Originally posted by Ozzy:
Thought Colleran was quite good, even though his paper is a rag. In fairness politicians are always assessed as they depart and if Cullen couldn`t take criticism he should never have become a TD. He was a very poor minister.

Originally posted by carryharry:
watching the news last nite @ 9.00 i could`nt help but smile at martin cullen finally leaving cabinet,although by his own devices! but while watching the frontline an hour and a half later i could`nt understand why gerard colleran from the star felt the need to really kick cullen while he was down!
im not defending martin cullen`s performance in goverment or the lack of it more so, but he deserved to be left alone last nite. his decision will be a blow to waterford people who in fairness claim he served his own well!!!!!! colleran`s rant could well have being left for his editorial in his paper and not being tossed out in a fairly bitter little man`s rant last nite on live tv. any views?

Originally posted by Abruzzi Spur:


Typical little Oirland bullsh1t. Cullen won`t be on a trolley in A&E for his bad back unlike 100`s of cancer sufferers. he won`t go huingry either like the children of the recently unemployed.

A man points this out and because he is the editor of the Star its wrong !!!

Cullen is in the public eye getting ridiculous money, he should have been fired and made wear sack cloth ages ago. Feeling sorry for poor people like John O`D, Wille O`D and sleveens like Cullen who cost us millions is whats wrong with us. We should show them the same amount of mercy as they show us, none whatsoever.

Originally posted by merlante:
I`d say he kept Waterford on the agenda, and ensured that funding was obtained for key infrastructure, etc., where before government support was haphazard or non-existent. Aside from the M9, bypass, and outer ring road, which is the equivalent of what delivered to the other major cities, I wouldn`t have said huge money was spent on Waterford. There were none of the ministerial gifts like National Aquatic centres, or race course or stadiums, etc., that seem to pop up elsewhere when the local lads gets into the cabinet.

It will be interesting to see whether the city will go back to the dark days of having vital infrastructure delayed indefinitely. Hopefully not.

Originally posted by twiceasnice97:


this is exactly why our system of governance is fcuked.

its all about clentelism and short term localised gain at the expense of proper coherent national policy

Originally posted by mrhappy:


Absolutely agree - the man has wasted money hand over fist but when he leaves it comes down to what he has got for Waterford - most of what was done in the South-East would have been done anyway - whether he was at the cabinet table   or not but people seem to think they need a minister to get the `goodies` even at the expense of the country as a whole..

This message has been edited - 09-mar-2010 @ 23:30

Originally posted by Ballybrown bruiser:
There is an element of dancing on someone`s grave to say he is useless on the night he quits. But it`s been a day now and we can be brutal. He was a very poor minister.

And this rot about the Dublin-Waterford motorway being down to him????? Give me a break.

TD`s don`t get motorways built, factories into cities etc . . . but they can hold them up.

Cullen did pay Monica Leech a fortune to write press releases about how great he was for the Waterford newspapers - almost 300k a year. That was a scandal - forget the libel cases - the real story was the tax payer paying to make sure the local papers got a positive story about Cullen every week. She wasn`t even doing the national stuff.
All to make sure that Cullen`s profile was boosted. On our tax dollars.

He`ll be sorely missed

Originally posted by Club_Player:


This post is total Bulls**t. The truth is that Leech was paid less than Cullen would have paid for a PR Consultancy in Dublin. All TDs employ them so he actually saved the taxpayer money by using a cheaper, local alternative

Originally posted by dodgy-keeper:
Cullen was a truly disastrous Minister.

Him, Coughlan and Dempsey are/were useless.

Originally posted by Ballybrown bruiser:
There is an element of dancing on someone`s grave to say he is useless on the night he quits. But it`s been a day now and we can be brutal. He was a very poor minister.

And this rot about the Dublin-Waterford motorway being down to him????? Give me a break.

TD`s don`t get motorways built, factories into cities etc . . . but they can hold them up.

Cullen did pay Monica Leech a fortune to write press releases about how great he was for the Waterford newspapers - almost 300k a year. That was a scandal - forget the libel cases - the real story was the tax payer paying to make sure the local papers got a positive story about Cullen every week. She wasn`t even doing the national stuff.
All to make sure that Cullen`s profile was boosted. On our tax dollars.

He`ll be sorely missed

Originally posted by Club_Player:


This post is total Bulls**t. The truth is that Leech was paid less than Cullen would have paid for a PR Consultancy in Dublin. All TDs employ them so he actually saved the taxpayer money by using a cheaper, local alternative

Originally posted by twiceasnice97:


this is exactly why our system of governance is fcuked.

its all about clentelism and short term localised gain at the expense of proper coherent national policy