Oh, you mean that Sean South....!

by Gerard Collins - The Grass Roots Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:40

"If I had known my remarks were being taped and directly transmitted to the Minister of State, Deputy Molloy and others, I would, of course, have moderated my tone and been less offensive and insulting."

Willie O'Dea explains why two-faced is best. One face for the plebs, and relatives of Sean South, the other for his PD pals in government.

The Irish Times December 7, 2000

O'Dea says he supports taxi deregulation policy

By MARIE O'HALLORAN and COLMAN CASSIDY

The Minister of State for Education, Mr Willie O'Dea, fully supported Government policy on taxi deregulation, he told the Dail yesterday. He apologised to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Progressive Democrats for any embarrassment his pro-taxi-driver stand had caused.

"Whatever my private views on this issue I fully support Government policy - I want to be unequivocal about that," Mr O'Dea said, responding to a Fine Gael motion calling for his removal from office.

He realised, "having studied Mr Justice Murphy's judgment in full" that legal constraints prevented the Minister of State, Mr Molloy, "from having one regime for taxis in one area and a different regime in another".

He denied he had "said one thing privately in Limerick and something else publicly in Dublin". One could also speak publicly in Limerick, he said: "I cannot understand how addressing a meeting of 400 people in Limerick can be said to be speaking privately."

Neither could he understand how an interview with local radio in Limerick could be said to be private - or an interview with the Limerick Leader.

With regard to his reported remark that he had not known his Limerick speech was being taped, "All I said is that if I had known my remarks were being taped and directly transmitted to the Minister of State, Deputy Molloy and others, I would, of course, have moderated my tone and been less offensive and insulting".

He challenged Mrs Nora Owen of Fine Gael to repeat "outside the House" her accusation that he had condoned or encouraged illegality. He had taken pains in his speech in Limerick to say he did not condone illegality.

"That section of my speech did not appear in the tape publicised by RTE and if I were a person of cynical disposition - which I'm not, even at this stage - I would say the reason RTE omitted this section from its broadcast version is that it would have taken much good out of the story."

He said one of the first TDs to address a meeting of taxi drivers at the Mont Clare, on Tuesday, November 28th, was Mr Michael Noonan, of Fine Gael, who was reported in The Irish Times as saying Limerick was "different from Dublin" - and a separate case would have to be made for Limerick.

He had not detected any attempt by the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, to seek Mr Noonan's resignation, Mr O'Dea said.

Neither was there "one word" in the Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn's speech about Mr Michael D. Higgins's statement "contradicting Labour Party policy on deregulation".

Ms Olivia Mitchell, the Fine Gael spokeswoman on traffic, who proposed the motion, welcomed the Minister's presence in the House "as he entertained us highly". The motion was defeated by 80 votes to 66."Keep the pressure on," he urged them, while claiming deregulation was not the answer to what was a Dublin-based problem.

He added: "It is obvious to people who work and live in Dublin that there is a need for more taxis - but this is a nationwide deregulation and there is no need for more in Limerick."

Defence minsister and Sunday Independent columnist, O'Dea takes aim

O'Dea discourages the carrying of guns in his native city of Limerick