Latest news with #KenOFlynn
Irish Times
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Miriam Lord's week: Influencer Richie Herlihy's foul-mouthed review of Dáil restaurant leaves a bad taste
The Dáil's Regional Independent Group has lodged a complaint to the Ceann Comhairle and the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission after a social media influencer posted a foul-mouthed and scathing review of the meal he was served in the Dáil members' restaurant while there as the guest of an Independent Ireland TD. Cork-based content creator Richie Herlihy, who robustly reviews spice boxes and other takeaway favourites for his online platforms, visited Leinster House a month ago on the invitation of Cork North Central TD, Ken O'Flynn. On the day, Deputy O'Flynn told the Dáil his friend, who also runs a food truck, 'has the best battered sausage in Cork'. After his visit, the comedian/influencer uploaded a video on Facebook , TikTok and Instagram. The visit also featured on Independent Ireland's social media feeds. READ MORE Richie began by giving a plug to the menswear shop in Cork where he picked his new suit for the occasion. And he said there was 10 per cent off everything in the shop for his followers (126,000 and counting on TikTok and 85,000 on Facebook). Then he meets Ken 'the legend himself', who is seen showing him around the place. He loved that, as he also loved the 'as creamy as they f***in' get' pints served in the bar. He didn't like the food, though. Taking photographs and videos without permission is prohibited in the public areas of Leinster House, including the bars and restaurants. There are strict rules around this, although in recent years, as everyone has a mobile phone, an unspoken tolerance has developed for people taking discreet pictures for personal use. Richie's visit, though, was something of a production. He set up a camera with a microphone attached on a tripod beside his table in the restaurant where he sat next to Ken O'Flynn. A friend simultaneously recorded the scene on his phone. The camera zoomed in on his chicken liver pate and an opinion was given. 'Like dog food' with 'burnt' toast, which was 'actually f***in' soggy' like it was 'cooked on a radiator'. As for his chicken curry. 'I'd say Micheál Martin cooked this yoke anyway because I've had better microwaved dinners out of Lidl. Absolute garbage, chicken tough as a badger's arse.' Could they not get it right 'with all the money [they] waste up in the f***in' Dáil . . . absolute sh***.' There were scenes of banter with Ken in his office, and as Richie walked the corridors he commented for his followers: 'There's a smell of vermin in here, vermin in the f**kin' hallways!'. Richie said Ken treated him like gold and all the TDs he met were very nice. He met none of the TDs he wouldn't get along with, but if he had, he would have given them a piece of his mind. As he was leaving, the content creator talked about having to wash the 'smell of vermin' out of his suit 'because of the other rats that are in there'. The video upset the hard-working catering staff in particular. The politicians were angered on their behalf and they weren't amused by the references to vermin either. The video was deleted soon afterwards but it is still doing the rounds on Kildare Street. Staffers are still very annoyed about it. This prompted the Regional Group to lodge a formal complaint and request that Deputy O'Flynn apologise to the catering staff. The group comprises the Lowry TDs, Danny Healy-Rae, Mattie McGrath, Carol Nolan and those junior ministers previously attached to the group. Minister of State Noel Grealish said he sat down and spoke to the staff because 'they were extremely upset' over the video. 'They take pride in their job and they take pride in the quality of the food they produce.' Meanwhile, Mattie McGrath took the issue to the floor of the Dáil on Wednesday when he called for an apology from Ken O'Flynn, who hosted the influencer. 'A deputy brought an outside person into this House with a tripod and camera. That person made appalling videos and denigrated the excellent staff of this House in the restaurant and the excellent cuisine on offer there,' he told the Dáil. Meanwhile, there will be no apology from Richie Herlihy. 'These politicians should have more on their plate with the state they have the country in, instead of this handbags' he told us on Friday. 'I told the truth that day, food I got was shocking, and some of them politicians including Mattie McGrath should be busy working on the real problems in this country. There have been threats to public safety from the people they have let into Ireland. Should be more on their agenda to be keeping the Irish people safe than to be attacking me about a bit of banter with a bit of truth in it!' We were unable to contact Deputy O'Flynn. Emotive fox-hunting issue attracted outsiders to the Dáil, some of whom arrived on all fours Rural based TDs Danny Healy-Rae and Independent Ireland's Michael Collins were criticised on Wednesday for trying to stop the passage of a Bill to ban fox hunting at its first stage. Ruth Coppinger of People Before Profit introduced it in the Dáil. She was gobsmacked when the two deputies spoke against it and Danny called for a vote. It is common practice for Bills to go through on the nod for a full debate at the next stage. The Dublin West TD said it was 'unprecedented' for a TD to try to prevent a Bill from reaching second stage and a full airing in the Dáil. 'I have introduced many controversial things, as have other TDs, and I have never stopped a Bill from going to second stage. I have been told to put on the big-girl pants and allow debate, but here we have a stifling of the freedom of debate and freedom of speech.' Coppinger urged the Government not to back the call to block it . But Healy-Rae said he got calls 'from every corner of Kerry' asking him 'to ensure that we stop this at the start'. Farmers are losing hens and lambs to foxes, he said. 'They're all over the place. They're coming into towns and villages. They're in and out of bins and they're everywhere. They've completely taken over the place.' Collins said foxes are a danger to young lambs and native birds, and controls are needed for 'pests' such as the fox and the hare. People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger during a protest against fox hunting on Tuesday. Photograph: Gráinne Ní Aodha/PA Wire 'We have to have some kind of controls, because the next thing is you'll be inside here looking to see if we can protect the rat or the mouse or whatever. And nobody wants to protect the human being, that's the problem here.' As he spoke, a strange noise, like an animal bleating, came from the public gallery where anti-blood sports campaigners were sitting. Collins, a TD for Cork South-West, stopped and looked around. He said: 'Sorry, is that a lamb or what?' Meanwhile, the following evening, as the Dáil voted on whether or not to scupper legislation to outlaw the killing of foxes for 'sport' without a full hearing, one interested observer was spotted sitting stock still at a back door around the services side of the building, as if listening intently. The Bill passed to the next stage. And the little Leinster House fox hurried away. This fox had a particular interest in proceedings at Leinster House Turning the page from one generation of political journalist to the next A big crowd escaped from Leinster House after the weekly voting bloc on Wednesday and streamed down the road towards Hodges Figgis bookshop for the launch of Gavan Reilly's latest opus: The Secret Life of Leinster House. Among the TDs was Government-supporting Independent Barry Heneghan, currently sans moustache, but that could change by next week. Barry was in good form, having just voted against the Government and in favour of Sinn Féin's pro-Palestine Bill seeking to prevent the Irish Central Bank from facilitating the sale of Israeli bonds in the European Union. Veteran newsman and political commentator Sean O'Rourke did the honours at the launch in a lengthy and entertaining speech on how political journalism has changed down through the years. He drew on his own early years with the Irish Press group, focusing on one particular day in the 1980s when the Evening Press released three editions. The early edition trumpeted that Fianna Fáil minister Séamus Brennan was 'on the brink' of resigning. The next edition, a couple of hours later, had 'pressure' mounting on Séamus to go. And the headline on the final, late evening edition, announced that Brennan was staying on. Gavan, whose wife Ciara is a daughter of former GAA president and Kilkenny hurling great Nicky Brennan, could not have spoken for as long as Sean even if he wanted to. Midway through his speech he realised he forgot to order the takeaway for the babysitter and wrapped things up pretty sharpish after that. 'This book will provide an important public service,' said our own Pat Leahy in his review last week. The Secret Life of Leinster House (published by Gill Books at €17.99) clips along at a fair pace and does a good job of explaining for outsiders and aspiring anoraks how the whole place does or doesn't work. Committee meetings could be blink-and-you-miss-it affairs if early indications are accurate The committees are cranking into action after a much-delayed start and a lot of fuss over who would get those coveted committee chairs. The lesser vice-chair prizes are now being decided. This week, the Health Committee voted on a deputy for Pádraig Rice, Social Democrats TD for Cork South-Central. There were two contenders: Fine Gael's Colm Burke from across the way in Cork North-Central and Martin Daly, Fianna Fáil TD for Roscommon-Galway. Colm was a minister of state at the Department of Health in the last government, while Martin, a first-time deputy, is a GP based in Galway and a former president of the Irish Medical Organisation. He is Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on health. Dr Daly, with his extensive experience in the medical world, was seen as favourite for the position. But Colm, who was an MEP and then a senator before he was elected to the Dáil in 2020, proved a very strong campaigner. He got the job, thanks to support from Sinn Féin. A thank-you, perhaps, for Colm signing a cross-party letter sent by Sinn Féin to the Minister for Housing urging him to release immediate funding for the Tenant in Situ Scheme in Cork city. The scheme allows councils to buy rental properties when landlords put them on the market. Colm was the only Government TD to sign the letter. Timing will be a major bone of contention at forthcoming committee meetings. In its desire to please everyone and come up with all sorts of new committees on all sorts of subjects, the time available for sittings has been truncated. Too many com-mit-tees and not enough meeting rooms or staff to cope. This explains why the much-anticipated meeting of RTÉ and the Media Committee was conducted at a breakneck pace by chairman Alan Kelly. They could have gone on for hours, but in a lucky break for RTÉ, this wasn't possible. He had to be out of the room after 2½ hours — and that included their private session — to make way for the daintily titled Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform, Digitalisation, and Taoiseach.
BreakingNews.ie
19-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Cork TD seeks to stop inquiry into his alleged offensive comments about Travellers
Independent Ireland TD Ken O'Flynn has called on the public ethics watchdog to halt its inquiry into alleged offensive comments he made about Travellers while a member of Cork City Council four years ago. Lawyers for the Cork North Central TD raised a series of objections to the planned inquiry at a sitting of the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) on Monday. Advertisement The TD is accused of making comments about the Spring Lane halting site in Ballyvolane, Cork, during an interview on Cork's Red FM on June 16th, 2021, that are alleged to be inaccurate, misleading and indicative of a biased view of members of the Traveller community. It is also claimed Mr O'Flynn demonstrated bias against Travellers in social media posts on his Facebook account. Mr O'Flynn denies three separate allegations that he contravened the Local Government Act 2001, the Code of Conduct for councillors and a specified act under the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 and insists his remarks represent 'fair comment'. During the radio interview, Mr O'Flynn stated a 72-page report into Spring Lane by the Ombudsman for Children entitled No End in Site was 3-4 pages in length, did not mention the parents of children concerned and did not involve Tusla. Advertisement He also allegedly remarked about the Traveller community: 'What are they now – an ethnic minority?' Counsel for Sipo, Conor Feeney BL, said it was alleged that Mr O'Flynn – as a member of a local authority – had failed to maintain the proper standard of integrity, conduct and concern for the public interest, contrary to Section 168 of the Local Government Act 2001. The inquiry heard that the alleged comments also represented several breaches of the Code of Conduct for councillors as well as amounting to a specified act under the Standards in Public Office Act. The Cork politician is also accused of showing bias towards members of the Traveller community in posts on his Facebook account. Advertisement Sipo's counsel said it is alleged that Mr O'Flynn also failed to monitor or remove inflammatory and derogatory comments made about Travellers in response to his posts. He is further accused of expressly endorsing some of those comments by using the 'like' feature in reply to posts on Facebook. Mr Feeney said Mr O'Flynn's acts and omissions amounted to several breaches of the Code of Conduct for councillors including the unacceptable use or misuse of social media by promoting discrimination. The Sipo Commission heard that Mr O'Flynn was challenging its right to proceed with an inquiry on a number of grounds including that he was not carrying out his functions as a councillor when the alleged acts took place and that his remarks constituted legitimate commentary. Advertisement Counsel for the TD, Brian Leahy BL, said there had been 'cherry-picking' of posts by Mr O'Flynn which were selective from half a million interactions on his Facebook account and not a fair reflection of his attitude to the Traveller community. Mr Leahy claimed the Facebook posts pre-dated a newer version of the Code of Conduct for councillors which contained a specific provision in relation to the use of social media. The barrister accepted that the alleged comments about the Traveller community sounded 'dismissive' but noted that there was a discrepancy between the transcript of the Red FM interview and the actual audio recording. Mr Leahy said Mr O'Flynn was saying that Cork City Council was doing everything it could 'for what now have been declared an ethnic minority.' Advertisement He argued his client was making a statement of fact as the Traveller community had been so recognised since 2017 and the council was obliged to 'go that extra step' in relation to housing for them. Mr Leahy said there was a particular bias against Mr O'Flynn because of a perception that he had a particular view on Travellers. He claimed the radio interview was essentially about housing which Mr O'Flynn accepted was a serious problem for everyone but particularly the Traveller community. However, the barrister said Mr O'Flynn was not performing his duties as a councillor in giving the interview. Mr Leahy said the Commission would have to be very balanced in favour of a person who expressed an opinion if it was seeking to interfere with 'someone's right of real expression in the political sphere.' He noted that Mr O'Flynn admitted he had issues with the Spring Lane halting site but said anyone in Cork would agree there were problems with it as around 100 people were living in terrible conditions in a halting site with space for eight families. 'Mr O'Flynn has brought this to the attention of the community and he has advocated for proper treatment of the Travelling community. That may have come across as criticism but it's talking about the problem,' said Mr Leahy. He added: 'We can't brush it under the counter….we have to be open and have adult conversations.' Mr Leahy said he did not envy the task faced by the Commission in determining when a political point of view strayed from being a legitimate expression of concern into 'unlawful speak.' He stressed that it was very important that politicians can say what they need to say. 'If we stop them communicating and saying what they need to say, we end up with Brexit and Trump,' Mr Leahy observed. He acknowledged that the TD had 'stepped on people's toes' with his comments but argued that both Mr O'Flynn and Cork City Council had a problem with the report by the Ombudsman for Children. Arguing that the complaint against Mr O'Flynn did not warrant a SIPO inquiry, Mr Leahy said the TD 'spoke from the heart' about what he thought was an attack on the council. Counsel said Mr O'Flynn simply wanted 'to bring up issues' and he noted that people had also been insulting to the politician after he had come out as a gay man The inquiry heard the TD did not want to offend anyone 'but if he has, he didn't mean it.' Mr Leahy also indicated that the TD would be making an application at a later stage for his legal costs if they were successful in stopping the inquiry as Mr O'Flynn was 'out of pocket' from his dealings with SIPO. Ireland 'Boxer' Moran takes aim at Independent Ireland ove... Read More In reply to questions from the Commission chairperson, Garrett Sheehan, Mr Leahy said it was very difficult to determine where a function of a councillor ended as well as finding a balance between free speech and offensive speech that needed to be restrained. However, Mr Leahy said he did not believe Mr O'Flynn's comments had reached that threshold. He also confirmed that the TD had not actively removed any of his Facebook posts apart from one incorrect statement, while he had 'unliked' a few messages that had been the subject of complaints. It is understood the SIPO Commission will give its ruling on the application to halt the inquiry in the near future.
Irish Times
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
‘Luke's law' should be created to ban sharing of videos of people ‘in their final moments'
A call has been made for legislation to be introduced to prohibit the sharing of videos of people 'in their final moments'. Independent Ireland TD Ken O'Flynn highlighted the incident in Cork last week in which 34-year-old man Luke Hyde was filmed by onlookers as he got into difficulty and drowned in the river Lee. He called for legislation, to be called Luke's law, to be introduced in Mr Hyde's memory – similar to Coco's law , which was enacted to prevent the sharing of intimate images without consent. The Cork North-Central TD said there is 'currently no legal protection to prevent the sharing of videos for someone on their final moments' and the tragedy in Cork had been compounded 'by the fact that many people stood by, filming and taking footage, which was then shared on social media'. READ MORE Earlier, Independent TD Michael Lowry highlighted the same case, pointing out that Mr Hyde's mother witnessed people 'callously filming her son's final moments' . The Tipperary North TD said that 'families right across the country have also been subjected to similar pitiful actions. It has become common for people to record tragic events for the sole purpose of sharing or threatening to share them on social media'. Mr Lowry added that 'the harsh reality is that, nowadays, absolutely nothing is deemed off limits. The sheer power of social media has destroyed social conscience'. Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said it is 'deeply concerning that the first instinct of some of those present when he (Mr Hyde) tragically lost his life was not to help but to take out their phones and stream the incident. [ 'Loving, caring' father who drowned in river Lee remembered at funeral Mass Opens in new window ] 'It is a failure of basic human decency to take the view that social media clout is more important than the dignity and privacy of someone in extreme distress in their last moments.' He said that when this sort of content is posted, very real harm is done, and 'there is a real risk that someone close to a victim of a serious accident could find out through online content'. Mr Chambers said the issue 'may be captured by an existing provision' and he would ask the Minister for Justice to respond to the points raised.
