Council of State

[Natchessmen]

The Council of State is made up of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, the Chief Justice, Mr Justice John L Murray, the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, the Ceann Comhairle, Dr Rory O'Hanlon, the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, Senator Rory Kiely and the Attorney General.

It also includes former Presidents Dr Patrick Hillery and Mrs Mary Robinson, former Taoisigh Dr Garret FitzGerald, Mr Charles Haughey, Mr Liam Cosgrave, Mr John Bruton and Mr Albert Reynolds, in addition to two former chief justices, Mr Justice T. A. Finlay and Mr Justice Ronan Keane.

Does anyone else find it really strange that CJH is still in such an esteemed group, of course he has not been convicted of anything and so of course has every right but still .... "it's a great little country"

 

[Redbhoy]

What is the Council of State and what are its powers/duties??

 

[Slash]

Does anyone else find it really strange that CJH is still in such an esteemed group......

Well, since, in the opinion of his medical advisors, CJH is "far too ill" to appear at the Planning Tribunal, he will hardly be well enough to attend the Council of State meeting. Or maybe he'll drag himself from his deathbed, or make a miraculous recovery.

 

[daltonr]

The Government is screwed. The OAP's have a majority on the Council.

-Rd

 

[Tommy]

I think its about time people left CJH alone. The man is suffering from cancer and is elderly. I doubt if he will attend the CoS meeting. Neither will John Bruton who is in Washington. So what?

 

[Marion]

The Government is screwed. The OAP's have a majority on the Council.

The President doesn't have to accept their advice.

Marion :hat

 

[Dr Moriarty]

drag himself from his deathbed, or make a miraculous recovery...?

Nah, he only does that for the Dingle Regatta...

 

[maranello]

Quote:-

"Does anyone else find it really strange that CJH is still in such an esteemed group, of course he has not been convicted of anything and so of course has every right but still .... "it's a great little country""

Surely you've answered your own question, Natchessmen, as on what basis could he be excluded as he has not been convicted of anything?

I agree it sticks in the craw somewhat.

 

[crugers]

I think its about time people left CJH alone

No point in hurting...

"... the old, the sick and the handicapped."

Yeh!
Right!

 

[purple]

Does anyone really think it would be a good idea to give back all the money taken since the mid 70's (plus indexation and interest)?
It would cost billions and cripple the country; only an idiot or complete populist opportunist would champion it as a realistic solution.
As for CJH, he has been publicly humiliated and his achievements totally overshadowed by his corruption, his house is being sold and he now has to buy his shirts from Louie Copland’s, isn't that enough?!

 

[daltonr]

made a mockery of our justice system and caused further wastage of taxpayers' money

Sorry...Which Taoiseach are we talking about now?

Does anyone really think it would be a good idea to give back all the money taken since the mid 70's (plus indexation and interest)?

No, I don't. But I also don't think it's a good idea that government should be able to do what it likes and then change the law afterwards to make it ok, and sweep the whole thing under the carpet as a minor flaw in legislation.

Some people avoided these charges by complaining, while the charges continued to be levied against others. The government have known about this problem since at least 2001.

AT A MINIMUM. The following should happen.

1. ALL money taken since 2001 should be refunded with interest.

2. Those who knowingly continued with these charges after stopping the charges for people who complained, should be diciplined.

3. If any current member of the Cabinet knew what was going on they should spend a bit of time on the back benches.

4. The constitutionality of retrospective legislation should be tested by the State, to avoid the expense to individuals of testing it.

5. Any refunds should be done without the people in question having to fill in a single form, or make a single phone call. The state should do the leg work.

I'm not affected by this situation one way or the other, but the State set the bar for integrity in it's dealings with the banks and it needs to now put up or shut up.

If the state weasles out of this and sweeps it under the carpet as a simple mistake, then business leaders should feel justified in behaving that way too.

It's easy to have principles and integrity when it's someone else in the hot seat.

-Rd