Breaking News -
Senator Labhrás O Murchú head of Comhaltas Ceoltóiri Eireann said that he has been approached by a number of TDs (MPs) to put his name forward for the Presidency of Ireland. He is considering and will make a final decision within 48 hours. It is said that because of his position he could count on a wide network of supporters across the country. We might see a Session in the 'Aras' yet !
Ah come on, Free Reed - Labhrás would be seen as the archetypal Fianna Fail lackey. A tainted yes man licking up the benefits of association with power. He wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell but then neither did I think David Norris would have either and he seems to be popular in a way in the polls..
Anyway, the bold Larry don't actually play, does he?
FOUR-TERM Fianna Fáil senator has emerged as a late entrant into the presidential race – with a meeting of the FF parliamentary party called for this evening to discuss his bid for the Áras.
Labhrás Ó Murchú says he has decided to make a formal run for the presidency as an independent candidate, and believes he still stands a very good chance of securing the 20 signatures he needs to become a formal candidate.
This lunchtime Ó Murchú said the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party was to meet this evening to discuss his late bid, and that he would ask the meeting to allow individual TDs and Senators to support him if they wished.
Ó Murchú said he had been approached “fairly seriously” last week about entering his name, and had initially dismissed the idea.
I was asked to consider it over the weekend, do a bit of sounding out… and I found there was a positive response coming back, and I decided to take it a step further.
The senator, 72, acknowledged that securing enough signatures to appear on the ballot paper would be difficult, but that his prospects for doing so looked “fairly good at the moment”.
Ó Murchú indicated that he had already secured the backing of some candidates, though he did not name them.
‘My name is now out there’
While Fianna Fáil has already decided not to run an internal candidate – saying it would examine the issue of supporting candidates after nominations closed – it did not make a decision on whether its Oireachtas members could help in nominations.
This evening’s meeting had been called, he said, to “deal with the issue of the presidency, and the idea that my name is now out there in the public. I hope to address that meeting myself, and put my own wishes and credentials before the meeting.”
Ó Murchú was not one of Micheál Martin’s ‘preferred’ candidates in this year’s Seanad election, when he retained his seat on the Cultural and Educational Panel, but does not believe that this status will work against him:
I succeeded in getting cross-party support on that occasion, which I think is also relevant now… I think it will be down very much to transfers, so you have to have some cross-party backing.
The senator, who is also the director-general of the traditional musicians’ group Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, said he also intended to lobby non-party TDs and Senators to secure their backing. He is not due to address them at their meeting today, however.
If Fianna Fáil was to allow its parliamentarians vote for their own candidates without a party whip, it would release 33 members who could then nominate other candidates – with only 20 of those needed to secure backing.
If FF was to do this, it would also boost the hopes of other potential candidates, including Dana and David Norris, who are known to be seeking the assistance of independent TDs and Senators to reach the 20-nominee threshold.
Ó Murchú has been outside of the party fold before – having resigned the party whip last July after voting against the passage of the Civil Partnership Bill in the Seanad. He rejoined the parliamentary party last November.
Well, it seems he certainly threw the cat amongst the pigeons!!
'Scarcely controlled mayhem' is the description of the Fianna Fail meeting, where the subject arose!!
For the love of jaysus! Could we not just collectively agree on Dickie Rock...What an absurd notion that Larry Murphy could follow in the noble footsteps of the 2 Marys. At least McGuinness' nomination makes it interesting.
Notorious right wing bigot. He equated the civil partnership bill to the penal laws. Its an attempt to block Norris, the most popular candidate, nothing more nothing less. He hates the idea of a president who is also an openly gay man.
Sounds like he should move to the States. He'd fit in. We have so many right wing bigots in politics that one more won't make a damn bit of difference.
here here skooter. he is an absolute prick of the highest order and should be nowhere near this office. I really thought this country had moved on but it seems that there is still a small minded, bigoted, redneck element that has far too much airtime altogether. If anyone thinks larry is a good choice I really have no optimism for the future.
Larry Murphy for President
Larry Murphy for President
Breaking News -
Senator Labhrás O Murchú head of Comhaltas Ceoltóiri Eireann said that he has been approached by a number of TDs (MPs) to put his name forward for the Presidency of Ireland. He is considering and will make a final decision within 48 hours. It is said that because of his position he could count on a wide network of supporters across the country. We might see a Session in the 'Aras' yet !
# Posted on September 15th 2011 by Free Reed
Re: Larry Murphy for President
I doubt if the ex members of Clontarf CCE who put in a lot of hard work and effort in to raising money for CCE would vote for him.
# Posted on September 15th 2011 by Nicholas Jelinek
Re: Larry Murphy for President
Ah come on, Free Reed - Labhrás would be seen as the archetypal Fianna Fail lackey. A tainted yes man licking up the benefits of association with power. He wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell but then neither did I think David Norris would have either and he seems to be popular in a way in the polls..
Anyway, the bold Larry don't actually play, does he?
# Posted on September 15th 2011 by the wounded hussar
Re: Larry Murphy for President
Well, he'd better buy the drinks, then.
# Posted on September 15th 2011 by nicholas
Re: Larry Murphy for President
FOUR-TERM Fianna Fáil senator has emerged as a late entrant into the presidential race – with a meeting of the FF parliamentary party called for this evening to discuss his bid for the Áras.
Labhrás Ó Murchú says he has decided to make a formal run for the presidency as an independent candidate, and believes he still stands a very good chance of securing the 20 signatures he needs to become a formal candidate.
This lunchtime Ó Murchú said the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party was to meet this evening to discuss his late bid, and that he would ask the meeting to allow individual TDs and Senators to support him if they wished.
Ó Murchú said he had been approached “fairly seriously” last week about entering his name, and had initially dismissed the idea.
I was asked to consider it over the weekend, do a bit of sounding out… and I found there was a positive response coming back, and I decided to take it a step further.
The senator, 72, acknowledged that securing enough signatures to appear on the ballot paper would be difficult, but that his prospects for doing so looked “fairly good at the moment”.
Ó Murchú indicated that he had already secured the backing of some candidates, though he did not name them.
‘My name is now out there’
While Fianna Fáil has already decided not to run an internal candidate – saying it would examine the issue of supporting candidates after nominations closed – it did not make a decision on whether its Oireachtas members could help in nominations.
This evening’s meeting had been called, he said, to “deal with the issue of the presidency, and the idea that my name is now out there in the public. I hope to address that meeting myself, and put my own wishes and credentials before the meeting.”
Ó Murchú was not one of Micheál Martin’s ‘preferred’ candidates in this year’s Seanad election, when he retained his seat on the Cultural and Educational Panel, but does not believe that this status will work against him:
I succeeded in getting cross-party support on that occasion, which I think is also relevant now… I think it will be down very much to transfers, so you have to have some cross-party backing.
The senator, who is also the director-general of the traditional musicians’ group Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, said he also intended to lobby non-party TDs and Senators to secure their backing. He is not due to address them at their meeting today, however.
If Fianna Fáil was to allow its parliamentarians vote for their own candidates without a party whip, it would release 33 members who could then nominate other candidates – with only 20 of those needed to secure backing.
If FF was to do this, it would also boost the hopes of other potential candidates, including Dana and David Norris, who are known to be seeking the assistance of independent TDs and Senators to reach the 20-nominee threshold.
Ó Murchú has been outside of the party fold before – having resigned the party whip last July after voting against the passage of the Civil Partnership Bill in the Seanad. He rejoined the parliamentary party last November.
# Posted on September 15th 2011 by Nicholas Jelinek
Re: Larry Murphy for President
Rumour also has it that this man might be making a play - http://bit.ly/pvxm0a.
Anyone eager to discover the debate about Larry's 'chances' (or should that be 'chancers'?) should take a gander here - http://www.politics.ie/forum/irish-presidential-election-2011/170224-fianna-fail-support-labhras-o-murchu.html.
# Posted on September 15th 2011 by MacCruiskeen
Re: Larry Murphy for President
He'll do anything to try and avoid going back to Cavan next year.!!
# Posted on September 15th 2011 by Free Reed
Re: Larry Murphy for President
Well, it seems he certainly threw the cat amongst the pigeons!!
'Scarcely controlled mayhem' is the description of the Fianna Fail meeting, where the subject arose!!
# Posted on September 16th 2011 by the wounded hussar
Re: Larry Murphy for President
Hmmm, I wouldn't mind a Comhaltas fella getting it!
# Posted on September 16th 2011 by Patrick Murray
Re: Larry Murphy for President
For the love of jaysus! Could we not just collectively agree on Dickie Rock...What an absurd notion that Larry Murphy could follow in the noble footsteps of the 2 Marys. At least McGuinness' nomination makes it interesting.
# Posted on September 16th 2011 by laguacamaya
Re: Larry Murphy for President
Dickie Rock? You must be kidding. Let's have Brendan Bowyer doing 'The Hucklebuck' on the steps of Aras at 1pm daily.
# Posted on September 16th 2011 by MacCruiskeen
Re: Larry Murphy for President
I've already got my Green Jacket on and I'm just waiting for the call to go on the campaign trail!!
# Posted on September 16th 2011 by balledfan
Re: Larry Murphy for President
Notorious right wing bigot. He equated the civil partnership bill to the penal laws. Its an attempt to block Norris, the most popular candidate, nothing more nothing less. He hates the idea of a president who is also an openly gay man.
# Posted on September 17th 2011 by skooter500
Re: Larry Murphy for President
Sounds like he should move to the States. He'd fit in. We have so many right wing bigots in politics that one more won't make a damn bit of difference.
# Posted on September 17th 2011 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Larry Murphy for President
here here skooter. he is an absolute prick of the highest order and should be nowhere near this office. I really thought this country had moved on but it seems that there is still a small minded, bigoted, redneck element that has far too much airtime altogether. If anyone thinks larry is a good choice I really have no optimism for the future.
# Posted on September 17th 2011 by mcg
Re: Larry Murphy for President
Vote For Martin McGuiness
# Posted on September 17th 2011 by Nicholas Jelinek
Re: Larry Murphy for President
There you go, bye bye Larry..
# Posted on September 20th 2011 by the wounded hussar