I'm not homophobic, no problem ith Norris myself, whole affair was unfortunate, he acted foolishly, but this whole affair is a joke, the general calibre of candidate is brutal.

Isn't it ironic that most of his supporters are female, when he has no interest in them!

Can't stand him, certainly not getting my vote!

Tho come to think of it maybe he could be a bit of a dark horse. He's going to get the most powerful backing of all the canidates even tho those powerful people dont live in Eire. He'll get the backing of President Obama, David Cameron, The Reverend Ian. The Pope, they all have to endorse him now and say it's great for the people of Ireland and the peace process that they now have the chance to put a sinn finner who would never even be allowed to speak on tv 10 years ago in the seat of the presidency blah blah blah.

A number of local authorities are meeting today to consider the bids of Senator David Norris and Dana Rosemary Scallon to become Presidential candidates.

This morning, Laois County Council nominated Senator Norris by a margin of seven votes to four.
This afternoon, a special meeting of Carlow County Council is taking place.
The meeting, which starts at 1pm will first discuss a proposal for councillors to nominate Senator Norris.
It is expected there will be a roll-call vote at the end of the discussion.
Depending on that vote, the second item, the question of whether to nominate Dana Rosemary Scallon or not, will then be discussed and voted upon.
This evening, a special meeting of South Dublin County Council will be held to decide whether to nominate Senator Norris.
The meeting begins at 5.15pm and the motion to nominate Senator Norris is the only item on the agenda.
Earlier, Independent TD Mattie McGrath said he personally wanted to facilitate Senator Norris' Presidential nomination, but he listened to what his supporters had to say.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Deputy McGrath said the decision came after a 'core group' of his supporters voted by three to one against him signing Senator Norris' papers.
Both Ms Scallon and Senator Norris need to secure the backing of four local authorities to make it onto the ballot paper.
Around 12 county councils are to meet in the next few days to decide who they will be supporting

would you trust your 14/15 son with this man considering his ..classical greek statement.....more worried about his pal been jailed than what was done to the 15 yo lad....a disgusting old fart of the highest order imo....

A number of local authorities are meeting today to consider the bids of Senator David Norris and Dana Rosemary Scallon to become Presidential candidates.
So far, Laois County Council has backed Senator Norris, while Carlow County Council has nominated Ms Scallon

I plan to emigrate from this stupid island if that fat funt of a David Norris becomes president!!!

3 of them are from Weight Watchers..

Hows it going workrider ? don't come on here much now..

Proper Racing soon enough to get stuck into. The older i get, the more the Flat bunnies bore me, so tend not to get too involved in the Summer months..

I'm not too bad thanks, yerself ?

Always liked Fonters, some top lads used to go there (some were Books )

Lets hope Spuds give them a warm welcome, should be a great night.

Speak soon, keep safe..

MICHAEL D ALL THE WAY.  LOVELY MAN WITH A LOVELY SON AND DAUGHTER!!!  KNOW THEM ALL!!!  SOUND AND **** FREE

Michael D what happens if a President becomes senile during his term of office.

Pressure on Norris to release seven clemency letters as Mattie McGrath says no
Senator dealt big blow as McGrath refuses support


Monday September 26 2011

SENATOR David Norris will come under huge pressure to reveal the contents of seven letters he wrote seeking clemency for his former lover if he is confirmed as an official presidential candidate this week.

Rival camps last night said they still expected Mr Norris to be on the ballot paper for the October 27 election but that a major question mark had arisen over his campaign as a result of his refusal to release the controversial letters.

Mr Norris's opponents warned they would press the issue if, as expected, the Trinity senator got a nomination.

His hopes of getting the 20 Oireachtas signatures he needs to secure his place on the ballot paper suffered a major blow last night when Tipperary South TD Mattie McGrath decided not to nominate him after consulting his local supporters.

Three-quarters of Mr McGrath's election workers voted no in a secret ballot.

Independent deputies Noel Grealish and Michael Lowry, who could support Mr Norris, did not return calls last night, although they are not expected to back him.

However, it is expected the senator will secure the support of four county councils before Wednesday's noon deadline.

But the emergence of seven fresh letters is expected to lead to councillors asking questions of Mr Norris if he appears before them.

The letters were sent to senior Irish and Israeli politicians -- including then-Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and president Ezer Weisman -- after Ezra Nawi was charged with the statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy in 1997.

Last night, the Norris camp said the seven letters were "practically the same" as that which he wrote on headed Seanad Eireann notepaper to members of the Israeli judiciary about the case.

Controversy over the letter forced Mr Norris's original withdrawal from the presidential race in August. However, Mr Norris has refused to release the seven letters. His spokesman last night denied the letter made public on the issue was the "softest" he wrote, amid suggestions the other seven letters contained more controversial views on underage sex.

Labour sources said they would make an issue of the letters.

Opinion polls show Mr Norris leading the field on 21pc, followed closely by Labour's Michael D Higgins on 18pc, and a party strategist warned they would call on Mr Norris to release all the letters he wrote.

"All the information that is there must be put into the public domain," the source said.

Mr Norris was at his home in North Great George's St, Dublin, yesterday but declined to answer questions.

A spokesman for Mr Norris said the additional seven letters would not be released.

Charlie Flanagan, director of elections for Fine Gael's Gay Mitchell, said nothing had changed since Mr Norris pulled out of the race after the first letter became public.

A spokesman for Independent candidate Sean Gallagher said it was up to Mr Norris to decide whether or not to release the letters, "against the backdrop that he is running for office".

Meanwhile, Fine Gael sources said they would be continuing to focus on Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness.

"We'll be focusing on McGuinness first and then highlighting Mary Davis, who's avoided major scrutiny so far," one of those in the Mitchell camp said, adding they wanted to focus on the number of state boards Ms Davis sits on, calling her the "quango queen".

This charge was rejected by a spokeswoman for Ms Davis.

- Fiach Kelly Political Correspondent irishindependent.ie

DANA 3-2 NORRIS

Dana edged ahead of David Norris in the battle for a Presidential nomination today.

Donegal County Council voted to back the Derry-born singer in her bid for the Aras.

Senator David Norris currently has the backing of two Councils and needs two more to secure his place on the ballot paper.

With tomorrow’s guillotine for Presidential nominations fast approaching, every meeting is now crucial in the next 24-hours as ten Councils congregate to see if they will back one or other of them.

Nomination votes due today include:

Cork City Council – 11am

Waterford City Council – 1pm

Offaly County Council – 2pm

Westmeath County Council – 2pm

Longford County Council – 4pm

Dublin City Council – 6.45pm

Cavan County Council – 7pm

Dana is expected to receive the nomination in Offaly, Westmeath, Longford and Cavan while Senator Norris is tipped to win Waterford, Cork and Dublin.

Senator Norris's attempts to get on the Presidential trail appear to be running into a major barrier as Fine Gael block his attempts to enter the race.

In South County Dublin six FG representative opposed the Senator's bid to enter the race yesterday and their Dublin city colleagues are gathering today ahead of the scheduled City Council meeting with a number set to go against his candidacy.

His fate will become clearer today after Cork County Council meets in special session to decide if it will support him.

The maths however may be against him as the Council is made up of 21 Fine Gael members, 11 Fianna Fáil, seven Labour, seven Independents and one Sinn Féin representative.

The meeting was convened after independent councillor David Boyle said he had pushed for it to facilitate the democratic process. He felt that the Irish voters should have their say on Senator Norris's candidacy.

The Council has already nominated Sean Gallagher and the nomination papers have been lodged with the Department of the Environment.

Dana looks like getting sufficient green lights to propel her forward into the race.

The final Councils meet tomorrow and could offer a lifeline to either candidate. Kildare meet at 8.30am and Kilkenny meet at 8.30am. Nominations close at noon.

- Independent.ie reporters

Senator David Norris has failed to secure a nomination for the Presidential election from Cork County Council.

Well done,Cork county council,common sense prevails.

some very homophobic vibes here .vehement anti gay sentiment is often an indicator  of sexual repression

Morally wrong to use his position to defend his partner,that,s the end of story,the neck of Norris to attempt to try again for presidency is sickening,sincerely hope as cork county council have voted an abuse of power isn,t tolerated.A representive of the Irish people,no thanks, should be stripped of any public office.

Spurs.....Some people are very set in their ways.........I was brought up to treat people of all colours, creeds, sexual orientation with respect...........An auld buck that lives down the road from me put his own son out of the house because he was gay..........This same auld buck did a runner on his wife and kids to the UK for 10/12 years and is now back trying to playing the loyal family man and doting daddy.......To hear him mouthing off in the local about his son and to be fair his son is as camp as hell but a nice fella.........My Dad and a few of his mates reckoned when they were growing up rumours were this auld buck swung both ways.