Tag Archives: Timmy Dooley

ALL roads led to Ennistymon last Sunday morning as the counting of just over 60,000 Clare ballots began. Storm Ciara tore along the western seaboard, leaving sections of the N85 barely passable. As political pilgrims queued to cross flood waters south of the Inagh village, the brother of outgoing TD Timmy Dooley came quietly to the rescue. Pat Dooley donned his wellies to check the depth of the water, then led a number of other drivers through. Gales and floods ultimately did little to deter the capacity crowd that poured into The Falls Hotel to witness a drama few could have anticipated. As the ballot boxes were opened, the threads of a new political narrative emerged. Sinn Féin was on course to have a Clare TD for the first time since 1922. It took more than twelve hours, however, to confirm the dominance of newcomer Violet-Anne Wynne. Anticipation of the first count was at fever pitch by 9.10pm. Families and …

TIMMY Dooley is wearing a pair of corduroy trousers as he hits the canvass in Ennis, on an unseasonably mild Wednesday afternoon. An essential part of the wardrobe of a seasoned campaigner, they’ve been bought specially over Christmas for occasions like this. “I always wear a pair of corduroy trousers,” he reveals. “They’re a great guard against dogs. It gives them something to chew on and they don’t get through to your leg. Last time around, I got a right nick from a dog. He made a grab and got me, so I had to go off and get a tetanus shot.” As a phenomenal vote-getter for 18 years now, the outgoing Fianna Fáil TD knows all of the other secrets of an effective canvass. “The first time I canvassed was for my Seanad campaign in 2002, the Dáil was 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2020. So far, I’ve been successful. I like to think it’s hard work, but people make …

DEPUTY Timmy Dooley has said that Fine Gael have tried to employ smear tactics, following news stories this week about Lisa Chambers casting votes in the Dáil while sitting in his seat. The Clare TD has said that what happened was entirely in keeping with custom in Leinster House. “There was a practice over time where people didn’t sit in their own seats and that’s the case across the house. My view is they are just targeting Lisa on this and it’s unfair.” He added, “So many people have accepted that they did it and said that they did it. That has tightened up and that has changed, so people have to be in their designated seats now before the vote can take place. There doesn’t seem to be any complaint against me, it’s an effort to target Lisa Chambers, which I think is unfair.”# The fact that footage of the Dáil was brought into the debate was also unfair, …

THE Clerk of the Dáil’s report into the voting issue which Clare Fianna Fáil TD, Timmy Dooley, was embroiled in last Thursday, made no findings against any of the three TD’s primarily singled out. They were Deputy Dooley and his party colleagues, Niall Collins and Lisa Chambers. The Clerk heard input from Deputy Dooley in relation to his role, which resulted in Deputy Collins voting on his behalf several times, while the Clare TD was not present in the Dáil chamber. While no findings were made, the matter is unlikely to end there. “It is now for the Committee on Members Interests to examine the matter, and to recommend any appropriate sanction any recommendation from that committee will be to this House. And it will be this House, not any one committee, which will decide the imposition of sanctions if deemed appropriate,” Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl said.  

Clare Fianna Fàil TD Timmy Dooley has been temporarily removed from his party’s front bench, along with party colleague, Niall Collins. Last Thursday Deputy Collins voted six times in Dàil Èireann on Deputy Dooley’s behalf. The Ceann Comhairle has asked for a report on the issue.

A LEADING national Fianna Fáil strategist insists its controversial geographical directive, which effectively hinders Councillor Cathal Crowe from seeking a party ticket to contest the next general election at this Thursday’s Dáil Selection Convention, is “strategy and not personality driven”. There has been a major backlash from some angry FF delegates against the decision by the national Constituency Committee (CC) to issue a directive to select one candidate from East and West Clare at the Clare Fianna Fáil Dáil Selection Convention. A new ad-hoc group – including former FF director of elections in Clare, Michael Neylon – has called for the convention, scheduled for 670 delegates at the Hotel Woodstock in Ennis, to be postponed, amid claims it is “undemocratic” and “contrary to party rules”. Five candidates were initially nominated for the convention – sitting Deputy Timmy Dooley and Councillor Cathal Crowe in East Clare, as well as Rita McInerney, Dr John Hillery and Michael McDonagh, before the latter officially …

Social media companies have been called upon by a local TD to take a more proactive role in guarding against the misuse of their platforms. Deputy Timmy Dooley’s call comes in the wake of further revelations regarding the role of social media in political discourse and elections. Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Communications, Climate Action & Environment has highlighted the scourge of so-called “Twitterbots”, which are essentially computer programmes used to generate tens or hundreds of fake Twitter accounts, which are then used to promote certain content on the platform. “Twitterbots have become an extremely disturbing phenomenon – a recent study from the University of Southern California and Indiana University suggesting that there may be up to 48 million of these accounts active on Twitter. That’s about 15% of the overall number of Twitter users worldwide, so there is no way that Twitter is unaware of this issue”, said Deputy Dooley. “A person or group can quite easily run a computer …

FIANNA Fáil’s argument that the Government was blurring the lines between journalism and advertising with its Project Ireland 2040 marketing strategy turned heated in the Dáil on Wednesday, when proceedings were suspended after TD Marc MacSharry made an anti-semitic remark about the Government. Speaking from Leinster House, Fianna Fail’s communications spokesperson Deputy Timmy Dooley has distanced himself from his colleague’s remarks, describing them as “emotive”. Deputy Dooley had highlighted the approach taken by the Government in promoting Project Ireland 2040, by demanding that the secretary general of the Department of the Taoiseach and the head of its Strategic Communications Unit come before the Oireachtas Communications Committee to provide details of its marketing strategy. He said his party believes the Government is “attempting to blur the lines between journalism and advertising. Of course, it is appropriate for Government to advertise in media generally and successive governments have done that but it is always made clear that it is government originated and, …