Category: The State

Mary Hanafin: A traitor to her country

When Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Mary Hanafin was asked recently on Newstalk if anyone in the Government was going to say sorry for the mess the country is in she replied:

I don’t accept that people can blame the Government for what the banks did.

When pressed she conceded:

Insofar as any of that led to an over dependence on the construction industry, well, yes, of course, we’d be sorry for that but the Government is not responsible for the terrible situation that the banks are in.

Later, she backtracked again effectively saying that neither she nor the Government had anything to apologise for.

I will always say sorry for something for which I’m responsible and the Government will always say sorry for something for which it is responsible.

Mary Hanafin is one of the most ruthlessly ambitious and dangerous politicians in the country. Like all Fianna Fail politicians her first loyalty is to herself, then to the party and finally to the party leader.

Her flawed pedigree was exposed when she repeatedly defended the fairy tales of former Taoiseach and prize chancer Bertie Ahern. And, like Ahern, Hanafin is a traitor to her country.

Anthony Cronin: Appalled at Ahern's tax exemption

Writer Anthony Cronin has urged the government to introduce new tax exemption guidelines for writers (RTE, 35.00).

Speaking at the annual assembly of Aosdana Cronin said he was appalled that former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was granted tax exemptions for his autobiography which Mr. Cronin described as a ghost written political book that was not literature.

It always amuses me to see people like Cronin get hot under the collar when low grade people like Ahern take advantage of the system for their own greedy ends.

Cronin was, and remains, a strong supporter of the criminal Haughey and, as we all know, the chancer Ahern served most of his political apprenticeship under the master of corruption.

What do people like Cronin expect from such associations – Leaders of integrity?

Time to bury the body of our diseased nation

I’m certainly not going to influence the regulator in any respect. I think that would be bad for the country and I think we really need to learn the lessons of the banking crisis.

The perception that the regulator can be subject to political interference or influence would be very bad for this country. (Brian Lenihan, Minister for Finance).

From 1922 until 2003 Ireland had no financial regulator whatsoever. As a result the Irish financial sector became infested with criminals who acted with impunity under the protection and connivance of a corruption political system.

From 2003 until the appointment of Matthew Elderfield last year we had a so called financial regulator that cooperated with and protected the same criminals under instruction from a corrupt and conniving political system.

Today we have a real financial regulator being subjected to massive pressure from the same corrupt and conniving political system because, for the first time in the history of the state, a financial regulator is making an honest attempt to clean up the mess.

Let me make something crystal clear – Mr. Elderfield will not succeed in his job. The corruption and rot is far too deep, far too widespread throughout Irish society for him to have any hope. We are a diseased nation, terminally infected with the disease of corruption, not even radical surgery can save us.

Lenihan’s words about perceptions and political interference in financial regulation are decades too late. He, his party and the entire political system is a dinosaur way past its extinction date.

We need to accept that as a nation we are a failed entity, a dead nation. We need to bury the diseased body of our corrupt political system and start again.

The brutal truth in numbers

Letter in today’s Irish Independent.

Our bank bailout bill just doesn’t add up.

The final cost of the US bank bailout is €65bn. The ESRI just announced our bank bailout will be €73bn.

America has a population of 350 million people. We have a population of four million people.

America allowed Lehman Brothers to go bankrupt, even though it was systemically important as the subsequent stock market crash proved.

We rescued Anglo Irish Bank, even though it was not systemically important. We now know it was purely a gambling medium for the country’s greediest people.

Per head of population, Americans now owe €185 and 71 cent each for the greed of its banking fraternity. By contrast, we now owe €18,250 per head of population.

In spite of these staggering numbers, the Government, which promoted this level of greed and which is now passing the colossal bill to the taxpayer, the public sector, the unemployed and poor, refuses to accept any responsibility or admit how badly it got it wrong.

They are still in power, still deciding the fate of a country they have broken.

To borrow a recent notable quote from a highly offended individual of delicate sensibilities: “I find this, more than anything, to be beyond the Pale.”

Jarlath Challoner
Portlaoise, co Laois

The ESRI fairy tale

What a beautiful morning? I had breakfast, took a short stroll and then read an amazing fairy tale written by somebody in the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

Well, not the actual document but media reports on the report. Here’s my translation of just some of the chapters of this amazing fairy tale.

The captain of RMS Titanic sits down with his (ESRI) advisors to discuss the condition of the ship (of state).

Chapter One:

Next year, the ESRI forecasts a return to growth of 2.75%, led by the export sector.

Translation:

Captain, although the ship is at a complete stop and water is flooding across the bow we expect to be underway at a speed of 2.75% very soon.

Chapter two:

The Institute also said the cost of saving the banking system was manageable and it warned that a rejection of the Croke Park agreement on pay and reform by public service unions could lead to higher borrowing costs for the Government.

Translation:

Don’t worry about that iceberg we struck about an hour ago captain. The damage caused to the hull is manageable and we’ve warned the dead bodies in the flooded compartments that they must agree to our new conditions on pay and reform.

Chapter Three:

The ESRI says the cost of NAMA and the bank recapitalisations is manageable, but should never have been incurred in the first place.

Translation:

But, asks a worried captain, shouldn’t we take a closer look at the damaged hull?

Captain, please, everything is under control. The collision with the iceberg is not part of the ship’s voyage plan therefore it never happened in the first place.

McStay: Denial and stupidity

John McStay, liquidator and long time friend of Sean Fitzpatrick was asked how Fitzpatrick was dealing with the pressure (Marian Finucane Show – Sunday).

I think probably as well as any of us would. He’s a strong person, he’s had to be to develop the business he did but there’s enormous pressure.

At a human level I might condemn the sin but not the sinner.

This is the same hypocritically obnoxious stance taken by the Catholic Church on the question of homosexuality.

Fitzpatrick and his bank has destroyed the lives of countless thousands of Irish citizens and done enormous damage to the country and yet this fool thinks that he should not be condemned.

Apart from demonstrating an innate stupidity McStay’s attitude tells us just how deep in denial many Irish people are regarding corruption in Ireland.

Fortune Teller sentenced to death

A Lebanese national is about to be executed in Saudi Arabia for sorcery (BBC News).

Apparently, the man is guilty of the horrendous crime of fortune telling. In 2007 an Egyptian was executed for using sorcery to separate a married couple.

This religious barbarism is tolerated by the international community for one reason – Oil.

We can only hope that our Minister for the reenactment of medieval religious laws, Dermot Ahern, doesn’t get wind of this or we’ll soon see anti sorcery laws enacted here.

Our hypocritical president might also be tempted to apologise (again) on behalf of the Irish people for criticisms levied at this brutal regime.

Misplaced loyalty

When Fianna Fail TD Ned O’Keeffe was asked would he vote against the Government on NAMA he replied:

I’m a member of the Fianna Fail party and I will vote with the party as I’ve taken a pledge on that and I will honour that always.

Now if we could only get politicians to display such loyalty to the people of Ireland.

Only the docile and ignorant could be proud

Here’s what our excuse for a Prime Minister told the world regarding the latest revelation in the ongoing child abuse holocaust of the Catholic Church.

It’s not a question for the State to get involved in Church matters, nor for the Church to be involved in State matters.

So, children are raped by a priest. Another priest covers up the crime and extracts an oath of secrecy from the victims.

Over the ensuing decades the cover up priest keeps his silence while he climbs the promotion ladder.

That silence is a direct facilitation of the rape, abuse and destruction of dozens, if not hundreds, more children and our excuse for a Prime Minister thinks the State has no role to play in the matter.

Only the ignorant and docile could be proud to be Irish today.

Senator Norris – Defending the corrupt status quo

I see Senator Davin Norris launched his campaign for President on the Marian Finucane Show last Saturday.

My respect for this politician has dropped considerably since his hypocritical defence of that very expensive but useless institution – Seanad Eireann.

Indeed, the Senate can be seen as a symbol for all that is corrupt about our body politic. Totally ineffective, very expensive and stuffed with self important politicians who have more in common with the aristocracy of pre-revolutionary France than with the duties of running a functional democracy.

Senator Norris tells us that he likes (the chancer) Bertie but that he damaged himself by applying for artist’s exemption for his book and by the way he handled his lotto win.

Apparently, Norris has no problems with Ahern’s very dodgy evidence to the tribunal or his low grade leadership which resulted in the destruction of the country.

In fact Senator Norris thinks that the political system in this country is just fine, that it’s the people who are wrong.

People are begrudgers…they want blood on a wall, a head on a plate and guts in the bucket.

Yes, Senator, that’s exactly what we want and the fact that you cannot understand the legitimacy and passion of that desire puts you in the camp of those who are defending the corrupt status quo.

Copy to:
Senator Norris