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MARY LOU MCDONALD was conspicuous by her absence for Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil earlier with Aengus Ó Snodaigh instead asking questions on behalf of Sinn Féin.
Thursday is traditionally a day when opposition deputy leaders (although Fianna Fáil has no deputy leader) quiz the Tánaiste on issues of the day.
McDonald has had some particularly robust, entertaining and newsworthy exchanges with Burton in recent weeks. But not today.
Instead Ó Snodaigh was sent out to ask the Burton about cuts in the respite care grant.
This left some around Leinster House wondering if McDonald had either gone into hiding or had been sidelined in the wake of the controversy over Maíria Cahill and her staunch defence of Gerry Adams.
Adams was subjected to a series of difficult questions from Taoiseach Enda Kenny about the Cahill controversy during yesterday’s Leaders’ Questions and Sinn Féin may have been keen to avoid the matter being raised again.
However, it transpires that McDonald was at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for much of the morning and early afternoon. This isn’t unusual: the Dublin Central TD usually spends part of her Thursday morning at PAC until Leaders’ Questions.
But today she took the opportunity to remain in Committee Room 1 in Leinster House to quiz officials from the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board about the National Children’s Hospital.
A Sinn Féin spokesperson insisted that this was nothing to do with McDonald “hiding in the PAC” in a bid to avoid having to deal with the Cahill revelations in the Dáil.
The spokesperson insisted: “She was the second questioner, she hasn’t been the second questioner in months. She’s dealing with the National Children’s Hospital – one of the biggest developments in the State. So there is a very legitimate reason why she was not doing Leaders’ Questions.”
They added that Ó Snodaigh had held a comprehensive briefing with respite care groups this week and was keen to question the Tánaiste about the issue in the Dáil.
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Jaysus, you did well to get an article out of “she was in the room next door, doing her job”.
Bang on Adam.. It is kinda pathetic isn’t it!
But its not like. Mary Lo to shy away from having a go at the Government especially Labour.
With the new smear campaign launched today by one of Gerry’s ‘decent people’ claiming Cahill’s abuse was a ‘liaison’ after a few cans of beer, it was wise that Mary Lou and Gerry lay low for a while rather than come out and condemn the slur.
Mary Lou has come out and condemned it on twitter. Quite right.
Enda Kenny would also be quite right to cancel the meeting Gerry invited him to and he agreed to with such ‘decent’ people.
Pontius – presumably you are speaking of The Honourable Leader of The Irish Branch of The Conservative and Unionist Party, Sir Edna Kenny MP ???
Finnucane a man charged and arraigned before a Court of law and found not guilty. What would your pfoblsm with that bs exactly ???
John sounds like an excuse there for Enda to backout of the meeting….YFG flying a kite for herr leader i see
Found not guilty by default not by trial and now he is sharing info and is being described as contemptible by his party deputy leader.
Why did Maria not give evidence ? and no he was not described as you said
you agree with Mary Lou then ?
Gerry Adams the 132nd most charismatic terrorist on the planet is now finished as even the utter simpletons that used to trust him and vote for him are now finally drawing the line…..
Although you would have thought that might have happened years ago over blowing babies out of buggys and knee capping teenagers etc.
No it wasn’t the act of filling cars with semtex to kill mums and kids that bothered people or 5 grown men shooting a kid in the knees for smoking a joint…. It was the whole rape culture they had going on apparently that made Johnny and tracksuit Samantha gasp over the pages of da Irish Sun.
Good woman Mary Lou, loyal to the last you have given everything, including your last shred of credibility to the cause
- You cannot have a future now surely and thankfully.
Do not be too disappointed when your sarcasm riddled obituary fails to materialise
how this constitutes journalism is beyond me. completely misleading story based on nothing
Come on Journal, give us more Irish Water stories to get hysterical about.
Instead she was still in the Dáil, just working on a different topic.
Honestly, I’m no SF supporter but this is really and truly shockingly bad journalism. Could The Journal not have reported instead on the questions she asked about the children’s hospital or even reported on the exchange between Burton and O’Snodaigh.
Also where was Gerry Adams today? Will we be treated on an article on that important issue also?
agree, totally pointless story.
Irish journalism over the past few days, in reporting the whole IRA ”child abuse” story, has been very questionable.
It is about pushing an agenda, rather than fair, honest and non biased journalism. Most people want the full facts on this story, not smear tactics or sensationalist headlines.
“Headline headline read all about it.” TD in being somewhere else mystery.
Wtf is this nonstory and nonsense about?
What next?
Tractor not seen on rural back road?
She was off hanging her head in shame and rightly so.
she was sitting on Gerry’s shoulder saying ‘that’s right’, ‘yeah, so it tis’ every time he coughed or blinked.
what answers would they be.
when will she admit what her real agenda is and who is backing her
and shes an unkown liar
Ths placs to get those answers was before ths court in Belfast. The 1 she walked away from. .. a major trial by media being orchestration here but no one asking why Ms Cahill withdrew from that Case. …
Tom are you the former labour councillor for Shannon and failed General Election candidate for Clare ?
Exactly why indeed ? and that question will not be asked by any journalist you can be sure
in tour opinion but to say someone is a known liar that has to be proven
And people can’t change. Oh sorry forgot Mary Lou was once Fianna fail. You SF dude.
Do not be so defensive Tom, I was only asking if you were the same person ? I asked you last week same question when you criticized Mary Lou when u said you were a constituent
Shinners intimidating other posters. Yep, sounds like yer style alright. Who he is is besides the point. The issue here is Mary Lou running with her tail between her legs when Sinn Fein is once again exposed for being the thugs they are.
Are you alleging I intimidated somebody ? How is asking Tom O Shaughnessy if he was a former Councillor or election candidate intimidation ? I note your extremely sexist comment there and it is ironic your plaintive beatings and you make a comment like that….hypocrit
your comments portray that you are a troll whose only interest is attacking Sinn Fein and you have zero interest in truth
All female SF TDs appeared to be absent
Stephen Kearon – Are you back working with Mehole again ?
Thought that FF fired you last year ?
Smarmy remark considering your party were running the country for most of the period of institutional sexual abuse and were happy to turn a blind eye rather than have the catholic church influence the grey vote in FGs favour.
Both you mean Stephen
Stephen was removed/stood down from all elected positions in the party at the time.
It was the culmination of a long line of events where Stephen kept becoming the media story and the party kept on bearing the brunt.
Which is not what a party PRO is meant to do.
He is entitled to be a member but I can’t see him getting any senior positions, for a low ranking member to have been a national trending topic twice on twitter for all the wrong reasons, some achievement.
Is it any wonder that FF are on 20% in the polls?
I think we have all had dealings with that .man. I have loads of stuff there if needed just before the election
@ were jammin Who in your opinion is the grey vote??????
Genuine question.
Having Stephen do PR was like Captain Hook catching balloons, it just was never going to work out and it was not thought out.
Can’t see him coming back, he has a few friends in the party at senior levels but has also rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way.
He’d be a god send to the papers looking to spin stories about old skool FF and there would be no shortage of party members who’d help them do him down.
Is this the same Stephen Kearon who was charging his comrade down in Wicklow Dickie Roche €3250 to host a website for a year when it can easily be done for a fee in double figures. Of course it was us, the taxpayers, who were charged for this website seeing as Dickie didn’t pay out if his own pocket. Stephen have you payed back this money to the taxpayer yet?
It takes 15 minutes to do Leaders Questions.
And she always, always, always does Leaders Questions.
I was in there today and herself and Gerry Adams were making a show of walking around, saying hello, how are you to everyone, as though nothing was wrong.
It was stomach churning.
I see I got a few dislikes.
Look, I know Mary Lou a little bit. We use the same smoking area.
I like her a lot. She is intelligent, knows her stuff and is well up for a debate or an argument if it happens.
But she is losing the respect of everyone around Leinster House over this. She isn’t involved, she had nothing to do with any of this stuff. But she’s supporting someone who did and she is supporting him blindly – when she made comments about abuse that were entirely against abusers and those protecting them.
I am not one of these rabid anti SF types that wants nothing to do with them. I am not hostile to Sinn Féin’s history, the P.IRA, all of that. There is peace and that is enough for me. I prefer to focus on the
politics of today, and of tomorrow.
But this is about the abuse of women and children, and the protection of abusers and the mistreatment of victims. This aspect of Sinn Féin’s past is disgusting. I can’t let this go. While the country was outraged over Fr. Brendan Smyth and his being moved around to avoid detection and scandal, It appears that Sinn Féin did the same thing. Sinn Fein need to come clean, their members and their leadership need to face up to this issue and that means confronting those who were involved, and that appears to include Gerry Adams.
The core values of republicanism are liberty, equality and solidarity. On this most serious issue, Sinn Féin are failing, and if it was any other party or Deputy, they would be to the forefront in calling for action and consequences, and rightly so.
This issue was dealt with north of the border several months ago. If you were there perhaps you could have asked those responsible why both FF and FG have cut funding to Rape Crisis Centres so some have closed and others have reduced services.
There’s a story for you.
Socmot – I would be very interested in your evidence that The IRA used to move around perverts – you seem to have some inside knowledge – we all look foreword to reading it please ???
I agree with you socmot. Such a clever articulate woman who could have chosen any party to join and chose the Shinners.
She is now paying the price because the Sinn Fein leader would not know the truth if it came up and hit him in the face.
A party with a dreadful history. I often look and listen to Mary Lou and wonder what the hell was she thinking!
Mary YOU CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH
Joe if that was to me please explain.
You dont know me!
Slight diffference but very subtle analogy. Brendan was tried and found guilty before a court of law.. maria cahill was given opportunity to have her case heard there also.. she walked away. … something doesn’t add up here
BrendN Smith**
and fairness where not everything that somebody is accused of is always right and factual
” a party with a dreadful history ” are you sure you do not mean FFFGlab
Yes Caobhin
A party with blood on their hands
A party who took it upon themselves to do their own policing in a most inhumane way
A party with a leader who will never be able to tell the truth about his past because he would have to be arrested immediately
Do you want me to go on???
Yes do May and maybe be a bit more specific with your charges against Gerry..and explain whether doyens of Fiann FAil like Frank Aiken or Fine Gael like Sean MacEoin had “blood” on their hands
McDonald is finished now. She has zero credibility. The fact that she barefaced lies when asked about Mairia Cahill and if adams was ever in ira means that she just cannot be trusted. She has lost the support of every decent woman in the country too. She’s had her 15 minutes and now it’s over.
She is spending a day with the party strategists getting faulty chips replaced and being reprogrammed with Release 8.OS Gerry .01
..up on blocks?
There are some extraordinary exercises in low journalistic standards doing the rounds presently .
Cathal MacCoille set the low bar earlier this morning , with Pat Kenny following apparently ?
Here we have a non story suggesting that a hugely hard working Deputy Leader of SF may have been suspended , with just as much hard evidence as the Press Hangmen managed against Gerry Adams in the last week too !!!
Check out the newstalk interview with Peadair Tobin earlier. Newstalk were moning that they couldn’t get a SF TD on to answer questions, then interrupted him every time he tried to do just that.
You guys are not just pathetic but paranoid too. There is no suggestion in the article that McDonald GD (defender of Gerry) was suspended. She was beavering away in committee room 1. Taking a wee break from the Dáil. Classic SF strategy. She is now so associated with the rape of Maria Cahill that she is toxic in the public eye.
Classic anti-SF strategy number 145: associate every story about Sinn Fein with a slur/spoof.
Toibin was not there to answer questions. He doesn’t even dare ask them himself of his masters.
Apparently he is ‘not qualified’ to question Gerry on what perverts might my lurking in the relocated homes in the republic. Toibin has not powers to investigate anything. He is not an investigator he tells us.
He could tell us though that sexual abuse is wrong and victims must come forward. Which is the new Sinn Fein mantra when asked a specific question.
The Sinn Finn wall of diversion has been raised, and it is at least as thick as Peadair Toibin.
You would want to look at what Mary Lou McDonald is tweeting. Her personal disengagement has started.
Incidentally Hugh O’Connell , Journalist – Where was An Taoiseach during “LEADERS” questions today ?
Isn’t that a mystery now ???
u might be really surprised what the public may think about lots of things Ahippo……great article in Irish Examiner http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/abuse-survivor-louise-okeefe-seeks-meeting-with-taoiseach-278075.html#.VEfe26kPFUY.twitter
The level of ‘journalism’ in The Journal these days is extremely poor. It has gone from broadsheet to tabloid in the last few months and has completely unbalanced articles, poor factual research and mostly, stories about nothing.
It is the SF publicity wing.
Why else would it have such a stupid article than this
Typical shinner, shout and whinge for weeks but when it comes to dialogue and answering hard questions, shur she’ll skip that one. Rotten to the core.
Has to be said that Burton got the better of McDonald in recent encounters.. Have to say SF’s “Demand everything, pay for nothing” message is beginning to wear a bit thin..
What planet was that on where Joan got the better of Mary Lou….
There’s a touch of Dennis O’Brien off the journal.ie recently
So Deputy McDonald can give but isn’t great on taking. She’ll go far in the Dail!
Miss piggy too busy rolling around in her own shite in her stye
do not be judging everyone else by your own standards
Click bait completely false headline , followed up by speculation and very misleading opinions , then a brief two or three line statement of actual fact at the end of the post .
This is the norm now for anyone in opposition to the government with the exception of fina Fail (although , they are getting hit with a lot of rubbish ) . This is the government pro guidebook for government propaganda journalism.
TheJournal can wake up and realise that the fight is only beginning with Irish Water , we have had enough we want OUR country back and we are going to get it , its about time you stoped this garbage reporting or become in the firing line as well . See how long you can afford to release trip like this article when the people boycott you with the O Brien and state media
Gerry will stay as long as he can cos while he’s a TD he has some immunity from prosecution …as in cops would be afraid to pull him on anything because of the abuse they’d get claiming the party was being targeted or their timing coincided with something else sin fein were doin! The minute he steps down he’ll have to face a few Truths!
what are you alleging tractor man he could be prosecuted for …go on be specific
Why this headline, Hugh? Why wasn’t the Teasock doing leader’s questions? Oh, he was elsewhere. So was ms Mcdonald.
Let them moan says Joan
If they have no cake or Water
I’ll retire with my camera Phone
And let Labour to the Slaughter.
Cringe
yes cringe at moan and her apologists here
Hugh, you should work for Irish Water. With these kind of stories, you’d get a bonus every time. Needs improvement.
Well at least we get to post opinions on whole sinn fein, gerry adams issue. All i will say is “oh is it election time soon” , why so well timed,is it a political move or someone seeking justice?
interesting it is on run up to Right2water demos on the first
Jesus ye couldn’t wait first story mentioning SF in ages that hadn’t been blocked for comments and ye are in like rabid dogs!!! And Stephen Kearon will u plz unblock me on Twitter you coward!!
Bunch of losers using this woman to bash Sinn Féin.
So what
Is the Journal just trying to paint a picture about how wonderful SF are?
Would you be doing the same if other party leaders were not there?
So Sinn Fein were still asking the Questions to phone moanJoan and still doing other work in the Dail and got a bit more air time out of it- the Shinners have nothing to learn-
so well said but I am afraid nobody will ask the question
Why didn’t she just let the courts find the truth out?
Because Gerry only heard!.
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