Category: The State

Telling letters

Two telling letters in today’s Irish Times on the plan to force registration of all ‘pay as you go’ mobile phones.

Madam, – The Government’s plan to require registration of pay-as-you-go mobile phones is doomed to failure. The majority of pre-pay customers are teenagers and young adults who live at home or in rented accommodation and pay no utility bills in their own name. If the Government requires “proof of address” to register, either this group will be prevented from obtaining phones (and will the multi-billion-euro telecoms industry allow this?) or the standard of proof will be set so low as to be meaningless. The biggest beneficiary of this plan will be criminals, who will swiftly set up a black market in second-hand and unregistered phones. – Yours, etc,
MARK SUGRUE,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.

Madam, – What excellent logic the Government displays by planning to order all us innocent citizens to register pay-as-you-go mobile phones, just in case criminals might, some day, use the same for nefarious purposes. I trust all TDs and senators will now immediately register any pay-as-you-go lawyers, bankers, accountants, lobbyists and developer friends to aid the never-ending fight against political corruption. – Is mise,
JAMES HYDE,
Ballinadine,
Lismore,
Co Waterford.

Unworkable and dangerous legislation

Minister of State responsible for drugs strategy, Pat Carey, has decided not to backdate the registration of ‘pay as you go’ mobile phones. (Irish Times, sub required)

Of course, he couldn’t have decided otherwise unless he was prepared to force millions of citizens to report to their local police station and provide all the details.

The truth is that this proposed legislation is unworkable and dangerous.

For example, any citizen ‘caught’ with an unregistered phone will come under immediate suspicion of being a law breaker.

If they refuse to explain where they got the phone a policeman or judge can, in law, make certain assumptions about that person in light of the recent watering down of that hitherto pillar of democratic freedom – the right of silence.

Sham Seanad elections

There was no surprise recently when it was revealed that political parties having been breaking the law for years by manipulating Seanad elections.

The same lack of surprise can be expected at a report in today’s Irish Examiner that hotelier Luke Moriarty has written to several councillors and TDs, on Fianna Fail headed paper, offering to buy their votes.

Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, a Roscommon councillor, said he was shocked at this brazen attempt to buy his vote.

“All it has done is copper-fasten my opinion that this whole election campaign is a sham and costing a fortune and I don’t see how we are going to get better policy out of it.”

The price of a couple of heads and chairs

It really is fascinating to observe the Green Party wrestle with its conscience over the Seanad election scandal.

We now know that political parties have been breaking the law for years by manipulating how councillors vote in Seanad elections. It was Green Party councillors themselves, to their credit, who brought this illegal activity to light.

That, however, has caused a major ethical problem for the Greens. The core of that problem is very simple. Do they abandon their principles and become partners in crime with Fianna Fail or do they stand by democracy and risk losing power?

All the signs are that they are frantically searching around for something heavy that will sink their integrity to the darkest depts.

They are already trying to impose a media blackout until the matter can be ‘resolved’ internally. In other words, the deal must be kept secret; breaking the law in public can be very damaging for a party’s credibility.

And breaking the law is exactly what the Greens are intent upon as they make clear in their latest email to councillors (sub required).

“Comments from councillors that they will vote for Fianna Fail councillors of their own choice will completely undermine the deal.”

(My emphasis)

Clearly, if the deal is to work, Green councillors must agree to vote as instructed by their masters and not by free democratic choice. In addition, Fianna Fail must, in some way, be assured that the deal was fully adhered to.

The law is crystal clear on such matters. (My emphasis)

Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1947 82.—(1) The Seanad returning officer and every officer and clerk concerned in the issue or the receipt of ballot papers or the counting of votes under this Act and every candidate or other person present at such issue, receipt, or counting shall maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of the voting at the election and shall not, before the completion of the election, communicate, except for some purpose authorised by law, any information as to whether any elector has or has not voted at the election or as to the official mark, and shall not at any time communicate to any person any information obtained at or in connection with such issue, receipt, or counting as to the candidate for whom any elector has voted or as to whether any elector has or has not voted or as to the number on the back of any ballot paper.

(2) A person shall not interfere with or attempt to interfere with the receipt, marking, or return of the ballot paper of any elector at an election under this Act.

(3) A person shall not directly or indirectly induce any elector at an election under this Act to display his ballot paper after he has marked it so as to make known to such person or to any other person the name of any candidate for whom he has marked his vote on such ballot paper.

(4) A person who acts in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months.

The Greens cannot avoid the stark reality they are facing – break electoral law or risk the wrath of Fianna Fail, they cannot have it both ways.

And what glittering prize is Fianna Fail offering for cooperation in this act of political skullduggery? – Extra staff and office space.

Hardly a wet day in power and the Greens are about to sell their souls for a couple of heads and chairs.

Manipulating democracy

Every self respecting democracy in the world operates under the rule of law. Electoral law is particularly important because it is based on the authority of the people. Any interference, any sly manipulation of such law seriously dilutes the quality of that democratic authority.

Stephen Collins, political editor of the Irish Times, explained on RTEs News at One (4th item) yesterday how Irish politicians have been breaking the law for years by supervising how councillors are voting in Seanad elections.

This illegal activity is to make sure that the councillors are voting according to deals worked out between the political parties.

The United Nations frequently sends teams of inspectors to emerging democracies around the world to ensure that such vote tampering does not occur; Irish politicians are often invited to join these inspection teams.

They must feel odd to find themselves strictly enforcing electoral laws that they have been openly flouting themselves for years.

Low standards at SIPO

My complaint to the Standards in Public Office Commission regarding the illegal activities of Minister of State, Pat the Cope Gallagher, has been rejected.

Last April, in a cheap publicity stunt, Gallagher illegally erected posters around Croke Park. (Previous posts: one, two, three, four)

The correspondence from SIPO is mostly impenatratable bureaucracy speak but when translated amounts to the following.

SIPO decided to consider my complaint under section 4 of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001. Section 4 states that a complaint may be made if the matter is one of significant public importance.

Significant public importance is defined as a person receiving an alleged benefit of not less than €12,697.

On that basis, the Commission decided that Gallagher’s illegal activities were not of sufficient gravity to warrant an investigation.

We can make the following assumptions arising from this disgraceful decision.

The Litter Pollution Act, 1997 does not apply to government ministers.

Government ministers can, under certain situations/conditions, break the law with impunity.

The State/SIPO does not consider certain law breaking by government ministers as a matter of significant public importance.

Myers gets it right

I rarely agree with Kevin Myers but his views on the Flynn scandal in last Wednesday’s Irish Independent hits the nail right on the head. (Emphasis mine)

On Irishness;

“So, perhaps rightly, Fianna Fail sees itself as the true voice of Irishness. The party is at bottom a political assertion of that – and those who guard that identity are not to be judged by lesser, imported concepts, such as the “law“.”

On Fianna Fail he says;

“Even today, Fianna Fail’s morality is that of a conquered people, for whom law is a conqueror’s instrument, and secret conspiracies the cultural norm. Loyalty, not law, is the abiding characteristic of the Fianna Fail family.”

On Flynn he says;

“And the extreme, female embodiment of that culture is the unspeakable Flynn-woman, a proven liar, a fraudster, a creature of no integrity, and a traitor who, in any state with a clearly defined public morality, would be in jail.”

The Flynn deal

The Director General of RTE has assured us that no deal was done with Beverly Flynn. Bertie Ahern has also claimed that no deal was done. I don’t believe either of them.

Given the way things are done in this country it is likely that some sort of deal was agreed. Next Monday, when the case comes up again in court, we will know the extent of the deal.

If there is any secrecy whatsoever regarding the amount Flynn has ‘agreed’ to pay then it will be obvious that RTE did a complete cave in under political pressure.

Deals done, arrangements made

Beef baron Larry Goodman was well known as an astute businessman who had an uncanny ability of keeping tabs on every detail of his huge empire. But when the Beef Tribunal reported in August 1994 it found that Larry knew nothing of the massive fraud and tax evasion rampant throughout his company. Deals done, arrangements made, blind eyes turned.

Tax cheat Michael Lowry had a massive extension built on to his house courtesy of the Dunne family. The extension was illegal as it had no planning permission and therefore should have been demolished. Michael managed to get retrospective planning permission. Deals done, arrangements made, blind eyes turned.

Corrupt politician Charles Haughey should have been brought to justice for lying to the McCracken tribunal. It was decided, however, that he was too well known to get a fair trial and was, in effect, placed above the law. Deals done, arrangements made, blind eyes turned.

Beverly Flynn encouraged tax evasion. She sued RTE for saying so and lost. She owed RTE/taxpayer nearly €3million as a result of her actions. Now we’re told that she will only have to pay a fraction of this. Deals done, arrangements made, blind eyes turned.

Real accountability, no matter what it costs the taxpayer or the reputation of the country, must be avoided.

The price of profit

I see members of the Saudi religious police, officially known as The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Echoes of the Inquisition there), are to stand trial for the deaths of two men in custody.

The dead men were accused of the ‘horrendous crimes’ of socializing with an unrelated woman and alcohol peddling.

In February 2006, after criticism of a proposed visit to Saudi Arabia by President McAleese a government spokeswoman said

“The visit to Saudi Arabia by the President represented a clear expression of the values of Irish society and people and also respected the culture of a friendly nation.”

I’m certain that the Government and President McAleese would totally condemn these events in Saudi Arabia but the fact that they admire and support this ruthless theocracy cannot be ignored.

The hypocrisy is all the more odious because the admiration and support is entirely based on business profit.

Here’s what some of our esteemed political leaders had to say about dealing with this ruthless regime.

“They’re not the same kind of open society as we are, they haven’t got the same parliamentary democratic process as us and we have to understand those sensitivities. It would be very wrong of us other than to understand and doesn’t take away from the fact we pointed out areas where there is concern internationally.”

Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, (Six One News 18th Jan 2007)

“It is also the case that we have to have respect for other cultures and societies in a world of difference. It is all a bit more complex than saying this is just a simple matter of human rights.”

Enterprise and Employment Minister, Michael Martin. (Irish Independent)

“On what basis would we not talk to them? We can’t go around the world judging people,”

Frank Ryan, the chief executive of Enterprise Ireland. (Irish Independent).

On what basis would we not talk to them? Apparently, there is no basis that would overrule the profit motive.