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Enda Kenny in the Dáil today. Screengrab/Oireachtas TV

"You've some neck" - Martin calls for Kenny to admit he 'fired' Callinan

The Fianna Fáil leader said it was “very serious” that junior minister Alex White agreed that the Taoiseach forced the former Garda Commissioner to quit.

MICHEÁL MARTIN has again re-asserted his claim that Enda Kenny essentially fired former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan.

Martin said he was not alone in holding this view, referencing the letter sent to Labour members by junior health minister Alex White last week in which he is said to have made the same claim.

The Fianna Fáil leader said this was a “very serious assertion by one of your own government ministers”.

Kenny said he had not spoken to White, who is in the running to become the next Labour leader and Tánaiste, about the letter. He added that he did not accept the claims.

“You won’t stand over [the charge you're making] the way you’re going,” Kenny said.

Martin responded: ”You’ve some neck to come in and lecture me about it when one of your ministers has made the assertion”.

m martin jun 11 2 Micheál Martin Screengrab / Oireachtas TV Screengrab / Oireachtas TV / Oireachtas TV

Controversy has surrounded the visit of the secretary-general of the Department of Justice, Brian Purcell, to Callinan’s house the night before he resigned in March.

Today, Martin said the visit, which was at the request of the Taoiseach, was an ”unprecedented move which could only have one outcome”.

When Kenny said that the facts about the issue would come out in the Fennelly inquiry into the taping of phone calls at Garda stations, Martin told him ”you can’t hide behind Fennelly for a year and a half”.

Tax evasion

Also during Leaders’ Questions, independent TD Maureen O’Sullivan called on Kenny to support Irish SMEs with the same “aggression” that the government uses when seeking foreign direct investment.

She said that multinational companies are “very adept” at tax avoidance and “more likely to let employees go” than Irish businesses.

The Taoiseach said the government was committed to supporting SMEs.

Kenny said that O’Sullivan made some valid points, but he rejected her assertion that “multinationals come in and they avail of the tax concessions and then they head for the hills”.

This morning it was announced that the European Commission has launched an official probe into whether Ireland broke rules on state aid as part of a tax deal offered to Apple.

Kenny said the government was committed to cooperating with the OECD to respond to the issue in an international context.

Read: Alex White thinks Enda Kenny fired the Garda Commissioner… maybe

Read: Brussels launches probe into Ireland’s Apple tax deal

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58 Comments
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    Mute Munster1
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    Mar 29th 2022, 6:14 PM

    Great to see peace talks advancing. We cannot afford the 10 billion a year 200,000 refugees would cost us. And before anyone asks, it was already said today that every 10,000 would cost 500 million.

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    Mute Des Doherty
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    Mar 29th 2022, 6:22 PM

    @Munster1: great to see peace talks so less people will die

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    Mute John Mulligan
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    Mar 29th 2022, 6:23 PM

    @Munster1: the cost to us of refugees is a headline figure that ignores a few details. Firstly, much of the money provided to refugees, along with whatever savings they have managed to bring with them, gets spent locally and also has a multiplier effect. In addition, a lot of refugees will quickly fill job vacancies and become net contributors to society here.
    So 10 billion isn’t the real cost, that would be very much less.

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    Mute Munster1
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    Mar 29th 2022, 6:44 PM

    @Des Doherty: that goes without saying des.

    109
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    Mute Frank Cauldhame
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    Mar 29th 2022, 7:37 PM

    @John Mulligan: You constantly make sweeping generalised scathing derogatory comments about the 10k homeless in Ireland yet ‘state’ that the majority of Ukrainian refugees will become net contributors to Irish society??? How do you know that? By the way I welcome as many Ukrainian refugees as we can take but find your analysis of the situation evidently hypocritical.

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    Mute Quiet Goer
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    Mar 29th 2022, 8:30 PM

    @Munster1: Why does it cost 50,000 per refugee? if you’re not paying Dublin rent you could have a decent life on 50k. Presumably if they’re only housed in tents and given a subsistence allowance, or are living off the generosity of people takin them in it should cost a fraction of that. If we are spending 50,000 per refugee we’re doing it wrong

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    Mute Billybutcher
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    Mar 29th 2022, 8:32 PM

    @Munster1: wow such charity

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    Mute JG
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    Mar 29th 2022, 9:20 PM

    @Munster1: good on ya… Thinking of others grief before yourself..

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    Mute JG
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    Mar 29th 2022, 9:21 PM

    @Munster1: indeed it goes without you saying it. But there ya go.

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Mar 29th 2022, 10:02 PM

    @Frank Cauldhame: I don’t know about his comments on homeless but you cannot directly compare refugees to homeless people it just doesnt work. Our homeless need to be reintegrated into soceity and helped oast their problems but it actually may be easier for some of these refugees to become a functional part of soceity as hard as that may seem.

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Mar 29th 2022, 10:11 PM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: *doesn’t *society *past *society… I really should take more time typing

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    Mute Michael McGrath
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    Mar 30th 2022, 12:04 AM

    @John Mulligan: That depends on how fact refugees can be turned around after they arrive – and in the case of this government I haven’t much hope. I know one of them, Malcolm Noonan, and he’s dead slow!

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    Mute Michael McGrath
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    Mar 30th 2022, 12:05 AM

    @Michael McGrath: how FAST

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    Mute Michael McGrath
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    Mar 30th 2022, 12:11 AM

    @John Mulligan: It depends on how fast the refugees are turned around! We don’t have any business head even appointed yet to do that, no team, no system installed.

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    Mute Sean
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    Mar 29th 2022, 7:11 PM

    I don’t believe anything Russia says. They have lied all along to their own citizens and to the world. Remember the little green men in Crimea!

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    Mute El Sparko
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    Mar 29th 2022, 7:50 PM

    @Sean: the little green men were the Wagner Group mercenary’s

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    Mute Billybutcher
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    Mar 29th 2022, 8:33 PM

    @Sean: agreed they are lying again

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    Mute Mick Tobin
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    Mar 29th 2022, 6:20 PM

    Looks positive, but I’m cautious – think there is still a grave danger of Russia eventually taking all of Ukraine’s coast (suffocating its economic viability), but there seem to be some positive developments. Apparently life in Odesa is defiantly returning to some sort of normality – in part because the Ukrainian army is holding off the Russian advance in Mykolaiv, and there are even reports that they have taken back parts of Kherson in counterattacks. Kherson sits just north of the Dnieper river.

    If they manage to recapture Kherson and hold on to it, there’s not only three significant port cities in Ukrainian hands, but one of them (Kherson) on the banks of the Dnieper. That would be a major plus for the prospect of its post-war economy – given that it’s still likely that a major part of south eastern and eastern territory – including Mariupol, will end up lost to Russia.

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    Mute Hugh Mc Donnell
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    Mar 29th 2022, 9:31 PM

    Now that the momentum is with the Ukrainian army I hope they have the ability and weapons to push Russia and it mercenaries out of Eastern Ukraine.

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    Mute Gary Dunne
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    Mar 29th 2022, 6:38 PM

    In response to sanctions on its financial institutions and it’s current inability to use the SWIFT payment system to move Euros and/or US Dollars, Russia has informed “unfriendly countries” that it will accept payment for gas in Rubles only. Both the G7 and the EU have said no to this. Russia’s response is that they have until March 31st to make payment in Rubles or else they will find the tap is turned off.
    So… I’m guessing there will be “understanding” reached before the deadline.

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    Mute David cotter
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    Mar 29th 2022, 6:24 PM

    This Wagner group won’t scare the Ukrainians
    Saw a Ukrainian solider on cnn running around like a lunatic being handed RPGS by his friends and talking out Russian armour…absolutely fearless stuff.
    This invasion is a busted flush…..

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    Mute Geoff Bateman
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    Mar 29th 2022, 9:27 PM

    But can we believe the Russians??

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    Mute Mike Walsh
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    Mar 29th 2022, 10:18 PM

    This account by Tom Clonan is riddled with inaccuracies, untruths and bogus reports from the NATO ‘History Book’.
    He doesn’t even mention the reasons for this present conflict and who were responsible for, not only allowing it to occur, but ensuring its inevitability.

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    Mute David Bourke
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    Mar 30th 2022, 11:14 AM

    @Mike Walsh:

    The reason for the present conflict is Russian aggression, and support for Russian separatists.

    Putin is responsible for it.

    Germany allowed it to occur by blocking military support to Ukraine, and financing Russia by building the pipeline.

    Putin made it inevitable by deciding to invade.

    Now p.i.iss off to your hole, trying to spread misinformation and lies about this unprovoked Russian war. Ukraine has the right to join EU, they are a sovereign nation. They have the right to join NATO, as they are a sovereign nation threatened by Russia.

    Putin, and Russia are the villains here, it is as simple as that.

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    Mute Brian Henoll
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    Mar 30th 2022, 2:08 PM

    @David Bourke: this 110%

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    Mute Eoghan Augusta
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    Mar 29th 2022, 10:21 PM

    Devil’s advocate.. we couldnt fix 10k homeless we can now fix 200k but people can’t buy a house. Do our government just posture and if they had the solution why did we listen through successive governments saying this was a huge issue? Maybe it’s like HSE, money and a hope. I welcome Ukranians but I also welcome an answer from government as to the ease in which they are planning to provide housing. Get up on the horse all you want but if people are on housing lists they should go further up and not down!

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    Mute Philip O'Connor
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    Mar 29th 2022, 9:55 PM

    How much do you pay Clonan for this drivel? Why not just download the Pentagon handouts free of charge? You can add local “colour” very cheaply

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    Mute BOT 4d4143204a6f686e446f65
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    Mar 29th 2022, 10:13 PM

    Putins team is very tactical.MAKE NO MISTAKES here…its working in line with his plan-Ukraine won’t join NATO and Russia does look to have ‘influence’ in the West. If he closes off sea access we (EU) are in trouble.

    CONTROL OIL AND YOU CONTROL NATIONS;CONTROL FOOD AND YOU CONTROL THE PEOPLE- henry kissinger

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