Category: The State

In the past week…

In the past week we learned…

Business corruption

That the financial services group, Friends First defrauded a customer of up to €500,000. The company admitted the fraud but claimed that the customer was not at any loss. They did not report the crime to the police but did inform the Financial Regulator.

The regulator did not inform the police of this crime and failed to properly inform consumers of the dangers of doing business with Friends First.

The victim of this crime, retired businessman John O’Mahony, did not get justice and nobody seems to think this fact is of any importance.

Political corruption

Galway Cllr Michael Fahy was convicted of obtaining €7,000 by false pretences in 2002 and the attempted theft of €7,500 in 2003 as well as five other charges of deception and false accounting.

This type of corruption is common in Ireland but we also learned that the then County Manager, Donal O’Donaghue took the law into his own hands and acted as judge and jury. He made the corrupt Cllr, pay back the money, fined him €3,000 and did not report the crime to the police.

When all this came out in the subsequent trial nobody seems to have thought that covering up a serious crime was of any importance.

Police corruption

Two policemen are enjoying the same freedom as any other citizen even though they ruthlessly destroyed the life, family and finances of an innocent citizen by conspiring to frame him for a serious crime which resulted in him serving a long prison sentence.

The court acknowledged the seriousness of the crime by describing it as “the worst known oppression of a citizen by the State”.

Yet, it is highly unlikely that the corrupt policemen will even be arrested never mind actually stand trial, in fact one of them was promoted before being allowed retire on full benefits and pension.

The judges collectively punished innocent Irish citizens by fining the State €4.6 million for the crimes of the policemen.

Nobody seems to think that allowing corrupt policemen to retire without any sanction whatsoever is of any importance.

None of these cases are seen as particularly unusual because all those involved; the victims, the perpetrators, the state systems and citizens in general all live and work in a country that is itself a corrupt entity.

Generally speaking, Irish people are unaware that such events are seen as abnormal in properly accountable jurisdictions.

A contemptible institution

Dail Eireann, The National Parliament of the Irish people, is a farce, a joke institution. It’s an institution that I personally hold in absolute contempt and I am convinced that the great majority of Irish people feel the same. It’s nothing more than an ineffective talking shop that has no relevance whatsoever to the every day worries of the average Irish citizen.

Nothing exemplifies the worthlessness of this institution better than an incident that took place there yesterday (RTE News, 5th item). The new Criminal Justice Bill was being debated. This bill will make serious changes in the law concerning mandatory sentencing, bail and most crucially the right to silence.

While opposition TDs were asking questions and making criticisms of the bill Michael McDowell, Minister for Justice and Tanaiste who is the author of this bill and who, at the time, was representing our Prime Minister in our Parliament – was doing a crossword puzzle.

As I said, a contemptuous institution that deserves nothing but derision.

A police force out of control

It was only last week that the Garda Representative Association held a special meeting to express their anger at the treatment of one of their members by sections of the media. They felt so strongly about this insult to one of their members that they decided to organise a boycott of the particular newspapers involved.

The Garda Commissioner himself felt so angry about the incident that he described it as “Disgusting, insensitive and hurtful.”

Yesterday, innocent Irish tax payers were fined a total of €4.6 million because of the criminal behaviour of a number of members of this force. In a ruthless conspiracy to gain promotion they destroyed the life of Frank Shortt and his family with consequences best described by one of the judges.

“A tormenting saga of imprisonment, mental and physical deterioration, estrangement from family, loss of business, public and professional ignominy and despair”.

Another judge made the following comments

“These Gardai were out of control. The whole affair graphically illustrates Mr. Justice Morris’ conclusion that the Gardai are losing their status as a disciplined force.”

“What happened in this case is nothing less than an obscenity.”

“The outrageousness of what was done, the very long period required to discover it, the failure of An Garda Siochana itself expressly to acknowledge and apologise for the misdeeds of its members and the grave risk to society as a whole if Gardai behave as some of those involved in this case behaved render it absolutely necessary to make a substantial award of exemplary damages.”

So how have the Garda Commissioner, the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors reacted to this outrage? – SILENCE.

Judge Morris is right; this is a police force out of control.

Law enforcement, Star Trek and baby soothers

RTEs Prime Time did a piece on the brutal war in Iraq last night. This can make for depressing viewing so I was delighted that some enlightened producer decided to follow up with a great comedy sketch.

This involved an interview with Ann Fitzgerald, chairperson of the National Consumer Agency. This new agency has taken over from the old Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs (Who comes up with these titles?) headed by Carmel Foley.
Carmel was famous for her obsession with slapping €100 fines on multi-million profit pubs for not displaying proper price lists.

Ms Fitzgerald, in true Star Trek tradition, announced that she is going to go where no one has gone before on behalf of the consumer.

Miriam O’Callaghan asked what she going to do about corrupt management companies. (See here for analysis of this particular skullduggery)

According to Ms Fitzgerald there’s half a million people having trouble in this area but legislation won’t be available for two or three years so in the meantime the NCA has set up a forum – to talk about it.

Everybody is aware of the ruthless manner in which many developers abandon unfinished sites and move on to the next lucrative deal. (See here for analysis)

Ms. Fitzgerald expressed genuine puzzlement at the non implementation of a law that allows local authorities to refuse planning to such rogue developers. All I can say is; bless her innocence.

The NCA will be operating on a budget of €8.5 million and a handful of staff. With this paltry sum we are assured they will take on and defeat the powerful and the corrupt.

Developers like the tax evading Bailey Brothers, who recently made a €22 million tax settlement with Revenue will be shaking in their boots and I’m sure the Irish financial sector is agog with fear and panic.

When Miriam pointed that we’ve had ineffective toothless agencies for years Ms Fitzgerald brought in the heavy artillery.

She was going to name and shame, she was going to fine shops on the spot that didn’t display prices and she was going to seek undertakings from businesses that didn’t treat consumers fairly.

It was at this point I reached for the brandy.

To get a real sense of the power and determination of this new colossus of Irish law enforcement I strongly recommend a peek at their website. There you can participate in a quiz and read all about the dramatic recall of a Ladybird infants book and a Smyths Toys baby soother.

No, really, I’m not joking

Different standards of outrage

Members of the Garda Siochana have a right to be upset at how some sections of the media treated the recent death of Sergeant Tania Corcoran and her son. The reporting of Sgt. Corcoran’s death while giving birth was, as Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy said, “disgusting, insensitive and hurtful.”

There is, however, a stark contrast between this case and how the Gardai and in particular the powerful Garda Representative Association (GRA) react to Garda wrongdoing and corruption.

It is reported in today’s Irish Examiner that the GRA held a meeting to discuss the media coverage of Sgt. Corcoran’s death. It was agreed at the meeting to send a directive to every garda station in the country, effectively calling for a boycott of the Sunday Independent, the Irish Independent and the Mail on Sunday newspapers.

In recent years we have witnessed wholesale corruption in the force, ranging from bullying and incompetence to widespread perjury, indiscipline, insubordination, planting of evidence and even the framing of innocent citizens for murder.

Very few members of the force have been brought to justice for their crimes and the GRA has played a significant role in bringing about this state of affairs.

Journalist, Jim Cusack, in an excellent article on Garda corruption, tells us that the GRA is “Now perceived by Government as the main block to imposing order in the Garda Siochana.”

As I have said, the treatment of Sgt. Corcoran by sections of the media was wrong but it is difficult to take seriously the outrage expressed by the Garda Representative Association while the organisation remains in denial about the wrongdoing of its own members.

Secrecy and control – Breeding ground for corruption

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) is not an organisation I would normally find myself defending.

For far too long they have enjoyed a position of absolute power and privilege within the health system and so the Minister for Health, Mary Harney is right to insist on a new, more equitable, public contract with its members.

However, the insistence of a gagging clause in the new contract is just the latest example of an administration taking every opportunity to increase its powers of secrecy and control. Powers that are crucial for the manipulation of information in a corrupt state.

Here are some quotes taken from today’s Irish Times.

(Consultants) have to seek permission from new clinical directors before commenting in public on hospital services.

(Consultants) have to seek the approval of the clinical director before engaging personally in any further advocacy

…prevent consultants from divulging or discussing “hospital business” and information on staff or patients without authority except in the performance of their duty.

…that no-one else in the health service has the right to speak out publicly without official approval

Consultants’ traditional clinical autonomy will have to be circumscribed to a degree.

The aim here is to install a line of faceless unaccountable bureaucrats between doctors, and the general public in order to manipulate information about a third world health system rampant with corruption and incompetence.

Bizarrely, management is expected to claim that all this secrecy and control is for the patients own good, to protect them from rogue doctors like Michael Neary. The reality is, of course, that secrecy breeds corruption, incompetence and bad practice.

Legislation on a stream of consciousness

I see we have yet another critically important bill being rushed through the Dail so that our esteemed leaders won’t miss out on their traditional St. Patrick’s Day global junkets.

The Criminal Justice Bill will change the law on such critical issues as mandatory sentencing and the right to silence yet it is to receive only five hours of Dail time.

The Labour party’s justice spokesman, Brendan Howlin, described this type of rushed legislation (5th item)as being “like a stream of consciousness from Justice Minister, Michael McDowell. The ideas he has overnight, present themselves in amendments.”

Howlin claims that McDowell looks at whatever is in the newspapers and legislates accordingly. For example, in response to the recent spate of gun murders McDowell’s proposes that a gun murder suspect can be held for seven days but as Howlin points out, if someone is butchered with a knife the holding period is still only 24 hours.

Wondering…

“Mr. Libby did not tell the truth to the system. If someone doesn’t tell the truth to the system everyone suffers. The legal system suffers because you don’t know what the actual facts are and frankly lots of other people suffer since when you don’t know what the truth is people draw all sorts of conclusions.”

This quote is from special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald in response to the verdict that found Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby guilty of obstructiing justice and perjury.

I often wonder, (yes, yes, I know, I have a sad life), but anyway, I often wonder what Irish politicians and civil servants think when they read about how justice is seen to be done in real democracies.

Are they genuinely oblivious to the stark fact that Ireland is the only Western ‘democracy’ that doesn’t actually arrest, charge and jail its political and big business criminals through the judicial system.

Do they genuinely believe that the very expensive and shambolic system of tribunals will ever deliver justice?

Do they ever wonder why numerous powerful people who obstruct justice and perjure themselves on a regular basis are not held to account?

Do they ever wonder who made the decision that prevents Irish police from investigating certain areas of society such as the body politic and financial institutions?

Do they have any idea of the damage done to the credibility of the State as a whole by their absolute refusal to take effective action against the disease of corruption?

I wonder…Do they wonder…?

Crying (out) for justice

I cried while watching the Dean Lyons story on RTEs excellent Scannal programme yesterday.

The tears were provoked by the dignified but anguished words of Dean Lyons’ mother as she pleaded for justice for her son and family. The tears were coupled with a deep anger at the realisation that she will never get justice because she lives in a corrupt state, a state that utilises all its powers and spares no expense in protecting itself against citizens who demand and deserve justice. It is a state whose police force is totally discredited and yet still enjoys the full support of all the main political parties.

Dean Lyons was an innocent man set up by the police. While they were pursuing Mr. Lyons for a double murder he did not commit another two people were brutally murdered by a man who is almost certainly the real killer. This man, Mark Nash admitted to the first two murders and was able to give exact details to the police that only they and the killer could have known.

Dean Lyons, a well known Walter Mitty character, only gave details after he was led on by the investigating police. But even after obtaining the confession from Mark Nash the police still pursed the innocent Dean Lyons.

As Jim Cusack, the then security correspondent of the Irish Times, said on the programme:

“There’s an extraordinary degree of arrogance and even stupidity at a high level in the force and there are people there who are making ridiculous decisions and instead of confronting the reality of what happened, their preference was to try and ignore it and hope it would go away.”

The families of the four murdered people lost out, the family of Dean Lyons lost out, the credibility of the justice system lost out, the body politic lost out because of its failure to demand an acceptable level of professionalism from our police force and the State itself lost out through its inability/unwillingness to provide a basic justice system for its citizens.

But in true banana republic fashion, the State has promoted all the senior police officers connected with the case. There are times when all you can do is cry.