EU commissioner Pádraig Flynn on his daughter Beverly, the cost of running three households and developer Tom Gilmartin.
European Union (EU) commissioner Pádraig 'Pee' Flynn believes he has led a charmed political life since his election to Mayo County Council in 1967. Flynn was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for Mayo West in 1977, becoming a minister in 1980. Since 1993 he has been European Commissioner for Social Affairs.
I’ve had a wonderful political career.
Pádraig Flynn is wary of speaking about the Flood Tribunal and a £50,000 donation to the Fianna Fáil party from businessman Tom Gilmartin. He will only say that neither Gilmartin nor his wife are in good health at the present and confirms,
I never took money from anybody to do a political favour in so far as planning is concerned.
Pádraig Flynn goes on to say how upset he is that his daughter Beverley is being unfairly attacked in her political career, mainly because she is his daughter. He has nothing but praise and admiration for Beverly.
She’s a class act and she’s going to be a terrific politician.
From the audience, journalist Barry O’Halloran asks Pádraig Flynn about his pay and expenses. Flynn acknowledges he is very well paid and calculates he earns about £100,000 net. However, this amount is necessary to fund his lifestyle.
I run a home in Dublin, Castlebar and Brussels. I wanna tell you something, try it sometime when you have a couple of cars and three houses and three homes and a few housekeepers.
This episode of ‘The Late Late Show’ was broadcast on 15 January 1999. The presenter is Gay Byrne.
