Did anyone see Simon Harris's treatment of the carer who approached him in Co. Cork today? Despicable, condescending behaviour.

[Imperiallanger]

I'll try link. It's on RTEs Facebook page & the comments match his behaviour. The poor woman was visibly upset.

Yes I started a thread on Aibu as I wanted see if I was being unreasonable to be horrified & shocked at our Taoiseach's behavior towards a taxpaying member of the electorate who had the courage to approach him. She had every right to do so & I have every right to start a thread about his despicable behaviour too.
If you are so concerned about my opinion you better stay away from boards.ie, reddit, x Facebook, insta.. The opinion of FG & Simon Harris is rock bottom after that incident. There is no defending his actions & words.

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/mum-of-boy-8-removed-from-scoliosis-surgery-list-without-a-word-warns-other-families-to-check-it-hasnt-happened-to-their-child/a1140646644.html

Simon Harris doesn't give a rats arse about disability. Ask any parent with a child awaiting surgery for scoliosis.. This is on his governments watch.

https://www.rte.ie/news/election-24/2024/1123/1482620-simon-harris-election/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGvNU5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRHqAJjU46ZGY-3EwPi5v3Pd94K_XXx97E8xDYg00yhFjoIkSdH2cLdrJA_aem_pgD0GOhE8QXW78HF_Z87mw

RTEs latest article tonight.. Ouch.. Very scathing from RTE who are usually Fine Gaels biggest cheerleaders..
I think RTE are finally reacting to the mood of the nation & giving us what we want to watch & read. Unbiased reporting. I am pleasently surprised about RTEs & the mainstream medias coverage of this. Maybe they want change like the rest of the nation

So tell me again why any talented people in their right minds would want this job?

Talented & politicans don't go together in the one sentence ?!! Majority are talented bullshitters who can't even define a woman😂..
The past four years under FF, FG & the Greens has been an unmitigated disaster.
It is time for change.
As Simon Harris proved through his words, actions & contempt to that poor lady they don't give a flying fuck about the citizens who voted for him to work for the nation.

I am delighted at the backlash & hope it's the catalyst for change.
No PR stunts are going to wipe this from the electorates mind with the election less than a week away.
So pleased the mainstream media keep rehashing it all day too. Ireland won't be forgiving & forgetting Fine Gael for this!

I've just seen the video of the SH/carer interaction - what an anti-climax! from the comments I've been reading all day, I was expecting to see the Taoiseach punching someone, like John Prescott did, or swearing at someone, or something egregious like that.

What I saw was a did/didn't did/didn't exchange with someone who clearly had her mind made up in advance and contradicted any attempted answer about the budget or disability issues, which SH ended abruptly with a handshake.

Then she told him he 'is not a good man' - not 'you are a lousy politician and a hopeless Taoiseach', which would have been 100% fair enough, but personal insults are not acceptable.

Then he walked away, which was probably a wise thing to do, better than standing there and saying 'Hey, how dare you, what do you mean, "I'm not a good man" , who do you think you are anyway, talking to me like that?' which is how I think the average person would respond.

Now that would have been newsworthy!

@MarieDeGournay tell that to the parents with children with scoliosis who Fine Gael have done nothing for.. The cervical cancer victims.. The carers... Look at the children's hospital..
The women said you have gone nothing for carers.. He had the gall & nerve to contradict her & actually say that's not true..

No PR stunts will cover this up or smooth it over.
Fair play to RTE for exposing him & for posting so many articles on it today. All the comments speak volumes.
I really hope FG lose loads of seats on the back of this.

The handshake. The woman didn't offer her hand from my reading of the situation. He took her hand which I feel is overstepping bounderies. Not acceptable either.

@MarieDeGournay he's the leader of the country in election week and you think his engagement in a 'did/didnt response' with a clearly upset woman was acceptable? Was that the best he could do after all his media and PR training? Bit concerning if so. And walking off is rude. He is not your average Joe.

He knows full well how it looks to the average voter or he wouldn't be engaged in damage limitation right now.

@ciaopizza he can't do damage control on this. No PR stunts will make this go away if anything the momentum against Fine Gael is growing across all platforms. He has done untold damage to his parties chances next Friday. FG do not deserve any votes after his dismissive, condescending behaviour towards that woman who is getting so much support.

What manifesto debacle?

She turned up at the debate on Monday night with no manifesto for the other parties to read. The only party with no manifesto to show. They all quite rightly called her out on it.

Latest polls via Ireland thinks & the Sunday Independent. Good man Peadar Toibín topping yet another poll based on the leaders debate last Monday.

What I saw was a did/didn't did/didn't exchange with someone who clearly had her mind made up in advance and contradicted any attempted answer about the budget or disability issues, which SH ended abruptly with a handshake.

She was right to contradict him though. Section 39 workers provide huge support to the disability sector.
They are voluntary agencies who are left to shoulder the work that the State failed to provide people with disabilities and their carers.
They depend on public funding to operate but they are struggling to find staff as their nurses and carers are paid less than their hse colleagues.
This is having a huge impact on the people they are trying to support and they are working short staffed every day which is leading to burn out in the staff that remain. That entire sector is under huge pressure to maintain services.
So she was right to challenge him and he should have handled it better than he did.
I think she just wanted him to listen. I think that is what most people who approach politicians want, to feel that they are being heard.
It's not as if she was aggressive towards him or as if he was in any danger from her.
He was dealing with someone who was justified in feeling upset and who was upset at being fobbed off by him.
She did insult him but at that point it was obvious she was almost in tears and Simon and his entourage walking off as they did really belittled her.

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/elections-2024/he-was-horrible-last-night-carer-in-exchange-with-simon-harris-shaken-after-incident/a1235734311.html

@Onehorsetown Charlotte Fallon said the incident left her feeling shaken & she went home in tears. How dare he make this woman feel like that. All his entourage which I assume included the TD he was advocated for John Paul O Shea just walked off following Simon no regard for the poor woman in tears. Thanks to the Irish Independent for covering this.

Simon Harris brother may have ADD but he is very high functioning. He’s the head of a charity.

SH lives to pull that card. Look at me so caring, my brother, blah blah.

That poor woman is obviously was down.

SH doesn’t give a damn about anyone except SH

@VaddaABeetch the only positive is the massive coverage the mainstream media is giving the incident. The comments are all left on accross all social media platforms & by God the public are condemning Simon Harris & Fine Gael. The local TD John Paul O Shea should not have walked off with the rest of the entourage, terrible optics. The women left the supermarket shaken & in tears.
I hope the nation stand in Solidarity with Charlotte Fallon plus all carers & give Fine Gael no preference on the ballot papers. We need change.

I feel mentally stabbed after reading this thread.

Imagine how the poor carer in Co. Cork feels so. Not one of the FG entourage stayed behind to see if she was OK. What happened to be kind? Terrible optics from the local Fianna Gaelers in North Cork who followed Simon like sheep.

That's not a fiasco. The Soc Dems and Aontu didn't have one either but no one mentioned that. It was published the following morning.

And Peadar Toibín is topping the poll on the Sunday Independents /Ireland Thinks poll on the leaders performance from last Mondays debate.

I felt Peadar Toibin won the leaders debate hands down, delighted to see the Sunday Independents poll agrees with me😁

She wasnt nice to him though. Could she not have just stated her issues, instead of personally insulting him.

There was no need for her to insult him

She said to him "you're not a good man'

That's when he walked away.

"To voice her feelings on disability".

Like simon Harris doesn't know about disability.

It annoyed me how rude she was to him. Seeing as I know that Simon Harris has a brother with autism himself.

SH has a brother with ADD but Adam is the cEO of a charity in €100k He doesn’t require caring.

SH loves loves loves to trot out my brother with ADD.

Simon Harris treated that poor woman like he would an opposition TD.
Simon works for us all, we pay his wages & that of his party, we can choose to "rehire" them on Friday or fire them as we live in a democracy. If they are not doing the job they are paid & elected to do we simply give no preference beside a candidate on the ballot paper.

Based on this the carer who is a taxpayer & member of the electorate has no obligation to be polite to Harris as he showed no respect to her prior to the incident in which he breezed passed her.
Also the local Fine Gael TD John Paul O Shea & the entourage walked off on her. If John Paul O Shea had stayed behind at least the optics would be slightly better.

Ask any parent who has a child with autism what Simon Harris or Fine Gael have done for children with autism .. No school places, no SNA support, no therapy available even very expensive private therapy is difficult to come accross due to huge wait lists...