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Paul Dillon, the New FF President of UCDSU national |
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news report
 Thursday March 06, 2003 00:26 by Truth in UCD
 How and why the old alliance of the soft left and the KBC was reborn in UCD and the compromises that they made for power The Kevin Barry Cumann (the UCD Branch of Fianna Fail) has again been successful in winning the UCDSU annual sabbatical elections. Four of the five new officers are either members of the KBC or are closely aligned with UCD’s most powerful behind the scenes manipulator. After reading a previous posting regarding the fact that two prominent KBCers (Ray Dillon and Eamon O’Linnion) actively supported Dillon’s campaign, I undertook a little investigation as to the exact links between the most powerful political party on campus and the new boys that are running the union. But 1st it is necessary to distinguish between the Hourihane section of the Union and the KBC. While it is true that Aonghus did indeed serve as vice-chair of the KBC before he was elected president, the ties between him and them have disappeared recently. The reasons for this breakdown go back to the fact that he failed to re-appoint party hacks to the union staff positions last year. He replaced Cathal Lee (current KBC chair) with Alan Rafferty (C&E auditor) and Donnachadh Woulfe (B&L), both of whom have no role in the party. Then he failed to get the USI disaffiliation referendum passed. The final nail in the coffin of the Hourihane/KBC relationship was when he fired the editor of the Observer Enda Curran for publishing racist material. Curran is a former officer of the KBC and was the campaign manager of Eamon O’Linnion (it should be noted here that Dillon and Aidan Regan were two of only three SU councillors to vote against the motion calling on him resign, coincidence?). Therefore it is not correct to think of Hourihane as the KBC union president. Nor is it correct to think of his chosen successor, Woulfe as the KBC candidate. But is there the evidence linking Dillon with the KBC? Apart from the fact that a current KBC officer, Ray Dillon and a former Chair, O’Linnion, were active in his campaign, there is a considerable amount. 1.As early as Christmas, prominent members of the CFE (including Cian O’Callaghan and Finbarr Dwyer) were told by KBC leaders that they would support a serious moderate left wing candidate (ie not Paul Murphy) to defeat Abey Campbell. 2.Dillon was selected as the perfect candidate as his relative good looks, good speaking ability and appearance of genuineness made him very electable. His almost complete inexperience would make him very open to advice when he got into officer, and the KBC could continue to exert their influence from their man in the president’s office. 3.Aidan Regan was given a clear run at the deputy presidency when the current KBC secretary, Greg O’Neill decided not to run. O’Neill had put together a campaign team headed by Oisin O’Sullivan, and consisting of the vast majority of class reps and society hacks. It is quite unlikely Regan could have beaten the full KBC machine, but O’Neill withdrew on condition that the CFE would not run any candidate against Jennifer Allen for welfare. I’ll return to the role of the welfare officer later. Regan would also be acceptable as a sabbat as he was member of the L&H committee and as such a committed member of the establishment. 4.Anyone who has fought an election against the KBC knows that they are formidable opponents. So the questions remains where were they during the election? As they could not be seen to be actively involved, as HQ might not look favourably on them helping elect a Labour member, they took the only option open to them: they concentrated on presenting Dillon as the perfect candidate and running the elections so as to ensure he won no matter how many votes were cast for his opponents. The first part was easy enough. After writing his manifesto (you’ll notice it bears striking similarities to Aonghus’s two years ago), and teaching him the classic KBC style lecture address (complain about everything and propose no solutions), they allowed his campaign to be run by a complete unknown, Dermot Looney, who was assisted by daily de-briefings. 5.As for the second part, the KBC were assisted by the fact they had already installed one of their people, Michael Clark, as union Returning Officer. Clark is a member of the local Ogra FF committee in Dun Laoghaire. He created a campus legend out of the KBC candidate for Ents, Dave Sherry, by his total over-reaction to Sherry’s stunt of jumping in the lake, thereby guaranteeing him the election. He provided the details of Woulfe’s posters so that fakes could be produced and then he was able to fine Woulfe and effectively remove him from the election. On polling day itself, he appointed “appropriate” people to man certain polling stations. Greg O’Neill, KBC Secretary, was sent to the Terrace, where he refused to allow several classes of med students to vote, claiming he did not have their lists and telling them they would have to vote in the Arts Block in Belfield. This was done so to ensure that the high turn-out needed by Abey Campbell in med would not occur. Campbell was guaranteed a large proportion of the med vote as he had the extremely popular incoming auditor of MedSoc, Matt O’Faolain, canvassing for him. But the question remains as to why did the KBC invest so much time and effort into getting these people elected? 1.They wanted to stop Hourihane retaining power next year through his proxy, Woulfe. Aonghus will be in UCD as he will be doing a post-grad in social work. He has already lined himself up for a seat on the SU exec and UCD’s Governing Authority. 2.They also wanted to stop Abey Campbell getting elected as the hate him for ruining their chances of disaffiliation from USI. It didn’t matter that Dillon ran the no campaign, in the KBC’s eyes he was the best person to beat Campbell and that was all that mattered. 3.More than anything else however, was the deal done to ensure that the KBC got their girl into the welfare office. O’Neill’s decision not to run for DP was explicitly in return for the assurance that there would be no CFE welfare candidate. Jennifer Allen has been given the same mandate that current welfare officer in UCC Cait Mengan (former chair of UCC FF) got, namely to work to reverse the traditional SU position on abortion. Allen is a member of the national fund-raising committee of the “charity” Life. She is also the secretary of the FF “Women’s and equality forum” in Dun Laoghaire. Her job in the welfare office next year will be to subtlety change the Union’s policy from one of (pro-choice) non-directive counselling to one favoured by the right that provides “information” to women suffering from crisis pregnancy on the options available to them. This “information” involves the showing of graphic details of the process of aborting a foetus. CFE have done a deal that has allowed a right-wing, conservative, pro-life Fianna Failer to get control over the one office in the union that can actually have a huge impact on students lives. They have sold out their principles in return for their names above the doors of some meaningless offices. No doubt this was another lesson that Paul and Aidan learned in the KBC classes on how to fool the electorate into voting for you. |
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Comments (34 of 34)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34no one reply to this
much of this makes a lot of sense. now i know why dillon didn't go for welfare, even though he expressed a preference for this previously. i wouldn't put anything past those fuckers dillon and regan. they shafted genuine lefts over last year, most notibly murphy and more recently mccarthy. remember a few years back when labour joined forces with kbc to get out the L&H from union positions. i think that we should be weary of dillon et al, any decent left in ucd will now give eduation officer kelly full backing against these kbc-ers in disguise.
I think that a number of inaccuracies in the posting calls large parts of it into question. Aonghus Hourihane will not be on the Governing Authority next year, nor will he be on the SU Exec (unless he decides to contest the upcoming elections)
It's true that Paul Dillon did get support from KBC members, it's up to him to say why, I wouldn't necessarily believe everything that is written on Indymedia by some bloke with a grudge and an anonymous name.
why don't those of you so fond of attacking paul dillon & aidan regan reveal who you are? if you really feel that what you are saying is valid why hide your identity. say it to regan's and dillon's faces. have 'truth' or 'ucd student' done anything for the left in ucd or are you just people who bitch and don't bother doing anything? if this debate on paul dillon alleged links to the kbc is to be of any value i think 'truth' and 'ucd student' should reveal who they are. if you don't dillon and his cronies will just be able to write you off in a conspiracy theory as right-wingers trying to stir shit. likewise syucd will probably disown you as well.
p.s. regan was hardly acceptable to the establishment because of his L&H committee position. he was kicked off the committee. jarlath regan needed aidan to prove that he had 'broken the clique'. once that charade was over aidan was needed. he was hardly your typical L&Her now was he?
This posting is largly a load of bullshit. I would say it is someone on the right trying to stir shit and further divide the left prior to the exec elections is a couple of weeks. We should just ignore it.
Pat c, you really do have an irrational problem with the SP. You know nothing about the politics in UCD, you are always on this site to spread lies insults and stir shit generally about the SP, get a life. You don't seem to be nothing more than a cyber activist why don't you make a change and engage in the real world.
BTW Pat c,
Socialist Youth in UCD have better things to be doing than engaging in these 'investigations' of the comings and goings of the various factions of hacks in UCD.
"Pat c, you really do have an irrational problem with the SP."
I have no problem with the SP, other than the fact that they wont answer awkward questions.
" You know nothing about the politics in UCD,"
I only know what I read here. You seem to get a lot of peoples backs up. It would be just your style to put in such a fake comment.
Parts of it are similar to thw witch hunt the SP tried to stir up against the LP after the racist article.
"you are always on this site to spread lies insults and stir shit generally about the SP, get a life. "
What lies? The SP havent condemned the Airport Police, that is a fact. Joe Higgins described GNAW as virtual warriors while they were trying to pull down the fence.
Insults? DHeochai said I had contempt for the workers because I pointed out that DA had worked. I have also been called anti-protestant and a fascist because I disagreed with the SP line on the North.
SP members under paper thin masks continually spread lies abot my personal life.
Stirring shit? You really dont believe that anyone has a right to criticise you.
"You don't seem to be nothing more than a cyber activist why don't you make a change and engage in the real world."
I have a track record of 25 years involvement in Socialist politics. I have seen plenty of raving trots like you pass thropugh the ranks of Militant & SP and move to fight the class war on behalf of Capitalism. In 5 years time you'll probably be working for IBEC.
"likewise syucd will probably disown you as well."
What have we to 'disown', the person/people putting these ignorant and blatantly wrong postings is not in SP. I reckon it could be someone trying to stir shit, probably from the right end of the political spectrum.
It's great to see Pat C now throwing his 2pence worth into this debate, his irrational hatred of all-things-CWI even extends to hating the work we're doing in ucd, even though he knows nothing about ucd.
The girl Pat was dumped by was probably a student, hence his even more intence hatred of SP in the colleges. FRRE ADVICE PAT: get on with your life, let it go, plenty more fish in the sea.
"It's great to see Pat C now throwing his 2pence worth into this debate, his irrational hatred of all-things-CWI even extends to hating the work we're doing in ucd, even though he knows nothing about ucd."
I only hate the anti gnaw work you do in ucd. the other groups are well able to deal with your underhand tactics.
still no sign of an SP condemnation of the Airport Police.
I like Nokia phones, do you pat?
What is that C in aid of, Pat? – Clever to fund because you’re an “intellectual”?
Drop drop, here come the first 5 days of Mexican Marxism.
When I was talking to inspector Colombo, he squared up with some grass, and a crass one.
Fart
SHAKE IN YOUR SHOES BUREAUCRATS STOP THE INTERNATIONAL POWER OF THE WORKERS' COUNCILS WILL SOON WIPE YOU OUT STOP HUMANITY WILL NOT BE HAPPY UNTIL THE LAST BUREAU- CRAT IS HUNG WITH THE GUTS OF THE LAST CAPITALIST STOP LONG LIVE THE STRUGGLE OF THE KRONSTADT SAILORS AND OF THE MAKHNOVSCHINA AGAINST TROTSKY AND LENIN STOP LONG LIVE THE 1956 COUNCILIST INSURRECTION OF BUDAPEST STOP DOWN WITH THE STATE STOP
FART!
Time to break!
Beak beak, run along now children, the game is up.
“Ummm... er... pardon me. But.. does anyone have a light for my cigar?”
and so it was with inspector Colombo.A prole through and through.
Ill play my guitar. PAT C
Maybe hes finally cracked.
You couldn't be further from it.
Pat, that wasn't me, I havn't cracked.
The SP has condemed the actions of the state in Shannon. The Airport Police are part of the state.
"I only hate the anti gnaw work you do in ucd"
- We have done no such work. We are not 'anti GNAW'. We believe they used incorrect tactics with regard Shannon and we do have obvious political differences with them but I do have respect for many in GNAW they are in general good activists. Over the past year in UCD we have worked with many of them in CFE and other campaigns.
Pat, why do you continue wasting your time just having a go at the SP. Your time would probably be better spent critisising the bosses parties.
Ha ha ha.
The bosses parties.
Its all sooo simple there in millie land.
In fact at the rate he is going he will put everyone off using this board.
zzzzzzzz........
D Heochai, the esteemed SP gauletier of the Mid West specifically defended the Airport Police on the basis that they were trade union (SIPTU)members who could be won over to strike action.
He accused me of having contempt for workers because I criticised the Airport Police.
The AP have hassled, assaulted and bullied anti war activists and independent journalists. THey have gone way beyond their job descriptions and any allegiance to duty.
Joe Higgins called GNAW "Virtual Warriors" at the very moment they were facing up to the Gardai and 10 non-virtual arrests were taking place.
I'll stop criticising the SP when they stop being opportunists.
I'll leave the SP Sandman to keep on ZZZZZZZZZing.
Im building up a profile now of this girl that dumped pat. She was in the SP, she was a student, and her da was proably in the Airport Police! but why did she dump you pat? why remain so bitter? more fish in the sea an' all that.
"profile
by ? Fri, Mar 7 2003, 12:57pm
Im building up a profile now of this girl that dumped pat. She was in the SP, she was a student, and her da was proably in the Airport Police! but why did she dump you pat? why remain so bitter? more fish in the sea an' all that."
You are doing a great job, people can now see how the SP react when they are unable to answer questions.
ps You're getting close. Her father was also Grand Master of the Clare County Orange Grand Lodge.
blah, blah, blah.....
i ask you all why do sad losers get off on spreading stupid lies!!?????????????????????
why in gods name are people destroying this site with stupid alias', lies and stupidity?! Iv a stinking feeling our friends in stormfront have got summat to do with this...
Aidan you hypocrite
I have heard all about what was written om this for the past few days.... and yes it is hilarious, firstly anyone who takes what was written as serious is an idiot and secondly it is quite reassuring that we hve pissed off the right wingers so much that the feel the need to take so much time to write a rant about wat was really their own inert insecurities and realisation that they are all useless bastards..... equally, once again the weak& irrelavant can not post their names up....none of you have any bottle and if u did feel kindly to come up to my face in UCD and expiress your jealousy in a manly way.... but you cudnt because you know how small and irrelevant you all are, even behind that veil of pretension.................anyway besides that, lads lets not ruin the growing potential of indymedia by giving any of these assholes the time of day........ THE LEFT NOW CONTROL UCD AND ITS FANTASTIC THAT IT IS PISSING SO MANY KBCers AND FINE GAELERS OFF!!!!!!!HA,HA p,s for all those who wonder were this trife on indymedia is cuming from...a little birdie tells me that there is two of UCDs most useless punters who occupy the Union corrider with plenty of time on their hands who fill the category of jealous&bitter right wingers trying to turn the left in on itself..... well let me tell yis lads there is no splits and the plans to overhaul the incompetence of UCD SU next year is still very much on the cards and growing in support by the day!!!
I agree with the sentiments of Aidan in his last posting. A little birdie also told me that it was 2 outgoing sabbats that are putting up this shite.
I would disagree with Aidan on one point though. The left do not control UCDSU, yes most sabbat positions are now controlled by CFE activists. BUT the Exec could still be won by the right-wing. The executive can overturn much of the day-to-day work of the Sabbatical officers.
that the first comment called for no reply to the original posting. This has turned into quite the debate!
well said chief, i wonder which union hack it is?
While I think the debate that goes on here is 100% looser male bullshit, I feel it is necessary to point out that the people who tried to run a RON campaign against J. Allen (and who protested at the count, myself included) were both in support of Paul Dillon for President and Aidan Reagan for Deputy. Ms. Allen may think that the election results is where the democratic process ends, happily though, it's just where it begins. Funnily enough, the democratic process does end for the loosing candidates, and the bitterness sets in. Perhaps you see my point?
A little birdie told me that Paul dillon would support war in Iraq if it had UN backing. Is this true?
I noticed he was very silent about war during the elections and has not been involved in the UCD anti war group
A little Birdie told you that I was pro war on iraq with a second resolution? This is a complete lie. The original posting was,needless to say,a load of lies written by some utter sado. Hence the fact i didnt reply earlier. There is noting so sad as people who wont put their names to their postings. Bitterness...
Maybe you could outline why you oppose the war.
It's satire, stupid.
A Closed Debate By Now.