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"Game up for the Government"
04.11.10
VICTORIOUS Sinn Féin
senator Pearse Doherty yesterday declared "the game
up" for the Government. He said Taoiseach Brian
Cowen should call a general election as the
Government had "little if any prospect of survival".
He was speaking yesterday after the High Court ruled
in favour of his challenge against the Government’s
delay in holding the Donegal South West by-election.
In a damning assessment of the delay, High Court
president, Nicholas Kearns said:
“I am satisfied that the delay in this case is so
inordinate as to amount to a breach of the
applicant’s constitutional rights to such a degree
as to warrant the court granting some form of
relief.
“Far from the court tearing asunder the provisions
of the Constitution by adjudicating on this
application, it is the ongoing failure to move the
writ for this by-election since June 2009 which
offends the terms and spirit of the Constitution and
its framework for democracy.” |
Senator Doherty said
the judgement was "a victory for the people of
Donegal South West" who have been politically
under-represented for the past year-and-a-half.
“I was forced to bring the Government kicking and
screaming before the courts over its denial of
democracy. Today’s decision is a great victory for
the people of Donegal South West who have been
politically under-represented for the past
year-and-a-half.”
He added: “It is a victory for democracy itself.
That the Government chose to waste taxpayers’ money
fighting this case is a disgrace. Today’s court
decision has struck a fatal blow to the life of this
Government. |
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Senator Pearse Doherty |
With three other
by-elections now due, the government has little if
any prospect of survival. The game is now up."
Green Party Senator Dan Boyle yesterday said his
party wanted the writ for the by-election to be
moved immediately. “We’ve come to the conclusion
that our position as a party should be that the
impact of the High Court decision should be followed
through in its spirit and the by-election for
Donegal South West should be held immediately at the
soonest opportunity to move the writ,” he said. |
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