Ni Riada jibe show there’s no such thing
Call for Michael d to explain costs
DEMANDS have been made for Michael D Higgins to explain why public money was spent to upgrade his Galway property.
It emerged yesterday the Office of Public Works carried out the improvements on the President’s private family home.
The OPW said it paid the bill due to “security reasons” and, because of “the sensitivities of the security works”, it could not reveal what was done or what it cost.
Mr Higgins’ son Daniel, who recently completed a PHD at NUI Galway, lives in the house in Rahoon.
Presidential candidate Liadh Ni Riada demanded to know details of what was carried out and how much it cost.
She said: “The OPW said it paid for work at Michael D Higgins’ Galway property for ‘security reasons’ but has failed to say what work was done or how much it cost.
“Reports today say the work included landscaping, which hardly falls under the security category.
“The OPW is refusing to comment on these latest reports but Michael D Higgins can clear up this issue by explaining what this public money was spent on.
LANDSCAPING
“No candidate for public should be above scrutiny.”
A comparison of photos of the house from 2009 with its current state show the addition of new electronic entrance gates, CCTV, new lighting throughout the garden, an alarm system and landscaping work, the Sunday Times revealed.
The OPW said the work on Mr Higgins’ house, named Aimhirgin, was carried out after a report by gardai provided to it by the Department of Justice.
It added: “The OPW carries out security works at the private residence of the President and other office holders in response to An Garda Siochana security requirements.”
A spokesman for Mr Higgins also said the works were required to “maintain security measures at the house”.
An Irish Nationwide mortgage on the house was paid off in April 2013, two years after Mr Higgins took up his presidency.
The OPW said the majority of the work it funded on the house were carried out in 2013. However, sources
office THIS is the year of the greatest mickeywaving contest we’ve ever seen on these islands.
That’s how history will record the presidential election.
We’ve had to watch three realityshow rich men who think they’re Donald Trump having a public battle over their bulging wallets – knowing full well Michael D is going to win it anyway. the Sunday Times further improvements took place over the past three years.
The OPW said it would not make any comment on “any ongoing maintenance of security works”. Mean- Thank God for the women. Senator Joan Freeman and MEP Liadh Ni Riada.
In all of the media debates, both have outshone, outclassed and outperformed the blustering Dragons with their political expertise, debating skills and intellect.
Yes some good news for women in politics! We’re often hearing about how a lack of support for females mean we only make up a quarter of the Dail and Seanad.
But then Ms Ni Riada ruined it all by taking a bitchy swipe at Joan, like a scene from the movie Mean Girls. It was while, presidential candidate Peter Casey has confirmed he will remain in the race for Aras an Uachtarain.
The businessman had suspended his campaign last week after making controversial comments about Traveltold out of her mouth before she realised it – and showed how knee-jerk, pernicious attitudes to women are often perpetrated by those of the same gender.
It exposed an uncomfortable truth – women are often their own worst enemies.
In case you missed it, the moment came during the debate on RTE’S Claire Byrne Live last Monday night.
She took a cut at Joan for receiving campaign funds from an old boyfriend, slyly referring to him as, “This guy who’s giving you money”. She added: lers. Meanwhile, Mr Higgins looks set for a landslide victory in Friday’s election.
He increased his lead over his nearest “Whatever relationship you had with this guy who’s giving you money … I don’t know about your personal finances. I wouldn’t be in a position to take out a loan, I have a mortgage. I have bills.”
Coming from a presidential candidate who had just described herself as a “feminist” in an interview, it was a very revealing thing to say. Hardly stuff of the sisterhood.
We all knew what she was trying to insinuate.
And if a man had said it to Ms Freeman, there would have been war. Mr Higgins is expected to win the election Yet it unfortunately wasn’t unusual. A study for the book The Twisted Sisterhood by Kelly Valen found 90% of women felt bitterness from other women and 75% said they had been hurt by jealousy and competitiveness of a female friend.
As actress Sienna Miller once said: “I have really experienced the judgement of women. There’s no sisterhood.”
Often, women made sidelong innuendos about the sexuality of other women they see as threat.
It’s an attempt to lower their rival in the eyes of others. They’re jealous of