The Sports Minister was lambasted by Fianna Fail's Robert Troy and Sinn Fein's Imelda Munster who accused him of "buying into the
gombeen politics" he had criticised while in opposition.
Also, based on his analysis of social class within the League, McMahon sees the attempt to build membership by attracting the support and at least nominal leadership of local bigwigs (including
gombeen shopkeepers) as a leading factor in the organization's failure to take root among those who actually did speak Irish, the people of the various Gaeltachtai, all of which continued to decline despite the foundation and rapid expansion of the League.
Carthage is not just marrying another woman; he's entering this land-grabbing
gombeen society.
(32) Alan Ruddock and John Bums, 'Goodbye
Gombeen Man', The Sunday Times (London), 20 November 1994, 19.
Maybe he was misquoted or perhaps somebody trying to ruin his good reputation by coming out with such a
gombeen statement.
He will come from the
gombeen men and the usurious shopkeepers, or the cunning and successful peasant who lays field to field.
"And in order to be a convincing physio, I got some lessons from a real physiotherapist, because I didn't want to look like a right
gombeen who knew nothing.
We called them "
gombeen" men, and the people hated them.
Well, I might, if the spelling of "golliwog" were all I wished to know, if researches, however large or small, were not great pleasures in themselves, full of serendipity; for I have rarely paged through one of my dictionaries (a decent household will have a dozen) without my eye lighting, along the way, on words more beautiful than a found fall leaf, on definitions odder than any uncle, on grotesques such as "gonadotropin-releasing hormone" or, barely above it--what?--"
gombeen," which turns out to be Irish for usury.