Category: Seanad Eireann

Emmet Stagg: Political coward

The next few months will be interesting as ‘pillars of society’ fight to retain their exclusive club, Seanad Eireann.

We’re going to see a great deal of self-interested cant, plain stupidity and downright hypocrisy.

Take Labour chief whip, Emmet Stagg, for example.

The idea of getting rid of the Senate is ‘very dangerous’ according to Mr. Stagg.

So will Mr. Stagg be campaigning to retain this exclusive club?

Er…no…because that would see him fall from government favour and the loss of his many privileges.

We likely to see lots of this political cowardice during the campaign.

Callely arrested – Finally

It was in August 2010 that former TD; Paul (Bozo) Gogarty went to his local Garda station and requested an investigation into Ivor Callely’s expenses claims.

Gogarty was responding to a media report that Callely had allegedly forged documents to claim expenses.

Now, a full 17 months after the initial complaint, the Gardai have finally got around to arresting him.

Here are some comments from Garda sources at the time.

Senior Gardai sources said officers would have to establish the basic facts of the case before deciding if there was any need to question him.

Garda sources said it could be a number of weeks before Mr. Callely was questioned about the mobile phone and car-kit invoices, if a criminal investigation were to proceed.

Gardai also searched Callely’s house and office. What were they expecting to find after 17 months – a confession?

Anyway, I’m sure only the most cynical of us would suggest that today, the day we paid out €1.25bn to Anglo Irish Bank bondholders, was a good day to arrest a former politician.

Senator Turnhout: Already contaminated by our corrupt political system

I came across the following definition of corruption on the web:

The impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle

I don’t believe there’s a corrupt bone in the body of newly appointed Senator Jillian Van Turnhout.

She does, however, work within the corrupt Irish political system and judging from a recent interview on Newstalk it seems that her allegiance is to the corrupt system and not to Ireland or its people.

Her misplaced allegiance is, I believe, based on ignorance rather than the more common motives of greed and abuse of political power.

The interview concerned the revelation that Independent senators are paid a Party Leader’s allowance of €23,000.

Here’s an edited version of Senator Turnhout’s interview where she attempts to justify this disgusting payment.

There’s never been any secret about this allowance.

Every TD and senator gets it.

Main parties get more than we do so I’m surprised that this has been singled out as an exception.

I agree with full accountability.

I’m only seven months in the job.

I’m put the vast amount of this money to one side and earmarked it for communications, developing a website and research so that I can be properly informed.

I have been given a secretarial assistant but this money will ensure that my policies are robust.

I’m very conscious that it’s public money and that I will have to account for it whether the rules are in place or not.

I now have to be an authority on many issues.

I do research but there are times when you need to pay money to get solid advice on legislation that you’re bringing forward.

I will, and have always intended, to put on public record where the money goes.

All politicians should account for all their expenses; there should be full accountability and transparency.

I’m happy to be transparent and accountable.

This is the only job I’m doing; the only income I’m taking and I will ensure it is used for the purpose for which it is intended.

I have no difficulty if the allowance is withdrawn once it’s withdrawn from all senators.

Let’s have openness and transparency.

Irish citizens have been listening to the same meaningless waffle from politicians for decades as the system became more and more unaccountable, more and more cynical, more and more corrupt.

They have witnessed the diseased political system destroy their country, destroy their lives, destroy the future hopes of their children.

It appears that Senator Turnhout has already become very comfortable within that corrupt political system as her response to angry listeners reveals.

I appreciate the public’s anger, it wasn’t such a long time ago that I was on the other side of the fence so I do understand and I do think those of us who are public representatives do need to up our game and be accountable for what we’re doing.

Clearly, Senator Turnhout sees herself as being on the other side of the fence that divides the (corrupt) political system from the mass of angry citizens.

Has she reflected, I wonder, on why the people are angry and the politicians are not, why the politicians are perfectly happy to pocket this disgusting payment which originated from a cynical political stroke designed to keep the scumbag Bertie Ahern and his cohorts in power?

I doubt if she has engaged in such reflections, perhaps it’s not too late for her to do so.

Here’s my take on how an uncontaminated, idealistic, newly appointed politician should have reacted on discovering this totally unjustified payment.

It has come to my notice that I, and all my fellow Independent senators, are entitled to a Party Leader’s allowance of €23,000 .

This payment is in addition to the already very generous allowances, expenses and resources available to all senators.

Let me state immediately and without equivocation that I will not be accepting this payment.

Furthermore, I have put on hold all my plans and intentions as a politician to focus solely on a campaign to have this totally unjustified payment withdrawn from all senators and TDs.

In good times the acceptance of this payment would be an immoral act.

In these catastrophic times, brought about by our corrupt political system, it is both immoral and an act of treason against the best interests of the Irish people

As a guide to my campaign I am adopting the definition of corruption as defined by Transparency International:

Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.

Copy to:
All Independent Senators in receipt of this payment as listed to me by the Department of Finance.

David Norris
Fergal Quinn
Ronan Mullen
John Crown
Sean Barrett
Martin McAleese
Fiach Mac Conghaill
Eamon Coghlan
Dr. Katherine Zappone
Mary Ann O Brien
Marie Louise O Donnell
Jillian Van Turnhout

Surely now, our worries are over.

I take back all the bad things I said about the Irish political system.

I was wrong to suggest that promises of radical reform in the Senate were just hot air.

Independent Senator Feargal Quinn has identified an area where major savings could be made.

Apparently, each senator is issued with a sealed envelope containing each day’s running order of the House.

It just doesn’t make sense, said the Senator, and it would save a lot of money if stopped.

Leader of the House, Maurice Cummins agreed with Senator Quinn saying that the matter had been raised on several previous occasions.

Neither of the visionary senators indicated when the practice would actually stop but I’m sure, after the establishment of the traditional committee, a decision could be expected, say, within five years.

Such quick action, I’m sure, would have a significant impact on the 250 billion that the nation owes; would go a long way in reforming our corrupt political system and could even lead to a resolution of the EU/global financial crisis.

Surely now, our worries are over.

Seanad Eireann: Dead as a dodo

Irish Times columnist Deaglan de Breadun was very impressed with the contribution of Senator David Norris during the first session of the newly elected Senate, vintage stuff, de Breadun commented.

Some people are easily impressed.

Senator Norris pompously compared the parochial, elitist club that is Seanad Eireann with the Roman Republic and its senate.

As if there was even the remotest link between the greatness of ancient Rome and the activities of a crowd of gombeen bog trotters labouring under the delusion that they live in an accountable democracy.

Senator Norris went on to make the following comment which confirms that he and his fellow senators occupy a fantasy realm completely divorced from reality.

It is our responsibility by reason of our privileged position not to encourage the notion that we are a special class. Politicians are merely ordinary people who have taken on an extra burden of responsibility on behalf of the wider community. We should not see ourselves or behave as if we were an elite.

Apparently, the great hope for the new senate is the vision and determination of its new members. Here’s part of what new Senator and economics lecturer at Trinity Senator Sean Barrett had to say in his maiden speech.

We will have to show that this senate will make a difference. We will have to provide checks, balances, and scrutiny and accountability tests on all of those people who have brought this country to the desperate economic situation in which we find ourselves.

So, this completely useless and powerless institution, which is an integral part of our corrupt political/administrative system, is going to bring those who destroyed our country to justice?

Senator Barrett, with flags flying and guns blazing, is not only going to take on the indolence, arrogance and incompetence of Seanad Eireann but he’s also going to put the frighteners on the entire ruling elite who have so successfully protected the corrupt traitors responsible for impoverishing the people of Ireland.

Best of luck on that one Senator.

There was, however, one glimmer of hope.

After just two-and-a-half hours listening to his fellow senators, newly elected Labour Senator John Whelan commented:

They spent most of their time talking either about themselves or their local parish pump issues. It was a total mess of back-slapping, wind-baggery and hot air.

Senator Walsh, who obviously breathes the same air as ordinary people, said that Seanad Eireann was ‘dead as a dodo’ and should be abolished as swiftly as possible.

I suspect the vast majority of Irish citizens would agree and cannot wait to get their hands on that ballot paper.

The more things change…

The Fine Gael leader of the Seanad was not happy to hear that radical changes were being considered which would allow citizens rather than County Councillors elect the majority of Seanad members.

The leaders of groups in this House have already embarked on a radical review of the Seanad which will be concluded over the next 12 to 14 months.

Sunday Tribune 30th March 2003

Corrupt Senate elections

I’m not sure how but could the non implementation of the 1979 referendum to extend the franchise to all graduates have something to do with the corrupt manner in which Senate elections are conducted?

I’m thinking perhaps that if the franchise was extended it might have diluted political manipulation of the election outcome.

This would explain why no political party has ever objected to the non implementation.

Here’s part of an RTE interview with Stephen Collins during the 2007 Senate election after the Green Party (naively) objected to illegal supervision of voting.

Collins: The Greens find that supervision is an intrusion and in fact it’s illegal. The political parties have done this over the years.

The big parties, Fianna Fail and I think Fine Gael have tried to ensure that their councilors voted in ways the party HQ would like and at times ballots have been supervised.

There has been deals before, the PDs voted for FF candidates in the last election and in return got Seanad seats.

Again there was talk of the votes being supervised but in fact it’s illegal to supervise voting and the Green councilors had legitimacy making that point.

How is it done?

Collins: Well, Councillors get their votes, ballot papers in the post but they have to have a witness to ensure they have voted in the correct manner.

There is a declaration and usually a County Manager signs the declaration which goes into another envelope.

What the parties try to do is get the Councillors in a group so that as well as the County Manager verifying that it’s being done legally, that parties can have influence over how Councillors vote.

Senator Mullen: No principle too precious, no law too draconian

Independent Senator, barrister and militant Catholic Ronan Mullen doesn’t really believe that his fellow politician, Senator Callely, did anything wrong by intentionally misrepresenting his normal place of residence for the purpose of claiming allowances.

I find it hard to see where it could be made out that there was a criminal act per se. A person has to be judged according to the law as it stood at the time they did what they did.

There’s certainly a case, however, for tightening up on the law here so that there would be no doubt but that it would be fraud if a person were to over claim on expenses in such a fashion.

This vague response to what is, in real democracies, a serious crime stands in stark contrast to Mullen’s usual absolute moral judgements when it comes to those who defy the rules of his particular god.

For example, he campaigned long and hard to stop the enactment of the Civil Partnership Bill motivated, principally, by the laws laid down by his Catholic god who ruthlessly condemns practicing homosexuals to everlasting hell.

Mullen and other opponents of the bill were (accurately) described by fellow Senators as dressed up bigots.

Mullen was also deeply involved in the recent enactment of a draconian law which makes it a criminal offence to sell a Mass card not authorised by a Catholic bishop.

This law effectively restores an absolute monopoly to the Catholic Church that it had previously enjoyed for centuries until recent times when others began to encroach on the lucrative trade.

Neither has this Catholic politician/barrister any qualms about the fact that this law runs contrary to Article 48 (1) of the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights which states:

Everyone who has been charged shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.

Under this new (religious?) law any person suspected of illegally selling Mass cards is assumed to be guilty until proved innocent.

Those found guilty could face ten years in prison or a €300,000 fine – for selling Mass cards without the permission of a Catholic Bishop.

It’s a case of using a nuclear bomb to crack a nut or to make absolutely sure that anyone silly enough to threaten a very lucrative monopoly are going to be very severely punished.

Mullen’s hypocrisy is typical of those who inhabit the murky world of Irish politics.

When dealing with the dodgy behaviour of a political colleague everything descends into a murky fog of political waffle where accountability is suffocated to death.

Similarly, when it comes to personal political agenda’s no law is too draconian, no principle too precious that it cannot be discarded.

Copy to:
Senator Mullen