gun fire at close to point blank range does to the human body might focus their minds as to what exactly is at stake.. or perhaps one of their colleagues might explain to them what it’s like to watch a friend die from crush injuries after some fu#ker drops a hotel on them..
@Vigo the Carpathian: they seem to have very short & selective memories…
@Matt Corrigan: I was going to suggest that maybe a few pub bombings in the Brexit heartland might remind them but I was concerned people might confuse me giving a very real possibility of messing with the GFA as an example with some kind of call to arms… It’s difficult to hammer home to these types that it’s their own people who’s lives at risk just as much as the lives of a “few Paddies” without it sounding threatening…
So Ireland should think about reinstating its sovereign claim to the whole island,
If they’re not pushed about it!
@difference: The GFA was a con.. Unionists were never going to change and in 20 years since the GFA nothing has changed.
@tom McCormack: 1. How was it supposed to change Unionist’s?.
2. and what was supposedly to change in 20 yrs ?
@difference: 1.Unionists ran NI since 1922 with no input from Nationalists. This was meant to change.
2. In 20 years Unionists and Nationalists were meant to run NI equally. Brexit shows that NI is run just for Unionist needs.
The government are being strong on this. I was brought up FF but the last thing we need now is a weak leader.
Brits Out! Pure and Simple.
Perfect example of how deluded the Brexiteers are. They really have not got a clue. The same group who are relishing their “fresh” meat from their new markets in New Zealand and Argentina.
It’s amazing how easily history is forgotten by politicians who want something badly enough. What a quagmire AND clusterfeck all rolled into one.
It’s called democracy folks if folks disagree with you that’s life.Ireland is at the bottom of the EU’s agenda and Brexit will supersede any previous agreements. There is a world out there outside leprechaun politics.
The last thing we want is a return to political violence
Either Ireland (the EU) or the UK can decide to protect or neglect its border.
This is a simple game of chicken.
Bets are on the UK opts to neglect and the EU needs to make the decision.
The only luck we have in Ire is that the EU is fully us otherwise we could be back to war on the streets of the North of Ireland.
@Donal Carey: It won’t just be confined to the streets of NI though.. and after the failure of the GFA and Sunningdale before it neither island will see a chance of peace for generations. The Republic and mainland Britain will be the main targets this time out and with so many other terrorist groups wanting a pop at the UK it won’t be long before unusual alliances start popping up. You think the IRA wouldn’t do deals with Islamic extremist groups after doing deals with Gaddafi even after Lockerbie ?
@Vigo the Carpathian: tony Blair had dealings with Gadaffi after Lockerbie. So did the US, they used his regime to torture people. Then they overthrew him
@Niall Conneely: Blair wasn’t receiving arms and training from him to wage war on the streets of the UK.. Terrorist groups are going to need supplies and right now the middle east is the go to place and groups like Isis are going to be more than happy to give them free of charge if they know they’re going to be used to strike at the UK heartland. Then of course the Brits are going to supply the likes of the UDA/UVF under the table again and we’re all back to square one except this time instead of limited amounts of demolition ordnance like Semtex it’ll be C4 in almost unlimited quantities as well as everything from kalashnikovs to .50 BMG’s…not to mention the possibility of chemical or radiological components.All because the Brexiteers wanna play a real live game of Age of Empires
@Donal Carey: I don’t think it is luck – I think it is the fruit of painstaking work by our MEPs, diplomats and foreign service
Two words for Katie whatever her name… Clueless Idiot..
@Michael Fehily: having had a go at cyclists as “Lycra louts that run red lights” she was in October 2013 fined £240 for ,yes, driving through a red light.That just about sums her up – not one of the world’s great minds.
Like as if the the British establishment cared one whit about this Ireland – I am afraid we are being played for fools.
The real game, the BREXIT establishment is at is to bring GFA and NI back into focus as it changes the story for two important reasons in their eyes.
i) Its an Irish problem etc. and all the handwashing it entails and pinning the blame
ii) If it flairs up in diplomatic or much worse, it puts a spotlight on Corbyns links to Republicans etc and other characters in his past.
They are using it as a weapon to neutralize Corbyn.
What about these so called politicians on both sides in north drawing salaries and future pensions while doing nothing for either communities. Put them on the dole and call new election. If they can’t agree after that never let either of them govern again.
What about the politicians on both sides drawing salaries and future pensions doing nothing for either community. Stop all wages and entitlements put them on the dole. Call a new election and if they still can’t agree never let either of them govern again
What about the politicians on both sides who are quite happy to draw salaries, expenses and future pensions while doing nothing for either community. Sack them and put them on the dole. Call a new election and if they still can’t agree never let either of them govern again
The DUP are also trying to keep out of the fray by refusing to have Stormont up and running. They are depending on there being no executive in place in order that they do not have to come out against the westminster government over brexit. if the North is under direct rule , they can wash their hands of any involvement in the brexit shambles. a brexit they want, in the view of hardline unionists direct rule is better than having nationalist involvement in the running of the 6 counties.
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