Meeting Gerry Adams

[Cian]

No, you didn't. Sorry - not trying to start a fight. Just saying that it's a bit difficult trying to say who's the most corrupt Irish politician, North or South, Loyalist or Republican.

McGuinness is (I believe) as corrupt if not more so.

That was all.

Honest

But McGuinness has never been an elected politician in the state - just in Northern Ireland (NI Assembly) and the UK (Westminster). I'm not the kind of person to extend any claims of the state extending in to NI, particularly when 94% of the population of the state voted to remove any such claims in 1998. So his corruption levels can't be compared to that of CJ Haughey or Bertie Ahern due to differing jurisdictions...

 

[Buzzer]

Fair dos and Haughey did take corruption to great levels. Didn't he have his own helipad?

 

[Cian]

Fair dos and Haughey did take corruption to great levels. Didn't he have his own helipad?

He had his own helicopter leasing firm!

Ahern, who is about five months away from getting the label "deemed corrupt" as it stands, was CJ's right-hand-man. The government is relying on two other parties and an independent to hold itself together, has only been elected 5 months and has already had a vote of no-confidence - have a feeling it, him, and FF will collapse in one almighty pyramid come March/April when the tribunals report back. A very likely outcome for the remains of FF is that it'll merge with the SDLP, and the TDs that oppose that down here form their own party - we've a very fluid situation regarding parties here, there's been three year old parties in government before - and recently...

The coalition came very close to collapsing yesterday too, actually, over a private members bill on civil unions - the Green Party threatened to cross the floor to vote with Labour, which would leave the govt. with a theorethical majority of two... they managed to stall it by saying they'll introduce their own legislation on it "by March 08".