Tag Archives: Timmy Dooley

Clare Oireachtas members angry over ‘extremely disappointing’ Aer Lingus snub AER Lingus CEO Lynne Embleton opted not to attend a sitting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport & Communications on Wednesday, at which she would have faced questioning from Clare’s Oireachtas members following the airline’s decision to close its Shannon cabin crew base. The airline has received significant financial support from the State while it is in discussions looking for more, and Wednesday’s decision by Ms Embleton not to appear has provoked some irritation. Ms Embleton had been given the option to attend either remotely or in person. Despite being unavailable for the committee meeting, which would have been open to the public and media; she was set to meet with the Taoiseach privately on Wednesday. Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Donal Moriarty would have attended the committee meeting in her place, but that was unacceptable to the members and the meeting was deferred until Ms Embleton is available. According …

RYANAIR has delivered on a promise to refund a school group from St Joseph’s in Tulla, whose planned Transition Year tour to Barcelona last April had to be called off because of the pandemic. The repayments were confirmed by Deputy Cathal Crowe who said the money was received on Tuesday morning (March 16). Following the intervention of Deputy Crowe and Senator Timmy Dooley, Ryanair agreed to make the refund. The money went to the school who then repaid students and families. “Even though, following my intervention last month, Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson agreed to directly refund the school so that they in turn could reimburse all parents, the reimbursement was delayed,” said Deputy Crowe. “This prompted me last week to engage with Ryanair to ensure that the matter would be brought to a conclusion. I’m delighted that there has been a successful outcome to this dispute.” Despite the successful outcome, Deputy Crowe described the delay, on Ryanair’s part, as “ridiculous”. …

THE challenges faced by students and their parents when it comes to securing secondary school places in Ennis is “very negative and damaging” to their mental health. That’s according to Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley, one of a cross-party group of Clare Oireachtas members who have come together to try and find a solution to the ongoing issue. He has urged that a common application system be put in place for allocating secondary schools. Party colleague Cathal Crowe TD also advocates the common application system, and is calling for additional school accommodation to be provided by the Department of Education and the appointment of additional teachers. The allocation of school places has become an annual cause for concern in Ennis. Last week it was confirmed that St Flannan’s College would be adding some additional places in response to “unprecedented demand” on second level schools in the county capital. Deputy Dooley held a Zoom meeting on Tuesday evening with parents and …

August 31, 2020 Comments attributed to me as reported on in the Clare Champion on or about 23 August 2020 may have been viewed as totally unjustified criticism of Ms Rose Hynes in her capacity as Chairperson of Shannon Group plc. This was not my intention. While we may have differences on issues of policy and strategy, I hold Ms Hynes in the highest regard as a businessperson, as a Chairperson and member of many boards in Ireland and as an individual. I unreservedly retract any suggestion to the contrary and apologise to Ms Hynes for any embarrassment my statement may have caused to her and her family.

ROSE Hynes has been at the helm of Shannon Group since it was created, but her time could come to an end within weeks. Last year a five year spell as chairman of the board came to a conclusion, but she was reappointed for a further 12 months. While it had been expected that she would be reappointed for another two years, and still may be, it is understood that this is not a done deal at this stage. It is understood that Ms Hynes would be open to remaining in the position going forward. While Shannon Group has had some successes on the property side of its business over the last couple of years, the performance of Shannon Airport has been quite disappointing, and this was the case before the emergence of Covid-19. This year has seen a number of calls for Ms Hynes to be replaced, with these coming from figures in local tourism and in politics. On …

AS one of the so-called ‘Taoiseach’s 11’, Senator Timmy Dooley said he is delighted to return to the upper house, where he pledged to leverage his close contacts at the cabinet table in the best interests of Clare. The Mountshannon native denied that the beard he sported during lockdown was symbolic of his stint in the political wilderness, after two two unsuccessful election campaigns, one for the Dáil and the other for the Seanad. A fund-raising shave raised over €2,000 for Sláinte an Chláir and sharpened his image for a return to Leinster House. The former Fianna Fáil TD is intimately familiar with the corridors of power, and his senator’s office is in close proximity to some of those who will be sitting at the cabinet table. “My close colleagues Micheal McGrath and Darragh O’Brien have two powerful portfolios,” he said. “I was in Ógra Fianna Fáil with Norma Foley 30 years ago. I won’t be slow to use my …

Timmy Dooley (FF) and Róisín Garvey (Green Party) are two of the 11 Taoiseach nominees for Seanad Éireann, it has been announced this evening. This brings the total number of Clare senators to three, as Martin Conway (FG) was elected in the recent election. Both Senator Garvey and Senator Dooley were unsuccessful candidates in the February 8 General Election, while Senator Dooley was also unsuccessful in the subsequent Seanad Éireann elections. Clare now has seven Oireachtas members across the political spectrum.

TWO Clare candidates have lost out in their bid to secure a place on the Industrial and Commercial Panel of Seanad Éireann. The development means that former Fianna Fáil TD, Timmy Dooley, has failed in his bid to return to the Oireachtas. The Mountshannon native was one of the surprise casualties of February’s General Election, and having formerly been a member of the Upper House, was thought to have been in with a strong chance of taking a Seanad seat. While he secured 35 first preference votes from the Industrial and Commercial Panel electorate which is comprised of local authority members, he was eliminated on the twenty-first count on a total of 52 votes. Also seeking election to that panel was prominent Clare hotelier and former President of the Irish Hotels Federation, Michael Vaughan. The Lahinch man, a first-time candidate, was eliminated on the fifth count. Counting for the Administrative Panel continues today with two Clare candidates in contention, for …