Tag Archives: Michael McNamara

Clare Labour TD, Michael McNamara will not support a Government motion in the Dáil this afternoon to sell the State’s 25.1% stake in Aer Lingus to IAG. Deputy McNamara’s refusal to support the government in the vote will lead to automatic expulsion from Labour’s parliamentary party. Suggesting in the Dáil today (Thursday) the IAG takeover is “a gamble he’s not prepared to support” he added, “Shannon’s current business level is no guarantee that services would not be cut in the future”. “I’m not prepared to gamble with what I believe is key to the economic development of this state, all of this state. I don’t have confidence in these guarantees at the moment as they stand. On that basis Minister [Donohoe], I regret that I will not be able to support you in this afternoon’s motion,” Deputy McNamara stated.

CLARE’S five Government Oireachtas members are divided over the possible implications of the decision to press ahead with the €1.4 billion sale of Aer Lingus to International Airlines Group (IAG). Furthermore, Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley has added a twist to the debate in claiming the Irish Government might have no option but to sue IAG if the Aer Lingus Heathrow slots are sold. Fianna Fáil said it will table a Private Notice Question in the Dáil on Thursday, in a bid to suspend the proposed vote to sell off the national stake in Aer Lingus. The move follows the emergence of a report prepared by aviation consultants Nyras for Aer Lingus, in which the company sets out a range of cost reductions across the airline, including a proposal to outsource part of aircraft maintenance to Eastern Europe. The Government is recommending the sale of the State’s 25.1% stake, worth €335million, in Aer Lingus to IAG and put a motion to …

CLARE TD Michael McNamara has spoken publicly for the first time about the death of his father, Paddy, in a farm accident in 1999. The Scariff man was speaking in the context a farm safety competition, which he has invited Clare primary schools to participate in. A dry stock farmer himself, the Labour TD said the fatal accident had a profound effect on him and his family. “It was an awful shock. Like every other family this has happened to, you always think it will happen to someone else. He was caught between a transport box and a tractor. He was very well known in farming circles here in Clare,” Deputy McNamara said. According to the most recent Health Safety Authority (HSA) figures, since 2010, seven people have died in farm accidents in the county, which includes two deaths last year. The HSA say the most vulnerable groups on any farm are children under the age of 18 and those …

Labour TD for Clare, Michael McNamara may not face automatic expulsion from the Parliamentary Party after voting against the Government. Deputy McNamara put forward a bill, not supported by the Government, to give effective trade union recognition to the Garda representative associations and remove a ban on them striking. The Clare TD voted against the Government coalition but Labour sources say he will not face the normal automatic rule of expulsion or lose the Government whip because it was his own piece of legislation. Deputy McNamara, however, still believes the issue will have to be tackled. “I’m disappointed that the relevant line ministers didn’t accept the legislation – I’m disappointed, but no more than that,” he said following the vote. “If you cannot introduce a piece of legislation, then what is the point of being here? I introduced a piece of legislation which I believe is necessary – it brought about changes which Ireland will have to introduce, both [in] …

THE provision of a crematorium in Shannon has become a possibility once again. A proposal to dispose of a piece of land to a man who wants to develop it, is set to come before Clare County Council. If it happens, it will be the first crematorium in the county and, indeed, the first in the West of Ireland. Originally proposed a number of years ago by the late Sean Hillery and Tony McMahon, both former county councillors, the use of a site at Illaunmanagh, close to the cemetery in Shannon has been controversial since the idea first arose. The matter resurfaced at Wednesday’s meeting of Shannon Municipal District Councillors. While most of the members were supportive of the development, Shannon-based Councillor Gerry Flynn likened the council executive to a previous government who, he claimed, had kept putting referendums before the people until they got the answer they wanted. On the other side, Sinn Féin’s Mike McKee said he wants …

The Clare Labour Party kicks off its campaign for a yes vote in the forthcoming same-sex marriage referendum with a public information meeting in Treacy’s West County Hotel this Friday night at 8 pm. Orla Howard, a Kilrush native and deputy chairperson of the national Yes Equality campaign group, Labour Party Deputy for Dublin North West, John Lyons and local Deputy Michael McNamara will address the key issues in relation to the referendum. The cabinet has approved wording for the referendum on Friday May 22 to allow couples of the same gender to marry in the eyes of the State. Citizens will be asked to vote, yes or no to the following change to the constitution “marriage may be contracted in accordance with the law by two persons without distinction to as to their sex”. While the campaign to change the constitution is supported by the main parties, the first to get the ball rolling in Clare is Labour, who …

Following the announcements of recent approaches to Aer Lingus by IAG, the Irish Takeover Panel has deemed that Aer Lingus is now in an ‘offer period’, Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, Paschal Donohoe said on Tuesday evening. He was speaking in the Dáil in response to a joint submission by Deputies Michael McNamara, Timmy Dooley, Joe Carey and Kieran O’Donnell on the necessity to maintaining London Heathrow slots to ensure balanced development. “The Takeover Panel Rules in relation to communications apply to all parties during such an offer period and all parties, including the Government as shareholder, must apply the highest standards of care to any statements made on the matter. Specifically shareholders must take care in any of their communications to avoid revealing any information that could potentially impact either positively or negatively on the Aer Lingus share price,” Minister Donohoe said. Currently, no formal offer has been made to Aer Lingus’ shareholders. The minister said he wanted …

CLARE TD Michael McNamara has written to the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Sport, Paschal Donoghue calling on him to support and provide financial assistance to Clare County Council to secure the purchase of Inis Cealtra (Holy Island). Inis Cealtra on Lough Derg is included among the early monastic sites on Ireland’s UNESCO Tentative List and is one of the most famous of such sites in Ireland. He highlighted to the minister that among its many attractions are a well preserved round tower, the ruins of six churches and a cell-like structure, which is one of the most extraordinary buildings in Ireland. “A Lough Derg Tourism Audit carried out in 2012 found that Lough Derg is not reaching its full potential in terms of attracting visitors and that Lough Derg has no defined ‘iconic’ visitor attraction that can act as a motivator for visits. “Inis Cealtra, with its iconic round tower, has the potential to be that driver of tourism …