Why the chancers get away with it

On yesterday’s Drivetime Journalist and author Olivia O’Leary told a story of how Bertie Ahern ruthlessly damaged her reputation and good name in order to protect his corrupt friend Haughey.

A vote of no confidence was due to be taken by the Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party on Haughey’s leadership. In a cynical tactic to frighten anti Haughey TDs Ahern lied to the meeting by saying that O’Leary had informed him which anti Haughey TD had been her source of information.

One TD later angrily challenged her:

“So much for journalists protecting their sources.”

According to O’Leary, it took a very long time for her to clear her good name.

She finished the story with this amazing remark.

“I don’t hold it against him; his achievements as Taoiseach wipe these things out.”

It is this attitude, especially when held by those of influence in the media; that make it possible for corrupt politicians like Haughey, Burke etc. and self proclaimed mafia bosses like Ahern to safely live out their careers of enrichment for themselves and friends.

Irish hypocrisy – World class

I can’t let the Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross affair go without comment.

There was a great deal of tut tutting in Ireland in response to the affair but, curiously, hardly a word of criticism of Tommy Tiernan’s obnoxious performance on the Late Late Show in which he exploited the suffering of disabled people for a few cheap laughs.

When it’s one of our own we tend to analyse the incident to death and then make excuses but we seldom actually admit that anything wrong occurred.

In stark contrast our sense of outrage is immediately triggered when such behaviour occurs in other countries. Truly, our hypocrisy is world class and none better than Irish Independent columnist Kevin Myers.

In his column Myers tells us that civilisation as we know it is in danger if the likes of Ross and Brand are not permanently banned from the airwaves. He tells us that the BBC is a corrupt organisation, that in addition to Ross and Brand, Simon Cowell and Jeremy Clarkson are also abusive bullies.

Phew, heavy stuff and to cap it all Myers tells us that 9pm is far too early a watershed for the broadcasting of sexually explicit remarks. Are we seeing the emergence of an Irish Mary Whitehouse here?

Myers’ hypocrisy is of a particularly obnoxious kind because if he was to adopt the standards he demands of the BBC he himself should be permanently excluded from writing in newspapers.

The Ross/Brand affair was in the halfpenny place in comparison to his infamous ‘Bastard’ article in the Irish Times in February 2005 in which he accused unmarried women of

“Consciously embark upon a career of mothering bastards because it seems a good way of getting money and accommodation from the State.”

There was massive and sustained outrage over the article eventually forcing Myers to issue what he called an unconditional apology. It was, of course, nothing of the sort. We can see this clearly by simply comparing two contradictory quotes, one from his article and one from his apology.

“And how many girls – and we’re largely talking about teenagers here – consciously embark upon a career of mothering bastards because it seems a good way of getting money and accommodation from the State? Ah. You didn’t like the term bastard? No, I didn’t think you would.”

Obviously, Myers was fully aware that his use of the word bastard would cause outrage but he tries to cover that up in his apology.

“In tackling this subject, I deliberately used the word “bastard” because I genuinely feel that the word has no stigma attached to it; and because I feel this with such a passion, I did not allow for other people’s sensitivities over it.”

Russell Brand was fired from his job and Jonathan Ross was suspended for twelve weeks which will cost him £1.7 million in lost wages but that’s not enough for Mr. Myers, he demands that:

“The only punishment for a such a studied and deliberate assault both on their lives and on the standards by which the rest of us live must be a condign and permanent exclusion from the airwaves.”

The ‘Bastard’ article by Myers was a much more serious incident than that of Ross and Brand and yet he demands nothing less that the total destruction of their careers as punishment.

Obviously, Myers is of the opinion that his offensive article required nothing more than a shallow and dishonest apology.

As I said; Irish hypocrisy is world class.

Copy to:
Kevin Myers

No courage for the truth

Crooked politicians and dodgy businessmen are not the only ones who suffer from severe amnesia when it comes to accountability; journalists too, it seems are prone to the condition.

Jody Corcoran, writing in the Sunday Independent, uses a scatter gun to blame all and sundry for the mess we find ourselves in.

The present government, the Opposition, the Trades Unions, our flawed political system, an apathetic electorate, a grotesquely fattened public service, the HSE, the Mahon Tribunal, Charlie McCreevy and the OECD – All, that is, except Bertie Ahern.

Apparently, Ahern, who was the most powerful man in the country from 1997 to May of this year had no hand, act or part in the mess the country finds itself in. In a long and rambling article (over 2,000 words) Corcoran only mentions Ahern once in relation to benchmarking.

“Bertie Ahern did not want the hassle, so he set up the benchmarking body.”

That’s it, one sentence and the great Bertie is free of all responsibility.

Of course, the reason for this unbalanced and unprofessional article is simple. For years Corcoran has worshipped the ground that Ahern walked on. No matter how bizarre or pathetic the actions and words of his hero Bertie, Corcoran defended him to the last.

And, like his hero, Corcoran simply doesn’t have the courage to tell the truth.

Copy to:
Jody Corcoran

Obsessed with RTEs obsession

Noel O’Reilly, the producer of RTEs flagship news and current affairs programme Saturday View was in a quandary – Two stories, but which one to broadcast.

The first story concerned the world’s financial system which was in meltdown. Our own government had just staked all our futures on a €400 billion bail out of the Irish banking system. Everything was in flux; the news was red hot, dramatic. Historic events that will have far reaching consequences for every human on the planet were occurring from minute to minute.

The second story concerned a civil rights march that occurred in Derry 40 years ago.

Here’s how the presenter, Rodney Rice, introduced the show.

“I thought we could all do with a weekend away from the financial crisis. So we’ve come to Derry to be part of the recollection of that famous march on Oct 5th 1968.”

Actually, RTE was not giving us a break but rather was yet again indulging in its obsession with all things Northern Ireland. Nothing, absolutely nothing takes precedence over events in NI.

If somebody throws a stone, if a Catholic looks crooked at a Protestant, if a politician breaks wind – RTE will be there with their permanent and ever alert outside broadcasting unit.

RTE has thousands of secret agents operating all over the dismal province constantly on the look out for anything that could be defined as news. Deep in the bowels of Montrose, in a cellar the size of a Shuttle hanger, thousands more constantly pore over millions of miles of film and other archival material incessantly working on stories, putting together documentaries and preparing for yet another anniversary.

Last month a team leader was severely upbraided for failing to notice that a Mrs. Jones from the Falls Road in Belfast was knocked over and cut her knee during a riot in July 1974. A documentary commemorating Mrs. Jones’ knee is now in the final stages of production.

But RTE doesn’t just operate in the depressing and irrelevant past when it comes to NI. The Director General has a direct line to Moscow and Washington and is daily updated on how much time the world has before Armageddon should the red buttons be pressed.

Happily, it would take at least half an hour before total annihilation – Just time for one last documentary on the dismal province before we all go down the spout.

Yes, yes, I know. I’ve become obsessed with RTEs obsession – Bring on the nukes.

Copy to:
Saturday View

Slightly schizophrenic No voters

Michael O’Regan, parliamentary correspondent with the Irish Times, had some very odd things to say about the result of the (First) Lisbon Treaty Referendum (Today with Pat Kenny, Friday).

“The No vote was a rather peculiar vote…essentially, it wasn’t a vote against the detail of the Lisbon Treaty, it was a No vote of a slightly schizophrenic nature and it was also very marginal, a very, very narrow victory.”

A 53 to 47 per cent No vote is a ‘very, very narrow victory’?

Anyway, being described as ‘slightly schizophrenic’ prompted me to look up the medical meaning of the condition.

“A psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality. It most commonly manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction.”

Seems to me like a very accurate description of your typical Irish politician and judging from his remarks it looks like O’Regan has been infected.

O'Connor's Bertie love in

They say love is blind, that those struck by the condition find it impossible to see any bad in the object of their desire. And so it seems with Brendan O’Connor and his undying love for Bertie.

His article in today’s Sunday Independent is entitled ‘Tis Bertie’s summer of love’. Here are some of O’Connor’s Bertie endearments.

On criticism of Bertie’s performance on The Road to Croker.

“The thing that mattered about Bertie on The Road to Croker was what always mattered with Bertie. It was that feel good factor he radiates.”

“For an hour (with Bertie) there was no recession, no bad weather and everything was alright.”

On (grumpy bird) Cowen’s performance.

“As we deal with our current grumpy bird, Bertie is reminding us how good we always felt when we were with him. And how we always looked on the bright side of things. We need the Bertie Aherns of the world right now.”

On Darren Sutherland’s comment that winning bronze at the Olympics was like winning gold.

“We believed when we listened to him that bronze was the new gold. And that’s what we need right now, guys who can convince us that bronze is gold. Never mind Cowen addressing the nation — every day at noon, Bertie Ahern and Darren Sutherland should address the nation. And tell us that everything is alright. And we’d believe them.”

No Brendan – Only fools believe Bertie.

Copy to:
Brendan O’Connor

The dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone forever and ever and ever…

RTEs obsession with all things Northern Ireland continues apace.

Apparently, we’re coming up to the 40th anniversary of the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement that ignited all the ‘recent’ troubles. RTE is marking the event with a new website which, we are told, gives fascinating reports from the station’s archives – I’m overwhelmed with the excitement of it all.

On Today with Pat Kenny (Friday) we heard four veterans of the movement endlessly relate their experiences. I suppose there’s some small justification for this but what are we to make of the long and very boring interview with author Brian Rowan (Today with Pat Kenny, Thursday) who has just written a book entitled How the Peace was Won.

Rowan is a former security editor for the BBC in Belfast and this is his 4th book on the Peace Process – yes, his 4th book on the same subject.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it was his 4th book on world history or Irish history or the history of Northern Ireland or even the history of the recent troubles but no – this his 4th book on the god damned Peace Process.

Does the man have no other life, no other interests, does he have a woman, a family, does he drink a pint, does he collect bird’s eggs; is there anything else he can do? Surely the man is in need of some serious counselling.

And what about those who read these books, I mean, is there really anybody out there who has actually read all four books. Is there some lunatic out there who, having just put down book three is thinking, I just can’t wait to get stuck into book four.

Surely Rowan and his readers, not to mention certain RTE staff are all victims of the conflict, all obsessed with a piddley little part of the world that has imposed its piddley little squabbles on the rest of civilisation for centuries.

And there’s no end in sight, it’s going to go on forever. RTE has miles upon miles of archives in the cellars of Montrose. And when all the countless events that occurred in the 30 years of their piddley little war are commemorated the whole ritual will start all over again.

Churchill, that great man of history, a man who knew the difference between great events and the mundane got it right when he said the following about Northern Ireland during the House of Commons debate in 1922 on the Irish Free State Bill.

“Then came the Great War: every institution, almost, in the world was strained. Great Empires have been overturned. The whole map of Europe has been changed. The position of countries has been violently altered. The modes of thought of men, the whole outlook on affairs, the grouping of parties, all have encountered violent and tremendous changes in the deluge of the world.

But as the deluge subsides and the waters fall short, we see the dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone emerging once again. The integrity of their quarrel is one of the few institutions that has been unaltered in the cataclysm which has swept the world.”

And so it remains today – May Zeus save us all.

Now – I feel a lot better for getting all that off my chest.

Copy to:
RTE News
Pat Kenny Show

Politicians, journalists, expensive wines and objectivity

Recently, Irish Independent journalist Liam Collins had dinner with former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds at the luxurious, five stars, Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin 4.

Collins expressed shock at how expensive the wine was but Reynolds with a (royal?) wave of his hand replied.

“Don’t mind that, I haven’t bought you a drink in a long time, just pick something you like.”

Collins doesn’t say if his friend Albert also paid for the meal but I think it’s a safe bet that he did.

Given Collins’ close and rewarding friendship with Reynolds it was no surprise that the journalist went on to lavish praise on the former Taoiseach while severely castigating those who would dare question his hero’s honesty and integrity.

According to Collins the Mahon Tribunal is nothing better than a long-winded Star Chamber, an expensive charade, a sad blood sport for those with nothing better to do.

And those who still show interest in the tribunal are nothing but a “gaggle of old age pensioners with nothing better to do with their lives and a few anoraks’ from RTE.

It really is disturbing to witness large sections of the Irish media progressively lose their objectivity as a result of their very close friendships with politicians and in particular with politicians who would see such cosy relationships as a distinct advantage when they are under pressure to answer very serious questions.

Copy to:
Liam Collins

DCC/Fyffes scandal – RTE still ignoring the story

Last Tuesday afternoon the High Court appointed an inspector to investigate the issues and circumstances surrounding the DCC/Fyffes scandal.

RTE made a very short report on the development on its Six One News (10th report) the same evening. There was no background information, no interviews with DCC/Fyffes officials, no interviews with state regulatory agencies, no in depth reporting of any kind. The development was not carried on RTEs Nine News and to my knowledge no other programme reported on the development.

In other words, RTE are continuing with their virtual news blackout on this very serious and important story. My question is simple – Why?

Copy to: RTE News