Ganley's Motley Crew
During the summer a columnist in an Irish newspaper accused Declan Ganley of hanging out with the ‘pick of Europe’s pond life’. Many at the time felt the criticism harsh.
Ganley has just announced that he is now about to join the very gravy train that he has been criticising and he is going to Brussels with the begging bowl looking for taxpayers money to fund his political ambitions for next June’s EU Parliament elections. Some might think that the decision stinks of hypocrisy.
That isn’t the only thing that stinks – the list of worthies that Ganley has announced as his spear carriers in his efforts to get a grant from Brussels has more than a slight whiff about it. Virtually all of the Ganley crew are on the outer rim of euro-sceptics and a disturbing number of their CVs have references to xenophobia and anti-semitic views.
The one thing they all have in common is there opposition to the European Union. That seems to jar with Ganley’s protestations that he really is pro EU.
Here are some details – email peoplekorps@gmail.com if you have more
Bulgaria
Mincho Kuminev,
Kuminev is an independent member of the Bulgarian parliament. He was first elected in mid 2005.
On February 2, 2006 he was voted out from Parliamentary Group of the Ataka Coalition. The reasons for his exclusion were systematically disturbance of the order in the group during the introduction of new draft legislation and initiatives.
He was seen as a bit of a loose canon even within the group. On his expulsion from the group he said he left the party of his own choice.
Estonia
Igor Grazin
Grazin is a member the Euro sceptic Estonian Reform Party in the Estonian parliament.
He was a member of the last USSR Congress of People’s Deputies before Estonia won its freedom.
France
Phillipe de Villiers
De Villiers, (born Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon) was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. He was eliminated from the race.
De Villiers is noted for his anti-Islamist views: he wants France to break away from the Euro and to restore the French Franc.
An arch eurosceptic, deVilliers announced, in December 2008, on the MPF website that his candidates would be integrated into the Libertas slate for the European elections.
A political relationship between de Villiers and Declan Ganley, has been blossoming since the two men met two weeks before the Irish referendum, with Le Monde describing it as "love at first sight".
Ganley stayed at the French count's Vendee farm in the summer of 2008 and addressed the MPF's annual conference in Paris to a rapturous reception.
De Villiers was a guest at the dinner hosted by Ganley for Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, where Klaus breeched normal rules of diplomacy by attacking the Irish Government.
Paul Marie Couteaux, MEP
A member of de Villiers, Mouvement pour la France Couteaux is on record as saying that he would like to see France distancing itself from the union.
Poland
Cyprian Gutkowski, a number of the regional assembly of Mazovia, Poland. A supporter of MEP Maciej Giertych, 72, of the League of Polish Families who was censured in the EP for his booklet suggesting the Jews were biologically different.
Finland
Timo Juhani Soini (born 30 May 1962 Rauma, Finland) is the leader of the True Finns party. Member of the Parliament of Finland. The party has 5 seats in the Finish parliament.
Soini was a member of the Rural Party (Suomen Maaseudun Puolue, SMP), and was Party Secretary General from 1992 to its end in 1995. He joined the True Finns Party (Perussuomalaiset) when it was founded in 1995 and succeeded Raimo Vistbacka as Chairman of the party in 1997.
Soini was his party's candidate in the 2006 Presidential election. He finished fifth out of the eight candidates in the first round, with a vote share of 3.4%. A book about Soini, Maisterisjätkä, was released by Tammi on March 2008.
Soini has been accused of xenophobia, which, as a devoted Catholic, he denies.
Greece
Georgios Georgiou,MEP: Georgiou 72, is a member of the People’s Orthodox Rally.
Georgiou’s Party has recently moved from being anti-semitic to advocating gay rights.
United Kingdom
Lord Alton (David Patrick Paul Alton)
Alton is a former Liberal Party and later Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) who now sits as cross bench member of the House of Lords. He was made a Life peer as Baron Alton of Liverpool in 1997. David Alton has British and Irish citizenship.
The most respected of Ganley’s recruits, Alton is noted for his opposition to abortion. In 2007 Alton was one of a number of people lodging an appeal against the decision of the Secretary of State for the Home Department refusing their application for deproscription of the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran.
It is claimed that Alton was the author of a chain letter distributed by independent Irish MEP Kathy Sinnott.
During the summer a columnist in an Irish newspaper accused Declan Ganley of hanging out with the ‘pick of Europe’s pond life’. Many at the time felt the criticism harsh.
Ganley has just announced that he is now about to join the very gravy train that he has been criticising and he is going to Brussels with the begging bowl looking for taxpayers money to fund his political ambitions for next June’s EU Parliament elections. Some might think that the decision stinks of hypocrisy.
That isn’t the only thing that stinks – the list of worthies that Ganley has announced as his spear carriers in his efforts to get a grant from Brussels has more than a slight whiff about it. Virtually all of the Ganley crew are on the outer rim of euro-sceptics and a disturbing number of their CVs have references to xenophobia and anti-semitic views.
The one thing they all have in common is there opposition to the European Union. That seems to jar with Ganley’s protestations that he really is pro EU.
Here are some details – email peoplekorps@gmail.com if you have more
Bulgaria
Mincho Kuminev,
Kuminev is an independent member of the Bulgarian parliament. He was first elected in mid 2005.
On February 2, 2006 he was voted out from Parliamentary Group of the Ataka Coalition. The reasons for his exclusion were systematically disturbance of the order in the group during the introduction of new draft legislation and initiatives.
He was seen as a bit of a loose canon even within the group. On his expulsion from the group he said he left the party of his own choice.
Estonia
Igor Grazin
Grazin is a member the Euro sceptic Estonian Reform Party in the Estonian parliament.
He was a member of the last USSR Congress of People’s Deputies before Estonia won its freedom.
France
Phillipe de Villiers
De Villiers, (born Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon) was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. He was eliminated from the race.
De Villiers is noted for his anti-Islamist views: he wants France to break away from the Euro and to restore the French Franc.
An arch eurosceptic, deVilliers announced, in December 2008, on the MPF website that his candidates would be integrated into the Libertas slate for the European elections.
A political relationship between de Villiers and Declan Ganley, has been blossoming since the two men met two weeks before the Irish referendum, with Le Monde describing it as "love at first sight".
Ganley stayed at the French count's Vendee farm in the summer of 2008 and addressed the MPF's annual conference in Paris to a rapturous reception.
De Villiers was a guest at the dinner hosted by Ganley for Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, where Klaus breeched normal rules of diplomacy by attacking the Irish Government.
Paul Marie Couteaux, MEP
A member of de Villiers, Mouvement pour la France Couteaux is on record as saying that he would like to see France distancing itself from the union.
Poland
Cyprian Gutkowski, a number of the regional assembly of Mazovia, Poland. A supporter of MEP Maciej Giertych, 72, of the League of Polish Families who was censured in the EP for his booklet suggesting the Jews were biologically different.
Finland
Timo Juhani Soini (born 30 May 1962 Rauma, Finland) is the leader of the True Finns party. Member of the Parliament of Finland. The party has 5 seats in the Finish parliament.Soini was a member of the Rural Party (Suomen Maaseudun Puolue, SMP), and was Party Secretary General from 1992 to its end in 1995. He joined the True Finns Party (Perussuomalaiset) when it was founded in 1995 and succeeded Raimo Vistbacka as Chairman of the party in 1997.
Soini was his party's candidate in the 2006 Presidential election. He finished fifth out of the eight candidates in the first round, with a vote share of 3.4%. A book about Soini, Maisterisjätkä, was released by Tammi on March 2008.
Soini has been accused of xenophobia, which, as a devoted Catholic, he denies.
Greece
Georgios Georgiou,MEP: Georgiou 72, is a member of the People’s Orthodox Rally.
Georgiou’s Party has recently moved from being anti-semitic to advocating gay rights.
United Kingdom
Lord Alton (David Patrick Paul Alton)
Alton is a former Liberal Party and later Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) who now sits as cross bench member of the House of Lords. He was made a Life peer as Baron Alton of Liverpool in 1997. David Alton has British and Irish citizenship.
The most respected of Ganley’s recruits, Alton is noted for his opposition to abortion. In 2007 Alton was one of a number of people lodging an appeal against the decision of the Secretary of State for the Home Department refusing their application for deproscription of the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran.
It is claimed that Alton was the author of a chain letter distributed by independent Irish MEP Kathy Sinnott.
IRISH MEP Kathy Sinnott has acknowledged she forwarded a chain letter which called for fasting and nine days of prayer beginning on January 11th, as part of moves to oppose US legislation liberalising access to abortion.
Irish Times 9 Jan. 2009
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