The truth about Fintan O'Toole's aborted Dáil bid

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'Democracy Now' movement pulled the plug last week, but intends to contest future elections

Shane Coleman and Michael Clifford

David McWilliams

Liam Griffin

Eamon Dunphy

Donal Óg Cusack

Orla Tinsley

Shane Ross

Fintan O'Toole

John McColgan: premises

A new political movement packed with household names and fronted by David McWilliams, Eamon Dunphy, Shane Ross and Fintan O'Toole, has aborted plans to contest the general election nationwide.

'Democracy Now' had made approaches to a number of high-profile figures including businessman and former Wexford hurling manager Liam Griffin, Cork goalkeeper Dónal Óg Cusack, cystic fibrosis campaigner Orla Tinsley and Seamus Boland, ceo of Irish Rural Networks, to contest the election. Boland confirmed to the Sunday Tribune that he had been approached and said he had an "extremely interesting meeting" with the group.

However, Democracy Now's plans have been stymied by political developments that saw the election date being brought forward by a month. The objective was to win 20-25 seats and be in a position to hold the balance of power in the new Dáil. Shane Ross is the only Democracy Now candidate running as an independent in Dublin South.

The movement's decision not to contest – made in the middle of last week – will come as a massive relief to the main political parties as the profile of those involved would have virtually guaranteed the new organisation a decent presence in the Dáil and had the potential to turn the general election upside down. Campaign offices had been identified on Dublin's Capel Street, provided by John McColgan of Riverdance fame.

Finance was being organised with a number of donors lined up. It is understood that €400,000 was pledged in one day and there were advanced plans to start an internet fundraising campaign.

The agreement was that Democracy Now candidates would stand on five core principles, which included a commitment to holding a referendum on the EU/IMF bailout deal which the movement believes to be unsustainable; political reform and a public inquiry into the regulatory and governmental failures that caused the economic and banking crisis.

Outside of the core principles, deputies would have been free to vote with their conscience as a means of allowing people with diverse political ideologies – such as Shane Ross and Fintan O'Toole – to co-exist in the movement. "It was designed to be non-ideological," one source said. While Ross, O'Toole and Dunphy would all have contested the general election – along with at least 20 others – McWilliams' role would have been as a policy advisor. Talks were at an advanced stage with numerous high-profile figures from the arts, sport, business and community activity sectors, sources said. "The plan was to build a movement country-wide. It wasn't just four hacks," one source said.

However, the plans were predicated on the general election happening in late March and were seriously undermined when it became clear that the election was likely to happen before the end of February.

This very tight timescale caused enormous problems for some of the would-be candidates who were in jobs or had businesses and needed time to put their affairs – both business and personal – in order. "In the end, it just happened too quickly," a source said. "If we had had another month it would have been different. The timeframe just placed too much pressure on people. We didn't want to go half-cocked.

"It was a very honourable intention to bring an injection of original thinking, break dynasties and provide an alternative to the established parties," the source said, adding that these parties had all "bought into" the EU/IMF deal.

The source stressed that, while a decision had been taken not to contest the general election, the Democracy Now movement would continue. "It's still there. We haven't stopped it."

Fintan O'Toole wrote in yesterday's Irish Times about his decision not to contest the general election, mentioning David McWilliams, but not the new movement. "I am not ashamed of having tried, but I would be ashamed of having done it badly. I'm sure that the decision not to lead people on with false hopes is the right one and I have no intention of revisiting that decision," he said.

January 30, 2011

Comments

#1 knowtoomuch commented, on January 30, 2011 at 7:10 p.m.:

I think we have had enough of self profiling Gab-Shines.....62 year old Nordy pensioners who may or may not be Lords......and hordes of Sinners who will take their seats if they get them.....all a load of Bankers

#2 Ciaran Dearle commented, on January 30, 2011 at 7:21 p.m.:

I think it is doubtful that "Democracy Now" would have made the breakthrough suggested by Shane. The "floating" element of the electorate, who are their natural supporters, would probably have recognised the risk of them destabilising the Dail at a time when difficulty decisions have to be taken and implemented. Over successive general elections going back to 1977, the floating voters have (with just a few exceptions like the inconclusive results of 1981 and March 1982) shifted decisively with the political tides, supporting FF in 1977, 1997 and 2007, the PDs in 1987, Labour in 1992 and Independents in 2002 (arising from the collapse of FG). So far, on only one occasion has the floating bloc lighted on Fine Gael; in November 1982, when Garret FitzGerald led the party to 70 seats and the leading role in the 1982-87 FG-Labour government. Today's opinion polls suggest that, after a generation, the electorate is “coming home” to Fine Gael, with the intriguing prospect of, if not an overall majority, then a strong minority government, supported perhaps by the remnants of their historic rivals, Fianna Fail. This promises to be an interesting election.

#3 Shane commented, on January 30, 2011 at 8:21 p.m.:

they sound like a bunch of george lees

#4 BarryW commented, on January 30, 2011 at 8:44 p.m.:

What we need is a party that can get into power and with the balls to change the system instead of just the usual self-serving parasitical carry on.

#5 seafoid commented, on January 30, 2011 at 9:11 p.m.:

This election won't usher in a Dáil that goes the full term. Better to keep the powder dry and wait until the default in 2013 when the whole political system bar SF and the Left Alliance will have been proved wrong and the system is in total meltdown.

#6 Michael Moroney commented, on January 30, 2011 at 9:58 p.m.:

A load of "Hurlers on the ditch".

#7 Michael O' commented, on January 30, 2011 at 10:04 p.m.:

For the past three years the people have been daily assailed by the opinions and views of countless pundits and so called experts. However these experts appear as much a self serving clique as any other. George Lee is an example of an expert so clearly performing to type when the chips were down. The fact that these self appointed guardians of the national thought process are now too scared to put themslves before the people speaks volumes. They have had three years to organise and prepare themselves for the election not one month. I suspect that they are far too comfortable in the protected worlds of the media and academia and do not wish to risk their cushy numbers on the vagaries of an election or life in the real world. Cowards to a man.

#8 joe commented, on January 30, 2011 at 10:51 p.m.:

Really ?
Anyone that had serious ambitions of running should have started their campaign months ago.
This is pure bluff.
Far safer for them all to comment from the sidelines and write a few books on the topic.

#9 Daithí commented, on January 31, 2011 at 11:22 a.m.:

Typical Irish comments, knocking people for trying to change things.
It seems to me that these people had too much to lose so gave up trying.
Just field anti-corruption independent candidates everywhere and see how they do, so what if they fail at least they will have tried.

#10 John commented, on January 31, 2011 at 11:33 a.m.:

Pathetic excuse,they bottled it,next time I hear any of them on the radio/TV whinging about the Govt I am turning it off,you had your chance,the wind was in your sails and you jumped ship...probably just as well,do we really want that calibre of gutless wonders running the Country?No we have more than our fair share of them as it is.

#11 Eddie Smyth commented, on January 31, 2011 at 1:14 p.m.:

It is not a case of "if you cant beat them join them".Take our politicians: they`re a bunch of yo-yos. The presidency in now a cross between a popularity contest and a high school debate, with an encyclopedia of cliches the first prize....well, so says Saul Bellow.
We do not need another political party, what would a sports broadcaster, goalkeeper, teacher, farmer etc know ...what we do need is for the president of Ireland who can legally anoint a new government, can disolve a government, can be asked to pass government legislation not have a more meaningful purpose for the state. Why not let the president liaison with the experts, economists, business heads, etc.. let the government and the president avail of the massive business brain power available in Ireland or indeed Irish people the world over, some people are offering it for free, Ireland is just like a business, now it must be viewed in this manner before we can move on.
Science has cured most diseases in the world but the worst disease of all is still prominent, the apathy of the human.
Eddie Smyth Cyprus.

#12 Patrick commented, on January 31, 2011 at 2:48 p.m.:

For the record Shane Ross is standing in the general election as an Independent candidate for Dublin South.
This article seems to give the impression that he's not running but for the record
Shane Ross is standing and will probably secure a seat with a good % of the vote.
As for the others-well Dunphy gets 330k a year for his drivel on RTE- why give up money for nothing?/ his wild life style would fit in nicely with the other Dail members but in terms of politics he's as useful as an ash tray on a motor cycle- I'm sure McWilliams get loads of dosh for being the best economist in Ireland- Let him carry on writing his books about "I told you so" or "how not to do it"
That leaves us with wisest man in the country Fintan O'Toole- his war cry was ZOMBIE banks- let them go- don't put any more money into Anglo etc...
But Fintan- nearly all the Irish banks are now Zombie banks and we feel the we have Zombie politicians leading us into neverland....So Fintan you wised up before you made a fool of your self- Back to the day job of being wise....

#13 Alex commented, on January 31, 2011 at 5:17 p.m.:

Fintan O'Toole is in a permanent and pensionable job with the Irish Times. One of the key questions for him would have been whether (a la George Lee with RTE) he could have taken leave of absence from his Irish Times job to contest the election. If this option were available to him, then he would still have been able to return to his pensionable job in the event of failing to get elected.

But, as I understand it from O'Toole's recent piece in the Irish Times, at one stage he was intending to resign from his job in order to run in the election. Which doesn't make sense (if the leave of absence option were also available to him).

In any event, I think journalists should stick to writing about politics. However, now that O'Toole has demonstrated to us that he is not prepared to put his job in the Irish Times at risk in order to fight for his political ideals in the election, perhaps he will do us all a favour and write less unctuous pieces about politicians in his future articles. At least politicians have the courage to lay themselves on the line by contesting elections.

#14 Hope commented, on January 31, 2011 at 8:16 p.m.:

#11 de berties choice is not going to work, never has, if it involves a hairdo, & shake hands, a jaunt in the jet (when Martin wasn't on it) she could cope. The faster we get rid of FF & her the better for our country. I agree we should endeavour to stop the brain drain, but whoever gets into power, will not act, they dont want the best brains in the country, in the country.

#15 NiceView commented, on February 1, 2011 at 3:21 a.m.:

well, joe above put it best, if they were serious they would have gotten their act together earlier.

and additionally, this excuse of "the election was brought forward a month so we can't do it in time" sounds like "the revolution can't start today, comrade, because my mother took the keys of the car"

So much for the oracle-like seers in the Democracy Now (Or At Least When We Have Our Laundry Done Assuming The Washing Machine Can Handle Our Uniforms) who "predicted" everything. They were wrong footed by an election date. Well, that ought to justify bottling all their principles and moaning and wailing about how nobody is standing up and taking action etc. Pathetic, and superficial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55fqjw...

#16 Jaker commented, on February 1, 2011 at 4:35 a.m.:

Seems like "Democracy Now" cancelled "Democracy". Tut-tut!

Maybe they're waiting for Mubarak to join them?

#17 jack o'sullivan commented, on February 1, 2011 at 5:04 p.m.:

Sure it was too late to go forward;but where were they in the last 2 or 3 years?The dogs in the street knew 2 years ago that the property "boom" was unsustainable.Now I am going out to recruit 101 dalmatians,or any old dog,to fight the election in January 2012.Jack o'sullivan,passage west(as opposed to Passage East)

#18 jim commented, on February 1, 2011 at 9:12 p.m.:

A load of hot air but is that a surprise when one considers who was involved. Continue on with the waffle lads and keep believing that ye are really important.

#19 Gina commented, on February 1, 2011 at 9:38 p.m.:

My thoughts to all the staff this evening. Sundays would not quite be the same without the Tribune. Everything crossed for a positive outcome for you.

#20 joe commented, on February 1, 2011 at 10:07 p.m.:

#19 - Yes, thanks to all at the Tribune for giving those of us kicked out of the country years ago a chance to vent our anger, share our hopes and have a laugh.
Hopefully things work out - otherwise I'll have to figure out how to twitter.

#21 Ciara commented, on February 1, 2011 at 10:13 p.m.:

it would just be so sad if we were to lose the sunday tribune, it defines my sunday, from the walk to the shop to get it, to the numerous cups of coffee I drink whilst reading it....best wishes to you all.

#22 Hope commented, on February 1, 2011 at 10:44 p.m.:

I hope some one invests & keeps all those brilliant reporters at their desks/blackberries/laptops. We truly would be lost without The Tribune.

#23 antony commented, on February 1, 2011 at 11:28 p.m.:

Well nothing good ever did survive in that poxy old island. The place is cursed . Sorry to see ye guys go. The only thing left to say is last one out of Ireland turn off the lights and good luck in yere new Countries

#24 gayle killilea commented, on February 2, 2011 at 12:06 a.m.:

Best of luck to all of the Sunday Tribune Journalists and staff who have done well in providing us with some quality journalism and good crime reporting in recent times when other so called broadsheets have gone tabloid, irresponsibly sensationalising trivia. The Tribune appeared to be the only paper without a hysterical agenda recently. I'm sure you will all be snapped up by other media outlets.

#25 antony commented, on February 2, 2011 at 12:22 a.m.:

Nobody has any money to invest HOPE, and the banks are not given the taxpayers money to honest people who say bad but truthful things about them. Well it used to be the tax payers money,but Seanie Fitz and his Boys club will take a huge chunk before all this is over. Good old Seanie,tax payers should be glad to give their great great great grandchildrens money to that nice well dressed cute whore and Co. When the bailout money is gone will the last former bankrupt banker turn out the ould lights GO ON SEANIE YOU CUTE BOYO YOU they all would do the same, three cheers for Seanie hip hip

#26 Frank commented, on February 2, 2011 at 12:37 a.m.:

Best of luck to all in the Trib. Worked there for 15 years, many many good times as well as hard. Good bunch of people.

#27 Jerry commented, on February 2, 2011 at 1:48 a.m.:

All great men to comment, but when the chips are down... ? Fintan: "I have a career" - what do you think all the other politicians had before they entered? Put up or shut up lads (but seeing as none of the above can pass a microphone, I won't hold my breath on them following such advice).