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Updated at 21:10
RÓISÍN SHORTALL HAS resigned as Minister of State for Primary Care.
The Labour Party TD’s decision follows a much-publicised dispute with the Health Minister James Reilly over a number of issues including the allocation of new primary care centres to Reilly’s constituency.
She has also resigned the Labour Party whip, the fourth TD from the party to so since the formation of the coalition government following Patrick Nulty, Tommy Broughan and Willie Penrose who also resigned as housing minister.
In a statement Shortall blamed her resignation on a “lack of support for the reforms in the Programme for Government, and the values which underpin it”.
She said that the public had a right to expect decisions on infrastructure and staffing within the health service to be made “in the public interest based on health need and not driven by other concerns”.
Shortall said that her resignation came after “repeated and lengthy efforts” to reach agreement on implementation of the Programme for Government.
The Department of Health could not immediately be reached for comment. Shortall could also not be reached for comment.
It is understood that her resignation was finalised at her office in Leinster House.
At a meeting in Balbriggan this evening, Minister Reilly said that it would not be appropriate to make any comment for the moment. “The first I learned about it was on the way out here”. In response to a question from TheJournal.ie reporter Paul Hyland as to Shorthall’s criticism of the government’s failure to enact the programme for government, he said:
We support the programme for government. You’ll see we are enacting it. Parts of it may be behind but we’re going to do it.
The Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore expressed his regret at the decision. “I regret and am disappointed at the decision. I wish to thank her for her work as Minister of State at the Department of Health.”
A number of Labour TDs have tweeted expressing their sadness at Shortall’s departure. Meath East deputy Dominic Hannigan said: “Very sad to see Roisin go”.
While, Dublin North deputy Brendan Ryan said: “So sorry Roisin Shortall has resigned. Lot of support for her within the party grassroots and the general public!”
While Fine Gael TD, Alan Farrell, tweeted: “It’s easy to oppose, harder to make the tough decisions.”
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Is wish we’d stop claiming everyone, its getting embarrassing!
Is she any good at football?
We’ll see what the sprog is like swinging a hurley!
Yea….. Really, what a load of b*** s**t
We’re becoming as bad as the British. Have ye seen that Macklelmore song by any chance where he raps about being Irish haha
@ ThomasFrancisMeagher
Funniest comment of the day :-)
I hear she is a good hooker if that’s any help to us!!
Hideously, horribly embarrassing.
I believe that was a rugby reference ….though lost in cyber translation…
Relax, its the beginning of a 500 year plan to take over the British empire of England. And if Stargate thought me anything, Brian Boru is alive and kicking somewhere… A wily plan. Fergie will retire from football by then too, after 200 years in a row winning the Manchester Premier League…. FACT!
It’s the beginning of a desperate tourism drive at the expense of our early history.
So she’s closely related to Barack Obama & Mohammad Ali then…??
” Naked tit model ” is an anagram of ” Kate Middleton “
Only for the men’s rugby team, though, ‘cos our women’s team is on a roll!
Taught……
Lets bring her over here at once, put her in a pub full of ruddy cheeked villagers and hand her a pint of Guinness!
Well isn’t that in no way newsworthy. We look desperate saying people are Irish.
No we dont
Yes we do times a million
Enda is Irish, now that’s stomach turning!
Jaysus I’m related to her!!! Being a Fitzmaurice from North Kerry. WOW !!!! What a load absolute crap. When will we stop embarrassing ourselves every year around St. Patrick’s Day. Enda Kenny should focus on the future and not on the past and create an environment for our economy to move forward instead of talking shite over in London with Cameron and making a fcuking ass of himself again with Obama and his plastic paddy shillelagh waving nonsense. This country will never change.
Most perfectly put dear Sir!
Invite her over for the grabbing… I mean the gathering.
hilarious, lags mouth….i mean mags louth :)
The Duchess of Kerry?
Healy Rae’s have that title, don’t tell her about those relations!
We have enough imposters, Joan Burton thinks she’s Maggie Thatcher
Laugh of the Day!
Brian Ború was not the first High King of Ireland. He was the first and only (and self-styled) ‘Emperor of the Irish’.
isnt the Fitzmaurice name/clan a Norman name/clan hardly a Kerry name but then again wasnt it said of the Normans that they became more Irish than the Irish themselves.
Some one like Brian boru would have millions of descendants by now, would he not? Given that kings were known, if not indeed, expected to mate with anything in a skirt (which must have been confusing with so many men wearing kilts). anyhow, interesting article below.
http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/niall-of-the-nine-hostages.html
I predict that ‘Tourism Ireland’ will exploit K.Ms. Oirishness as another tourism gimmick in order to entice more Brits into Eire so that more badly needed revenue will help our ailing economy
Why can we not sell Ireland for its good points which are many and not this nonsense of some tenuous link between Kate and Ireland . Mortified for all of us ! I live in uk and to be honest when the Brits hear this kind of thing my impression is that they will give us an amused smile, tousle our hair and say ‘ oh our crazy country cousins again ‘ (metaphorically speaking of course) . Until we stop rubbish like this no one will take us seriously internationally
We don’t want her
Is that the royal “we” ?
I’d take her off yer hands pal. And her sisterm
Sisterm? Is that the thing at the back of me jax?
If the jacks came with the deal I wouldn’t be complainin…
That “m” is unfairly close to my full stop.
I thought she was related to the brown bread people. The mc Cambridge s
Could be worse,imagine it was camilla AHHHHHH
I’d imagine she s related to Brian boru s horse
Ha ha ha
Stop already! Toe-curlingly embarassing!
Thought the Queen Mother was related to Brian Boru?
Yup heard that one too. Them O’Briens get around.
The Royal family incestuous? Never!
He’s her brother…….she’s old.
I say she is only fcuking delighted,she will sleep well tonight
I suppose we’ll have to send her a cattle-tribute now..
move with the times jamie.a cabbage patch doll offering would be sufficient….
We never adopted Mo Mowlem :p
Most of us are related to Boru
a hape of people in Asia are related to Genghis Khan
Really am baffled by how the journal.ie is turning into the same ol’ media institutions on the bloody island… I have written to you in reference to Tom Darcy and his fight against the AIB, who as we speak has got the guards to investigate how the were dealing without a licence for many years, this story deserves some sort of coverage but no, lets see how the royal family are doing, one year in journal and your losing your bottle, doubt if your here next year.
More like the Daily Mail on occasions..but stories like this are like being let out of the classroom and into the playground for a lot of people here. Back to Tom Darcy…he would be a decent successor to Boru..
Tom Darcy needs support ….what his angle /first I heard of it (in detail)
Couldn’t give a bollox
Go back far enough and we are all related. No one is more than fiftieth cousin removed. Since the evolution of the species. Thatcher is related to Adams, Hitler to Churchill, Chavaz to Bush, and if push comes to shove, God to the devil. Where does this leave us now ?.
With a very long Christmas card list….
very funny michelle ………….
Watching meet the izzards ….apparently all blue eyed people can be traced to one person who lived in the Black Sea area 10,000 years ago ! So if you are blue eyed and you marry a blue eyed person you’re distant relations.
King Tut was Irish as well by the way ……….. or so I was told !
And the danes consider a red beard to be Viking!
Well my boyfriend has a connection to Neil Armstrong.. Is anyone interested?No of course not ..sure isn’t he just an Ordinary Man as Christy would say!!
Jesus some of you people are unbelievable. Who cares if it’s true or not. If it brings more tourists here all the better. Tourists spend money thus create jobs. I couldn’t care less if they told the Chinese Premier that he was related to Cuchullian if it brought 20 or 30 thousand wealthy Chinese tourists here.
But the point here that people are making is that these tenuous links don’t bring any additional tourists or business to Ireland , it does a good job of making eejits of us though
What I love about the journal is if they put up an article entitle “cute kittens play with balloons”…someone would manage to bring politics into it & use it as a stick to beat the government
It’s called Karma !
feck off with yerselves! I’m the only one descended from Brian Ború!
Well if that’s the case, you need to make your way to the Hill of Tara.. Once there, proceed to the King’s Seat, where you will find the Stone of Destiny, the Lia Fail.. place your hand on it, and if it roars, then you are indeed the King and all is yours. If it doesn’t, and you turn out to be a messer, your head will be chopped off and shrunken and carried around as a souvenir to deter other would-be messers..
sounds reasonable enough! right o…..
Where in Brown Sugar or Peter Marks?
First Obama now kate. Enda s doing great history. When will he start sorting real problems of poverty. How much did researching did this cost.
Enda’s roots have
been traced to either turnips or carrots. The final results are awaiting the DNA analysis.
Ah here leave it out. All want to be Irish. Weekend. Rest of time we are on our knees in debt. Finding patriotism a bitter pill these days.
How closely related are her and the husband???
Yeah and Brian Cowen was found to be related to Henry VIII
Yes.
No body can beat the Irish sense of humor.It is good publicity for Ireland.I love this country.
I love everyone’s superb use of the English language on this post, ironic don’t you think..
It is not embarrassing at all for the Irish people if Kate has roots in Ireland.Now the British should behave!
Brian boru existed?
Invite her to Clontarf!
Why?
Thats where Brian Boru was killed during the battle of clontarf.
Very good.
Who cares. Jesus Christ on a stick
Journal ….Brian Boru was one of the last high kings of ireland not the first……………
I wonder if we can get Kate and her new son/daughter, Patrick or Patricia, to cut the tape on the year long celebrations for the millenium anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf next year ….the last time the irish fought as one against a common enemy
Good man Columcille you’re right again! An irish,man will sit on the throne of England!…………
I wonder if he meant Charles or william’s son ….I’m only thinking Charles because I once heard that the Queen mother was adopted out of an orphanage in Dublin!
apt that tourism ireland is using english royalty’s ancestors in ireland to bring visitors here. i wonder had the ancestors of those who work in tourism ireland anything to do with long ago visits from english gentry? worth thinking about….lol x
yea great her ancestors raped pillaged and murdered right across Kerry. we should celebrate the Norman conquest of Ireland and the Munster and ulster plantations. we are all one big happy family yippee. maybe we should erect a mural to the queen of England on the side of some randomers house in tralee just to boost tourism. the unionist’s would come down in their droves to see it. btw i am being sarcastic in case anyone doesn’t get it
Brian boru – the king of Munster. “Dow’cha boy” but what about
“Strongbow” the Viking legend who soon put paid to our champ?
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