Greystones Chamber and their links to the former Fianna Fail Deputy.

by Fintan O'Hara - Concerned Citizens Action Committee. Fri Oct 24, 2008 20:40

Greystones Chamber is a business organisation representing 145 business's in Greystones and District. It's executive and President are democratically elected by it's members on an annual basis. Greystones Chamber fully supported Cllr. Joe Behan ( then Chair of Wicklow County Council) in his reveiw of the Fire Service in County Wicklow. The position of Greystones Chamber is that we are happy with the service provided by the Greystones Fire Crew at present and we would be very concerned if this crew were sacrificed to facilitate a full time service in Bray. Greystones eagerly awaits the findings of the three investigations into the devastating fire in Bray last year and will not comment on this issue any further until such time that these reports are in the public domain.
Greystones Chamber is very active in many areas of community life in Greystones. Projects that we have been closely involved in are:

1. The provision of Aircoach for the town.
2. Community facilities provided by developers in the town i.e. Community Center, Harbour Clubs and Swimming Pool.
3. Lobby IDA for provision of Jobs at their site to the South of the town
4. Provision of Pay Parking Scheme for Greystones.
5. The provision of a tourist and heritage trail in the town.
6. Lobby for better rail services to and from Greystones.
7. Support for the tidy towns committee.
8. Provision of Christmas lights.
9. Introduction of a BID scheme for the town.
10. Sucessful lobbying for N11 Interchange.

These are just to mention a few schemes we are directly involved in. Please see our link below for further info.

by Marian Sun Oct 26, 2008 16:48

Smell of corruption

by Local Voter - private citizen Mon Oct 27, 2008 01:47

As a man of principle Joe Behan will get the top vote come next election.

He has a conscience and did the right thing by those who support him.

Good for you Joe. Wish there were more like you only others would not step down on a point of principle or anything else - they want at all costs to protect their meal ticket for the future staying in the party.

Let us hear THREE CHEERS FOR JOE.

by Cumann Chairman - Fianna Fail Mon Oct 27, 2008 15:24

Joe Behan was nominated by the Fianna Fail Party for election as T.D. It is the Party Faithful who stood up for him, campaigned for him - and got him elected ! Party funds were expended on his election. He now stands for medical cards for those over 70 who have over 700 Euro a week !

He is therefore no champion of the working classes as he makes himself out to be, rather the champion of retired civil servants on pensions of circa 60,000 Euro a year !!!

In his comments over TV and Radio Joe Behan showed himself up for what he is - Reckless and Disloyal to the Party that set him up in the first place, and buttered his bread for him.

If he is to be truly credible he would resign that Fianna Fail Party seat he holds and contest it in a By-Election right now.

I know that the Budget was wrong, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance have publicly admitted that they got it wrong and have publicly as good as apologised to the people for it, changed it for the better and made up for it, as they continue to do.

This is a Government that is responsive to the demands of the people, in fact this government by its statements and actions, could in fact be termed a Leftist Fianna Fail/Green Party Government. Brian Lenihan has always been a Leftist by nature, he is very Liberal too.

Brian Cowen has proved himself to be the Taoiseach that listens, cares, and acts.

You would not have such a user-friendly government with Kenny, Gilmore and Bruton in power - just think on that horrible prospect !

As for Joe Behan, he should be thoroughly ashamed of himself !

by M.M. - Greystones Resident Mon Oct 27, 2008 17:50

Great to know that we still have some politicians left in Co. Wicklow who haven't sold their conscience to Fianna Fail's corrupt party political machine.. Bravo Joe Behan!

by Bray Resident - A Joe soap voter Mon Oct 27, 2008 18:38

There again we see people who respect Joe for his stance. They WILL remember him at the next election.

Fianna Fail again are just worried about 'the money they spent' on Joe's election. That is what it comes down to MONEY. Taking it off the pensioners, the students, the schools, the nurses and hospital services.

In some ways FF members are probably envious that Joe had the backbone and the conscience to do the right thing while they were cowards wanted to protect their pay cheque and stuck by their Masters no matter what.

GOOD FOR YOU JOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You showed them up for what they are. Daylight robbers of grey haired little old ladies and cowards.

The grey haired army will have FF out at the next election.

Bertie the PEOPLE'S man should NEVER have left us. This would not have happened in his time.

Cowan is a coward mugging little old ladies taking back their medical cards.

by Cumann Chairman - Fianna Fail Mon Oct 27, 2008 19:56

Any fool like Joe Behan can jump ship, rats are the first to desert a sinking ship. It takes greater courage, like several Fianna Fail backbenchers did, to stay in there and take on the Party Leadership. I am really proud of our Fianna Fail backbench TD's such as Bobby Aylward in Kilkenny, they didn't cut and run to mass media applause, they stayed in there to fight, and by God did they fight for all the people that elected them, and who will elect them again and again. Joe Behan is nothing but a cheap player to the crowds, a cheap gimmickry populist who will do anything to get himself elected. It takes guts to stay in the Party and take it on the jaw where it hurts from the People. But all our lads, with the exception of Deserter Joe, stood the test, and put it to the Party Leadership in no undertain terms that neither they nor the People would put up with it - and everybody, including Brian Cowan and Brian Lenihan won, because they have the humanity to respond to the People of Ireland who we in Fianna Fail once again acknowledge as our masters.

Joe Behan probably lost his nerve, he proved himself not able to mix it in there with the big hitters - and now he is become a non-party Independent, I wonder who will pay all his election expenses next time round, I wonder what good he will be now in representing the people of Wicklow as an Independent as the Party will not deal with Joe if he is the last man in Ireland.

And now the Fianna Fail Backbench has produced a whole new deal for the People, this Budget is looking like it will be hugely successful in turning things around. We have stabilised the Financial sector. Now we'll see what we can do for Primary education, as we indeed welcome the teachers' demos this week.

Basically the Irish People are coming round to the realization that we are in a downward loop and that we all have to make any sacrifices we can to recover from this Depression in three or four years time - that is what is at stake, Ireland herself and all our futures.

The two Brians are steady hands at the wheel, just what we need to guide us through this storm, they are beginning to prove themselves now.

One thing that could go is all this motorway building, especially now with a lot less cars on the road. And build more hospitals and schools instead. The only way we'll break out of this depression is for us all to put our shoulders to the wheel, and not play the Prima Donna of Wicklow !

That's the Easy Way out :-)

Shame on you, Joe Behan :-)

by Seamus Doyle - A voter Mon Oct 27, 2008 21:01

Those who have stayed on board the old ship Fianna Fail have sunk anyway by so many percentage points they are leaving skid marks on the scales.

I am sure all Joe's supporters will rally round and support him in the elections and he won't need as much funding as the no hopers still there in Fianna Fail who have to spend a small fortune to get elected thinking all the promotion and glam selling of themselves in the media will win them votes. Not this time. They sank their own ship and are now rowing backwards trying to erase that memory from those who voted them in but it is too late. They still have not given the grey haired army what they want - the FULL reinstatement of the medical card for the over 70's.

Joe knows less is more. He will get there on his character alone - watch him sail by in his own ship while the rats on board sink ever deeper into the mire as the grey haired army fire rocks at them from the shore firmly attached to their returned medical cards!!! Oh what a lovely war.

So you welcome the protests this week. Ha, what else can you say at this point because they are going on anyway and the party is just trying to save face.

The two Brians score a B minus with the voters now. They have BLOWN it.

Let us have a Government for the people next time - that is certainly not Fianna Fail!!!!!!!!!

by Cumann Chairman - Fianna Fail Mon Oct 27, 2008 21:04

Readers may think I am being hard on Joe Behan - you should hear some of my colleagues in the Party, what they're saying about Joe Behan, his former friends and all, decent TDs, is unprintable :-)

The ordinary Fianna Fail TD feels let down by Joe, and why wouldn't they. But I am now telling Joe that his "protest" among all the media glamour he danced and revelled in, is a Nine Day Wonder. And Joe well knows that too.

All that he demanded has been done and conceded, not for Joe, and definitely not conceded to him, but to the Backbench Fianna Fail TDs who stayed in with the Party, with never a question of jumping ship, whose loyalty is to Ireland and to the People, and the Party, in that order.

What I would say to Joe is, calm down. You have more than made your point. Make a fast phone call to the Taoiseach and tell him there will be no more nonsense out of you. Brian Cowen is a fair man, you will be back in the Party, if you stop dribbling all over the place now, in the New Year.

But, Joe, you have immensely damaged your prospects of promotion in the Party within the near future, but I think you will allow that yourself.

For now, Joe, Shut Up !

And that is the best piece of political advice you will ever get :-)

by Seamus Doyle - Voter Mon Oct 27, 2008 22:06

Joe I am sure intends to go it alone as an Independent now and not rejoin the sinking FF ship.

The pals he left behind in FF now need the Yellow Submarine to rescue them as they sink below the waves at the next election,

Joe has a career as a School Principal in the background should he want to go that way in the future. His life does not depend on his position within FF.

He has other options open to him and does not have to take the back biting from former colleagues in the Party.

by Cumann Chairman - Fianna Fail Mon Oct 27, 2008 22:37

Of course we welcome the Primary Teachers protests this week as a sign of a Healthy Democracy such as Ireland is, thanks to successive Fianna Fail-led governments. Many of the teachers marching do of course owe their qualifications and jobs to the expenditure by Fianna Fail governments in the good years now just behind us on their education and training to be the best, and we know that they are the best, all appreciate us for that too.

As more and more temporary immigrants, having spent the Good Times here, and with our best help and best treatment and kind wishes too, are now flocking to Dublin Airport for Warsaw and Points East, they will always remember their fabulous times here in Ireland and bring a love of Ireland out there with them and back to their own worlds.

And as they do, more and more places will become vacant and class sizes will drop anyway by default all over Ireland in the next few years, as more hospital beds and operation places will qeue faster too. It's only a matter of having a little patience as the government tackles the economy to bring about a recovery as fast as humanly possible.

Even tonight on the news signs of normality were seen to be restored as Minister Mary Hanafin announced that 100 percent Xmas Bonuses will be paid out as usual to all Social Welfare recipients to the tune of 200 million Euro.

The Business of Government goes on, relentlessly, as our government does everything in its power to bring about that economic recovery as fast as possible so people do not have to feel the pain except for a short while, a little bit longer...

Personally I know that Leftists here on Indymedia never again want to see a Blueshirt Coalition of Fine Gael and Hard Labour, and though they may not be enamoured of Fianna Fail, still realise that at least we are the lesser of two evils.

Most Socialists I know prefer, and in some cases, even vote for Fianna Fail, which is a caring Party and Government that has shown over the past couple of weeks that we can and we do respond to the legitimate grievances of all our Irish People.

Indeed now is the time for anybody here who would like to serve the country to put themselves forward for the upcoming elections next June - and where better to put yourself forward than as a proud representative of Fianna Fail, to which you are entirely welcome, to put forward progressive leftist thinking to the Party and to your local electorates all over Ireland. We are proud to have many immigrants, especially black people, standing as candidates for Fianna Fail all over the country in the upcoming elections, many Eastern European and other immigrants too.

Fianna Fail is not some great bogeyman, it is your Party too, here for you, and that is our greatest strength, especially in consideration of the great trust the Irish People, no matter what their political outlook, ideals or aims and objectives, have in us.

And this is why Joe Behan has got it all so horribly wrong - for himself. But Fianna Fail, as Joe knows, is a realist and compassionate Party too, so he need not despair altogether.

Though he has a lot of explaining to do to those he deserted. But sure Joe is good at that !

Yes, you can indeed express your Socialist beliefs in Fianna Fail, several local FF councillors do so publicly for example.

And local councillors are paid a decent salary now, usually about 25,000 a year, plus expenses that could be as much again. Get in touch with your local FF Cumann if you think you could contribute to the good government of this country as a Fianna Fail elected representative - that's what we're here for !

by Seamus Doyle - Voter Mon Oct 27, 2008 23:22

Yes it is time to bring in a Rainbow Coalition and give them a try.

We can hear the DESPERATION in the voices in Fianna Fail now. The grannies army has scared the Bejxxxs out of them and have them running scared.

Of course the government DARE NOT cut out the Christmas bonus this year or blood would have been spilt on the steps of the Dail when the grannies laid siege with their walking sticks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Battlestations at dawn would have been the cry.

With the medical card and all the other cut backs the people of Ireland would not have tolerated Scrooge Brian Mark 1 and 2 taking their Christmas bonus as well.

Fianna Fail can pack up their soap boxes and give the wood from them to the poor to burn in their fires now that the price of fuel has gone up and just let the rainbow coalition form in due course and run the country properly.

by Cumann Chairman - Fianna Fail Tue Oct 28, 2008 00:21

The Rainbow ? Who, Seamus ? The Blueshirts and the Hard Labour Party ? Sorry, Seamus, but the People would never be that foolish again - with Minister for Social Welfare Prionsias De Rossa and his one pound rise for Pensioners ???

Joe would never be so stupid as to go for the Rainbow, after all he is a shrewd FF TD, too clever to wander that far astray. So we can call his bluff there !

Temporary Eratic opinion polls might lead the Empty-Headed astray , but not experienced Fianna Fail TD's like Joe, hehehe...

If push came to shove in the next General Election, a good three years away yet, Joe would support a Fianna Fail Government from the Independent benches - ask him.

Where Joe Behan stands in relation to his place in the Fianna Fail Party in the future is up to him at this point in time.

All he has done is breached Party discipline, and he is by no means the first to do that, and come back.

I doubt if Brian Cowen even read his letter of resignation in its entirety, as Brian would want to give Joe a chance.

But he'll earn that chance if he takes it, as we all hope he will.

A lot of people in the Party lost their heads after the comeback from the Budget in their constituencies, but everything is calming down now as it always does. Joe just lost his nerve a bit more than the others, that is understandable.

Backing the Blueshirts would be an entirely different matter, I can't see Joe do that.

Wishful thinking, Seamus !