Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Updated 4.15pm
MICHEÁL MARTIN AND ENDA Kenny have spoken by phone for the first time since the general election – but there is some confusion over what was said during the call.
Martin has said that the pair have agreed to meet for talks on government formation next week, but Fine Gael have claimed there was no agreement and that Kenny later offered, by text, to meet as early as tomorrow.
Earlier, the Fianna Fáil leader said he rang his Fine Gael counterpart before lunch and that they agreed to continue their respective discussions with independent TDs ahead of the Dáil vote to elect a Taoiseach next Wednesday.
He said the two party leaders then agreed to meet after that vote, telling reporters:
We, on the phone, agreed that we would engage in the aftermath of that and following the conclusion of those discussions and the vote itself on Wednesday.
What Fine Gael said happened…
However, Fine Gael sources have said that there was no agreement to meet following the Dáil vote next week and that Martin never asked to meet Kenny in the discussion.
A well-placed source said that Kenny subsequently tried to phone Martin back to arrange a meeting as early as tomorrow, but there was no answer.
The source said that Kenny then sent a text to Martin offering to meet tomorrow afternoon following the conclusion of Fine Gael’s talks with independents.
What Fianna Fáil said happened…
However, Fianna Fáil sources said that Martin did not see this text until after he spoke to the media on the Leinster House plinth this afternoon.
A well-placed Fianna Fáil source has now disputed Fine Gael’s account of Martin’s conversation with Kenny and insisted that the pair did agree to talk after Wednesday.
The source said that Martin only saw Kenny’s text after his press conference and responded to Kenny to the effect that they should meet, as agreed, after next Wednesday in order to allow Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil time to continue its discussions with independents.
Asked by the media if Kenny offered to meet tomorrow, Martin said the Taoiseach “may be texting or whatever like that” but added: ”We agreed that we wouldn’t meet tomorrow, because he [Kenny] said he was finishing his discussions tomorrow.
He said he was going to polish off, to use his phrase, the [Fine Gael] document [with independent TDs].
What Micheál Martin told the media…
Addressing the media, Martin made clear that he wished to continue discussions with independent deputies in the coming days.
He is due to meet with independents Clare Daly and Mick Wallace later and hold roundtable talks with as many as 15 other independent TDs next Monday and Tuesday prior to the Dáil vote the following day.
Martin said he rang Kenny to establish the truth of reports that next Wednesday’s vote for Taoiseach would be deferred due to the ongoing failure to form a government.
He said he got an assurance from the Taoiseach that the vote would go ahead as planned.
Martin also said that he relayed his frustration to Kenny over comments made by Richard Bruton yesterday in which he ruled out Fine Gael supporting a minority Fianna Fáil government.
The Cork South-Central TD said he would continue efforts to form a minority government led by his party, but did not rule out supporting a Fine Gael minority government.
“I know that people are anxious to know when a government is formed, but I think we’re still some few weeks away from that yet,” he added.
He said that Fianna Fáil’s policy on abolishing Irish Water and suspending water charges remained and it would not be pulling back from it.
But he encouraged people to continue to pay their bills.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
what a load of BS , I have not seen a nun under 80 in the last 10 years. my experience with Harvey Norman was I left the shop after being robbed,
@Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: chuckling.
@Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: are ye serious?
Ye havent seen one in ten years?
Temple bar was full of them last night.
Fishnet tights and all.!
@Gerry Fallon: @Barra O Brien: Have you been in HN lately its a bit like an experience with Mrs Doyle , will you have a bit of insurance with that, ah! you will, go on, go on……
Have you been in HN lately its a bit like an experience with Mrs Doyle , will you have a bit of insurance with that, ah! you will, go on, go on……
Typical click bait headline in Journal. Priests and nuns mentioned first. The vast majority of them no longer wear identifiable clerical gear. Mr. Neary criticises store managers for not processing their cases properly for court. He should produce the percentages of priests, nuns, neighbours, and school friends if he insists on correctness, then we will see how good he is at his job.
@John Campbell: I did not take it as a literal statement. It was just a colourful way of making the point that anyone can succumb to the temptation if at a low point in life.
@John Campbell: Its alright, they can pray for forgiveness anyway and its all good, thats the way it works isn’t it?
@John Campbell: or indeed name them and we’ll check. Be nice to sue him and his company. An apology to nuns priests would be appropriate. Why not say accountants solicitors gardai. These are not exempted from having a thief among them.
@John Campbell: don’t be so sensitive now. It’s like the it could happen to a bishop phrase
@Tony Daly: ah so it wasn’t a literal statement. In other words, he was lying.
The man is an idiot.
@Tom Burke: but if he caught just one nun and one priest. That would make it true yes? And people shoplift for many reasons as we have been told.
@lavbeer: no, he would need more than one of each because he used plural.
Did he catch a nun or somebody dressed as a nun?
I think he made a stupid comment and he knows it. I’m sure he would be called aside for it.
@John Campbell: and when did we EVER hear of nuns and priests stealing or otherwise breaking the law I ask !
@John Campbell: I challenge you to write the headline the journal should have used.
Those nuns habits are very handy.You could hide a 50″plasma Tv under them and walk out.
@Gerry Fallon: Shop lifting is a terrible habit for a nun….
@Nick McCartan: yeah nuns get into bad habits..
“I spend half my life trawling social media, looking for items that could’ve been stolen from Harvey Norman,” When someone comes out with sihte like that it’s hard to take everything else they say seriously.
Nuns and priests with 60,70 or 80 previous convictions………hmmmm!
@Ian Moloney: more likely for assault on children
@Ian Moloney: your comment was neither mentioned or implied
Retailers present their products as accessibly and invitingly as possible so as to generate sales. That involves the risk of shoplifting. The temptation is presented.
Retailers could do far more to secure their products and to prevent theft in the first place.
@Tony Daly: personal accountability just not in the Irish psyche is it? The government are representative of this.
@lavbeer: prevention is better than detection.
Some medical conditions and even treatments result in kleptomania. Depression sometimes manifests in kleptomaniac especially in the case of post menopausal women, some anti depressant medication compounds the risk.
Then certian anti Parkinson’s medications addressing dopamine insufficiency will cause kleptomania.
There are poor people who are seduced by the attractiveness of the product, know the can’t afford it, but want it partly to alleviate their deprived lives.
There are also criminal gangs which spot lax prevention security and the ease of access to product and see an easy way of making money.
Our society is built on consumerism. With lax prevention, there will always be those who take consumerism too far.
Tempt and entice people. They will respond.
@Tony Daly: yeah, I mean what is the retailer thinking trying to maximize sales.
Tony that’s probably one of the most ridiculous comments I’ve seen on here and that’s saying something.
@Jane: retailers charge an extra margin in order to reflect theft. Theft can be prevented. Retailers should not use scarce Garda and Court resources over preventable and avoidable problems.
@Tony Daly: You’re on fire this morning, Tony. A masterclass in shit talk. It’s the retailers’ fault for putting merchandise on display, is it? Postmenopausal thieving wimmin can’t be blamed though, it’s the tablets!
@George Roche: it requires thought and that is not your forte.
@Tony Daly: I am just reading through court cases now where the defence solicitor brought something like that up and the judge accepted it.
No personal responsibility or accountability in Tonyland.
@Tony Daly:
Complete and utter bs
It’s everyone else’s fault.
@Tony Daly: I’m not trying to say you haven’t put a lot of thought into your position, just that your thoughts are rubbish.
@Tony Daly: sorry but your comment is just rubbish .. people rob because they want the product but don’t want to pay the price for it . Why not lock all the products in cages so nobody will be tempted . .bit like women should cover up so that men won’t be tempted to rape them ..
@Tony Daly: Sorry, that’s ridiculous. Most people know right from wrong and if they can’t afford impulse buying, they don’t steal. This man sees more dishonest people than the average person because of his job – it doesn’t mean that most people are like that. He points out himself that these are reoffenders stealing for the thousandth time. It’s not an argument for locking everything up. It’s the thieves he wants locked up. Everyone else wants to see what they’re buying, otherwise you might as well take a chance online and be forever returning items.
Worked in HN for 4 1/2 years, the amount of shoplifters we caught was ridiculous, but it’s easier to let them go
@Barra O Brien: many priests or nuns did you catch?
How about ex Taoiseach or Presidents?
Ya got to watch then.
@Barra O Brien: …..Have you been in HN lately its a bit like an experience with Mrs Doyle , will you have a bit of insurance with that, ah! you will, go on, go on……
Can this guy refer us to one case, just one, where ‘Hardly Normal’ (I like that) secured a conviction against a priest or a nun. It is the kind of thing that would make headlines.
Nah, didn’t think so.
The man is a clown.
Why is everything in harvey Norman so expensive. Rip off.
If Harvey Norman actually stopped the Rediculous repeated advertising of their so called weekly sale and employed more security instead they might make money. I’d love to see their advertising bill.
@James O’Brien:
And you just advertised it again for them! For free.
@P.J. Nolan: pointless comment of the day.
Nuns and priests! Small time stuff.
Ever see a flock of Bishops on the rampage.
@Tony Daly: only on father Ted.
If Mr Neary hadn’t mentioned priests, nuns and neighbours his speech would never have made it to the media.
lol – as if nuns & priests are supposed to be pillars of societies. They’re the biggest criminal gangs in the country – killing babies & raping kids, then covering it up. Shoplifting is nothing to them.
Ask Lorraine Higgins if this is true she is the head of Public Affairs and Communication,Retail Excellence. She is also a failed Politician.
Many years ago a young woman flying back from her first trip to New York got talking to a bald-headed young priest on an Aer Lingus flight. She was worried and anxious, and confided she had purchased a new-fangled curling tongs in America, and didn’t want to declare it to Customs and pay heavy duties. ”My child, I will assist you, insasmuch as I will not lie but will only tell the truth if asked.” said the priest. At that he took the tongs, nipped to the loo, and shoved the whole thing down the front of his trousers under his cassock.
Going through the Green Channel, he was challenged by Customs ‘Anything to declare?’ to which he replied. ”Above the waist, nothing but my genius”. To which the amused Customs officer shot back: ”And below the waist?”
”It is nothing but a trifle, a thing of interest to women perhaps but of little use to me.”
”Fair enough and on ya go Father.”
Would you like insurance with your €25 toaster?
If anything happens, if you drop it walking out the door or anything happens we will give you a full replacement, no questions.
It will cost you only €5 / month for 2 years.
Most big stores will have security managers who are trained to deal with courts . .
Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane are signed up to do a movie about it. It’s called nuns on the run 2.
They were told not to open. An outlet so close to the Vatican
Neighbours of the nuns, security guards or the store?
The issue I have is why would Priests and Nuns be singled out. They don’t have a monopoly on morality. Ordinary people especially struggling people who have Christian beliefs are much more genuine when it comes to morals than any Priest or Nun.
Who gives a f##k….what a stupid story.
Rubbish show the proof Nuns and priests were caught thieving? more hate towards Christians
have your say