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Irish Independent -
Five TDs, cosy in the warmth of the taxpayer-subsidised Dail members’ bar, played a cruel prank on independent TD Mattie McGrath as he battled on behalf of a farmer in trouble with a financial institution.
As Mr McGrath, who is diabetic, was in the 10th hour of a sit-in at the offices of Friends First along with five others, Dail colleagues were creased with laughter as they made a hoax call purporting to be from Pizza Hut, offering free pizza to the protesters.
In on the mocking skit were Labour’s Michael McCarthy, Fine Gael deputies Tom Hayes and Patrick O’Donovan and Fianna Fail TDs Michael Moynihan and Dara Calleary.
Mr McGrath fell for the joke, he admitted yesterday.
In the call, Mr McCarthy who has a reputation as a mimic, purported to be an Italian.
“You no like bank. And we no like bank, so we want to send you pizza. Solidarity!”
“They took me for a fool alright, I fell for it hook, line and sinker,” Mr McGrath told the Sunday Independent.
But Timmy O’Brien of the Farm Contractors of Ireland (FCI), who was involved in the stand-off at Friends First, said he was “disgusted”.
“They should be ashamed of themselves. While they were warming their backsides in Leinster House, Mattie McGrath was out working for a farmer who wasn’t even in his constituency,” he said.
2012-12-09 19:02:38