Questions for Mr. Varadkar

I agree with Fine Gael TD Leo Varadkar that bankers have done more damage to the economy than the IRA and that they should be arrested and prosecuted.

We here at Public Inquiry have been hammering on about this matter for years now.

I do, however, have have a number of questions for Mr. Varadkar.

Why is it only now he’s calling for action against the vermin that have infested the financial sector for decades?

Is he not aware that financial institutions have always had carte blanche to rob and plunder the accounts of customers, even under Fine Gael governments?

Is he aware that as he made his passionate call for the arrest and prosecution of bankers that financial institutions still enjoy complete freedom to rob and plunder as they please?

Is he aware that the actions/non actions of the so called Financial Regulator coupled with Soviet style secrecy laws frequently has the effect of protecting the vermin?

Is he aware that all the protections enjoyed by the thieving vermin were put in place by politicians who are all fully signed up members of a corrupt political system?

Does he understand that the thieving vermin could not have robbed a single citizen or brought down the state unless they enjoyed full political permission to rob and plunder as they pleased?

Does he understand that Lenihan’s response to his call for the arrest and prosecution of bankers (files to the DPP bullshit) is just the usual delaying tactic employed by all governments until the matter is forgotten about?

Does he understand that it is the corrupt political system that lies at the heart of the disaster that has befallen our country?

Does he understand that in addition to bankers there is an urgent need to arrest and prosecute several politicians?

Is he not aware that the corrupt political system that has brought catastrophe upon the Irish people needs to be torn down and consigned to historical infamy?

No, I doubt if Mr. Varadkar is aware of or understands any of the above and that is the pity for this and many generations of Irish people to come.

Copy to:
Leo Varadkar

Fact; stating the feckin obvious and traitors

Fact: Ireland is bankrupt.

Fact: The EU is calling the economic shots.

Fact: The IMF will become part of our financial governance.

La la land: Brian Lenihan:

The country’s finances have been stabilised.

Stating the feckin obvious: Brian Lenihan:

The €15bn adjustment over the next four years will have an impact on the living standards of citizens. (but not politicians)

Too late Mr. Lenihan:

On reducing the deficit by 2014, Minister Lenihan said the problems will worsen if action is delayed.

The ship has sunk, the building has burned to the ground; the train has crashed, the wagon has no wheels…

Solution: Kick out the traitors and build a new republic

Brian Lenihan: Dancing out of recession?

Ok, the country is going down the tubes but at least our politicians are, unwittingly, providing some great comedy as we travel down the road to ruin.

Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan said today:

The upcoming Budget and economic plan represents one step back for the country after it has taken many steps forward.

Does this mean, having run out of corners to turn, he has taken up dancing lessons?

RTE blackouts: What's going on?

Without warning, RTE Radio 1 went off the air this morning for about an hour or so. When the station returned an apology was broadcast to listeners in the South saying that the interruption was necessary for essential maintenance.

Later, the station again went off the air and is still off as I write (1610hrs).

Such interruptions for maintenance are, of course, unavoidable if equipment is to be properly maintained, but, I’m puzzled.

Years ago, such interruptions were well flagged, sometimes days in advance, and the maintenance period was invariably timed for low peak listening hours, usually in the middle of the night.

Such maintenance interruptions were also rare, occurring only a few times per year.

In recent times interruptions are frequent, prolonged and occur without notice.

Indeed, RTE Radio 1 has become so unreliable that I’ve now adopted the habit of switching on online in anticipation of unannounced blackouts.

What’s going on?

Copy to:

RTE Radio 1

Brian Cowen's Titanic speech

Brian Cowen, speaking during a special economic debate in the Dail today said:

The country is entering a crucial period that would shape Ireland’s future and if it made the wrong decisions the repercussions would be critical.

This is equivalent to the captain of Titanic addressing the crew just after the wreck settled on the ocean floor.

The ship is entering a crucial area dotted with icebergs so if we make any wrong decisions the repercussions could be critical.

Bishop Ted?

Letter in today’s Irish Examiner.

In 1992 Galileo was welcomed back into the fold of the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II and last week Homer Simpson was ‘converted’ to the faith.

Surely now it’s time that Fr Ted was made an honorary bishop?

Anthony Sheridan

What Mr. Gibson does not know…

Neil Gibson of Oxford Economics was interviewed over the weekend about the Irish situation.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

People have accepted that they had a very good ten years enjoying the boom and have been willing to dip into their pockets to repay. I think that’s a fantastic achievement for the Irish economy and its people but we are approaching a tipping point where that may no longer be achievable.

Here’s what Gibson does not know:

He doesn’t know that the financial and social catastrophe which is enveloping Ireland began 31 years ago when the criminal politician Haughey came to power.

He doesn’t know that the corrupt political system spawned by the criminal Haughey is responsible for the disaster and that the Irish people, far from willingly dipping into their pockets to repay, are being forcibly fleeced of all they own in order to bail out the gangsters who are the chief supporters of the corrupt political system.

He doesn’t know that the tipping point he rightly claims is approaching will finally, finally, finally force the Irish people to get off their knees and destroy the corrupt political system that has brought total ruin upon the nation.

I don’t know that either – but I’m hopeful.

A sad betting career

Feck it, I’ve just lost a small fortune after betting that the DPP would bring charges against Bishop Magee and that he would end up in jail.

Open and shut case thought I.

I should have learned my lesson after losing a similar sum on a bet that the DPP would bring charges against Fianna Fail TD, Willie O’Dea.

Open and shut case thought I.

Where am I going wrong?

Oh well, I’m hoping to recoup my losses with my bet that Sean Fitzpatrick will be charged, found guilty and be publicly hung, drawn and quartered.

Yet another scandal, yet another excuse, yet another rip off

Yet another scandal, spawned by a previous scandal, that’s going to be ‘scrutinised’, by yet another useless state ‘watchdog’ (Irish Independent).

This latest scandal concerns payments of €30 million to legal firms, over a nine month period, for advising the government on the banking bailout.

The so called watchdog is the Public Accounts Committee.

Like all government committees the PAC is nothing more than a talking shop, it has no power to act on its investigations and there’s not the slightest hint that our corrupt political system is about to bestow any such powers.

Politicians, (Pat Rabbitte in this instance) are, yet again, outraged at such waste and are demanding immediate action.

Is there anything we can do about these extraordinary fees or do these guys just think they can name any figure?

Well, yes Pat, they can and that will remain the case for so long as our political system remains a dysfunctional entity.

Yet again, we see a super highly paid civil servant coming out justifying the scandalous payments because the super highly paid government ministers who should be answering the questions have absconded in their super expensive Mercedes.

Department of Finance secretary general Kevin Cardiff admitted it was not possible to monitor how many hours were worked by the firms or how many staff were assigned to the task.

Having admitted his department’s total ignorance of the matter he then went on, bizarrely, to state.

I can tell you honestly that the money spent was well worth the money. The risk of not taking that legal support could have cost us a lot more.

Mr. Cardiff also admitted that the firms hired had a potential conflict of interest given that they also carried out work for banks and wealthy clients but, don’t worry, he assured destitute taxpayers, they all had Chinese Walls to avert any problems.

Phew, that’s a relief, for a moment there I thought destitute taxpayers were in danger of being ripped off.

Mr. Cardiff further assured impoverished taxpayers.

We haven’t come across instances where they felt compromised

I can just imagine Mr. Cardiff approaching a staff member at the legal firm Arthur Cox, which got more than €10 million for ‘advice’.

Eh, excuse me sir. Are feeling compromised?

No, oh that’s great, the taxpayer’s will be so relieved.

Clientelism: The foundation of our corrupt political system

Pat Kenny is an experienced, well informed and articulate current affairs broadcaster.

It was therefore deeply depressing and indeed disturbing to witness his (unwitting) endorsement of our corrupt political system (Frontline, 18th October).

In response to a call from Niall Crowley of Claiming our Future for a more diverse participation in politics Kenny said:

We do have a very intimate relationship with our politicians, not like in Britain where you might not see your local MP from one end of the decade to the next.

Here, we can drop along on a Saturday or Sunday and meet all of our TDs. There is a real connection, whether they’ll do anything about what you say to them is another question, but we can meet them.

We can meet Bertie; we can meet Brian, go into a particular pub in Offaly on a Saturday night and meet Brian Cowen.

Crowley, rightly, responded that that’s not participation, it is clientelism and very dependent.

The brutal truth is that clientelism is the foundation on which our corrupt political system feeds and, in turn, infects every level of Irish society. It is the single biggest reason for the destruction of our country.

Clientelism has nothing to do with democracy, in fact, the practice destroys democracy. Citizens are forced into selling their vote in return for petty favours most of which they are already entitled to in any case.

Politicians, caught up in the corrupt, undemocratic circle, vie with each other in plundering state resources to pay for votes to maintain their power.

The buying and selling of votes/power then moves to other areas of public life. Bankers, businessmen, friends of the most powerful parties all pay their corrupt dues and are rewarded with grants, tax concessions and in very many cases allowed to openly operate outside the law.

To facilitate this widespread corruption and law breaking regulatory authorities are stripped of resources and/or ordered to desist from investigating friends of the powerful.

By destroying democracy clientelism reduces citizens to beggars, destroys national pride and national self esteem and results in a nation of politically ignorant citizens.

If Ireland had evolved into a real democracy the likes of Haughey, Ahern, Burke, Lawlor, Lowry et al would never have survived a single day. Most of them would have served time.

If Ireland had evolved into a real democracy bankers, developers and the many other so called professions would never have had the opportunity to indulge in their corrupt activities in pursuit of vast wealth.

All this activity, all this corruption, all this social and democratic destruction has one single origin – Clientelism.

The fact that somebody as influential as Pat Kenny sees this (corrupt and corrupting) system of clientelism as an integral and laudable part of our system of government is an indication of how far we have to go before the building of a new, and truly democratic, republic can begin.

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Pat Kenny