Bull fails to snare Rabbitte over Higgins doing bird

ON the rare occasion in nature when a bull goes head-to-head with a rabbit, the outcome is inevitable — until yesterday.

John 'The Bull' O'Donoghue's attempts to snare Pat Rabbitte over his views on Joe 'The Jailbird' Higgins flight into the 'Joy became a little tepid.

Demanding that the Labour leader come clean on whether or not he supports the stance taken by the Socialist Party TD, the Minister for Arts, Sport, Tourism and All-Round-Fun said the leader of the oldest democratic political party in the State had to condemn his former comrade.

"So far the only sound emanating from the normally garrulous Mr Rabbitte the man with an opinion on everything is the sound of silence," he said.

Donning his matador's cape, The Rabbitte easily side-stepped The Bull's charges saying that it was rich for someone from the party of Haughey, Burke and Lawlor to act as a watchdog.

"This kind of buffoonery that John O'Donoghue specialises in is very dangerous. People in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones. John O'Donoghue should look closer to home in Fianna Fáil if he wants to talk about people upholding the law and I can go through the entire rogues' gallery," he said.

Setting the record straight, The Rabbitte said he has never advocated non-payment of legal charges, or the blockading of housing estates or illegal interference with local authority vehicles.

Stating that he and his party did not advocate breaking the law, the Labour leader said there was no problem with being sympathetic with someone who gets a month in Mountjoy, especially when there is indiscriminate corporate dumping in Wicklow and nobody has been arraigned or sent to prison.

Brandishing his sword, the Rabbitte went for the jugular saying the former Minister for Justice should apply the same rules of law to prominent members of his own party.

"I don't support the breaking of the law. I don't support the tactics they have engaged in. I have no intention of condemning Joe Higgins. He is a public representative who does things according to his own ways and unlike John O'Donoghue he is serious about his convictions," he said.

Making it clear that his party was not in favour of censuring Joe Higgins, The Rabbitte said FFers had a brass neck to talk about taking this action.

"If we were to start to censure some of the lead figures in Fianna Fáil that have brought politics into degradation, we'd have no time to do anything else given the short time that Mr Ahern allows the Dáil to sit. Joe Higgins has been censured. It's called 28 days in Mountjoy. That's adequate censure as far as I am concerned," he said.