Manipulation and secrecy

Powerful and ruthless people sat down to consider the best possible moment and manner in which to release the PricewaterhouseCoopers report.

Given the ongoing ferment they knew that a complete suppression of the report was out of the question. There was, however, plenty of scope for manipulation and secrecy to minimise the impact of publication.

The report is censored to such an extent that it tells Irish citizens virtually nothing. It is, as the title states, a ‘summary of extracts’ of the real report.

Next they released it at 9pm on Friday night knowing that all major news programmes had reported and that the media would be concentrating on other news stories over the weekend like the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis and the expected massive protest march in Dublin city centre.