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Norris in trouble again as seven new clemency letters threaten to derail campaign
Posted on Monday, September 26, 2011 at 01:06 PM
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David Norris is back in the headlines again.
Just when the Trinity Senator seemed to be gaining traction in his bid to confirm the necessary number of endorsements to make the ballot paper, it has emerged that there are an incredible seven more clemency letters that he has yet to make public.
The new is likely to raise further questions about Norris' suitability for the office, and return to not-too-distant memories Norris' first clemency letter to an Israeli court -- which forced him into taking temporary leave of the presidential campaign trail.
Knowledge that there were a string of further clemency letters yet to come out has been known in Irish media and political circles almost since news of the first one broke, but Independent TD Mattie McGrath last night became the first independent to buck the trend of recent approbations that Norris has received, indicating that his newfound backers may still be concerned as to what this fresh batch of letters contains.
Norris' campaign team, or his new one (the last one gave up in disgust after the fist controversial communique was made public) has been resolute in its refusal to release the new batch of letters, but that's only likely to raise the curiosity of those eager to see what they contain -- and what Norris, in this collection, has asked for.
The clemency letter written to an Israeli court on behalf of his ex-lover Nawi provoked a storm of controversy when it was made public in June, and for those who read the letter reproduced in an Irish Sunday newspaper, it portrayed Norris in anything but a favourable light.
Written, fatally for Norris, on official government notepaper, the clemency plea was a lengthy, boring, and crushingly arrogant bid to 'get off' a convicted sex offender whom he used to be in a relationship with.
Norris informed the Israeli judiciary of how he was a 'position of some importance' in Ireland, before lecturing the no doubt disinterested judges on how, under Irish law, Nawi's conviction would be reduced.
Not only was the comparison to Irish law obviously irrelevant, the entire letter made little sense, and the only coherent reason that emerged for Nawi to get off was simply because Norris thought he should.
The letter undoubtedly ended up in a Jerusalem shredding machine, but the letter, and the subsequent reaction to it, caused an international reaction against Norris, with even the New York Times weighing in with its take on the story.
And while those who claim that Norris has been the victim of a relentless smear campaign have enjoyed some credence in the Irish media, Norris is also the only candidate who has consistently refused to give the Irish public full disclosure on his turbulent past.
Norris may have been a looming figure in the Irish political establishment for years -- he almost single-handedly overturned Irish legislation criminalizing consensual homosexual conduct -- but the letters remained unknown until this June.
A brief 'clemency' fiasco briefly threatened to dog Gay Mitchell around the same time, but was petty by comparison to Norris' please.
Justice Minister Alan Shatter also recently caused a small ruckus by opining that Martin McGuinness was 'unsuitable' for the job, based on his paramilitary past, but Norris alone has been hit by a series of scandals, which he and his PR team have repeatedly failed to quell by insisting on withholding the 'incriminating' evidence, and ignoring the existence of the letters until they were leaked to the Irish press.
If Norris is on the verge of securing the requisite number of backers to furnish his election papers to Dublin's Customs House in time, then he would probably be well advised to hold his hands in the air and come clean on what, about whom, and to whom, he wrote in the seven remaining unpublished letters.
Otherwise his brief interlude from the race, thus-far total lack of honesty, and increasing public curiosity as to what these letters contain -- and why his team are insisting on withholding them - may be enough to dissuade people from voting for him on the all important ballot day.
See more: Irish president., David Norris
12 Comments
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jacersagain | Sep 29, 2011, 04:24 PM EDT
@ Townie – It’s hardly a surprise Norris got in to the ‘race’ as you call it; give all the candidates horses or Phoenix Park deer to ride fast up Chesterfield Avenue then I might then agree it’s a race, and would enjoy seeing them all fall off before the finish line. I think the County Councils who voted for Norris on the last day were infused by ill-informed public opinion polls. I was particularly disappointed and amazed that my own Nth Dublin Council (Fingal) was the first to vote for him early in the campaign. So far, I’ve not seen mention in the Irish media fora of his historical comments bashing our Republic and its founders. Hopefully they will surface prominently during the campaign so that the people of Ireland will see ‘da man’ for what he is – an utter fraud. I have no pro- or anti-view on any of the other pretenders for the Presidency at the moment...
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Towngate | Sep 28, 2011, 07:14 AM EDT
Jacers! It was a tight squeeze, but Norris has managed to slip on to the racecard for the Aras. With O'Hobbit doing the decent thing at the last minute, his Transfers will go to Norris and thwart the suspicious ambitions of Martina McGunless. Ya better order another ream of paper,jacs,it's going to be a long and bloody novel now!
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jacersagain | Sep 27, 2011, 02:33 PM EDT
On the contrary Townie, I think Norris is pushing against a closing door! Thanks for over the top compliments re me noveleen'. You're right though, I was on a wave - one of' disgust at Norris' so pardon the length of me posts! >> Danny is a fine writer, one o' me faves on ICentral and I don't think his article above was unbalanced... Danny tends to tell it like it is. Sláinte leatsa, a chara.
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kerryman201 | Sep 27, 2011, 11:32 AM EDT
Norris has left it to the last minute. Cork rejected him today, though he got Laois. It will be interesting to see if he manages to get enough endorsements by the deadline tomorrow afternoon.
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Towngate | Sep 27, 2011, 09:03 AM EDT
Jaysus Jakers, you're in fine form! Willya just take a little re-read of my Comment and you will see that on David Norris you are pushing against an open door! My comment was to Danny on his unusual lack of journalistic 'balance'. Just because 'His Nibs' gave the editorial nod to Maggie McGunless,his teamsters are letting rip at 'everybody but'! ~ Thanks,though, Jakers, I enjoyed the style and content of your Novel! Slainte!
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jacersagain | Sep 26, 2011, 08:58 PM EDT
(...more) I would be sick if he is the President of my country in 2016 who will be the President of the Republic of Ireland who has to stand in front of the GPO in Dublin on the occasion of the Centenary of the Easter Rising of 1916, saluting the men of 1916 that he, on TV, called terrorists (I heard him say it on TV) those whose fatal efforts led to Irish Independence, to self-government for Ireland, and led to the establishment of the very Senate House that he proudly portrays himself to be a member of by virtue of elections by a dim-headed selfish minuscule section of Ireland’s electorate. What cheek he has, what fugging bluddy fraudelent cheek! What a fraud he is! Nope, Townie, can’t agree witchya this time – the man has got nothing in his favour and has nobody in his favour except (i) his LGBT friends who are pushing for him into the Áras for their own devious purposes (what a gay party there would be in Dublin - and the dark Park! - if he did get in) and (ii) especially media people pushing for him to be elected so that they can hunt the next of his scandals that will come out of the woodwork during such Presidency. Anybody betting on a runt being secretly invited courtesy of “President” Norris (or pushed by a media person), to the house that Presidents McAleese, Robinson, Ó Dálaigh, DeValera, Hyde etc. lived in? Some Irish electors might gleefully be rubbing hands on such a bet... Not me. No, nay never, not if my vote counts. Danny says it rightfully in his last paragraph above – Norris has “thus-far total lack of honesty”. Norris has openly said he will not publish the other letters... and still expects us of the Irish electorate to elect him... PRESIDENT???
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jacersagain | Sep 26, 2011, 08:41 PM EDT
(...more) Nah! Nope! He hasn’t the wherewithal for the job that calls for high legal professionalism, human respect, dignity and integrity, all of which he has consistently shown himself to have none of through his many public appearances in life, on radio and on TV, despite what he would have us of the electorate believe through his talent for stage acting and for staging. Don’t get me goin’ on his claims of dignity and integrity – he bowed out for the right reasons and should dignifiedly stick to being bowed out instead of trying to slink back in. He’s a liar: he claimed, as Danny wrote above - on an official Irish Government headed paper sheet addressed to a Court of another sovereign country - that he was a “person of some importance”. Yeah, right... of a self-importance like Oscar’s. He is totally self-delusional and if he gets on the election sheet, I’ll be pointedly ticking him off as LAST choice to be head my country. PS- d’ya know he’s got macular disease? He possibly soon won’t be able, during his 7-yr imPrisondency given his age, to adequately see enough to sign any Act of Dáil Éireann into law. “There’s none so blind as those who will not see”. Norris has been theatrical all his life... he can't see the real world even now (more...)
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jacersagain | Sep 26, 2011, 08:35 PM EDT
Say, Pal Townie, I disagree w/ you. Danny is correct to point out that it is better that the woodworms come out now rather than during his 7-yr imPrisondency if he is elected head of a Republic that he believes should not exist (yep, he said it should never have been instigated AND he believes our Republic should rejoin the British Commonwealth again. I don’t ever wanna to be made a common weal). Norris is a fraud of a man(nequin), a fraud of a politishun (he’s not even one, he’s just one of many noted scholars of English Literature and Language feranbegawdsake!) a man who pursued human rights for people who reject others’ human rights... such as a right not to have his and his friends’ opinions on their abusive bedroom behaviours pushed in our faces daily. His popularity (shure everyone loves an Entertainer... at being which, I grant, he is superb) is totally misguided but an Entertainer as a President who would be called upon (using legally-based common sense) to challenge possibly dubious Bills of Law passed by Dáil Éireann??? He thinks he’s the target of smear campaigns; he’s not... not at all, not atall atall... he’s smeared himself enough and should be recognised for that before he’s ever considered worthy material for the world’s international Presidential stages. (More...)
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sirpeter | Sep 26, 2011, 05:13 PM EDT
Here we go again more scandal coming out as I said on another article.Dorris using official government notepaper to get his convicted sex-offender bed-mate a reduced sentence.
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sirpeter | Sep 26, 2011, 05:12 PM EDT
Here we go again more scandal coming out as I said on another article.Dorris using official government notepaper to get his convicted sex offender bed-mate a reduced sentence.This is not on.This is abuse of power for his own ends.Creaky the guy used seven official government note papers to get clemency for a convicted sex offender.There is no points in his favour after that.They did a poll by text in Cork's 2fm and Martin got 65% of the vote.So where does that leave the polls?.Nawwww! At least they won't find anything that will stick to Martin.
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Towngate | Sep 26, 2011, 03:50 PM EDT
Danny: I'm afraid the 'total lack of honesty' is something you now have in common with David Norris, according to your Post. In your entire piece, fairly pointing out there may be further damaging disclosures to come, you totally excluded any points in his favour; such as his astonishingly high percentage in the Polls. What kind of a journalist does that make you? Please don't insult your admiring readers by betraying their trust like this.
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