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SHANE ROSS HAS said that around 85 independent councillors are “absolutely gagging” to get involved in his nascent political movement which he insists is not a party and does not have a name.
Describing it as an ‘independent alliance’, the Dublin South TD told TheJournal.ie that he has been talking to “nine or ten” people in the Dáil as well as “a massive number of independent councillors”.
Among the TDs he named as being interested in getting involved are Finian McGrath, Noel Grealish, Stephen Donnelly, John Halligan and Michael Fitzmaurice and he plans to talk with more deputies this week.
He denied he was the leader of such a movement, saying he was just the one “making the most noise”. Ross admitted it does not have policies but will have principles including “handing power back to the people” and “ending patronage”.
We asked Ross if he trusted Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin and whether he could do a deal with them after the next election:
Video: Paul Hosford/TheJournal.ie
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A politician saying that politicians are not trust worthy , Shane telling us what we already know.
Mr Ross also says that TDs behave like County Councillors and that that should end as they should be focused on national points. Resources should be shared based on need, not interventions from politicians.
Which is a fair point until you look at how he has lobbied to keep services in his constituency, including a Garda Station. Why were Garda stations in his constituency more important to be kept open than those in other constituencies?
Ryan – all gardai stations should have been kept open it’s up to each T.D. to fight their own corner at both a local and national level….
Ireland is going through the process of weeding the good politicians out from the bad ones – those who spoke on behalf of Enda Kenny yesterday are in big trouble with their seats – Fine Gael simply do not have the traditional grass roots . ….. neither do Labour …..
Enda will return the same result in the next election as when he took over at its all time low !
Ross is a good td but he doesnt want ff, fg or sf in govt. Im not sure how that will work. Could we see a loose alliance of independents running the next govt?
Ross in my view just holds a populist stance on the right, Sin Fein hold the populist position on the left. Basically just tell the people what they want to hear. It’s next to impossible to govern by committee, as majority of decisions wud end up in a fudge just so all egos and interest groups are satisfied. An alliance of independents wud be the only scenario worse than Sinn Fein in Govt. The decision to vote independent is almost entirely a selfish one, motivated by a local or single issue with little regard for the bigger picture
Jayo
As much as I realise how toxic for Ireland’s economy Sin Fein would be at least they’d have a policy for all of the country and not bits and pieces of policies for every electoral area. The party whip system ensures in so far as is possible that all govt tds support policies that reflect the bigger picture and not the parish pump
The parties are not fundementally corrupt, a minority of individual members might be. Do u really think that because they have an independent badge on them that they somehow become immune. A vote for independents is usually motivated by narrow and selfish reasons
party
Indeed there are independent TD’s who have been turfed out of their original party for being corrupt but just re-elected by a selfish local electorate
Ross a total bluffer.
Good man FG Hughes
How is all in there what can we F**K up next camp.
I see Ross has his principles. I’d say if Fine Gael don’t like them he”ll have some more!
Yep, Indies only have about 30% of support. He needs to form cohesive policy position with the other Independants and do a deal with a party to form a government….I would like him for a taoiseach or minister.
Its the right time for something new, and anything will be better than, more of the same. So good luck to him.
I’m wondering if CC Barrett is giving election advice when he says “resume your seats”
Without some form of collective identity, many independent TDs will have genuine difficulty overcoming the party brands at at election time. Some form of consolidation of the members of the technical group is needed to keep these independent voices active in the Dáil and we should, as an electorate embrace independent thinking and issue-focussed candidacy.
How the parties behaved during Prom Night and during the abortion debate is a lesson to us all.
Hugh
Mary Harney is old news, you’re scraping the end of the barrel.
I watched most of the speakers against Enda Kenny yesterday – not one of them that I saw mentioned Kathy Sinnott and Article 9.4 – it seems they are all afraid of Europe !
A consolidation of the technical group would be called a party. People don’t want to vote for a party.
Independents have talked about the second they start talking policy they are losing votes. Their brand is in being an “independent” because they don’t stand for anything particular. They second they start talking policy they are giving people something to disagree we with.
Shane Ross was slightly to the right of the Kaiser a few years back, what does he have in common with ULA/Socialists/PPP/People front of Judea deputy?
“what does he have in common with ULA/Socialists/PPP/People front of Judea deputy?”
A burning hatred of your FG brethern who have sold out our people and beggered so many of us?
A disgust at labour and SIPTU for turning their backs on the people they’re supposed to be a voice for?
Do I have to explain hatred isn’t a policy?
Though easy answer by blaming all the problems on identifiable groups is a fascist characteristic.
while SF/IRA murder and rape people and then cover it all up and pretend they are democrats and not a cult? SF are a mockery to democracy.
Thereal.thing ..I am not a Sinn Fein supporter nor voter for them but when one discusses cover-up in the same breath as Sinn Fein – then Fianna fail, Fine Gael and Labour have done absolutely nothing concrete in dealing with the Child- abuse scandal in the church and there is Fr. Molloy and God knows how many more cover-ups – the tapping of all the garda stations and they advertising confidentiality etc. …
Ireland is the land of cover-up and immigrants have paid the ultimate price for years …..
“what does he have in common with ULA/Socialists/PPP/People front of Judea deputy?”
A burning hatred of your FG brethern who have sold out our people and beggered so many of us?
A disgust at labour and SIPTU for turning their backs on the people they’re supposed to be a voice for?
Amen, Amen, Amen.
Haven’t heard Ross say anything on social issues like unemployment, healthcare or education. All he seems to do is pick populist issues like the banking crisis so he can then write and sell books about it.
Government involves an agreed programme and inevitably some compromise. Can a loose grouping of independents actually do that? I doubt it. It also goes without saying that the hard left couldn’t possibly do it as they can’t even agree with one another.
What we need is to do a complete overhaul our current system. We are putting the wrong kind of people into positions of power and unfortunately all the current list of politicians both in Government and Local government are all cut from the same fabric. We need to people of Ireland deciding what the best course of action is to particular issues. In my opinion the current Swiss system seems a good way to start. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Switzerland . It is the closest thing to Direct Democracy we are going to get.
“Government involves an agreed programme and inevitably some compromise. Can a loose grouping of independents actually do that? I doubt it. It also goes without saying that the hard left couldn’t possibly do it as they can’t even agree with one another.”
If all the independents were monkeys, they would be preferable, in Dail Eireann, to the usual gangs.!
He will govern issue by issue and support a government one issue at a time. The Civil Service don’t want root and branch reform, it their power and jobs. Therefore they would give him the run around.
Correct!
The Politicians are merely passing through the system hoping to impress at local constituency level, developing their career in a cut-throat market, and hoping to win re-election to next Dail.
And what catastrophic financial damage those Politicians subjected on Ireland by the 2008 bust up, caused by their daft fiscal policies, and weak oversight by our highly paid guardians of the realm.
It’s the Civil Service that should indeed wield the most power, as the business of Governing Ireland Inc is too important to be left in the hands of our Politicians.
Ireland needs strong Sir Humphrey types as Government Department Heads, steering a centrist path collectively, in doing what’s possible with the resources available, striking the right balance for a socially inclusive society and implementing the economic and fiscal policies necessary to fund it all.
A National Coalition Government is a likelihood after next General Election, and Shane Ross will have a pivotal role to play here, for I predict that his independent grouping will hold the balance of power.
All shades of politician opinion need to be catered for in the next Government for a more harmonious society.
In theory Rory, yeah. In practice, Civil servants who progress to head of departments are still unelected people who mostly have never worked in the private sector. Closed systems like the civil service resist change and reform and those in it are not accountable to voters, which means there is no way the system changes.
As he said himself,he’s the one making the most noise, but unfortunately that’s all he’s doing.
all change begins with political noise …
Peter Matthews and Shane Ross are every impressive “right wing” politicians who can se and understand Paul Murphy’s and Michael Fitzmaurice’s arguments without reverting to the very childish and puerile game of screaming “Loony left” ….
The left don’t go around the place like national school kids screaming “Crazy Capitalists ” every time End and co. open their gobs ….
Shane Ross
In his interview When asked would he do a deal,with one of the political parties ,( if you listen )he mentions,if you implement these policies we will keep you in government is he talking about FG ???? if so it shines a whole new light on this new political party, if so it certainly changes my voting strategy, what happened to the new beginning. What happened to the new horizon, the government for the people.
Yes tom, he certainly appeared to be leaning towards an alliance with fg or ff but not with sf. If this was the case i couldnt support him but he did say he didnt want any of them in govt. Perhaps he should outline what he policies he wants implemented.
Ruairi
He distinctly said if you implement these policies,we would keep you in government, he has to be talking about FG or labour, as labour is almost nonexistent,… well you make up your mind, I certainly don’t want to see FG anywhere near government for the next hundred years.
Nor do i tom
Ross is a pragmatist. He is correct, in my view, not to trust any of the parties. He also realises that SF are just a gang of nut jobs.
and Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fail aren’t ?
Hopefully Shane Ross’s “Independent Alliance” will be kingmaker after the next election and form part of the next government. if it is just a group of “Me Feiners” doing pork barrell deals like the recently deceased Healy Rae, it will be a useless addition to the body politic.
My own belief is that a FF/FG coalition will be formed and nothing will change.
If these two pat-their-date parties are united, and determined to go to war against our communities all over Ireland,on this issue;then the people who have never used their democratic mandate (an incredible 50% of the population!) must present themselves at polling stations in numbers never seen before and support Independents,thereby reducing the likelihood of a FF/FG coalition.
This is a war between the Golden Circle of politicians and crony public sector unions;one one hand; against the common people of Ireland who are daily crucified to keep all of them in a lifestyle unknown to working class people.
Coveney has a flawed pedigree -too flawed to be wheeled out as a defender of iniquitous taxation of the poor. Perhaps if the great and good in Irish business and political life had not in previous decades hidden much of their wealth offshore in Ansbacher bank accounts we might have a proper water infrastructure today.
If Bart Ahern and his Soldiers of Destiny had spent less time, during their three terms in office acting as an ATM machine for public sector unions, and investing the money that flowed in, in necessary infrastructure we would not have hundreds of thousands of our citizens marching in th rain for a more just society.
This “Irish Water” quango has to become a political watershed (pardon the pun) in Irish society.We must now become more French than the French themselves, if that is what it takes to clean out the political Oligarchy and their crony unions.
Either we the people will win-and change the political face of Ireland for the first time in history-or a FF/FG coalition will continue to harass us-even after the next election and we lose everything that our forefathers fought for in 1916.
I have no doubt that if Patrick Pearse and James Connolly and Michael Collins,and Sean mcDermott,were able to speak from their graves; they would unite in saying ” ;
The loss of this battle by the common people is too hard to even contemplate”
Let 1916 therefore be the year that; if our political elite are still warring against us over this most profound principal of access to non commoditized water for all our citizens; -let it be a year of a battle won,and true independence and true representatives elected;who are beholden to no union, or business, or industry, or lobby group-but who consider the best interests of all our people before anything else.
Well said … elect true representatives, who are beholden to no union, or business, or industry, or lobby group or PARTY WHIP, but who consider the best interests of all our people before anything else.
“Bring Your Brains to the Polling Booths”
I don’t believe he wants to go into government with any of the current political parties but looking at the polls the in dependants don’t have the support to govern on their own. I think that he is being pragmatic enough to realise he and his colleagues will need to go into government with someone. the trick will be to make it on his terms, get rid of the party whip system that allows FG to run a dictatorship or indeed any of the current parties and set up a proper system of government that stops political parties deciding the future of the country without the people having a say. Under the current system the politians are meant to represent the people but instead choose to represent the corporate interests of Europe and their cronies. The party system of government clearly doesn’t work
Daire there is a new party called “Direct Democracy” which promises the kind of government you seek.!.
It seems to have slipped off the radar for many people, but Mr Ross previously stood for Fine Gael. He may criticise them now but they are very much his natural coalition partners I would think.
That was then when Fine Gael had the reputation of being a “Law and Order” party , now they are just the Order party and that means they are finished … didn’t follow the order of Article 9.4 and tell the troika to sling their hook when it came to water charges …poor representation of the people’s views and principles sees all governments fall !
SF are more toxic than ebola at the moment. ross has an independent mind, SF don’t like that
This guy is a fool god help us if he ever has a shred of actual influence on the running of our country!
He had me at no party whip! The way politics should be. Each member voting on a legislations faults and merits. Not, vote how we tell you to or your political career is over! This is not democracy! It’s a dictatorship!
These “Alliances of the Disaffected” generally tend to go nowhere unless they have a solid ideological foundation and a clear list of policy objectives that differentiate them from the parties already in existence. For Ross to have “admitted that he doesn’t have any policies” shows how out of touch this kind of thing actually is.
Ross is right – Political Parties are just Private Clubs that pass Pro-Lobby laws that are anti citizen.
- Tax on Family homes … No EU Gov has consent to tax Family Homes. Regressive also ..
- Tax (3 times) on water .. General taxation, in LPT and now on the meter …
- Obscene Car Tax if you cant afford a new car … for the car dealer lobby .. no car tax in France
- Upward only Benchmarking … PS lobby!
- No FTT (Financial Transaction Tax) .. like France
- No Rent control .. like Germany
- No land price regulation .. like UK
- No VAT on Banks .. lovely fuppin lovely
- Ireland a “Disgusting” place to live.
“Bring Your Brains to the Polling Booths”
He has more integrity than Enda Kenny that’s for sure.
How? He was cheerleader for Anglo-Irish bank when they were wrecking the economy.
Brendan in order to understand what happened Anglo one has to understand how a bank balancers its books – there was a massive withdrawl on Anglo deposits which facilitated the crash – if these large international depositors were also the bondholders then what you have is a criminal attack on Ireland’s sovereignty….
Another point worth noting from the Anglo tapes is that the Irish Central Bank was said to be bad mouthing Anglo – before the collapse – this is a very serious breach of its remit if there is proof of same …
Why not have an independent in every constituency, why not more than one ?
Could they possibly be any worse than what we have got up till now?
Could they possibly do any worse ?
Shane Ross – the people are sick to death of and do not want Fianna LabourGael back in office. And there was me thinking your ears worked, I was obviously mistaken and if your plan is to get into bed with one of those parties, then no Independent candidate who is part of your alliance will get a vote from me.
.
It would have to be a very loose agreement to accommodate both Noel Grealish and John Halligan. I can’t think of one policy area where the two hold views in common.
have your say