Category: The State

The real reasons for Fianna Fail's downfall

Ursula Halligan, TV3s political editor, believes that the downfall of Fianna Fail can be traced back to three sources (Irish Examiner).

Organisational failure.

The redundancy of core Republicanism through the Belfast Agreement.

The replacement of local Cumann with candidate-centred machines.

I never cease to be amazed at the ignorance of many journalists regarding the reality of our situation in Ireland.

Here are the real reasons for Fianna Fail’s downfall.

The Irish political system is based on the corrupt practice known as Clientelism.

This simply involves politicians plundering state resources to buy votes from a politically ignorant electorate.

All political parties willingly and without question engaged in this form of corruption but Fianna Fail became the most adept at the practice and therefore became the most powerful political party.

Corruption eventually infected every aspect and level of Irish society but in particular the political and financial sectors.

This corrupt combination, principally led by Fianna Fail, led directly to the building bubble which burst when the global financial crisis hit Ireland.

The global crisis exposed Ireland for what it is, a hopelessly corrupt banana republic.

But the corrupt political system didn’t just destroy Fianna Fail, it has destroyed the country.

The current Fine Gael/Labour coalition is nothing more than the tail end of an unstoppable disintegration of the old corrupt Ireland.

The most worrying aspect of this disintegration is the vacuum being created through the absence of any truly radical leader or party to lead the country out of the corrupt morass into which it has descended.

Pakistan/Ireland: Little difference

Reforming Pakistani politician Imran Khan was interviewed by Pay Kenny today and what he had to say was very interesting when compared to the political situation in Ireland.

For me there was a realisation in the 1990s that unless people who were clean came into politics we were condemned to be ruled by criminals and corruption was the number one issue in the country.

Ireland is still waiting for someone clean to come into politics, someone who will actually dismantle the corrupt system that has destroyed the country.

Pakistan is ahead of Ireland in that corruption is recognised as a major issue that has to be tackled if the country is to progress in any meaningful way.

While individual incidences of political and business corruption are reported and analysed in Ireland there has been no acknowledgement whatsoever of the fact that corruption is at the centre of everything that is rotten in the country.

Pakistani politicians use politics to benefit themselves, to make money out of politics. I decided to form my own party and become an anti-status quo party to bring about genuine democracy as opposed to a kleptocracy.

Ireland is well on the way to becoming a kleptocracy. Rampant theft and fraud within the financial sector, for example, is actively facilitated by politicians and government officials.

Politicians have honed the theft of expenses into a fine art, even managing to enact laws that allow them to legally rob the state.

Nobody is held accountable because both main parties who are responsible for massive corruption take turns in ruling and therefore do not hold each other accountable (paraphrased).

The same situation pertains in Ireland. The interests of all the major parties are dependent on protecting the corrupt system that allows them to gain power and influence.

It is only when a (revolutionary) party or individual smashes that cosy political cartel of corruption that we will see real reform in Ireland.

They (political parties) could not allow institutions that would hold them accountable.

Criminal politicians like Haughey were allowed to live out long corrupt careers without the slightest worry that they might be held to account by any state agency.

No state authority, not even the police; is allowed (or willing) to act independently of the political system when it comes to political or white collar crime.

Corruption and crime is rampant within large sectors of the financial, legal and business sectors in Ireland yet no so called regulatory authority has ever made any serious attempt to root out the criminality.

No bank or bank official, for example, has ever been prosecuted for fraud or corruption despite the theft of countless millions from consumers over the decades.

The reason we have to beg is that the rich don’t pay tax in Pakistan the political leadership doesn’t pay taxes so the entire tax burden falls on the common man so the poor subsidise the rich.

Part of the reason why Ireland has to ‘beg’ from the EU/IMF is because those with power and influence only pay minimum taxes.

Over the decades a privileged golden circle, which still exists, was allowed to grow rich off the fat of the land without making any contribution whatsoever.

I accept that the degree and depth of corruption in Pakistan is more serious but Ireland is on the same road.

It is, essentially, governed under the same principles of greed, corruption and injustice as Pakistan.

Jackie Kennedy on the Irish

Jackie Kennedy was right on the button in her description of the Irish.

She described those Irish close to her husband as the Irish Mafia suffering from a persecution complex.

For most of our blighted history we blamed the British for our failures. When our economy collapsed it was Lehman’s fault and our failure to recover from the catastrophe is, apparently, all down to those nasty Germans.

Prediction of economic disaster

Just came across this letter that I submitted to the Irish Times on 20th Oct 2004 in response to the then latest scam by AIB.

Madam,

Mr. Buckley of AIB is wide of the mark in likening the current scandal to an iceberg where the vast amount of transactions are genuine but unseen by the general public while the relatively ‘small number of errors’ are emphasized by the media. (RTE News, 20th Oct.).

The stark reality is that AIB is a rogue iceberg rampaging unregulated across the sea that is the Irish economy. The ship of state, captained by a government that steadfastly refuses to heed the many warnings of impending disaster, is steaming full speed ahead on a collision course with this rogue iceberg.

When the inevitable happens, the international economic reputation of Ireland will plunge headlong into the icy depths of global contempt.

Yours etc.,

Anthony Sheridan

Freedom of Information Act will not be re-instated

Secrecy is the most potent weapon of a corrupt state.

The Freedom of Information Act was introduced in 1997 and was in operation until 2003 when the Fianna Fail/Progressive Democratic coalition effectively stripped it of any real relevance.

The reason for this subversion of the Act was simple – It was too effective in exposing corruption.

No corrupt political/administrative system can tolerate an effective freedom of information act without risking exposure.

The current government could have re-instated the original FOI Act literally overnight; it should have been their very first act on assuming power.

That this has not happened after six months in power is a clear indication that this government has no intention of providing citizens with an effective FOI act.

The reason the Fine Gael/Labour will refuse to introduce an effective FOI act is simple – It would be too effective in exposing corruption.

The current administration will, I believe, opt for either of the following strategies.

String out the matter through never-ending committees, reviews, consultations until the next election or introduce a new act with different words but with the same non effectiveness as the current act.

Seamus Dooley of the National Union of Journalists wrote the following letter (Irish Examiner, 16th April 2003) in response to the destruction of the original FOI Act.

You’ve just had one of your rights erased

The final nail has been driven into the Freedom of Information Act.

While it is unfortunate that the President did not refer the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill to the Council of State for examination, her decision to sign the Bill within 24 hours of the early signing motion being presented to Seanad Eireann gives a neat piece of symmetry to this sorry saga.

It is worth reflecting on what happened.

Rumours that plans were afoot to bastardise the Bill emerged in early February.

The NUJ immediately sought and were refused meetings with the Taoiseach, Tanaiste and Minister of State at the Department of Finance.

In time it emerged that a secret review was carried out by a group of secretaries general who did not consult with the Information Commissioner (or anyone else) because they had not been told to do so by the Government.

The Cabinet duly met, accepted the report of the top civil servants and added in other restrictions for good measure.

It was decided not to publish the Bill mid-week but to wait until Friday, February 28.

On Tuesday, March 4, Seanad Eireann was asked to consider the Bill in a bizarre debate during the course of which it emerged that some rural senators had not even received copies of the legislation.

By March 13 the Oireachtas committee on Finance and the Public Service had agreed to hear submissions. The advice of the information Commissioner that sections of the Bill were inoperable was duly noted and ignored. Other submissions were similarly dismissed.

The NUJ was the first body to highlight the dangers inherent in the amendment relation to personal information. We welcome the change of heart by the Minister for Finance following the powerful presentation by Colm O’Gorman to the Oireachtas committee.

What that u-turn proved was that the entire Bill was ill-considered. The Government pressed on nevertheless. With the Taoiseach insisting that the hours spent on the debate during March was in some way compensation for the absence of public consultation on a Bill designed to take away rights conferred on citizens by the Oireachtas only five years ago.

The Taoiseach and Tanaiste have yet to explain how they reconcile the Government’s approach with the commitments to consultation contained in the new Social Partnership Agreement, Sustaining Progress.

The Bill was signed into law on Friday as those gate-keepers of democracy, the Progressive Democrats, met to celebrate their achievements in government.

As they surveyed the ruins of an Act they once supported with such enthusiasm I hope they were proud of their work.

Seamus Dooley
Irish Secretary
National Union of Journalists
Liberty Hall
Dublin 1

Secrecy is the most potent weapon of a corrupt state.

Copy to:
Fine Gael
Labour

Dr Ed Walsh: An intellectual idiot who should be confined to a nunnery

I have always had my hair cut short and last week I took the ultimate step of getting a complete head shave.

But having a billiard ball hairstyle didn’t stop me from going through the motions of pulling my hair out as I listened to the founding president of the University of Limerick, Dr. Ed Walsh, spouting pure bullshit at Beal na mBlath last Sunday.

According to this fool Ireland should never have joined the eurozone because:

Had Ireland remained outside the euro, its bankers would not have gained access to the euro zone’s vast and low-interest borrowing opportunities.

Without the outlandish credit available within the euro zone, the building bubble, the resultant government tax windfalls and Ahern’s, McCreevy’s and Cowen’s spending splurge would have been impossible. The country would not now be in receivership.

Irish banks, he said, were guilty of nothing more than some foolish borrowing. German and French banks, on the other hand, were reckless to lend to Irish banks. The European Central Bank failed in its duty to properly regulate all this activity.

Let’s just paraphrase this idiot’s opinion.

If Ireland had not joined the Eurozone the greedy vermin who inhabit the financial sector would have had no opportunity to carry out their crimes.

If Ireland had not joined the eurozone the political scumbags who made it possible for the bankers and developers to gamble away the wealth of the country would have found themselves with no other choice but to govern in a responsible, accountable and transparent manner.

If Ireland had not joined the eurozone Irish regulators would have been capable of dealing with the minor and very rare instances of financial crime and not overwhelmed by the massive wave of fraud brought on by those nasty loans from Europe.

In a sentence – If Ireland had not joined the eurozone our country would still be a nirvana of political, financial and regulatory stability and happiness.

The man is a complete idiot. His views confirm the old adage that education is no guarantor of intelligence.

By now, even the most ignorant dunderhead must be aware of the following facts:

The Irish political system is corrupt to its very core. If our political system was isolated on a planet billions of miles from the nearest German bank Ireland would still be a political/financial basket case. The political system would still operate with just one aim – to enrich the few at the expense of the many.

The Irish financial sector is infested with ruthless vermin who are free to rob and plunder as they wish with no fear whatsoever of being brought to justice.

The Irish regulatory system does not, in fact, regulate. It is not a case of light regulation, there is no regulation whatsoever. In many cases the so called regulators assist, defend and protect the vermin in their crimes.

This fool then goes on to compare Michael Collins, a true patriot, with the lying traitor Brian Lenihan. Collins, we are told, would have recognised Lenihan’s unrelenting commitments to Ireland.

Bullshit.

Collins would have recognised Lenihan for what he was; a gombeen lying traitor who worked tirelessly to protect the interests of a powerful and ruthless ruling elite.

Collins would have thrown Lenihan and his fellow scumbag traitors in jail for destroying the hopes of the Irish people, for destroying the independence that he, Collins and his fellow patriots, had fought and died for.

As for idiot intellectuals, I think Collins would have been charitable and confined them to a nunnery where they could do little harm.

Kevin Myers: over the edge into mad-hood

I long ago gave up taking Kevin Myers seriously.

There was a time when his views were reasonable and balanced but in recent years, sadly, he’s gone a bit over the edge.

Take this article, for example, where he suggests that Martin McAleese, husband of the current president, should get himself elected as president and then hand back the office to Mary while he continues his career as a senator.

Great idea, once voters got used to the idea of the ‘man’ they elected wearing a dress and makeup and looking remarkably like the previous president.

Myers goes on to suggest that after 14 years of this his/her presidency the his/hers daughter, Emma, could take over the reins (reign) for yet another 14 years.

Let’s be charitable here.

Myers was heading for mad-hood anyway but I think the excitement of meeting Queen Elizabeth and Mary McAleese at the same time has tipped him over the edge.

Mad professors and Brian Lenihan corners

David Vines, Professor of economics at Oxford university, was on Today with Pat Kenny expanding on his article published in the Financial Times and Irish Times.

According to the good professor all is just fine and dandy in Ireland.

He accused the rating agencies of lazy thinking and being asleep at the wheel.

He accused listeners who criticised him as people who stand back and let things go wrong around them.

He describes as extraordinary the great expansion in Ireland in the late 90s and early 2000s.

He seems to be completely ignorant of the fact that that ‘great expansion’ was nothing more than a mafia pyramid scheme set up and operated by a cartel of politicians, bankers and developers none of whom have been brought to account.

He believes that Ireland will continue to expand and grow becoming ever more competitive despite the ongoing global crisis and, according to the professor, the Irish banking crisis is over.

I stand with admiration at the sorting out that was done in the recapitalisation of the banks in March/April.

I must have been out buying my cornflakes when that happened.

The professor’s article and interviews caused a wave of insane optimism throughout the ‘we’ve turned a corner’ morons in the political and banking sectors.

But the professor revealed his total ignorance of what’s really going on in our glorious banana republic when he was asked:

And are we over the worst of the banking debacle?

I’m not someone who has as close knowledge as others about Irish banks but it’s my belief from what I know that it’s now soldiering on now that that very important separating of the good and the bad happened in March/April.

Oh, right. He’s not aware that the Irish banking system is rotten to the core, that the Irish financial sector in general is infested with ruthless vermin who are facilitated and supported by a so called regulatory system set up by a deeply corrupt political system.

He’s unaware of the fact that not a single banking institution or official has ever been prosecuted for the countless thefts and frauds carried out over decades against defenceless Irish citizens.

So, just another Brian Lenihan corner then.

Padraig Pearse: Rebellion in the air?

Out on my daily walk this evening I came across an interesting piece of graffiti on a litter bin.

Beware the risen people that have harried and held.

Ye that have bullied and bribed.

This graffiti wasn’t your typical scrawl by some group of bored youths; it was professionally sprayed on with a very well made stencil.

Not familiar with the sentiments I noted them down and consulted the Great Google.

Seems some guy by the name of Padraig Pearse was responsible for the original words.

Could this mean that Cobh is to be the cradle of the long awaited rebellion I asked my cat?

Dunno, said he. Where’s me supper

Bruton demands sacrifices from everybody – except himself

If we want to fix the current (financial) mess we must pay ourselves less.

This, according to John Bruton, is the only way out of our current problems, he goes on: (my emphasis)

In essence, the cause of today’s debt problems is that developed countries awarded themselves a living standard they had not earned.

It will all mean postponing increases in living standards, paying more tax, and getting fewer benefits from the Government.

Does this mean that Bruton will be giving up or substantially reducing the following Government benefits?

The nearly quarter of a million he has drawn down under the (totally unjustified) Secretarial Assistants Scheme for former Taoisigh.

His TDs pension.

His Ministerial pension.

His Taoiseach’s pension.

Any EU (Government) benefit he’s in receipt of as a result of his stint as EU Ambassador to the US.

Any generous Government/EU payments or subsidies he may be receiving for his farm.

A reduction in his present salary as chairman of the IFSC.

Somehow I think Bruton will be holding on to all his ‘entitlements’.

The ‘we’ he is demanding major sacrifices from are, I suspect, ordinary citizens struggling to survive the financial disaster brought down upon them by ruthless, incompetent politicians like Bruton.