There are certainly questions for the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern answer for his behaviour in the Dail.

The sight of him sitting beside Deputy O’Dea when he was making his statement on Wednesday, grinning from ear to ear and making pantomime noises across the chamber was literally disgusting.

This is the man who is in charge of the administration of justice in this country. He himself is a solicitor and therefore an officer of the courts. His conduct gave the impression that he believes that there is nothing wrong with recklessly slandering somebody, particularly in this case, an election candidate.

His behaviour gave the impression that he believes there is nothing wrong with swearing a false affidavit. I think Dermot Ahern should certainly be called to account for what he’s done.

I completely agree with Ms. McCarthy but I think a cowboy politician like Ahern would be genuinely puzzled by her comments.

After all, this man doesn’t believe that the criminal Haughey was corrupt and was one of the many Fianna Fail politicians who backed the chancer Bertie Ahern no matter how fantastic his ‘explanations’.

The idiot in this case is Irish independent journalist Eamon Delaney. He makes the following points in defence of the liar O’Dea.

It’s terribly sad that a man of such tenacity, wit and energy should be caught out on such a little thing.

Making a false statement in a sworn affidavit is, according to Delaney, not a huge matter.

It was the fault of the media.

It was the fault of a tenacious opposition baying for blood of any kind.

None of us is pristine clean and (sad old) O’Dea is down there in Limerick bravely fighting the IRA and organised crime.

Delaney compares the ‘witch-hunting’ of O’Dea to that other ‘innocent’ politician, Michael Lowry. According to this journalist, Lowry, a tax cheat and liar, was forced to resign in ‘apparent’ disgrace.

It should have been enough that O’Dea changed his statement after he realised his ‘mistake’.

This ridiculous excuse, which (barrister) O’Dea also used, displays an abject ignorance of how the law operates. It is not possible to amend sworn affidavits as a case develops, to allow such a situation would make the entire legal system impossible.

The matter could have rested (been forgotten) if it wasn’t for Sinn Fein’s skillful spinning and Fine Gael’s robust opportunism.

The Greens are to blame; they needed a head on a plate to boost their image.

The public are not fooled though; they see that O’Dea is a man of integrity and passion, a man who has been cruelly caught out by certain (evil) ‘elements’.

Delaney ends his craven article with a standard, smear everybody, comment, a comment we have heard before regarding people like the criminal Haughey or the chancer Bertie Ahern.

But let’s remember, there’s something of Willie in all of us.

Well, Delaney may be the type of person who will make a false statement under oath, he may be the type of person who will endanger the reputation of a journalist and policeman in a cowardly attempt to avoid being found out but I think that such low grade people are, thankfully, a minority in this country.

Copy to:
Eamon Delaney

Green Party councilor Brian Meaney has called for a Garda investigation into the actions of Willie O’Dea (Newstalk, Lunchtime).

The collective opinion is that while we’re not happy with the situation at this moment in time it is not a resigning matter and you cannot put pressure on someone to resign if you genuinely feel that they shouldn’t resign.

Have the Greens been taking advice from Cardinal Connell on the concept of mental reservation?

O’Dea had denied in an affidavit that he had accused Maurice Quinlivan, a Sinn Fein local-election candidate, of owning a brothel.

He only admitted that his remarks were false and defamatory after a tape recording of his comments was produced.

This is very similar to the tactics employed by Bertie Ahern while giving evidence to the Tribunal regarding his dealings in Sterling.

Right up to the moment that documentary evidence was produced, Ahern consistently denied under oath that he had ever had any significant dealings in Sterling.

Let’s immediately cut to the chase here. In a functional democracy perjury is treated as a very serious crime. In a dysfunctional democracy, like Ireland, perjury is only treated as a serious crime for the little people.

People in power and influence are rarely, if ever, even accused of the crime never mind actually charged.

In a functional democracy like the UK, for example, allegations or suspicions of perjury by any citizen are immediately investigated by the police.

There’s no convenient ignoring of the crime by a judge, court or tribunal, there’s no talk about requesting the Prime Minister to ‘advise’ a politician who is under suspicion of committing perjury. There’s no changing the discussion to any other subject that comes to mind so long as it doesn’t focus on the reality of the situation.

No, in real democracies like the UK, when evidence emerges that the crime of perjury may have been committed the police investigate and prosecutions are taken as necessary.

The first thing that happens in a dysfunctional democracy like Ireland is – nothing. The powers that be simply pretend that nothing of significance has happened and hope that nobody notices.

We witnessed the same reaction in other cases like Jim Flavin of DCC or the Neary case. No action was taken by any Irish authority in these cases until somebody from outside the country acted.

O’Dea is alleged to have lied under oath last December and yet it was only when Justine McCarthy wrote her article nearly two months later that anything was done, once again everybody ignored the raging elephant until an outside source pointed it out.

The media and political reaction since the ‘expose’ has also been typical of a country that is incapable of facing reality when it doesn’t suit.

It must be kept in mind when reading the following examples that in a functional democracy there is only one reaction – an immediate investigation by police followed by prosecution if necessary.

The legal system

Nobody involved in the case seemed to take a blind bit of notice when a government minister made a false statement in a sworn affidavit. Compare this to Amanda McNamara who perjured herself because she was in absolute fear of her life about giving evidence in a brutal murder trial.

The judge in this case had no problem in identifying perjury saying that it was a very serious matter that undermined Ireland’s system of criminal justice. McNamara was given 100 hours community service and will have a criminal record for the rest of her life.

Seanad Eireann

Fine Gael spokesman on Justice Eugene Regan demanded to know from Seanad Leader, Donnie Cassidy, if Minister O’Dea was being held to account for lying under oath (Irish Times).

Cassidy ignored the question, simply stating that O’Dea was an excellent public representative and the people of Limerick were very fortunate to have such a capable person. He, (Cassidy) then proceeded to talk about another matter altogether.

This is a typical – if I ignore reality, it will go away – reaction.

Dail Eireann

Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Minister O’Dea said it was a private and personal matter. This is despite the fact that O’Dea said in his sworn affidavit that he was fully entitled to raise the issue and make the allegations as a public representative.

Obviously there’s nothing private about this matter whatsoever. O’Dea, a government minister, defamed another politician in response to questions about his (O’Dea’s) large and expensive staff paid for by the taxpayer – and we’re asked to believe that it’s a private matter?

Even if it was a private matter, is the Prime Minister of our country suggesting that it’s ok for a government minister to make a false statement in a sworn affidavit so long as it relates to a private matter?

RTE, The Week in Politics (34 min)

Sean O’Rourke and Brian Dowling. (One RTE journalist interviewing another RTE journalist).

The fact that very serious allegations of perjury are facing a government minister was completely ignored by the journalists.

The entire discussion focused on the possible political implications for O’Dea if the matter became controversial. Brian Dowling suggested that because O’Dea was a huge vote getter there was unlikely to be any impact on his career.

Irish Times editorial

The following points were made in this editorial.

The Taoiseach was in an invidious position because of the relaxed attitude adopted by his predecessors to ethical issues.

This is just silly logic suggesting that low standards in the past could act as a block to taking action in the present.

Because public confidence in authority had waned there was a need to promote high standards and ensure political accountability.

In real democracies such standards are the expected norm and not something that needs promoting.

The matter may create friction between the Coalition parties.

This is an irrelevant point unless the editor feels that government unity is more important than political, legal and ethical accountability.

This scandal and how it is being dealt with once again confirms that Ireland is nothing more than a dysfunctional, backwater state pretending to be a first world democracy.

Lined up against her were three moronic dinosaurs representing the current corrupt political system that has destroyed this country.

George Lee’s resignation was the topic of discussion but the underlying discussion was about the Irish political system and the need for reform of that system.

Elaine Byrne was saying the system is broken and, of course, she’s absolutely right but the dinosaurs are so far stuck up their own political rectums that they hadn’t the slightest inkling of what she was trying to tell them.

The political dinosaurs were Senator Regan of Fine Gael, Niall Collins TD of Fianna Fail and Joe Costello TD of Labour.

But before I deal with these morons I want to first quote the daddy of all political morons, Eoghan Harris where he rants on about the need for politicians to serve a political apprenticeship before they get too opinionated.

When reading this quote keep in mind that Harris never did a days political work in his life, he was appointed to the Senate solely for his unassailable ability of licking Bertie Ahern’s rear end

What’s been really concerning and worrying in the last few days is the way the discourse on the George Lee issue has become a general rejection of the notion that there should be no apprenticeship of any sort in politics.

The apprenticeship in politics is a very important preparation in terms of character. Listening to people who are annoying you, boring you, actually cranky people is a test of character and stamina and teaches people how to deal with the public.

I mean at the end of the day politics is about the rule of states and peoples and it starts with human beings, it’s not an abstract issue. I know there’s a delusion among college students and certain sections of the younger sections of the pol course (?) not the old guard I notice.

There is this delusion that all you have to do is assemble people with first class honours degrees and put them into politics and the country will be a land flowing with milk and honey. That is not how the real world works.

Incredibly, this idiot, who pontificates from the benches of that useless organisation, Seanad Eireann, claims to know how the real world works.

This moronic talk about political apprenticeships reminds me of Martin Mansergh’s (a prime example of an intellectual fool) idiotic idea that newly elected TDs shouldn’t address or criticise a Taoiseach until they’ve served for a number of years.

Not surprisingly, the political morons on the panel all agreed with Harris.

Costello (Lab)

I agree with Harris in terms of apprenticeship. I thinks it’s very important that people have to spend some time there learning…Elaine is missing the point she says the system is broken. We all agree that reforms have to take place…it’s not the political system that has failed the country, it’s the government that has failed the country and the two are totally different.

Collins (FF)

There’s an attempted circling of the wagons by the establishment around all the political parties and anyone who’s associated with politics saying the system is wrong. The system needs tweeking in particular areas, nobody’s disputing that, we all accept we have to try and better ourselves but this notion that Dail TDs and senators shouldn’t be available to the public who elects us on any level I think it’s farcical and the people who are making those comments don’t understand the work of public representatives in this country as far as I’m concerned.

Collins went on to give an example of how Irish political representatives work which sounded like a sketch straight out of Ballymagash.

We had a debate in our parliamentary party this evening about the dog breeding legislation. I met three groups of my constituents who are involved in dog breeding, that’s all part of it, we get out and about.

Byrne was completely stumped.

Dog breeding, you talk to them about dog breeding?

At this stage I lost the run of the discussion after falling to the floor in convulsions of contemptible laughter.

Collins wasn’t laughing though, he was, again, attacking Byrne because she’s an academic, what would her type know about the plain people of Ireland?

But Byrne is more tuned into the brutal reality of Irish politics than any of these morons.

It’s about politics, it’s about Ireland. We should have citizen assemblies where the citizens take ownership of the reform process where people can go into a room and say what needs reform.

I agree completely but would go much further. These political dinosaurs and all their fellow representatives from all parties have lost their right to govern or represent the people of Ireland.

The system they represent and defend so strongly is corrupt and beyond redemption, beyond reform.

We should indeed have citizen assemblies, the people should indeed take ownership, not of the reform process, but of the political system itself. The first step in taking that ownership is to destroy the current rotten system.

On his father’s membership of the Old IRA:

He was greatly influenced by his father’s IRA record but father didn’t talk very much about his activities. He was very republican, he was different to the Provisional IRA, needless to say; he had no time for civilian atrocities.

This hypocrisy always amuses me. Apparently, the Old IRA were gentle folk. If we’re to believe all the guff about their ‘noble activities’ we could be forgiven for thinking that they love bombed their victims to death.

I can just imagine a victim thinking just before he was brutally murdered – I’m so lucky to be dying at the hand of this ‘good’ IRA man and not one of those nasty Provisionals.

On his Catholicism:

Believes in an afterlife, believes in communicating with the dead, including Fianna Fail backbenchers.

Oddly, he doesn’t believe in Confession but does receive Holy Communion which, according to the rules of his religion, is a serious contradiction and a sin in itself.

Now that he’s publicly admitted this sin it is the duty of all priests to refuse him Communion but given that they’re as hypocritical as he is I don’t this problem will arise.

Still, I don’t think god will be fooled. He’s very clear on the matter – confession is required in order to reconnect to god’s grace and avoid the fires of Hell.

The best the chancer can hope for is that god turns out to be a card carrying member of Fianna Fail.

On the Tribunal and the fact that 78% of people didn’t believe his evidence.

It’s all down to overpaid lawyers plotting against him, twisting the evidence, ambushing him at every corner, it’s all very unfair.

We wanted to ensure that we did not find ourselves in a litigious situation whereby we would still be discussing this matter in the context of court proceedings as opposed to moving on in the best interests of the people who work for FAS and in the best interests of the taxpayer.

The first thing to be said about our incompetent Tanaiste is that she’s a liar. It has been established that she and Cowen lied regarding the question of legal advice surrounding Molly’s resignation.

With this in mind I don’t believe a word this woman says in the above quote. I believe the government took €900,000 of taxpayer’s money and gave it to Molly to keep his mouth shut.

What continues to astonish me is the abject docility of the Irish people. It seems our politicians can glibly throw out any excuse or lie to hide the truth with no fear whatsoever of possible consequences.

When low grade politicians like Coughlan make statements like the one quoted above they are in effect saying to the Irish people.

We have come to believe that you, the Irish people, are so stupid that you will believe anything we say no matter how ridiculous, no matter how dishonest and we will continue to treat you with the contempt that such stupidity deserves.

Giving the recent poll which indicates a dramatic rise in support for Fianna Fail I am beginning to believe they’re right.