Blind corruption

The ability to deny reality is a vital necessity when living in a corrupt state. Countless thousands of citizens who regularly rob, cheat, humiliate and otherwise abuse their fellow citizens must have a psychological ability to see their actions as normal. They must be able to compartmentalise their crimes so that they do not conflict with their social and family activities.

Irish bank officials, for example, who robbed millions from their customers over the years, taught their children that stealing was wrong and yet went to work every day and stole from their customers without ever accepting that they were committing the same crime.

We have seen over the years that Irish politicians, solicitors, businessmen, civil servants, policemen and many other sections of Irish society have developed this Jekyll and Hyde ability of acting corruptly while pretending to live normal lives.

This pretence, however, can be upset when questions are asked by somebody from outside the jurisdiction, somebody who has lived, trained and worked in a jurisdiction not infected by the disease of corruption. This was the case in the Neary scandal. Dr. Michael Neary destroyed the lives of scores of healthy women by unnecessarily removing their wombs.

His activities were obviously wrong but nobody asked questions until the arrival of a nurse from the UK, a non corrupt jurisdiction. Despite coming under severe pressure to keep quiet this woman persisted and an investigation was carried out by a group of Dr. Neary’s fellow doctors.

It should come as no surprise that these doctors, who, after all, live and operate within a corrupt state, found that Dr. Neary had no case to answer. In fact, one of them commented that Neary’s patients should consider themselves lucky to have the services of such an accomplished doctor.

When the case was reviewed by another doctor outside our corrupt jurisdiction he immediately concluded that there were grounds for grave concern, finally forcing the Irish Government to conduct an independent inquiry. (This report is well written and worth reading)

As a result of the scandal, a number of the victims made an official complaint to the Irish Medical Council against the doctors who carried out the initial review of Neary’s activities.

Like Irish solicitors and bankers, Irish doctors are allowed to investigate themselves in secret. When a few of the victims made the modest request (13th item) for permission to attend the fitness to practice hearing, they were, of course, denied.

The legal protection enjoyed by The Irish Medical Council is so strong that they could not even confirm that the meeting they held to deny the victims their request actually took place.

Money? – Yes Law? – No

The recent suggestion by Fine Gael Cllr. Michael Fitzgerald that his rural constituents should be exempt from the law on drinking and driving serves as a good example of the irresponsible attitude of the Irish when it comes to law enforcement.

There was another good example on last Wednesday’s Drivetime (Farm News). Irish farmers have been whingeing for years about a proposed EU directive designed to reduce the environmental damage caused by nitrates.

When it comes to EU money, the Irish always plead special case status for more. When it comes to EU law we always plead for less. And so it was with the Nitrate Directive. The farmers finally wore the EU bureaucrats down and got special status. In other words, they are free to continue their environmentally damaging ways.

But the farmers weren’t finished yet. The Irish Farmers Association is insisting that farmers should be given a copy of the check list used by inspectors and also a minimum of 14 notice of any inspection, which, of course completely negates the whole exercise.

Criminal prosecution? Depends on who you are

There was a major raid in Cork last Monday by the Gardai, Criminal Assets Bureau, National Bureau of Investigation and Immigration Bureau. The raid was part of an investigation into human trafficking, money laundering, tax evasion and other serious crimes.

Money laundering and tax evasion are serious crimes in Ireland? That’s certainly news to me.

Anyone observing the activities of financial institutions, politicians, property developers and many other so called pillars of society over the decades could be forgiven for thinking that money laundering and tax evasion were legitimate business activities in this country.

It depends, of course, on who you are. The raid in Cork, which involved over 80 gardai, targeted the sleazy underbelly of the city’s sex industry. No doubt, many of these people will be charged, brought to court and if found guilty, sent to jail. Other citizens, however, can rob millions and get away scot free.

Take for example the Bailey brothers, building developers and major tax criminals. For decades these criminals robbed millions from the State. Recently, they ‘made an arrangement’ with Revenue in which they paid back €22 million, the largest personal tax settlement in the history of the State (Yes, that figure is correct – €22 million).

There is not the slightest doubt that if these two criminals lived in any other country in the world, they would now be serving a very long jail sentence.

Frank Daly, our esteemed Revenue chairman tells us that a criminal prosecution was not tenable because of the passage of time, difficulty of collecting evidence and the likelihood of getting people to cooperate.

This laughable explanation was immediately followed by the even more farcical claim.

“It is the policy of Revenue to prosecute and then collect money in large tax offence cases.”

No doubt it would also be claimed that the large ‘donations’ made by these criminals over the years to various political parties had no bearing whatsoever on their special treatment.

Thieving solicitors and angry citizens

There was an excellent example today (19th item) of how effective and efficient the legal system can be in our little banana republic.

It seems that a group of people, fed up with being allegedly ripped off and abused by certain members of the legal profession gave vent to their anger on a website – rateyoursolicitor.com. A barrister took exception to remarks made about her and is suing a Mr. Gill, the alleged administrator of the site, for defamation.

A supporter of Mr. Gill apparently ‘snorted’ today in court while the judge was speaking and refused to apologise. The judge fined him €10,000 on the spot for contempt of court.

So, what have we here? A serious dispute between two angry citizens – a barrister and Mr. Gill. The case is dealt with in open court where everybody can see justice being done. The public can attend; the media can attend and report.

Both sides are equally represented and allowed make their case which will be decided in due course. One citizen was found to be in contempt of court and received instant justice in the form of a heavy fine.

All these activities and procedures are normal in any legitimate democracy.

Just over a year ago it was discovered that at least twenty solicitors had robbed tens of thousands of Euros from their clients.

These particular clients had been abused, both physically and sexually, for years by both the State and Church in various institutions. The money robbed was part of a meagre compensation for their years of torture and abuse. Many of them are illiterate and were therefore easy prey for these legal vultures.

None of these thieving solicitors will be brought to a court of law like Mr. Gill and his supporters. Their cases are being judged by fellow solicitors, behind closed doors, in secret by the Irish Law Society.

Only one case has been completed to date and the solicitor in question was completely exonerated by his peers. Despite this outrageous outcome, the money robbed, €11,670, was repaid to the victim who lives in England and survives on benefits of stg£116 per week.

The judge dealing with Mr. Gill and his supporters delivered a stern warning to them on the seriousness of their alleged actions.

“In a civilized society, there were some things you were not permitted to do. Mr. Gill and his members had crossed that line.”

Apparently, there is no line for some members of the legal profession.

Cowboy politics

I see Dessie Stewart of the DUP has been sentenced to four months in jail for electoral fraud. The former lord mayor of Coleraine took 15 postal votes belonging to residents of an elderly care home and cast them for the DUP in last year’s local elections.

How he must envy politicians in our banana republic who regularly involve themselves in electoral fraud but very rarely face a police investigation, never mind actually going to jail.

Take Lorcan Allen of Fianna Fail for example. During the local elections in 2004 he circulated thousands of letters, at taxpayer’s expense, with a forged signature of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

So, did Mr. Allen go to jail? No. Was he even investigated by the police? No. After an ‘investigation’ by his own party’s rules and procedure committee, he was suspended from the party for one year.

He was still allowed to take his seat on the local council that his corruption had helped him secure.

Corruption – Alive and well

There is a belief within a good section of the Irish media that the bad old days of corruption are behind us. Planning corruption, for example, is almost always talked about as if it doesn’t happen any more. But of course, it is still rife, it’s just that the corrupt are a little more careful now in case they end up giving evidence before a tribunal.

Sometimes, we get examples of ‘the good old days’ of blatant corruption. The Irish Times recently reported such a case. Members of North Tipperary County Council convened a special meeting to force county manager Terry O’Niadh to break the law.

They want him to grant planning permission for an unauthorised development to a Mr. Duggan, a businessman who has already being convicted for non-compliance with planning laws.

While Fianna Fail is by far the most corrupt political party in Ireland, this case is a reminder that the disease of corruption has infected all the main political parties.

Fine Gael, the so called party of law and order and the Labour party are also supporting this attempt to break the law.

Please, no law enforcement – we're Irish

Last week, our Prime Minister was reported as saying that the EU should not pursue countries as diligently as they do to enforce EU legislation. This attitude is entirely in keeping with the Irish culture of corruption. You can have all the laws you want but please, don’t actually enforce them.

We had a perfect example of this irresponsible attitude to law enforcement when FG Cllr Michael Fitzgerald said he thought it was ok to drink and drive. He was supported by FF Cllr Joe Donovan who said that people who engaged in drink driving after ‘having a few’ would never have an accident.

This backwoodsman mindset is common in a corrupt state like Ireland. It was only after thousands of deaths, hundreds of thousands of horrific injuries and billions wasted on health care in recent years that the State finally began to enforce traffic laws.

People living in rural areas, used to getting away with breaking the law were outraged by this law enforcement and complained to their local politicians.

The suggested Irish answer to this Irish problem is to allow rural people in their 40s, 50s and 60s to drink and drive because as Cllr Donovan said – “They never had an accident and never would.”

Meanwhile, the carnage continues.

Exiled journalist tells his story

There was a fascinating interview on Tonight with Vincent Browne last Wednesday night. Joe McAnthony, an investigative journalist who was forced to leave Ireland in the 70s because he was too good at his job, was telling his story.

In the early 70s McAnthony exposed the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes for the corrupt scam it was. Organised by some dodgy characters with the full backing of the Irish State the Sweepstakes took in vast amounts over the decades. The money was supposed to fund Irish hospitals but in fact less than ten percent was actually used for this purpose.

It was in 1974, however, that McAnthony came under real pressure when he exposed the corrupt FF politician, Ray Burke. He was told that ‘perhaps it would be better’ if he left his job at Independent Newspapers.

He had a contract with the state broadcaster (RTE) who continued to pay him (taxpayer’s money) but bizarrely refused him further work. He eventually had to leave Ireland to get work.

Burke was allowed to continue his corrupt rampage for another 30 years, doing enormous damage to the people of Ireland, before he finally saw the inside of a jail.

McAnthony wondered why Ireland was unlike any other country, why the corrupt were seldom brought to justice, why the Irish police never raided the offices and homes of politicians who were suspected of corruption, why the facilitators of corruption like lawyers, auditors and accountants were never investigated.

The answer is of course, simple – the State itself is a corrupt entity and therefore has a vested interest in protecting the corrupt system is operates.