The banking crisis is over – or is it?

In the most dramatic development since the present financial crisis began, accountant Des Peelo, announced on Questions and Answers (Q2) last night that the banking crisis was over.

“I believe the banking crisis is over. I believe it’s been handled correctly and fair credit to Brian Lenihan and the people in the Dept. of Finance. There was this huge fog of uncertainty out there created by the banking crisis. I don’t think AIB or BOI will be nationalised.”

Mr. Peelo conceded that there was still a lot of ‘debris’ out there like the countless millions lost to shareholders but such personal loss and devastation didn’t seem to matter much to this man. The main thing was that Brian Lenihan had solved the problem and it was time for everybody to move on.

But when we remember that Mr. Peelo was Haughey’s personal accountant and also helped the chancer Bertie Ahern prepare his financial records for the Mahon Tribunal we realise that his announcement is not so dramatic after all.

Anybody who can work closely with the finances of the corrupt Haughey or the dodgy finances of Bertie Ahern and still feel that they are men of the highest calibre would have no problem in deluding themselves that the banking crisis is over.

"I have absolutely no faith in the HSE or in Mary Harney" Bernadette Cooney, recently deceased. RIP

Early last year there was a major controversy, which began on Liveline, over the very poor facilities available to Cystic Fibrosis sufferers in Ireland.

CF patients are extremely vulnerable to infection and therefore need isolation units and other special care. In some countries, where the facilities/care is provided, patients can live until they are 40 or even 50. In Northern Ireland the average is about 35, in the Republic it’s early to mid 20s.

Because of the controversy and subsequent embarrassment the Government promised to take action on the matter but last Friday the HSE announced that the promised facilities were being deferred and would not now be available until 2011, at the earliest, because of lack of funds (Irish Times).

The scandal came to light after a CF sufferer, Bernadette Cooney, wrote a passionate and desperate letter to Liveline last year, begging the Government to provide even the most basic of facilities to give her and her fellow sufferers some hope, she died three weeks ago aged just 25 (Liveline, Friday).

At the time I wrote about the lack of anger displayed by Irish Independent journalist, Sam Smyth, whose daughter suffers from CF.

“The odd thing about Smyth’s interview was his complete lack of anger. He even praised Harney and Ahern for their ‘efforts’ and spoke as if he really believed the promise made by Prof. Drumm that proper facilities would be provided sometime next year. This promise has been made and broken for the last 14 years.”

It is this lack of anger, common to most Irish citizens, that allows chancers like Ahern and Harney to survive and prosper at the expense and suffering of ordinary citizens.

Thankfully, Smyth has finally realised the reality of how the vulnerable are treated in this country. He (angrily) introduced the subject on his show this morning.

“Let’s get stuck into something that’s really disgusting that this government has done and it’s something I’ve got a personal interest in and that is Cystic Fibrosis.

An absolute disgrace, this administration was shamed last year into providing €34 million that would undoubtedly save lives and clearly they’re gambling on those people who are campaigning now that they will be dead soon and therefore it’s a waste of money.

What we should do is find out the names of those people in the department, in the HSE and the hospitals who engineered this between them to get that cut done.

If you live in Newry you will live for ten to fifteen years longer than you would if you lived in Dundalk. Who are these people, who had the authority to do that?”

A panelist provided the answer.

“We know who is responsible, Mary Harney is responsible but she has tried to offload responsibility for years to the HSE.”

I’ve reproduced the email that Bernadette Cooney wrote to Liveline last year, the letter speaks for itself.

Dear Joe,

First and foremost I want to thank you so much for the coverage you have given CF patients over the last few days. Unfortunately, after years of listening to the same thing over and over again, I have absolutely no faith in the HSE or in Mary Harney and am not holding out any hope that anything will be done.

I am 24 years old and have cystic fibrosis. I am currently an inpatient in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin for a severe chest infection. I have been here since the 2 January and there has been no significant improvement in my condition. I have been informed that my disease is progressing and I won’t be able to regain the level of health that I had 6-12 months ago.

Transplant has also been put on the agenda. I can’t put into words how absolutely devastated I am-as a CF patient you make the best of everything and try to ignore the statistics that are staring you in the face, but when it is spelled out for you it is truly awful.

Every day is a massive effort now as I struggle to fight and maintain the exhaustive regime of treatment I must undergo which involves oral, nebulised and intravenous antibiotics, physiotherapy, nutritional supplements (and possibly having a feeding tube inserted) and oxygen.

The constant stream of anger and indignation in the media must start to sound confusing to the everyday person as there is such a massive web of problems for us within the services and facilities we are offered. However I just wanted to add my piece and get it off my chest. Here are a few points that I feel are important.

En-suite rooms are NOT A LUXURY, they are a basic need.

Firstly, as has been pointed out lots of times in the last few days, going into the current mixed and cramped conditions in Vincent’s is extremely dangerous for CF patients. We are at a low with infection and are open to any bugs flying around. These bugs can spiral out of control and could kill us. That is a fact. It is not as if we are looking for some kind of luxury-we are just looking for the basic and necessary treatment for cystic fibrosis which is recognised as international best practice. We NEED isolation units with en-suites and we need them now.

Intensely depressing scenario regarding conditions.

It is hard to describe how truly soul destroying it is to be put in a ward with 5 patients who are elderly and often senile and incontinent. I make a concerted effort each day to be strong and positive and to fight my illness, but just imagine trying to maintain this frame of mind when you are stuck in your bed because of o2xygen dependency while all around people are calling out for people who aren’t there, and are regularly soiling their beds or using a bedpan, making the smell in the ward unbearable.It is so horribly depressing.

May I also point out that the ward is where the meals are served. Would you eat your dinner in a public toilet? Because that is basically what I am expected to do EVERY DAY.

Sometimes all I want is a bit of peace and quiet and maybe to curl up in a comfortable place on my own. Even this simple desire is not possible in here. Each time someone dies in your room you are forcibly confronted with the reality that someday this could be you. What did I do to deserve this? Do I not have the right to be protected from this?

Mary Harney’s private hospital “solution” and staffing levels.

Although all the coverage has been about the lack of facilities, it is important to note that the staffing levels are also dangerously inadequate. If you refer to the report on CF services in Ireland conducted by Dr. Ron Pollock this is stated quite clearly.

However whenever the issue of cystic fibrosis is raised with Mary Harney, she tells of how funding has been allocated for new staff. While some funding has been allocated and there are now two consultants in St Vincent’s, all the consultants in the world won’t be able to get me a bed when I need it if it is not available, and they can’t magic isolation units out of thin air. If the problem is to be tackled extra staff alone will not alleviate our situation.

Also Mary Harney’s idea of freeing up public beds by building private hospitals does not help CF patients at all. While it MAY mean a shorter stay in A&E, which, I might add, is a ridiculously dangerous situation, it does not address the issue of single isolated room with en-suite, which are VITAL.

I want some answers. Why is this allowed to continue? Would Mary Harney like to step into my shoes for a day? I don’t think so.

As I write this, my 6 bed room has finally quietened down, but I’m sure that I can look forward to some noise later on. Here’s hoping for a good nights sleep.

I also want to say that despite all of this mess, the CF team and the staff of St Vincent’s hospital are nothing short of amazing, and I feel so lucky to have them looking after me. I couldn’t ask for any better, each and every one of them is just fantastic.

Yours Sincerely,
Bernadette

Dermot Desmond's chicken comes home to roost

Apparently, billionaire businessman Dermot Desmond has lost a substantial amount of money because of the collapse in Bank of Ireland shares. He is not, at they say, a happy man and expressed his unhappiness (through a representative of course, Mr. Desmond doesn’t like to mix with the peasants) at the recent EGM in Dublin.

“Failures at all levels in the Irish financial system have resulted in the destruction in international and domestic confidence in Ireland. The global situation did not create the Irish property boom or subsequent bust.

There are far too many apologists from within the financial services sector who all too quick to that excuse – ‘We’re caught up in a global crisis not of our making’ – Such analysis is deeply erroneous.

In advance of any initiatives such as is proposed here today fundamental decisions on other matters must be taken, not least, how the bank is to be managed into the future.

It is difficult to understand the justification for allowing those who have caused the bank to be in this current mess to remain in situ and be trusted with getting it out of the mess.”

Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine that Mr. Desmond would become one of the victims of how things are done in our banana republic.

He was a very strong ‘financial supporter’ and friend of the corrupt Haughey making substantial payments to him when he was Taoiseach. At the Moriarty Tribunal Mr. Desmond was strongly critical of those who questioned his ‘generosity’ to Haughey.

And of course the destruction of international and domestic confidence in Ireland that Mr. Desmond speaks of is almost entirely down to the corrupt actions of Haughey and his cronies. He was one of the principal architects of the corruption that has infected every level of Irish society but in particular the financial sector.

Ah yes, here’s one chicken I’m only too delighted to see coming home to roost.

Bankers on the run…

Bank of Ireland shareholders got an opportunity to vent their anger at management over the almost complete destruction of their investments. But like Anglo Irish shareholders that’s all they’ll get as Irish bankers don’t do accountability.

The shareholders did however break into howls of laughter when the governor of BOI said

“The continuity offered by appointing a new chief executive with a deep knowledge of Bank of Ireland and an ability to hit the ground running….

Cowen-Gate affair rolls on

There’s a good selection of letters in today’s Irish Times on the Cowen paintings affair. Here’s two, one very funny and the other very accurate.

Madam,

If I find there is an intruder sneaking around my home in the middle of the night, should I dial 999 and tell the operator that someone is attempting to nail a painting to my wall without permission? Because that seems to be a very effective way of getting the gardaí to respond quickly. I certainly won’t tell them that there’s a gang of bankers in the kitchen rummaging through my wallet.

Yours, etc,

SHANE Ó MEARÁIN,
Sandymount Road,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.

Madam

The unfolding story of Cowen-Gate is an almost perfect parable of the life and abilities of this Government and Fianna Fáil.

With our economy in tatters, our education and health care systems decimated, more people unemployed than ever before, and cronyism and corruption rife in Irish life, it takes two satirical portraits of Brian Cowen in the nip and the ridiculous attempts to censor the coverage of them, for people to finally realise that the emperor has no clothes.

Sad to say, it seems that we are living in a banana republic without either the good weather or the bi-annual excitement of a change of government.

Yours etc,
HARRY LEECH,
Leinster Place,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.

It's not just the economy stupid

“I AM shocked, truly shocked,” says Katey Walter, an ecologist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. “I was in Siberia a few weeks ago, and I am now just back in from the field in Alaska. The permafrost is melting fast all over the Arctic, lakes are forming everywhere and methane is bubbling up out of them.”

(New Scientist).

It’s not just our economy that’s going down the tube.

Happy Thursday everybody.

Update on Mass card law

I received the following email from Aras an Uachtarain today in response to my email to the President regarding the Charities Act, 2009 which makes it a criminal offence to sell a Mass card without the permission of a Catholic bishop.

Dear Mr. Sheridan,

I refer to your e-mail to the President of 19th March, 2009.

As you are aware the Charities Act 2009 has become law. The President has therefore no further function in relation to this legislation. You may wish to bring your concerns regarding the provisions of this Act to the attention of the Government.

With kind regards,

Yours sincerely,

I also made a formal complaint regarding this Act to the EU through the three Munster MEPs, Kathy Sinnott (Independent), Brian Crowley (Fianna Fail) and Colm Burke (Fine Gael).

19th March 2009

Dear Ms. Sinnott,

I wish to lodge a formal complaint with you regarding the recent enactment of the Charities Act, 2009.

According to former Attorney General John Rodgers SC, Section 99 of the Act, which was recently signed into law by President Mary McAleese, may be unconstitutional because it makes it a criminal offence to sell a Mass card without the permission of a Catholic bishop.

Mr. Rodgers has stated:

The narrow categories of persons is arbitrary and unfair and represents a serious interference with the religious practice of some priests and others who are members of non-Catholic churches and religious communities in this State. (Irish Times, February 26th).

The most worrying aspect of the Act, however, concerns the reversal of the widely accepted legal principal of innocent until proven guilty. Part 7, Section 99 (2) of the Act states:

In proceedings for an offence under this section it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved on the balance of probabilities, that the sale of the Mass card to which the alleged offence relates was not done pursuant to an arrangement with a recognised person.

Clearly, this section is in direct contradiction of Article 48 of the EUs Charter of Fundamental Rights which states: Everyone who has been charged shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.
The principle of innocent until proven guilty is, I believe, one of the fundamental legal pillars of most modern democratic states.

Mr. Rodgers believes that this section goes further than is reasonably required to deal with the problem. I believe that it is an unacceptable attack on the principle of innocent until proven guilty and therefore request that you investigate the matter with the aim of having the repugnant section struck out.
Yours sincerely

Anthony Sheridan

Kathy Sinnott replied.

Dear Anthony,

Thank you very much for alerting me to this. I will certainly do what I can and get back to you.

Kathy

I received no reply from Mr. Crowley or Mr. Burke. I have resubmitted my formal complaint to both MEPs today.

Niall O'Loughlin: A comfortable but worried artist

The artist Niall O’Loughlin has an interesting take on the Brian Cowen picturegate controversy. He says:

“I personally think what the artist did was a step too far, the painting itself IMO was very poorly executed which I know is irrelevant, however I worry about the long term repercussions of what he did.

Artists are very well treated in this country, lets just hope the government doesn’t form the opinion that we’ve nothing better to do than sit around all day drawing silly pictures of our political leaders and then sneaking into art galleries to hang them up. Enjoy your 15 minutes of fame whoever you are.”

I’ve always assumed that artists were freethinkers, that they pushed boundaries to the limit, acted outside the box, acted and worked with the intention of shocking, enlightening, educating, leading and encouraging the general population to see reality from as many perspectives as possible.

I suspect that Mr. O’Loughlin’s stated fear of possible government reprisals against artists indicates that he’s a comfortable artist, very well established, enjoying considerable monetary favours from the State and is very worried that his less well established and more radical artist colleagues may make things uncomfortable for him.

Copy to:
Niall O’Loughlin

RTEs cowardice seriously damages its credibility

The Brian Cowen caricature stunt which started out as a humourous and harmless stunt has evolved into a very serious matter.The artist, I believe, never dreamed that his/her action would expose RTE as a lapdog of the Government.

Discussing the matter on Today with Pat Kenny, Fianna Fail TD, Michael Kennedy said;

“RTE is there to give serious news items. It’s not a comedy piece…I want it to be balanced, I want it to be unbiased and I want it to be newsworthy, not fickle entertainment.”

I want, I want, I want.

So, we’re clear on what Mr. O’Kennedy and the Government wants, we’re also clear that RTE has no problems or scruples in immediately complying with Government demands.

And keep in mind this is just the latest in a number of cases where RTE were happy to cave in the moment they received a phone call from an angry government.

Last November we saw the outspoken government critic, John Crown, banned from appearing on the Late Late Show and more recently we saw the curtailment of references to Cowen on the Gerry Ryan Show.

But RTE cannot escape the consequences of its actions. I, and I’m sure a great many other people, will never again see its news broadcasts in the same light, particularly if the news report concerns any matter that’s sensitive to Government officials or politicians.

The question will always be in the back of my mind – how much of this report is genuine news and how much is government propaganda?

RTEs craven kowtowing to government bullying has seriously damaged its credibility.

Copy to:
RTE News

Confirmed: The so called Financial Regulator is rotten to the core

Former AIB internal auditor Eugene McErlean confirmed today what we at Public Inquiry have been saying for years (as far back as 2005). He told the Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs:

“It is my opinion that the Financial Regulator’s report published in December 2004 failed to tell the whole story about overcharging. The report gave the impression that the regulator had acted in the public interest. I think it is relevant to consider that if a whistleblower had not exposed the problem in 2004 then the overcharging practices may have carried on indefinitely.”

This statement makes the following points:

The so called Financial Regulator acted against the public interest by deliberately keeping secret, information that was vital for consumers.

By its actions the so called Financial Regulator was acting in the interest of a bank that was robbing consumers.

By failing to take action against this robbing bank the so called Financial Regulator exposed consumers to potentially great loss.

By failing in its duty to act against this robbing bank the so called Financial Regulator has helped to endanger the international reputation of Ireland.

The so called Financial Regulator has a putrid record of tolerance and facilitation of thieving financial institutions and as Mr. McErlean points out is quite prepared to tolerate theft indefinitely. There is no evidence whatsoever that this policy has changed, we are still waiting for even a single banker to be arrested.

Mary O’Dea, currently acting head of the Financial Regulator, should be sacked immediately. In recent weeks we have heard several so called informed commentators praising this woman because she questioned the mafia style actions of one bank at one meeting after the avalanche of filth had already engulfed and enraged the general public.

She has been a senior director of Ifsra since its establishment in 2003, she is and was fully aware of all its rotten policies that effectively protected corrupt financial institutions and exposed the general public to great loss and has seen the international reputation of Ireland in tatters.

And she’s not the only one who should be fired in disgrace. For years, I’ve had to listen to insulting, condescending, bullshit from a number of departments at Ifsra about so called financial complexity; about secrecy laws, about ‘who the hell do you think you are Mr. Sheridan calling us and asking impertinent questions.

The whole rotten edifice should be cleaned out once and for all and that should include all staff members who knew, by dint of their position, what was going on in this organisation that has betrayed the Irish people.

They will have to be sacked because, clearly, their long and close association with the rotten stench coming from the Irish financial sector has long ago destroyed their sense of morality, a sense of morality that would, in normal people, lead them to immediately resign in shame.

Copy to:
Financial Regulator (so called)