Minister admits to man-handling student

In the issue of Hot Press to be published on Thursday, September 10, Minister for Community Affairs Eamon Ó Cuív admits manhandling a student at UCG. He also explains why he takes his hat off to Enda Kenny and rejects Tim Pat Coogan's book about his famous grandfather.

The set-to with the student occurred after Ó Cuív arrived in the square in NUIG with the Minister for Education, Batt O’Keeffe. When they attempted to enter the building, students blocked their way. As O Cuiv tells Hot Press, "They were coming in over the railing and I grabbed one of them by the arms and I stopped him climbing over the railing. Now, they were all going to pour in after us. We were going to get cornered."

When reminded that the student said he'd man-handled him, O Cuiv admits, "I did. I grabbed him by the lapels and I shook him. I wasn’t going to allow my secretary to be squashed or pushed into a corner and I don’t think I used undue force. I had the right to restrain him from climbing over the barrier."

Regarding the public perception of his grandfather, former President Eamon de Valera, the Minister says, "Tim Pat Coogan’s book is not an accurate portrayal of either of my grandparents. He misreads the situation totally as to what kind of people they were. For example, one simple instance is that my Grandmother was even more adamantly against the Treaty – even though she had a great grá for Michael Collins as a person."
He also explains to Hot Press why he takes his hat off to Enda Kenny. "It was a very bad showing for Fianna Fáil in the local elections. I take huge heart from Fine Gael: if you remember back to the 2002 election there were plenty of pundits forecasting the demise of Fine Gael; when Enda Kenny became leader the said that no way could Enda Kenny revive the party. And one has to take their hat off to Enda Kenny and what he has achieved for Fine Gael. There’s nobody writing them off at the moment."

In a wide-ranging interview the Minister also:
*accuses the media of a Dublin 4 bias;
*advocates an Orange march through Dublin as a “good carnival day”;
*insists that he won’t be making any representations to preserve his Department, after An Bord Snip recommended it be scrapped;
*dismisses the Dail as “very nineteenth century”

“A lot of the way it is just for ritual,” he says of what happens in Leinster House. “On a lot of issues I don’t believe that it engages in real debate. The committees are the only place in the Dáil that we ever get to the meat of any matter... A lot of the speeching, and a lot of the time spent in the Dáil is very non-productive.

“What I would ask people is, for the amount of time we put in, how many things do we change by interactive debate? If we are not doing that, there is no point in the Dáil. There is a need to decide what should the Dáil be doing.”