Comments on: McDowell undertakes kamikaze mission, enlivens debate in the process

By: Dublin Opinion » Blog Archive » Debatable Outcomes

Dublin Opinion » Blog Archive » Debatable Outcomes — Thu, 17 May 2007 15:54:28 +0000

[...] debate between the leaders of the smaller parties on Primetime was hard to call. Clearly, there was no [...]

By: Pavement Trauma

Pavement Trauma — Thu, 17 May 2007 12:40:26 +0000

The Opposition benches are going to be substantially improved by having McDowell on them in the next Dail.

By: Niall

Niall — Thu, 17 May 2007 12:23:55 +0000

I think what people need to remember about Pat Rabbitte is that he didn’t need to be there. He had nothing to gain and everything to lose from the debate. Nobody who is considering voting for Labour would ever vote for the PDs. The Greens are his allies. And by attacking Adams so strongly, McDowell helped the Labour cause.

By: Niall

Niall — Thu, 17 May 2007 12:23:25 +0000

I think what people need to remember about Pat Rabbitte is that he didn’t need to be there. He had nothing to gain and everything to lose from the debate. Nobody who is considering voting for Labour would ever vote for Fine Gael. The Greens are his allies. And by attacking Adams so strongly, McDowell helped the Labour cause.

By: Dede

Dede — Thu, 17 May 2007 12:05:32 +0000

Oh the fun! I’ve never sat down with a bag of popcorn to watch a debate before, but if there’s going to be more like this I want to see it.

Rabbitte clearly came out best of the four, he was more controlled and reasonable than usual but managed to show his passionate side on issues like the health service. McDowell showed an amazing amount of pettiness more suited to a college society’s post-debate drinking session (see Rabbitte’s quote, below) and really showed the desperation of the PDs, although he did provide great entertainment. Sargent came off very well, his earnestness is probably his best feature, he’s very credible. Adams was surprisingly very disappointing – his speech was wooden and he relied far too much on his notes, while he obviously didn’t have the facts to back up any of his arguments.

Best moments:
- The camera resting on a smirking Rabbitte for ages while the spat was heating up between McDowell and Adams.
- McDowell’s response to Adams’ assertion that ‘the bank owns’ his house – ‘ I bet the Northern Bank doesn’t own it!’ Priceless
- The Paris Hilton analogy
- Rabbitte’s reprimand to McDowell, harking back to their UCD days ‘We’re not in the L&H now Michael’
- MCDowell’s ‘the left, the hard left, and the leftovers’ comment

By: Do you think i'm an Idiot

Do you think i'm an Idiot — Thu, 17 May 2007 11:57:35 +0000

How can anyone regard Gerry Adams as the Sinn Feins greatest asset . The man had no grasp of the facts and is clearly an idiot. Fair paly to Michael Mc Dowell. He may very well be less than useless but a least he came to debate which is more than you can say for Pat Rabitte who had a look on his face that suggested he was constipated. As for The guy from the Green Party, the cog notes written up his arm were amusing.

By: Nick Dunne Davis

Nick Dunne Davis — Thu, 17 May 2007 11:53:58 +0000

Mc Dowell is only a pseudo fascist, unlike myself. I’ll represent the silent minorities in our society ie the rich and affluent. It’s time we made the rich richer and the poor work harder.

http://www.ndd.ie

By: Niall

Niall — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:46:59 +0000

I think McDowell would make a better journalist than Minister for Justice or Tanaiste. If he loses his seat one of the papers should nab him.

Adams avoiding facts and figures about economics? Nothing new there. SF are trading on his image bigtime in this election – you’d think they’d brief him a bit more about what’s going on down south, although in fairness I’ve yet to be convinced by any of their politicians on the facts and figure of managing an economy. Their pious generalities are wearing very thin.

By: Niall

Niall — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:40:21 +0000

It’s time the media got over their obsession with asking Pat Rabbitte if he would go into government with FF. It’s like every journalist wants to get the ‘scoop’. It’s all about humiliating the guy. Every dog in the street knows that if the numbers aren’t there for the Rainbow there’s a good chance Labour will talk with FF. Big deal – that’s politics. Rabitte has managed not to categorically rule this out through acts of verbal acrobatics. This is completely understandable. Is he really going to categorically refuse the opportunity to form a government if the has the numbers to do so? RTE should cop on.

By: Ray

Ray — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:18:38 +0000

I thought Michael McDowell was brilliant. He showed what an incompetent blithering idiot he really is. Cheap shots, retheroic and blatant lies are the way forward in politics in this country. Gerry Adams was very subdued. Some one should tell him that facts and human rights have no place in Irish politics. It’s all about sustaining wealth and feeding the new found greed that is consuming us all! That’s progress. Real progress. Look at the USA. Surly we should emulate this capitalist giant. Pat Rabbits Cheshire cat impressions were great. Trevor Sergeants saving the world by reducing carbon emissions was bordering on insanity. Hugging trees may be a more suitable profession for him!