'Democracy now' protester brought to justice

I see the demonstrator who blocked former Government minister Mary Hanafin’s state car and shouted ‘Democracy now’ has been fined €150.

So, about eight months from ‘crime’ to justice. State law enforcement agencies like the police and courts working smoothly to ensure this ‘threat to the state’ was dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Meanwhile, those who actually destroyed the state are still walking around, enjoying the high life on bloated pensions and golden pay offs.

Apparently these vermin can’t be touched because of something to do with complexity and mounds of documents.

And what about former minister Hanafin, a member of the most corrupt political party in the country, the party principally responsible for allowing the vermin to destroy our country.

Well, she’s enjoying a lifetime guarantee of financial security partly paid for by the demonstrator who was hauled before the courts for demanding democracy.

Haughey: 'The most unspeakable reptile'

Kevin Myers was writing recently about Garret Fitzgerald’s career and in particular his relationship with the criminal Haughey.

Fitzgerald, Myers tells us;

Was good at talking, poor at listening and poorer still at doing.

Fair comment, I think, and Myers assessment of the criminal Haughey is also right on the button.

Easily the most unspeakable reptile to inhabit the zoo of Irish politics since Independence.

Myers expresses astonishment that Fitzgerald failed to do any serious damage to Haughey despite his criminality.

The answer is simple; Haughey was a fully accepted member of the ruling elite.

Membership of this exclusive club guarantees immunity from any accountability whatsoever, no matter how serious the crime.

The sweet pleasure of torching a vile Catholic institution

Victim of the Catholic Church child abuse holocaust (Liveline, Wednesday).

I said to John Charles McQuaid; the Brothers are doing dirty things to us and he put his over my head and said – Young boy, say your prayers, I was eleven years of age.

What happened after you said this to the Archbishop?

I was brought into a room and flogged, I got a terrible beating from two Brothers. I’ll never forget it for as long as I live, that was my treat for my Confirmation.

I was one of the last children out of Artane in 1969, the place was burned down.

I know the two children who burned the place down, they were being abused by a Brother. They hid under the stage in the cinema and they set fire to the cinema.

It was the happiest day of my life, I was only twelve when it happened. I wouldn’t be alive today only that it was burned to the ground.

What great, great courage from those two boys. What sweet, sweet pleasure they must have experienced as they torched the vile institution that had caused them so much pain.

The iceberg effect

There’s been a good deal of comment lately that the Euro/European crisis is good for Ireland.

This is principally based on the view that the crisis will result in a reduction of Ireland’s interest rate.

This view, I think, is a bit like a steerage passenger on Titanic expressing delight on being upgraded to first class minutes after the iceberg changed everything.

There’s a definite benefit but it won’t last too long.

Will judge Kelly fold under state pressure?

Last May a very disturbing event occurred in this country which went almost completely unnoticed by the media.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, James Hamilton, publicly rebuked a High Court judge.

Some weeks earlier the judge in question, Mr. Justice Peter Kelly, had strongly criticised the long delay in the Anglo Irish Bank investigation.

The judge was angrily responding to an application from the ODCE for yet another extension of the investigation, this time for six months.

In his judgement, judge Kelly did not mince his words: (This short judgement is worth reading in full).

I am not, however, prepared to grant an extension of six further months as sought. I will grant an extension until Thursday, 28th July, 2011.

On that occasion, I expect much progress to have been achieved.

If a further extension is to be sought, I expect to be furnished with much more detailed information as to the progress of the investigation of these various issues.

In particular, I will require to know what progress has been made in respect of the material sent to the D.P.P. in December 2010.

I will also expect more accurate estimates of time as to the completion of these investigations than have been furnished to date.

Two years investigation without any appreciable result was not at all satisfactory, I am not a rubber stamp, said the judge.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mr. James Hamilton, and by extension, the State, was not at all happy with this upbraiding by an upstart judge.

In a clear reference to Judge Kelly’s remarks the DPP said that there were some ‘current misunderstandings’ regarding how the Anglo case was being handled.

In our system, investigators investigate and prosecutors decide whether to prosecute.

The prosecutor does not direct the investigation and, except in minor cases delegated to them, the investigators do not decide whether to prosecute. Only the prosecutor has this function.

Following the completion of an investigation, the prosecutor prosecuted, the defence defended and the judge adjudicated between the parties.

The message to Judge Kelly is crystal clear: Get back in your box and keep your mouth shut. We’ll call you when we next need your rubber stamp.

Mr. Appleby (ODCE) must have been greatly relieved by this ‘timely’ intervention by such a powerful officer of the state.

While agreeing with Judge Kelly’s demand for a report by the end of July Mr. Appleby said that he would be looking for yet another extension of time.

Clearly, Mr. Appleby is confident, after the DPPs intervention, of getting his extension.

If granted, it will be the 8th extension to the Anglo Irish Bank investigation.

So, let’s be clear about what’s going on here.

The state is, apparently, employing one of its most effective strategies in response to allegations of white collar crime – delay, delay, delay until the entire matter becomes historical and irrelevant.

The intervention by judge Kelly cannot be tolerated as it could force the state to actually take effective action, for the first time, against suspected white collar criminals.

The big question is – will judge Kelly fold under state pressure?

We’ll know next week.

Copy to:
DPP
ODCE

Scumbag priests are safe in our corrupt state

Letter in today’s Irish Times.

The last paragraph, which I have highlighted, is the crucial question.

Why aren’t the scumbags at the highest level of the vile Catholic Church, who have clearly perverted the course of justice, prosecuted?

The answer, as I wrote in a recent article, is simple.

Bishops, Cardinals and other senior priests are part of the ruling elite of our corrupt state and are therefore automatically immune from any kind of prosecution whatsoever.

Sir,

I am pleased to see that our Government is beginning to take seriously the unfriendly and aggressive activities of a foreign state on Irish soil.

The Government should make a statement to clarify that canon law is meaningless under Irish law. It has no bearing whatsoever on whether a person’s behaviour was legal or justified.

Referring to compliance with canon law is about as relevant as referring to a company handbook as justification for breaking the law of the land. What matters is Irish law, and no one should be under any illusion about the exclusivity of Irish law over human behaviour in this State.

It is important to note that the value in the proposed law will be that it will impose criminal liability on people who don’t report suspected abuse.

However, what has happened here and in other jurisdictions is that people have deliberately acted to hide crimes, by moving abusers around, and the like.

This is categorically different from simply not reporting, and it needs no new law to impose criminal liability.

Anyone who acts to pervert the course of justice can be prosecuted for doing so. The evidence that this was done on a wide scale is in the public domain.

For the life of me, I cannot see why people are not prosecuted for this.

Yours, etc.

Cormac MacGowan,
Minaun Crinnage,
Craughwell,
Co Galway.

There are none so stupid as those who believe Bertie Ahern

My brother mentioned to me the other day that Mary O’Rourke hosted last week’s Tonight with Vincent Browne while Browne was on holiday.

Yeah, right, said I, pull the other one.

But is was true and not only that but on the first night the nation was ‘treated’ to the ordeal of watching Bertie Ahern and Martin Mansergh waffle on about their involvement in something called the Peace Process connected to some long drawn out dirty war fought out on an obscure island somewhere on the remote edge of Europe.

Events in our pathetic banana republic become more surreal by the day.

Here we have O’Rourke, Ahern and Mansergh, three senior members of the most corrupt political party in the country, the party principally responsible for the destruction of our country, given open and unsupervised access to a television studio to waffle on about their so called great work on behalf of the nation.

But it seems that these obnoxious individuals are not without some support.

It appears that even now, after all that has happened, there are still some extremely stupid people out there who believe that scumbags like Bertie Ahern are men of honour.

One such idiot is some guy called John-Paul McCarthy.

Writing in today’s Sunday Independent this fool who, unbelievably, holds a doctorate in history from Oxford, thinks that Bertie Ahern will most likely be regarded as the most progressive Fianna Fail Taoiseach since Jack Lynch.

Here’s some of what the idiot had to say in defence of Bertie the scumbag.

Judge Mahon found easy prey when confronted by the chaotic private life of a man recovering from a traumatic separation. (And while his findings conjured up a media tsunami large enough to force a popular Taoiseach into retirement, Ahern’s eccentric personal book-keeping seems almost comically serene when compared to the endemic dishonesty in the banking world.)

After that, the Lehman Brothers collapse and the implosion of his handpicked successor finished off what was left of Ahern’s reputation.

The fact that McCarthy actually believes Ahern’s lies immediately confirms him as a first class moron.

Even the most ignorant, bog trotting, backwoodsmen members of the Fianna Fail party now take everything Ahern says with a large grain of salt.

McCarthy’s defence of Ahern can be summed up as follows.

Judge Mahon and his tribunal were out to get Ahern.

The media were out to get Ahern.

Ahern was confused (for years) because his marriage broke up.

The dishonesty of the banks was worse therefore Ahern is innocent.

Lehman Brothers were to blame. Fecking hell, is there no limit to this moron’s stupidity?

Brian Cowen’s failures were to blame.

There’s some truth in this in so far as the drunken buffoon who succeeded Ahern was so chronically incompetent, even by the extremely low standards of Fianna Fail.

McCarthy tells us that the programme was worth watching because of the genial, even playful, interaction between Bertie Ahern and David Trimble.

I could only manage the first ten minutes or so before beginning to retch.

Copy to:
McCarthy

Michael D under pressure from 'peasant'

Presidential hopeful, Michael D Higgins, was on radio today (Friday) answering questions from listeners.

Early on Mr. Higgins made his position clear regarding transparency.

It’s very important in this debate we’re going to have for the Presidency that people be absolutely straight about what the President can and cannot do.

These high ideals took a bit of a tumble when a listener made the suggestion that if elected Mr. Higgins should fulfil his role as President on an honorary basis. That he should accept no salary and instead live on his various pensions.

This is an excellent suggestion because, as president, Mr. Higgins will incur no costs whatsoever, no rent, transport, entertainment, laundry, not even a television or dog licence.

Any cost he did incur, and I can’t think of a single example, could easily be paid for from one of his many generous state pensions.

Such example would, I’m sure, inspire the oppressed and desperate people of Ireland and convince them that at least one member of the ruling elite is feelilng their pain.

Alas, Michael D, in common with most Irish political ‘leaders’, is strong on bullshit rhetoric but very squeamish when it comes to giving up his ‘entitlements’.

I do not intend to draw my pensions from the Oireachtas, Ministry or whatever while I am President.

That ‘whatever’ seems to suggest that Mr. Higgins is not quite sure just how many pensions he’s in receipt of.

Neither does he make clear whether his numerous pensions will be accumulating while he is President, just that he won’t be drawing them while in the job.

The listener ignored this non answer and persisted with his original question.

The current president took a voluntary cut in her salary?

She did, agreed Mr. Higgins, but went on;

Frankly, I think that one should respect the division between the Oireachtas, Government and the Presidency.

One should, of course, especially when ‘disrespect’ could result in a loss of income.

I wonder what herself up in the park would think of Michael Ds accusation that her voluntary salary cut was a disrespectful act against the State, not amused one would imagine.

The listener was not to be diverted.

You could decide that the salary was over generous.

Mr. Higgins, growing ever more uncomfortable;

Well, I think it is capable of being reduced but I’ll tell you why I don’t like this notion of doing it (the job) on an honorary basis – It reminds me of landlordism.

What???

It reminds me of previous centuries when only those who could afford out of their munificence and riches to preside over what were regarded as the peasants who weren’t rich enough to participate.

We have now entered the dark depths of Irish political logic where, in order to protect monetary ‘entitlements’, reality is frequently turned on its head.

Mr. Higgins feels that to accept a cut in the massive salary and expenses enjoyed by the President would somehow offend ordinary ‘peasants’ who are struggling to put food on the table for their children.

The pesky listener just wouldn’t let go of the issue.

You could draw your pensions and live on them?

But Mr. Higgins had reached the end of his patience with this annoying peasant.

I haven’t thought that out to be quite honest with you. I haven’t been considering the financial aspect but (regal tone adopted) I will bear all these suggestions that come forward.

Now, away with you, you dirty peasant said Higgins as he gave orders for the listener to be arrested and beheaded at dawn.

Ah no, that last sentence is only a joke.