METRO Wednesday, October 14, 2009 D The What The Where The When The Cost The How The Why Supported by SuasEducational Development Eviction family awarded 40,000 THE High Court has awarded 40,000 to a Dublin family who are due to be evicted from their home by Dublin City Council for anti-social behaviour. The court ruled in December 2008 that the eviction of Carol and Laurence Pullen from their home in Donnycarney in Dublin was a breach of their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. It ruled Dublin City Council had held an in-house investigation into the allegations and had not given the Pullens an opportunity to dispute the lawfulness or proportionality of the decision to evict them. Reform centre for boys cutlery use A BOY aged six faces 45 days in a reform centre after attempting to eat his school lunch with a knife and fork camping set. Zachary Christie violated the school districts strict zero-tolerance policy on dangerous instruments. His mother, Debbie, is appealing the punishment from the school in Delaware, in the US. MENU THE Home Digest 4 Guilty Pleasures Celebrity gossip 6 World Digest 10 MetroLife Arts and entertainment 12-13 60 Second Interview Economist Stephen Kinsella 14 TV 14-15 Puzzles & Letters 16-17 Classifieds 18-20 Sport 21-24 Help keep Dublin clean and tidy for everyone by taking your Metro with you and recycling it TODAY: Another misty, cold start, clearing later. Max: 16C TOMORROW: Overcast but mild, breezy and dry. Max: 15C METRO Weather ODonoghue unbowed in resignation speech FORMER Ceann Comhairle John ODonoghue, who was forced to stand down over his lavish expenses, claimed yesterday he was denied his constitutional right to defend him- self. The man at the centre of an expens- es row eventually broke his silence after months of controversy during a combative resignation speech in which he attacked the Oppositions pre-emptive vote of no confidence on his independent role. Mr ODonoghue, the first Ceann Comhairle forced to resign in the Dils 87-year history, claimed media reports were twisted to create an ugly, grasping, black caricature of the man that I am. I was not afforded the basic princi- ple of a fair hearing, he said, after standing down from the speakers chair. Instead the soundbite took the place of fairness. The embattled South Kerry TD had refused to respond to revelation after revelation about his spending of pub- lic money while Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and more recently as chairman of the Dil. He claimed his independent role, which was above politics, prevented him from becoming embroiled in any political scandal. Only when Labour Party leader Ea- mon Gilmore eventually demanded his resignation, during an electrifying and unprecedented exchange in the Dil last week, did Mr ODonoghue bow to public pressure to step down. But not before a 30-minute rebuke of a string of disclosures, which he branded inaccurate and malicious, and a repeated assault on Mr Gilmore sealing the reputation which has earned him the nickname the Bull. Perks such as VIP lounges and lim- ousine transfers at airports were in accordance with standard protocol, while claims for generous tips and charitable donations were adminis- trative errors, he said. Admitting some claims appeared excessive when viewed through this prism of the current economic hard- ship in the country, he nonetheless argued they were all fully approved and audited. I never committed any offence. I am not guilty of any corruption. I never took money or abused my of- fice for my own enrichment. In the fullness of time it will become appar- ent that many matters have been dis- torted and exaggerated beyond the bounds of fairness. The former Ceann Comhairles speech, which lasted twice as long as expected, received sustained applause BY BRIAN HUTTON Defiant: John ODonoghue remained defiant in his final speech as Ceann Comhairle Picture: PA from the Government benches. But an unimpressed Mr Gilmore said he did not deny Mr ODonoghue his right to defend himself and claimed he was forced into his actions when other parties refused to come together to deal with the fall-out. Mr ODonoghues Fianna Fil col- league Louth TD Seamus Kirk was elected as the new speaker. Elected: Mr Kirk Kirk takes helm as Dils new speaker SEAMUS KirK has been elected as the new Ceann Comhairle of the Dil by a margin of 87 votes to 51, succeeding John ODonoghue who resigned yesterday. He defeated Fine Gael nominee Dinny McGinley; the Labour Party and Sinn Fin did not nominate anyone from their parties. Mr Kirk, from Drumkeith, Co Louth, was first elected to the Dil in November 1982. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food from 1987 to 1992, having served as front-bench spokesman for horticulture for four years while in opposition. He is a member of the Joint Committee on Economic regulatory Affairs, and the British-irish inter-parliamentary Body; and a former member of the Joint Committee on European Affairs and Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution. Accepting his new role, Mr Kirk said: i look forward to encouraging further modernisation of the parliamentary administration within the current programme of cutbacks already adopted by the commission. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html