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Political Correspondent Christina Finn reporting from the United States.
THE UNLUCKY TAOISEACH.
That is how Micheál Martin was being described by many at the Ireland Funds gala dinner last night, where in dramatic fashion, he was whisked from the room (and away from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) having tested positive for Covid-19.
Just a few hours before, the Taoiseach was in flying form, basking in the 20 degree heat in Washington DC, where the famous cherry blossoms were in bloom as he headed into a fancy hotel just a stone’s throw from the White House to give Stripe brothers John and Patrick Collison prestigious medals as part of a Science Foundation of Ireland event.
One attendee noted afterwards that the Taoiseach was in “flying form”.
“He really seems to be enjoying it,” she said, adding that she thought he deserved to enjoy the moment after missing out on St Patrick’s Day with the US president last year because of the pandemic.
Things got off to a bad start yesterday however, with news that US Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband Douglas Emhoff had tested positive for Covid-19.
That meant Martin would have to forfeit a traditional breakfast with the vice president at the Naval Observatory, which is generally made of up of kind remarks to the Taoiseach over food that harks back to the old country.
But the hiccup didn’t appear to phase the Taoiseach: he was due to meet US President Joe Biden the following day at the White House – that’s all that mattered.
He carried on, giving a press conference in the Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Hotel to the travelling Irish journalists, after which he delivered a key address at the US Chamber of Commerce.
In the late afternoon, anyone who was going to be within an arm’s length of the US president had to undergo Covid testing. This included everybody in the Irish delegation, including Irish journalists who were all tested by the White House medical team.
The delegation, suited and booted in their blacktie attire and ball gowns for the Ireland Funds gala, gathered in the DuPont Circle Hotel to be swabbed.
Some said it reminded them of waiting to do an exam.
After that first round of testing, a member of the Taoiseach’s delegation who had travelled to the US tested positive. The Taoiseach had tested negative via antigen, but was then given a PCR test “out of an abundance of caution”.
In the meantime, Martin and his delegation had travelled to the National Monument Building, a colossal space that fit the 800 guests for the sold-out fundraiser — which raised more than $1 million for Irish charities.
There was a buzz around the place with the usual green gúnas on display, the Irish dancers on the floor and Irish jig music setting the tone.
It was a big night for Martin, as it was at the Irish Funds Gala dinner that he would get a chance to have a chinwag with Joe Biden prior to their meeting in the White House on St Patrick’s Day, something no previous Taoiseach has had an opportunity to do.
Martin managed to get a few minutes – seven minutes in all, the US President would later confirm. Biden took to the stage and gave a speech about his Irish roots and the deep ties between the US and Ireland.
Martin was due to receive the Ireland Funds 2022 International Leadership award, due to be presented to him after the president’s speech by US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
The Taoiseach and Pelosi were seated together for the time the Taoiseach was at the event.
At a press conference at Capitol Hill today, she recalled the moment Martin was tapped on the shoulder and left the table, saying that even the Taoiseach did not know what it was all about.
But news of Martin’s positive result landed and he was quickly whisked away.
Ireland’s Ambassador in the US Dan Mulhall took to the stage to break the news.
“You may wonder why I’m here, well I’ll explain,” the Ambassador said.
“This evening, before we left to come here, all members of the delegation were tested for Covid-19 and the test on the Taoiseach was negative.
“But a member of the wider delegation tested positive and while that test was being checked and re-checked, out of an abundance of caution, the Taoiseach was tested just as he left to come here and sadly, that test turned out to be positive.”
The mood instantly changed in the room as whispers spread through the crowd.
“The Taoiseach is in good form, it’s a sad thing that I have to do but I have to do this,” Mulhall added.
Everyone knew what the news meant: Martin’s hopes of making it to the White House this year were over. The shamrock ceremony and the Speakers’ lunch were off the table too.
“He’s the unluckiest Taoiseach,” said one attendee later that evening, who pointed out that Martin had waited for years to become Taoiseach, only to have to deal with the Covid pandemic, which scuppered his in-person meeting with Biden last year.
And because the Taoiseach role rotates back to Leo Varadkar in December, this was the last St Patrick’s Day where Martin would have the opportunity to visit the White House as Taoiseach in the lifetime of the current Dáil.
Last night, how the Oval Office meeting would take place was up in the air, but arrangements were made overnight to hold a virtual St Patrick’s Day meeting.
Almost a carbon copy of last year’s affair, the two leaders met via Zoom, with the Taoiseach joking that last year he was across the Atlantic but now he was across the road. “Getting closer,” he joked.
While Martin had to stay put, the St Patrick’s Day festivities carried on.
The Speakers’ lunch in Capitol Hill was attended by Biden and Pelosi, as well as Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.
There were pints of stout, shamrocks, Riverdance, Irish dancers, and even a poem by Bono – which was read out by Pelosi.
‘I’ve a tradition of sending a limerick to @SpeakerPelosi’s St. Patrick’s Day lunch over the years. This year the limerick is irregular & not funny at all. We stand with the people of Ukraine & their leader. It wasn’t written to be published, but since it’s out, here it is.’-Bono pic.twitter.com/pLkE59DSxU
— U2 (@U2) March 17, 2022
“Ireland’s sorrow and pain is now the Ukraine and Saint Patrick’s name now Zelenskyy,” the Speaker of the House read from the U2 frontman’s poem.
Pelosi also praised the Taoiseach for his leadership during the pandemic, adding that he should also be commended for “reinvigorating” the Government’s focus on housing and healthcare, a comment that made McDonald’s head turn.
Wearing a deep ivy green tie and navy suit, Biden recalled his 45-minute Zoom meeting with the Taoiseach, who was said to be sorry he couldn’t attend the lunch.
“He is looking well, he feels well, he looks good,” Biden told the room.
The trip of a lifetime for Martin quickly turned to something of a nightmare. But despite his bad luck, the Taoiseach said this evening that he is in good spirits.
Speaking to the Irish media via Zoom call from Blair House, where he is isolating, he said he “feels good”.
“Of course, I’m disappointed personally, but it’s not the end of the world. And we have to keep things in perspective. I think that’s important, particularly in the context of what’s happening across the world today.”
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Alan Shatter comes across as a very dislikeable man who gives the impression that he is above everyone else. I wonder how people could vote for him in the first place.
Troll alert !
Man u stoopid
because we vote corrupt individuals into power and then refuse to hold them to account, by waiting til april 2016 general elections “to teach this current crowd a lesson” is to show the next lot coming in that no matter how fcuked up they get we will give them 4 years no matter what.
christ on a flipping bike!!
Thanks for making me laugh dude!
Something stinks here. I understand fully the need for the gardai to record phone conversations.
- 999 calls absolutely needed to be recorded
- if a bomb threat was phoned to a garda station it makes sence this should be recorded. What would our reaction be if the gardai said we don’t have the information because we don’t use technology?
The nature of these calls is indiscriminate so indiscriminate recording is needed.
- A few months ago we lauded the fact that some phone calls in Anglo were recorded. Our regret was that not all were.
In this case I think there is a witch hunt against Shatter – and I am NOT a fan of his.
Bruce, yes record calls of persons informing confidentially on criminals, conversations between criminals and their lawyers, record phone calls from and identities of journalists, and do so without warning people that what they think is a confidential communication is being recorded.
Record whistleblowers reporting crimes and all of this will add to confidence in an Garda Siochana.
Ask yourself why a statutory Commission of Inquiry has been established on an emergency basis and be aware that very serious and even explosive revelations are imminent from the Sunday Times and the Daily Mail.
The recording of phone calls is not associated with Shatter. It is a practice in being for many years and it seems that it was an unregulated practice by An Garda Siochana.
This a matter with serious and wider ramifications, not least for the administration of justice.
This is not all about Shatter. This is not about one incumbent in office. This is truly serious.
Bruce, my problem with the whole situation is not that the calls were recorded, but that fact that they were recorded illegally.
The simple fact of the matter is that if both parties involved don’t know the call is being recorded, it is illegal to do so.
I think only “at least” one party has to know is the actual law.
Bruce.
The problem is that the recording of legally protected private calls is very very illegal.
There are 2800 recordings in existence as of now. Each one of them is a reason to have a case dismissed.
Only a sycophantic FG’er would say that these were not a scandal.
How many Garda Commissioners in the past knew about the recordings. Perhaps they were afraid to blow the whistle on it!
That would be a more interesting question, how many Commissioners knew, than how many Minister for Justices knew?
Junket John and Shatter knew apparently.
No evidence of John o’Donouhue knowing about this. It was an outrageous claim at the time and it is only brought up now in an attempt to spread the blame.
Pearse Doherty was at the same thrick yesterday trying to imply that Marie Geoghan Quinn was in the loop as well.
It is probable that the Guards did not tell these Ministers the full truth. Shatter is the first one to hear evidence that it was actually occurring.
Glad to see you have a Security briefing, Seanie. That’s an oxymoronic answer, the evidence is in the article. He was told about it. The response by the tax-payer funded jet-setter can only be described as, Callahanarian. Do you ever tire of defending malfeasance? You’d be a talent in the PR ring.
He heard a mad ramble from an angry opposition spokesperson but there was no reason to believe it or evidence to back it up.
It is probable that when John o’Donouhue or MGQ asked the Guards if this was going on that they got a flat denial. How were they to know that this was not the case.
Joe, that’s a very good question. How many Commissioners knew, and why didn’t they inform the Minister for Justice of the day when they found out?
Shatter told us last year that Commissioners have a legal obligation to inform the Minister of the day of matters that could affect public confidence in the Gardaí. Callinan has known about this since at least November last year, so why did it take him 4 months to pen a letter to the Department (not even the Minster). If he’s able to keep Shatter in the loop about TDs not getting penalty points, surely something as serious as this would warrant more attention.
The reason a lot of people were recorded, because they wanted to get the murderers and bank robbers I wonder who they were, come on the red thumbs let’s see you.
AlanShatter seems to know or be aware of F**k all really.
He comes across as a man with the memory span of a slow Goldfish….
Goldfish can actually remember stuff for months. :)
Hear no evil, see no evil, recognise no evil and do nothing.
We need an Independent Garda Authority with strong disciplinary authorities and complete separation between the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner.
Have we learned no lessons? Are we incapable of learning any lessons?
It must be a hard time to be a regular garda
This is just a symptom of the rot within the Irish body politic. We need a root and branch approach with an overhaul of the political system.
True.
Once again, no accountability, no transparency and no integrity.
The only time an Irish politician admits to anything is in the face of overwhelming and irrefutable evidence. They probably all knew about it
It’s just one scandal after another. The govt need to engage an independent private contractor to review the govt, it’s people and practices, from the top down to get the ‘bad’ out before it is outed.
I absolutely agree that this is not about one Minister for Justice but is a systemic aberration .
Is there a possibility of a powerful cabal of senior Civil Servants in the Department of Justice who have established themselves as a power -block unanswerable to anybody because of the secretive nature of their work ?
It’s laughable to listen to Michael Martin expressing horror at what has been revealed when he was a senior Cabinet Minister for most of the period of alleged wrongdoing. Missing files and disappearing mobile phone records and Fianna Fáil ministers saw and heard nothing!
Mehole has a bad dose of selective amnesia alright and not just on this issue
If you can prove that one member of FF knew conclusively about this, then do do.
Otherwise shuush and take your musings elsewhere.
This is truly shocking …. That the agency charged with upholding the law of the land, and given wide ranging and very serious powers to do so, was flagrantly breaking the law. This has the potential for releasing many many possibly guilty people from prison. Heads need to roll for this and probably criminal actions brought and I font mean Shatter as I don’t believe he knew about this. He should resign for about half a dozen other reasons not least of which is the hypocrisy of slating the whistle blowers for “leaking” information while he was no slouch at leaking confidential information on Mick Wallace in a live TV interview to suit his own political agenda.
Well somebody approved it.haugheys fingerprints all over it in my guestimation
Michael Noonan- was the minister for justice at the time Benny. Nothing to do with haughey.
Is that established as a fact, that Noonan was in charge? It deffo smells of Haughey, who has form in these matters
1982-1986 minister for justice – Michael Noonan (Wikipedia ). Tape recordings started in 1983
Maura Geoghegan-Quinn says no comment? She either knew or she didn’t! I smells a rat
She doesn’t want to cloud the focus of the current investigation and that is quiet reasonable of her.
What dies that even mean seanie?
She either knew or she didn’t. Very easy to say no if she didn’t know, without affecting any enquiry. her ‘no comment’ is incriminatory and there can be only one reason for it in my opinion
How would “no” cloud the focus?
Jasus Seanie, your selective bias in favor of FF is nauseating at this stage.
Don’t you realise that if you were in some way constructively critical, you might have some shed of credibility.
It seems extraordinary that An Garda Siochana were recording calls for 30 years and no one knew about it? Who organised it in the force it would take more then one member of the force over that time period….
They did’nt know about it? Yeah sure they did’nt!
I do not believe the Minister’s for Justice did not know about the illegal garda bugging and it going on for Decades and been used in the courts. Absolute Rubbish.
It’s amazing that transcripts of calls from random people can end up in the High Court and “nobody knows how it happens”
Yeah if nobody knew about them how did they know where to look for them. Should be interesting later today when the issue is raised in an ongoing court case
Did Nora Owen really say “did someone turn on the recordings and forgot to turn them off” ? Is she for real?Michael Noonans ( “no”) is as believable as Alan shatters apology considering they started when he was minister for justice. Enda ask the people of Ireland have they trust in Alan shatter to do his job.
The question for me is why every call from the public to a garda station is not recorded. Voice recording systems are not cheap and would need maintenance. So purchasing would need to have approved and bills paid. Either it was a policy to record or a number of garda stations buying off their own bat. I bet its the same system in each station.
Callinin was pushed to keep the cabinet happy. Collateral. Whatever about Shatter I can’t see how this is a resigning matter for him. Though he has dug his own grave in other ways.
Do an Garda Siochana inform you that non emergency calls are being recorded and may be used in evidence?
How would they know its a non emergency call though? Just not 999?
Dedicated lines for 999 calls gerbreen….
Agree that Callinan was pushed, very sinister that he received 2 visits from Secretary General on Monday night. He was sacrificed by the Taoiseach and his ‘friend’ Shatter.
Callinan was rightly fired because he refused to retract and apologize for his ‘disgusting’ comments. If he had done that a week ago he would still be there.
Kenny should quiet clearly say that he told Callinan to apologize or quit.
That is what the public want to hear him say, need him to say.
Why?
Callinan was clearly fired, but for the sake of appearances, for his benefit, was allowed to say he retired. This is fair enough, imo, as he has many years of service.
The public don’t need to hear him say that at all. Only Martin and Niall Collins need to hear him say because that is the line of attack they’ve picked this week – constructive opposition my ar$e.
When is the Secretary General going to receive a “sinister visit”? It would appear to me that he, together with a large portion of his department, should be sacked and very soon.
I believe none of them.
I heard stories of young Gardai being locked in cupboards in interview rooms to listen to conversations, always thought it was bs, but maybe not
gathering evidence by recording calls seems like a cheap sloppy substitute for proper investigation and whoever was engaged in this knew that it was bound to come unstuck eventually
Hear, see, and say nothing
Just read in a seperate article that members of The McCarthy Dundon gang are looking to have their cases reviewed in light of this scandal…This is an unmitigated disaster..Theres going to be a tidal wave of reviews coming down the track
Cowboy force finds that cowboy investigations fall apart.
Acting professionally would make an awful difference to the force and their success rate.
Something stinks. Noonan’s like a wasp these past few days. Then you ask, when wouldn’t FG completely destroy their historical sparring partner FF with an immediate banking inquiry when they came to office? Then you conclude, Ireland’s a banana republic – at best!
Question has to be asked when exactly did it start and who’s watch was it on
?
Why do the jackeens elect so many cretins to government?
Because most of the cretins, one notable opposition leader, are not from Dublin, the Jackeens need to look for more candidates from their own patch.
Every part of Ireland has a history of electing duds. Dublin or the rest have no difference in that.
In fairness Justice is not in charge of mass and countrywide bugging, you know just about everybody that GIS takes an interest in and that’s not just journalists, they can ask for it to be done but the whole thing is supervised by DECNR
The Justice minister who oversaw the bugging policy back in the 80′s will probably say that it was for specific purposes in a limited time frame BUT over a 30-year period seems bizarre. I agree with previous posts asking the question as to why the Garda commissioner didn’t notify the MoJ about such operations. Is it not strange that all Ministers since didn’t know possibly with exception Maire G Quinn……????? They’re all hiding behind something.
Liars, all of them
Woof
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