Results 41,881-41,900 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----organised by platforms. I do not see The Ditchas an independent media platform at all. Paddy Cosgrave does. He is a backer. Chay Bowes was a founding member of The Ditch. Chay Bowes is quoted on Russia Today. The Russian ambassador is full of praise for Chay Bowes for his characterisation of the Russian war on Ukraine as a war organised by NATO and the EU. I am a fair person. I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have issues with that and it is why I genuinely say that the political world has changed. As far as I can see, and I can give various quotations from those who back The Ditch, this was a political campaign.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have given the Deputy the political context. She referred to public confidence in our political system. To me, that is the purpose of the various campaigns that have happened in recent times. They are orchestrated and organised.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I am answering the question.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I am saying that the political context has changed. This is a political organisation attacking Government and wanting to undermine confidence in it. That is what is going on here so we are entitled to respond. I am fully cognisant of what is going on here-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----and I see this now through a totally different prism. I see how all of this is being organised and set up by people who are very clear in their campaign-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----against me and my party. It can be seen in all of the comments that have been made. Paddy Cosgrave is a strong supporter and there are deep connections between the Web Summit, Paddy Cosgrave and this organisation. What did he say? "...Maybe it's time to body bag...". That was a tweet. It continued: "... a few minions in media, civil service, charities, judiciary, private sector..."

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: We are not facilitating this; that is the answer to the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is slavishly following this agenda.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I accept her bona fides as a Deputy; do not get me wrong but it is only when-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----the thing came to a crescendo during the week that all the questions started to come in. The Deputy is part of it. She is inadvertently being dragged into it. I would respectfully suggest that there are a lot of issues around this that need interrogation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: There is nothing to cover up but the Deputy has made his decision.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Paul Murphy made his mind up a long time ago. I saw him on "Prime Time" last week and to all intents and purposes he has labelled Deputy Niall Collins as corrupt and as having committed a criminal offence.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: So what questions does the Deputy want to ask? He has made up his mind. Stop now-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Bruff Local Electoral Area Committee has no statutory authority, and it had none at the time, to dispose of a property. That is the first fact and so there was no pecuniary or beneficial interest in the land on behalf of Deputy Niall Collins or his wife at that time.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: None at that time.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have said that it would have been better if at the time Deputy Niall Collins had left the meeting and not participated but it is clear that officials brought that proposal to the local electoral area committee. I am trying to be fair and balanced and I will not pre-judge it like the Deputy does. It was at the 2008 meeting, well over a year and a half later, that the land was formally...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I am very clear about this and I have a clear view that this has been going on for quite some time. There have been attempted character assassinations of many politicians in this House and of many political parties if they are not of the same political orientation of those who back The Ditch, who are good friends of the Deputy in terms of their political philosophy and political ideology.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: There is no question about that. The selective and distorted way that stories originate and are presented leaves an awful lot to be desired. This is a political organisation - that is my point - and the whole agenda is to create a campaign, get to the paid adds, get it trending, attack media if they do not cover it and then get it into the Dáil for questions and answers. We will make...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy made a comment about the planning application that Deputy Niall Collins made. That point was never made in the original story and I said that my impression when I first read the story in The Ditchwas that it was quite shocking. However, when I read the documentation it transpired that it was in his name, that he fulfilled all the criteria for the planning and that the...