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Junior Minister Dara Murphy Fine Gael via YouTube

Minister claims "no connection" between McNulty board appointment and Seanad nomination

The opposition claim that the controversy is growing ‘shabbier by the day’.

A GOVERNMENT MINISTER has said there was no connection between the appointment of Donegal-based shop owner John McNulty to a state board and his selection as a nominee for the Seanad by-election.

However, the opposition claim that the controversy is growing ‘shabbier by the day’.

Speaking this afternoon on RTE’s Saturday with Brian Dowling, Minister of State at the Departments of the Taoiseach and Foreign Affairs Dara Murphy said the appointment and nomination, as far as he understands, “are two separate processes”.

“There were two separate processes as you know,” Murphy said “There was the appointment of John McNulty to the IMMA board and there was the nomination of him to run as a senate candidate which will be chosen by the 250 members of the Oireachtas.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said yesterday that he takes full responsibility and blame, and said McNulty is “an innocent person in this”.

When asked about what Taoiseach is taking responsibility for, Murphy said

Enda Kenny has said that he is taking responsibility for the procedure around the appointment to state boards in the first place and the pother issues that arose during the week, which was discussed at Fota just 10 days ago by the FG parliamentary party, and that’s how we appoint and select candidates generally.

In a statement released after the programme, Fianna Fáil TD Michael McGrath said Murphy “refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing and actually reverted to Fine Gael’s early and incredible defence of the two events being completely separate and coincidental”.

This mess just grows shabbier with every passing day.

“Fine Gael need to agree what version of events they are asking the public to believe.”

He also noted that the Arts Minister refused to answer questions from the media this morning, as reported by RTÉ News.

Despite being on the board for mere days, McNulty cited his Museum of Modern Art Ireland (IMMA) affiliation as grounds to qualify for the Seanad’s Cultural and Educational Panel in his nomination papers even though he would have to resign his board membership once elected to the upper house.

Minister for Arts Heather Humphrys said that she appointed McNulty to the IMMA board to ensure “better regional representation”.

He has since resigned from the board, as internal rules prevent him from contesting an election and sitting on the board at the same time.

Read: 8 things you need to know about Fine Gael’s Seanad shambles… and why it matters >

‘Not my finest hour’: Enda Kenny says he takes all the blame for McNulty-gate >

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    Mute Jonathan Kerr
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    Apr 9th 2013, 12:43 PM

    That place in letterkenny is always being closed.. There has to be a limit to how many times a place can be closed and be allowed to open..

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    Mute Joey Potatoes
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    Apr 9th 2013, 3:09 PM

    Ireland’s hygiene standards are on a different planet to the rest of Europe, let alone the rest of the world. Anyone who has every taken a foreign holiday can verify this.

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    Mute Gary Brandon
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    Apr 9th 2013, 1:39 PM

    What about GMO crops, chemicals such as Aspartame in all foods and Fluoride in the water? Why isnt there anything been done about that or even reported on in mainstream Media? The Journal keeping the Government Happy as per usual.

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    Mute Cliodhna O'Sullivan
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    Apr 9th 2013, 1:42 PM

    Aoife why lead with the Montessori? Surely the other business’s that serve a wider population would be more news worthy? Especially if they have been in breech before.

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    Mute Tom Barry
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    Apr 9th 2013, 1:52 PM

    @ Gary Brandon, because when the main stream media actually to looks in detail at these stories they realise there’s more fiction than truth in them. Remember these are professional journalist not a collective of cranks and conspiracy theorists…

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    Mute silentbob2012
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    Apr 9th 2013, 1:54 PM

    Your tin foil hat is slipping again Gary.

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    Mute hjGfIgAq
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    Apr 9th 2013, 1:56 PM

    Hi Cliodhna, I used this in the headline as it is unusual to have a montessori in these lists. We get this information on a monthly basis and this is the first time I’ve seen one as having received an enforcement order. Also, it demonstrates that is not just restaurants and take-aways that can be given enforcement orders, which is useful information for both the public and business owners.
    Hope that explains things,
    Aoife

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    Mute Gary Brandon
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    Apr 9th 2013, 2:09 PM

    @Tom Barry Yeah I do forget that Mainstream Media and what they report is always right. I must believe everything the Media tell me and do as my Government says because they are always right.

    When the facts are there and then the Government pay people and doctors to come out against the truth like it has always been you get morons like you who actually then support everything and anything they say. If GMO crops are so safe why do the people who spray them where full protective suits and breathing apparatus? Its not safe to breathe in but it must be safe to ingest and let linger in your system.

    And also on the term “Professional Journalist” what makes them so? Just because they write things in mainstream media makes them professional? Its always easier to believe what is in front of you instead of doing proper research yourself I suppose and the Fluoride that is mellowing you out makes you more susceptible to the bull that they feed you everyday so in part I cannot blame you for following the Heard.

    You are just proof of exactly what the Governments have been perfecting for years and it seems to have worked well.

    Or maybe its because you do not actually want to know the truth about what you actually consume and are just happy to ignore the fact that you are being poisoned everyday. Either way its up to you to do your own research. And if your research consists of FOX News and the likes well then you keep on being a sheep. :)

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    Mute John Billane
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    Apr 9th 2013, 2:43 PM

    *herd

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    Mute Tom Barry
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    Apr 9th 2013, 3:40 PM

    @Gary Brandon your little rant speaks volumes; give a man enough rope…

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    Mute Emma Kelly
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    Apr 9th 2013, 10:37 PM

    You sound like a broken record Gary

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    Mute Fiona Jeffery Scully
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    Apr 9th 2013, 2:24 PM

    Gary I can’t u understand why aspartame has to be put in children’s dilutes etc isn’t it banned in the US

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    Mute John Billane
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    Apr 9th 2013, 2:45 PM

    What does the above comment mean. Please explain.

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    Mute Gary Brandon
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    Apr 9th 2013, 3:01 PM

    Its in everything! Bread, Coke, Diet Coke, All brands of Chewing Gum, its not just in “sugarfree” so Cakes, sweet cooking sauces its everywhere!

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    Mute Fiona Jeffery Scully
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    Apr 9th 2013, 3:01 PM

    Was referring to Gary’s comment re aspartame – supposed to say I can’t understand why it’s put into children’s drinks etc when it’s banned in US

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    Mute Gary Brandon
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    Apr 9th 2013, 3:07 PM

    @Fiona here is just a small list of what contains Aspartame, but the list is alot longer

    http://supersweetblog.wordpress.com/list-of-products-containing-aspartame/

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    Mute John Billane
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    Apr 9th 2013, 3:08 PM

    Probably makes it taste better??

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    Mute Gary Brandon
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    Apr 9th 2013, 3:13 PM

    @John Billane

    Well I’m Glad you like the taste of Cancer

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    Mute John Billane
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    Apr 9th 2013, 3:34 PM

    I smoke. I know the taste.

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    Mute Fiona Jeffery Scully
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    Apr 9th 2013, 6:01 PM

    @ Gary – all the diet stuff really isn’t it – are we better off with the full fat stuff?

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    Mute Keano
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    Apr 9th 2013, 4:36 PM

    From Wikipedia:

    Cancer

    Reviews have found no association between aspartame and cancer. These reviews have looked at numerous carcinogenicity studies in animals, epidemiologic studies in humans, as well as in vitro genotoxicity studies. These studies have found no significant evidence that aspartame causes cancer in animals, damages the genome, or causes cancer in humans at doses currently used.[7][36][39] This position is supported by multiple regulatory agencies like the FDA[53] and EFSA as well as scientific bodies such as the National Cancer Institute.[45]

    Concern about possible carcinogenic properties of aspartame was originally raised and popularized in the mainstream media by John Olney in the 1970s and again in 1996 by suggesting that aspartame may be related to brain tumors. Reviews have found that these concerns were flawed, due to reliance on the ecological fallacy[54] and the purported mechanism of causing tumors being unlikely to actually cause cancer. Independent agencies such as the FDA and National Cancer Institute have reanalyzed multiple studies based on these worries and found no association between aspartame and brain cancer.[39]

    As discussed in the article on controversies around aspartame, the Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center of the European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences released several studies which claimed that aspartame can increase several malignancies in rodents, concluding that aspartame is a potential carcinogen at normal dietary doses.[7] The EFSA[55] and the FDA[53] discounted the study results and found no reason to revise their previously established acceptable daily intake levels for aspartame.

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    Mute Cliodhna O'Sullivan
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    Apr 9th 2013, 3:18 PM

    Aoife
    Thanks for explanation. I see your point and I agree with you, I was looking at it from a different angle places I’d avoid when I was out and about. I didn’t mean it to sound as if I didn’t think they should be there in fact they should.
    Cliodhna

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    Mute hjGfIgAq
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    Apr 9th 2013, 3:28 PM

    Hi Cliodhna, no problem at all! Glad it clarified things for you, I appreciate the question.
    Thanks a million
    Aoife

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    Mute Suzanne Brennan
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    Apr 9th 2013, 10:19 PM

    Thanks Gary for the link. It’s interesting to see which foods it.is in.

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