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JUST AFTER 10am yesterday morning, Enda Kenny arrived into the Science Gallery in Dublin with a back-to-school hair cut and a bounce in his step.
The Taoiseach was launching RTÉ’s Irish language strategy but the report of a commission investigating the circumstances surrounding the retirement of Martin Callinan as Garda Commissioner last year was no doubt on his mind.
He had read the 300-page Fennelly report the night before and was awaiting legal clearance to publish it. But he was pretty confident he was in the clear, saying:
If I was fearful of publication I wouldn’t be in the mood to move to publish as quickly as I can.
News outlets, including this one, subsequently reported Kenny’s belief he had been vindicated and the narrative that he was ‘out of the woods’ and ‘in the clear’ took hold.
Just before 5pm word came that the report’s publication on the government news service website, merrionstreet.ie, was imminent.
At 5.22pm, a statement from Taoiseach Enda Kenny appeared. Its opening paragraphs left the reader in no doubt that Kenny believed he had been cleared by the report.
I welcome the report’s clear and unambiguous finding that the question of removing the former Commissioner from his position was not even discussed.
The Report confirms that the former Commissioner decided to retire, and that he could have decided otherwise. Furthermore, it finds that I had no intention of putting pressure on the former Commissioner to retire.
Seventeen paragraphs down, Kenny noted that the commission concluded that the “immediate catalyst” for Callinan’s decision to retire was the late night visit to his home of the then Department of Justice secretary general Brian Purcell.
A link to the report itself did not appear on the website until quite a few minutes later. When it did, the report took an age to download, and then the website itself crashed. Anyone looking to read the actual Fennelly report before Kenny went on the Six One News would have been hard-pressed.
Kenny was interviewed by Bryan Dobson with the broadcaster probably having not had any sight of the report. Kenny was again able deliver the line that he was in the clear and that in fact he had been the “strongest defender of the commissioner in public and in private” prior to his departure.
Journalist Gavin Sheridan neatly summarised how the governments’s PR machine spun the report in an effort to vindicate the Taoiseach:
But as journalists and others began to delve into the contents of Fennelly it quickly became apparent that no one comes out of this looking good. That includes Enda Kenny.
Whether or not it was right that the Garda Commissioner had to go due to the various controversies that engulfed him prior to his retirement, the simple fact is that it is illegal to sack the garda commissioner without the approval of cabinet.
Kenny did not directly sack the garda commissioner. That much is clear from the report.
But what was is also clear from Fennelly is that Callinan felt he personally had no choice but to retire. This was at a time when the prevailing narrative was that he’d become a problem for government after his “disgusting” remarks in relation to two garda whistleblowers.
It was in this context that a meeting took place at Government Buildings prior to Purcell visiting Callinan to discuss the very serious issue of non-999 calls being recorded at garda stations around the country for decades.
Without any written record, the judge is left to make his own determination as to what the definitive outcome of that meeting was.
Fennelly concludes that both Kenny and Attorney General Máire Whelan gave evidence that the issue of the Taoiseach’s “possible failure to be able to express confidence in the Garda Commissioner” was not one of the concerns to be conveyed by Purcell.
But three other participants – Alan Shatter, Purcell and the Department of the Taoiseach secretary general Martin Fraser – were “in no doubt” that the expression of confidence issue was part of of the message to be conveyed to Callinan, according to the report.
It states that Purcell was “to inform the Commissioner that the matter was to be discussed at Cabinet on the following day and that the Taoiseach, if asked, might not be able to express confidence in the Commissioner”.
This message was “at best vague and, at worst, stark” and the report adds:
A statement to the Commissioner that the head of the Government regards a matter as grave, seeks unspecified views and may not be able to express confidence in the Commissioner carries with it a necessary implication that the position of the Commissioner is at risk.
Callinan’s evidence to the Commission can be best summarised as him having been left in no doubt that he was asked to consider his position. He stated in evidence:
I want to be very clear, there was absolutely no options put on the table to me.
Callinan recalled to the commission that he asked Purcell whether the government had full confidence in him and was not met with a full answer. He recalls being told here were “other issues coming down the line” including “problems in or around the justice system”.
The political fallout from all of this would be damaging for the coalition. Callinan remaining in post with the recordings issue about to become public would, to many observers, make his position unfeasible.
That’s the assessment Kenny himself made upon learning of Callinan’s intention to retire – with a request to postpone it by two to three months. The Taoiseach texted Purcell on the morning of 25 March 2014:
Once decision on early ret is made it simply has to be immediate. Otherwise Cabinet accepts reason for stepping down but allows it to continue. This would simply not be feasible in any circumstance. Hs therefore to be with immediate effect.
Callinan promptly announced his retirement with immediate effect that morning.
As Fennelly concludes he had done so after reaching the “reasonable conclusion” that the message from Purcell the night before was “an indication that he should consider position”.
This morning, there is talk that Callinan could have grounds to take a case of constructive dismissal against the State.
The opposition parties have not given up on the issue. Sinn Féin wants Kenny to resign and Fianna Fáil is planning a motion of no confidence. There is pressure growing for the Dáil to be recalled from its summer recess as early as next week.
Tánaiste Joan Burton has given her backing to the Taoiseach’s assessment of the report’s conclusions.With Labour’s support on the floor it would not be politically wise to pull the plug on government even though the party arguably has grounds to do so.
Leo Varadkar, whose comments kicked off this whole issue, backed his party leader this morning. While the current justice minister Frances Fitzgerald is “absolutely” of the view that Kenny is in the clear. You can expect other ministers to say likewise.
The coalition remains solid and is unlikely to fall, but as he comes to end of his first term as Taoiseach, Kenny is likely to face unprecedented pressure in the coming days and weeks.
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Granted, I did think the ballot papers were worded poorly and had to do a double take on them, but the run-up to the referendum was so drawn out, I would have thought everyone knew a yes vote abolished the Seanad and a yes vote would set up a court of appeal??
A dangerous assumption.
I guess one shouldn’t assume anything, but if your voting, go to the polling station prepared for which way you are going to vote!
I’m sick of this bull***t about the ballot papers being confusing! The ballot papers were perfectly clear, I have heard of nobody who had any trouble with them. Even Enda Kenny could have understood what to do. More government spin and lies to make us vote again…enough is enough!!!!!!
I think it was more of the fact that the questions on the paper only mentioned the number of the amendment (I had to ask which one was the Seanad one).
Mark, the pictures above with the name of the proposed amendment, boxed, contradict that.
Lol well the ones I filled out clearly had the two names on them !! If they just had the numbers I would have freaked out !!
Would it have been illegal to print along the top of each relevant sheet – Do you want to abolish the Seanad? / Do you want to set up a new Court of Appeal?
Would it really?
I had to ask which was which as well. Granted I had forgotten my glasses, but there was an awful lot of text on the page. I did turn it over at one point to see if there was a side with English on it.
Should be an app for it.
Click the box to get rid of Seanad [ ]
Click the box to keep it [ ]
Click the box for establishment of the court [ ]
Click the box if yea don’t want it [ ]
If you couldnt figure out which was which, should you really be voting?
Well said!
If you’re less educated, in a rush or don’t understand Irish, should you not be allowed vote? Everybody should be able to vote. And it should be made as simple as possible, we have enough problems with turnout.
The paper was in both languages. You could simply skip the bit in Irish; there was no obligation to read it. Skimming and scanning text is something all literal humans do every day. I reckon it would take an average reader under 5 seconds to locate the words “Seanad Éireann” on one paper. You don’t even need to read the other one in detail then: it’s automatically for the court of appeal referendum.
It’s written in plain English and Irish on the papers.
“If you approve”
“If you do not approve”
That’s pretty straightforward. If a person didnt understand the referendum then that was their own fault. There was plenty of explanatory material available in advance.
People have a responsibility to find out all about what they are being given the opportunity to vote on.
Dont give out about the ballots papers if the only reasearch you did on the Referendum was to read the ballot paper when you got to the polling station.
I think the confusing part was people didn’t know which paper was which and it wasn’t clearly marked.
Legoman, it was clearly marked. One paper had the words “Seanad Éireann” and the other “court of appeal”. Again, you scan the text to find the words you need. This is a basic literacy skill.
It was clearly marked. In black and white/green
Ian, I think the point people are making here is the ballot papers could have been designed better. Keep all the legal stuff and the Irish, but what you are voting on should jump off the page at you, i.e. large font and in bold.
My issue with the ballot papers was that Irish seemed to be more prominent. When I first looked at them all I could see were words I didn’t understand and I had to do a double take to find the English.
I’ve never had that issue with any other ballot paper and a number of people were commenting on it at the polling station, so I would say there was an problem with the layout and wording of these particular papers.
The referendum commission is their to serve the people not test the people.
Great excuse to make people vote again if a ‘no’ vote is carried
Which means they know already its a no vote, delighted for the traitors. Kenny’s overlords wont be impressed!!
Angela,
I rarely comment online. I find the arguments people make too angry, too unreasonable, and too paranoid.
What has happened in your life to make you so cynical? I see you post on journal articles with ranting hopeless statements almost everyday.
The Irony of your point of view is that you believe our politicians are one hand entirely stupid and on the other organized, capable and efficient enough to pull off a national hoodwink.
Get on with your own life and stop making people miserable.
Huh? (no comment, you scare me Eoghan)
You gotta admit though, what is happening with the government and the times we are in are very frustrating – it is a good thing that people can vent their frustrations a little on the journal.
Eoghan, I think you will find that Angelas mistrust of the government and opinions are reflected by the vast majority of free thinking people on the journal. I quite enjoy her honesty and passion.
Oh what the heck, Ill reply
@Eoghan I find it odd that you are judging someones life by the opinions they post about Irish politics. Sure I am passionate about my people and country, I do not apologize for that. Am I afraid to express my views about my mistrust of the Irish government and their European overlords, no. I believe the vast majority of our politicians are parasites and have no interest in their people or country. I believe Enda Kenny is a liar, a coward, an imbecile and utterly incapable of leading a country in one of the toughest recessions we have ever had to face. I am not sure what you are referring to when you say they are ‘hoodwinking’ us all. They want a ‘Yes’ vote, if they don’t get a ‘Yes’ vote it seems logical to assume that they will use the confusion over the ballot papers to make us vote again..paranoid no, perfectly logical. Our government, your representatives answer to and are guided by Europe and senior civil servants which requires little acumen on their behalf. Everything you see in front of the camera, the speeches, soundbites, spin, excuses for this and that are dictated by highly paid pr professionals. If you consider these basic truths as me being cynical, fair enough, you are perfectly entitled to your opinion about me, Irish politics and Irish ‘democracy’ If a complete strangers posts on a screen about politicians are making you “Miserable” and so upset that you feel the need to attack me personally…I would genuinely suggest you take a long, hard look at your life and not take things so personally. I love my country, I love my people, I am sad to see people in power destroying my grandchilderens future. I will not apologise for that, nor do I think anybody else should. That said, I appreciate you taking the time to address me and needless to say you have managed to take yourself off my Christmas card list. I wish you the best for the future Eoghan
Feisty Irish grandmother – 1
Eoghan – 0
Owned!
Angela you are obsessed with this !!!
Hi Lauren. My only obsession is listening to Led Zeppelin and having a few sherries…Anymore poems lately?
Lol no but I’m always available to write poems on request !!
Id like to request a poem about todays vote please :)
Can I have one about a random giant Dragon?
(I need it for later)
Owed to Angela
Yes or no I’m waiting to see
I sit here and hope a no it will be
There is debate and confusion there is yes and no
Everyone has an opinion and is letting it show
Will a repeat vote be asked if Ireland says no
Some people think not but Angela thinks so
It’s hard to tell what our government will do
Will this be Lisbon treaty number two
No one knows what will happen, what way it will go
My friend Angela is hoping for a big fat no
All we can do for now is sit and wait
Get and journal.ie and have friendly debate
Owed to little Jim
Oh little Jim little Jim who went out to the club
He had a few drinks and a little bit if grub
On the dance floor he bumped into his mate called big Phil
Who pulled Jim aside and gave him a pill
Take this he said their bleedin great
So little Jim knocked it back and thanked his mate
Later that night Jim went home and felt happy
But he started to feel lonely and a little bit crappy
The door bell rang and made little Jim jumpy
He answered it and there was his friend lumpy
Lumpy was a giant dragon and was green and blue
He knocked on Jim’s door so he could use his loo
They ended up drinking and doing some shots
And rang around looking for some motts
But they weren’t successful so lumpy suggested they go for a fly
So little Jim climbed on lumpy back and they soared Into the sky
They flew through the clouds and Jim felt so good
But all of a sudden he was in a field and was covered in mud
He looked around looking for lumpy and realised he was indeed in the nip
Thinking about the pill it dawned on him it was all a big trip
@Lauren Fabulous!!! Well done, I loved it. Copying and pasting this one, TheJournal has now got a resident poet :)
I’ve posted them here for more people to appreciate Lauren
http://www.thejournal.ie/live-seanad-court-of-appeal-referendums-1115286-Oct2013/#comment-1665941
A word of warning though, resident poet on The Journal to Crack head in The Priory is not a huge step, don’t let the fame get to you x
Thanks Angela, you never know I jet get ‘discovered’ but judging by the red thumbs on the otter pages I won’t hold my breath . Some people just don’t appreciate a good deep poem.
Wow!! Your real name is the same of my fake one. I feel I should apologize….
Wow, anger, unreasonable and paranoid all in one post. We need you to post more here.
Its not a trick question, its either yes, or no
I think the problem is that it was not obvious which ballot paper was which. Each paper contained a lot of writing both in Irish and English, which included the legal wording of the proposed change. I know my 85-year-old mother had difficulty identifying them.
I think next election/referendum we’ll just get you a coloring book and some crayons.
Seems simple.
But at the moment of casting I wasn’t sure if the question was Do you want to keep the Seanad or do you want to abolish the Seanad, and embarrassingly, I panicked.
Voting isn’t something we do every day and it is momentous.
It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that this might happen. Along with the saturation of coverage on it.
I’m a sentient, reasonably intelligent person and I’m actually glad to read that other people got confused too.
In a referendum Yes is always for change. No is for keeping things as they are.
Where was the option ‘Can’t we all just get along’
How is it confusing? Its either yes or no!
Those that gave my comment a thumbs down actually wanted to give it a thumps up… Or did they? Now I’m confused!
Because the confusion wasn’t over the yes or no, thats why they red thumbed you
I have to agree after weeks of calling them ‘Abolition of the Seanad’ and ‘Court of Civil Appeal’ the wording was different and unclear focusing on the number of the ammendment and not the name. Not everyone has perfect eyesight and great reading skills and the ballot papers should reflect this.
the wording wasn’t different ballots say ‘abolition of seanad’ and ‘court of appeal’
Ok. I’m confused.
If you read the ballot paper. It says on it bla bla bla amendment to the constitution (court of appeals) bill 2013, bla bla bla amendment to the constitution (abolition of Seanad Eireann) bill 2013.
But which is which?
How should I vote? I mean it not like any of the posters had say a big yes or a big no on them suggesting which way I should vote.
I’m so confused.
Next time the guys in the polling office shouldn’t hand me a paper but should just instead act it out in the style of my most treasured reality show star.
This is rubbish. 2 of out every 3 people didn’t vote. Of those that did, anecdotally many hadn’t a clue what they were voting for and others were voting no just because they’ve issues with the Government.
There was a green piece of paper and a white piece of paper. There have been two clear issues being voted on and being discussed in public, in newspapers, on television and on poles all over the country. There are no excuses for being confused at the ballot box other than you couldn’t be bothered to educate yourself.
We deserve nothing more than to be governed by the Germans et al if this is the best we can do.
In all fairness some of the Fine Gael posters were saying vote no as where some of the Labour posters. The whole campaign was a shambles, but did we expect anything else from a shambles of a Government? Even the most high ranking Politician in the Country was afraid to go on live tv to debate the issue.
They must know it’s a no … Delighted lol
Idiots!
I find if you read the ballot paper first it usually helps. I mean WTF? How could there possibly have been confusion? Unless of course those confused thought there was only one referendum. Which has to make you wonder…
It wasn’t complicated, it just required reading. Those who were confused shouldn’t be let near a polling station.
Maybe in future it should be worded in TEXT Spk??? As that seems to be about the normal literacy level of the average Joe&Jane Irish these days.
Fine Gael government, Where YES or NO causes confusion.
I flipped it over to see if there was an English side.
Confusion over a basic ballot paper? sounds like someone in Fg HQ has fed that out in case the people did their homework (after the complete con job of Lisbon treaty)
Hopefully People not falling for lies on posters, more importantly how they avoided mentioning the whole accommodating the federalism of Europe…. Excuse for a re-run.
Ah here just read the thing. Do you want it in honours pass and foundation level, maybe pictures? Shouldnt be thrown by irish and english together its on the road signs. Just skip it.
Is it not time to get rid of the Irish completely off the ballot ?
Very limited appeal and does make the document more wordy.
I will probably be shot for saying this but would it not best to assume dumb on the situation and have it as simple as possible and explain it as if you were trying to explain it to a child to understand?
I am not trying to say everyone does not know what is happening etc but at least if it is explained initially as if you were explaining it to a child, then people cannot say that it was difficult to understand or confusion based around some areas of the referendums and then if needs be, the discussion can go more in dept for those who want it to.
If you aren’t able to comprehend the difference between the ballot papers when one says “Seanad” and the other says “Court of Appeal” and each of them has a yes and a no below them, will you really have grasped the concept of what the referendum was seeking to do?
I was a bit frazzled getting to the polling station, and forgot which paper was which immediately after the clerk handed them to me.. But simply reading them was enough to clear up any confusion, I honestly cannot understand how anyone could have remained confused having read the ballot paper.
herd them in like cattle, in a gate into lines give them the first paper then a pencil make them vote put the vote in a box then give them other don’t colour code them and say what it means tell them to read it its simple folks
123 READ VOTE POST
oh ya then let the gate open to let them out !
It’s done, to get the desired and anyone that thinks otherwise? Is brain dead, stupid or brainwashed!
I can’t edit my remark, to fix it and I’m wondering why?
Stephen
We all know why you need to edit your contributions and also we know why you are unable . However it’s a Saturday morning and we will refrain from stating the obvious so we don’t spoil your weekend.
I thought they were lovely comments. Very reminiscent of Finnegan’s Wake.
Didn’t need to understand or read to cast my vote. It was NO and NO both times. Simple!!!
It was a trick question confusingly written in language understood by a minority of voters.
Should be simple in 2 lines in English only
DO WE ABOLISH THE SENATE YES / NO
DO WE INSTALL A NEW APPEAL COURT YES / NO
What if you are dyslexic and struggle to read , no one available to assist you is there , no consideration for people who struggle, by all means state the proper wording but also simplifiy it underneath not everyone is capable and it should be taken into account and yes they should be included not isolated if they struggle at reading. only my point as a mother of dyslexics.
My understanding of dyslexia (from speaking to a friend who has it) is that they can read no problem, it’s the way things are printed that’s the issue.
For example – if you give him something printed on a certain shade of green paper, he has no problem reading it. Give him the same thing on white paper and it jumbles and blurs and he can’t read it.
He got glasses that are slightly tinted for this reason, said it works wonders. He also said different people work better in different colours – it’s something to do with the way the brain in processing it. His sister needed a different colour to him.
This would be the reason the clerks are there though. I was told which was which when it was handed to me – after all, you may have forgotten your glasses or anything – asking for clarification is perfectly ok – it’s what the clerks are paid for. Otherwise they could just have an automated machine tick you off and give you the ballot.
Can’t see how they were confusing
why do people not seem to realise that there is quite a high illiteracy level in some communities in Ireland, also should dyslexic people, or any other people that have difficulty reading be criticised for having issues with this because they couldn’t tell which was which? as the turn out was so low would it really have been that time consuming for people to be told which was which when they were being handed the papers? anybody who was criticising those who got mixed up should be ashamed for jumping the gun and tarring everybody with the same brush and get down off their arrogant high horse.
I was told which was which when it was being handed to me, and if you were confused – that’s part of what the clerks are there for.
I promptly forgot which paper was which as soon as I walked to the booth because I had been all over the place, but I scanned each one for the relevant words – one said “Seanad” the other said “Court of Appeal”, it was easy to figure it out from there thanks to the campaigns leading up to the vote.
Being dyslexic doesn’t mean that you can’t read – for some the fact that the ballot was printed black on white or black on green would have been the problem, and in that case – they would know to ask the clerk first.
Actually amend means “to add on, to make better”. Tnx
And by doing that you are changing it.. Wasn’t trying to be smart just explaining it didn’t mean it would stay the same.
To whomever thinks it’s as simple as saying yes or no to the Seanad, if u read the ballot paper in the first line these 2 words appear, amend or abolish, now in my mind amend means to keep something the way it is, abolish means get rid off, so of course I ticked no cos I didn’t want to amend it, until I looked again and realized the word abolish was wrote down too, soooooo I had to go to the woman at the desk and request a new ballot paper and all because the shaggers are trying to get us to vote wrong!!
Amend means change..
Hang on..
For weeks there’s been posters all over the place urging people to vote one way or the other. We knew that “Yes” meant abolishing the Seanad. We knew that “Yes” meant setting up the court of appeal – it was on all the posters supporting the motion (logic implies that “No” would preserve the situation as is).
Prior to entering the polling booth, most people would have made their minds up which way this was going to be, and therefore should have known that all they had to do was locate the “tá/yes” or “níl/no” box on the relevant ballot paper and tick the appropriate one..
Am I missing something? How could the ballot cause this much confusion? I am genuinely asking and not trying to be snide – I honestly fail to see how this could have been confusing, and would consider it a weak attempt to challenge the result by vested interests..
have your say