Maria Bailey saga: Cold comfort for fall girl Fine Gael TD

Residents of Maria Bailey’s Dún Laoghaire constituency have expressed little sympathy for the TD over the backlash she received for taking out a now-dropped personal injuries claim.

Dalkey resident Joe Fallon (77) said Ms Bailey should be punished for “milking the system”, by trying to claim damages of up to €60,000 for allegedly falling off a swing on the premises of The Dean Hotel in Dublin.

As a public representative she should know better

Although Mr Fallon votes for her party, he believes the Fine Gael TD should be kicked off the Oireachtas committee on housing she chairs.

“As a public representative she should know better,” he said.

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There was “no doubt” Ms Bailey’s actions would have turned some Fine Gael voters against the party, he added. “If she can live through this as a TD and does something in the meantime to rescue her position, that’s good and well, but these days you have to earn your stripes.”

Mr Fallon did express some sympathy for the privacy of Ms Bailey’s family. “I don’t think she should be hounded at her house. That’s not right,” he said. “But publicly she has demanded this and publicly she should be scorned.”

Restaurant manager Philip O’Neill (25) said Ms Bailey’s civil case was “ridiculous” and only exacerbates Ireland’s claim culture. Although he is a Green Party voter, many Fine Gael supporters in his family are “very unhappy” with her actions, he said.

He said while Press Up, the company which owned The Dean, was “massive, it’s just the same as her suing a small business”. Having visited the bar where the alleged accident occurred, Mr O’Neill found it “comical” that a “grown woman in her 30s” would blame the hotel for her fall. He said the fact she was running in a 10km event just weeks later “just showed it all. You couldn’t write this stuff.”

Carolann Clarke, a 10-year resident of Dun Laoghaire, had always supported Fine Gael although she never voted for Ms Bailey.

I do think she should be a bit more appreciative of her position

“You have to give her the benefit of the doubt, but if you are a TD you have to lead by example,” she said. Ms Clarke added that Ms Bailey had made a “poor error” and should expect repercussions. “I don’t think she should resign. But I do think she should be a bit more appreciative of her position.”

“Any harm done she has done to herself,” said lifelong Dún Laoghaire resident Eoin McDonnell. “I have no sympathy for her. She has made a complete eejit of herself.”

Mr McDonnell (67) said he thought the controversy would “certainly affect her ratings” if she were to run in a future general election.

However, Ms Bailey had a loyal supporter in John Paul Kelly, who believes she has been “bamboozled” by the press. The 42-year-old sailor blamed the media for “blowing it all out of proportion” because it was election time.

He admitted Ireland has a 'claim culture' but blames judges and solicitors for that

“She is a lovely woman and she has been very good to people around here,” he said. “Just because she is a politician doesn’t mean she deserves what she is getting.”

Mr Kelly said Ms Bailey’s actions were “fair” and her “worst mistake was withdrawing her claim”.

He admitted Ireland has a “claim culture” but blames judges and solicitors for that, not people who claim.

In a radio interview on Monday, Ms Bailey declined to be drawn on the reasons she believed the hotel was negligent, saying “that would have been for a judge to adjudicate on”. She said she had not been seeking damages from the hotel group – which denied any liability for the incident – and was only seeking to recoup her medical expenses.