The John O'Donoghue expenses scandal saw former
Ceann Comhairle
The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session a ...
John O'Donoghue pursued by various allegations over his expenses claims in Ireland's Sunday newspapers over several months in 2009. He spent €250,000 in his time as Ceann Comhairle and €550,000 in his time as
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism.
His wife Kate-Ann also enjoyed many of the expenses.
Tabloid newspapers referred to the politician with titles such as "
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
".
The Irish
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
, junior coalition partners in government, requested a reform of the system following the revelations.
The accountant in charge of expenses had also resigned in protest at the system.
O'Donoghue was the first Ceann Comhairle to forcefully resign;
however,
Patrick Hogan resigned the post for health reasons in 1967.
O'Donoghue announced his resignation from the position of Ceann Comhairle on the evening of 6 October 2009, effective as of 13 October 2009. The ''
Irish Independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.
Traditionally a broadsheet new ...
'' opined: "Were
Louis the XIV around today, the Sun King would likely be envious of the lavish style that John O'Donoghue brought to public office".
''
The Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
'' noted that the controversy followed just three months after a similar one brought down
Michael Martin of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' blamed his fall on "a keen interest in racing", particularly his trips to
Aintree
Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England.
It i ...
,
Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
and the
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...
.
David Sharrock of ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' suggested the government was "close to collapse" and contrasted the expenses with a report that one school in Ireland had requested children to bring their own toilet paper to classes.
Details of expenses
As Ceann Comhairle, O'Donoghue employed seven more office staff than the previous Ceann Comhairle who managed with three staff.
O'Donoghue and
Brendan Howlin
Brendan Howlin (born 9 May 1956) is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency since 1987. He previously served as Leader of the Labour Party from 2016 to 2020, Minister for Public Expenditu ...
shared a "working dinner" in June 2007.
The cost of the €293 meal was paid for by O'Donoghue.
He also dined regularly in
Michelin
Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...
-starred restaurants, on many occasions with his wife.
Four trips to Britain in 2006 and 2007 led to €21,000 expenses claims for hiring cars.
He claimed expenses on a £1 sterling donation which he personally gave to
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
when in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
The donation was part of the hotel bill. The total bill for his stay there from 21 January until 24 January 2009 came to €801.70.
He regularly attended horse racing sessions and even brought his wife, secretary and other officials to the
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...
in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 2003.
He returned in 2005, telling a magazine the following year that: "There's nothing quite like Melbourne Cup day in Australia".
He claimed expenses of €600 on a limousine to take him to horse racing at
Aintree
Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England.
It i ...
.
He claimed for another limousine to carry him between terminals at
Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
The total claimed for this limousine was €472.
He claimed nearly €900 per night for a 2006 stay in the Radisson Hotel in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
.
He resided in one hotel in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
where rooms cost €633 per night.
Many of the expenses were claimed for tips he gave – one of these amounted to almost €200.
He purchased many gifts such as €882 worth of items from the House of Ireland shop and 2006 Midleton whiskey which totalled €135.
€4,956 was claimed on the hire of limousines during a trip to several cities in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
€11,869 in expenses was claimed on advertisements displayed in local newspapers in his native Kerry.
On 6 October 2009, it was revealed that O'Donoghue had spent more than €20,000 at nine different race meetings internationally over the four-year period of 2003–2007.
The controversy is the subject of a book Snouts in the Trough by journalist Ken Foxe, who originally broke the story in the Sunday Tribune.
Events surrounding resignation
On 11 September 2009, O'Donoghue sent a letter to every
TD in which he said he had done nothing wrong.
He made his first public comments on his expenses on 15 September 2009 whilst attending the races in
Listowel
Listowel ( ; , IPA: ˆlʲɪsË ËˆtÌªË uÉ™hÉ™lʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the Central Statistics Of ...
, claiming to have "behaved in good faith and with probity throughout" and ending with "in so far as one regrets something, I think that is an apology".
The following day, O'Donoghue made a proper public apology for his expenses claimed while in office as Irish
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism.
He also issued a statement, saying: "I was not aware of the cost of these arrangements. When I read the detail in the past weeks, I was embarrassed that such costs were associated with some of the arrangements made on my behalf".
O'Donoghue released his expenses record for the previous two years on 2 October 2009.
These revealed foreign travels bills totalling €45,000, €13,000 for the hiring of cars and limousines to travel between airport terminals when outside Ireland and slightly less than €5,000 in total in fees for VIP lounges.
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
were the first party to call for O'Donoughue to resign, with Dáil leader
CaoimhghÃn Ó Caoláin stating O'Donoghues position was untenable given "a continued waste of public money" since he took the job.
[
]
[
]
Eamon Gilmore Eamonn or Éamon or Eamon may refer to:
* Eamonn (given name), an Irish male given name
* Eamon (singer) (born 1983), American R&B singer-songwriter and harmonicist
* ''Eamon'' (video game), a 1980 computer role-playing game for the Apple II
*"Éam ...
, leader of the
Labour Party, openly expressed an opinion that O'Donoghue was bringing the office of Ceann Comhairle into disrepute and requested a meeting with the leaders of
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...
's other political parties on the matter.
Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...
, leader of
Fine Gael
Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil à ...
, called on O'Donoghue to sort himself out or he would be expected to resign.
John Gormley
John Gormley (born 4 August 1959) is an Irish former Green Party politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from June 2007 to January 2011, Leader of the Green Party from June 2007 to May 2011 and Lor ...
, leader of
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
, asked for the matter to be resolved urgently.
O'Donoghue responded to these criticisms by saying he would address the Oireachtas Commission where he would give "detailed proposals".
He announced details of his resignation as Ceann Comhairle at 22:30 the following evening after pressure from Gilmore, who said his reign was now "untenable", backed by Kenny.
However, Kenny requested that he resign the role with immediate effect.
O'Donoghue quit the post on 13 October 2009.
Before doing so he made a statement on his expenses.
Séamus Kirk
Séamus Kirk (born 26 April 1945) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 2009 to 2011 and a Minister of State from 1987 to 1992. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituen ...
was elected his successor.
It was later revealed that O'Donoghue had told Gilmore twice via telephone before his resignation not to "do anything precipitous".
Reaction
Former
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Bertie Ahern
Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...
, at a book signing in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
to promote the release of his autobiography, expressed his sorrow for O'Donoghue. Ahern nominated O'Donoghue for the position of Ceann Comhairle in 2007.
He told
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
:
John O'Donoghue was an outstanding Minister for Justice, an outstanding Minister for Tourism, Arts and Sport. He did travel abroad. Tourism was an all-island subject and he went to the cultural events and sporting events and knowing John I think a lot of those events he would have been happier not to be going to. He would be happier to be down in Kerry. But that's how it goes. ..The issue about expenses abroad, I think I've some sympathy with office holders about that because what happens is when you go abroad embassies and the people you go to organise the hotels and travel and the office holder, the ministers – in this case John O'Donoghue – would have little control over where he stays.
Ahern also used a promotional television appearance on ''
The Late Late Show'' on
RTÉ One
RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió TeilifÃs Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''TelefÃs à ...
to defend O'Donoghue, claiming he had been "dumped on".
Irish
Minister for Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...
Brian Lenihan Jnr
Brian Joseph Lenihan (21 May 1959 – 10 June 2011) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Finance from 2008 to 2011, Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil from March 2011 to June 2011, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law ...
criticised the forceful nature of O'Donoghue's resignation, claiming he had not been allowed to explain himself.
Irish
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen
Martin Cullen (born 2 November 1954) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism from 2008 to 2010, Minister for Social and Family Affairs from 2007 to 2008, Minister for Transport from 2004 to ...
accused the media of having "extremely distorted" the expenses claims.
He criticised what he termed as "the denigration of decent people who had served for a long period of time", claiming that "anybody that goes abroad for this country
reland
Adriaan Reland (also known as ''Adriaen Reeland/Reelant'', ''Hadrianus Relandus'') (17 July 1676, De Rijp, North Holland5 February 1718, UtrechtJohn Gorton, ''A General Biographical Dictionary'', 1838, Whittaker & Co.) was a noted Dutch Orientali ...
works extremely hard, and it is unfortunate that it is presented all the time as some kind of junket".
He also claimed he would prefer to spend
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...
at home "rather than attending 24 functions in 48 hours" as was the case in 2009, according to Cullen.
Irish
Minister for Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...
Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence since Decembe ...
described the expenses situation as "damaging".
Deputy
Jackie Healy-Rae said on
Radio Kerry
Radio Kerry is a full-service, licensed radio station that operates from the franchise area of County Kerry in Southwest Ireland.
Radio Kerry was established in 1989 and began broadcasting on 14 July 1990. The station headquarters are in Tral ...
:
This is a sad situation to see John O'Donoghue go like this ..The man was hounded out of office, there's no doubt about it.
Kerry
Kerry or Kerri may refer to:
* Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Kerry, Queensland, Australia
* County Kerry, Ireland
** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...
former footballer and manager
Páidà Ó Sé
Páidà Ó Sé (, ; 16 May 1955 – 15 December 2012) was an Irish Gaelic football manager and player, whose league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen seasons from 1974 to 1988. Ó Sé is wide ...
said on
Newstalk
Newstalk (formerly NewsTalk 106) is a national independent radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Bauer Media Audio Ireland, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Autho ...
:
Eamon Gilmore got the head of John O'Donoghue, and what Fine Gael is trying to do now is to get the left ear of his decapitated head.
Mayor of
Kilkenny
Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512.
Kilken ...
, Malcolm Noonan of the Green Party, reacted positively to O'Donoghue's resignation, saying "
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:
*The President of Ireland
*The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...
members are well paid for their work, there should be absolutely no abuse of the system" particularly whilst "so many people and communities are suffering".
Gerald Kean
Gerald Kean (born 1957) is an Irish solicitor from County Cork. He is regularly the subject of social columns, particularly in the Sunday newspapers which have reported his lavish spending sprees and sun holidays involving his wife and other peo ...
, a prominent celebrity solicitor, said O'Donoghue's behaviour was "absolutely, totally unacceptable".
Aftermath
O'Donoghue received €112,000, described as a "golden parachute" payment.
He announced his intention to seek election again at the next opportunity – "standing for re-election in South Kerry, definitely".
He lost his seat at the 2011 general election.
Further revelations were also disclosed, including €1,000 spent on two tickets for the
2007 Rugby World Cup Final in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, despite O'Donoghue being Ceann Comhairle at that time and no longer Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. The tickets were requested from the
Irish Sports Council
Sport Ireland ( ga, Spórt Éireann), formerly the Irish Sports Council, is a statutory authority that oversees, and partly funds, the development of sport within Ireland. It is located at the National Sports Campus in the townland of Sheephill ...
by O'Donoghue; the Council explained: "It was decided to offer him the tickets on a complimentary basis in recognition of his efforts on behalf of Irish sport".
References
External links
Lettersent to all members of
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...
by John O'Donoghue
Statement of apologyfor expenses as
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism
Speechby outgoing
Ceann Comhairle
The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session a ...
John O'DonoghueWatch
of O'Donoghue's resignation on
RTÉ
(RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:John O'donoghue Expenses Scandal
2009 in Irish politics
2009 scandals
30th Dáil
History of Fianna Fáil
Expenses O'Donoghue