Category: The State

The pre-eminence of profit

“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).

“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, Micheal Martin, (Irish Independent).

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

Frank Ryan, chief executive of Enterprise Ireland, (Irish Independent). (All emphasis mine)

“On 3rd September 1992…Sadiq Abdul Karim Malallah was publicly beheaded in Saudi Arabia after being lawfully convicted of apostasy and blasphemy.” (The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, page 287).

Sending some letters

Fianna Fail Junior Minister Tony Killeen is in trouble because he sent letters to the Minister for Justice seeking the early release of a sex offender. He defends himself as follows:

He only meant the letters to raise the issue of the sex offender’s deteriorating health and an alleged prison assault but couldn’t prove this because the letters were ‘accidentally’ deleted from his computer.

He accepts that the minister did respond to his pleas but he did not see the minister’s letter because his staff did not show it to him.

He says he ‘failed to see’ a letter sent to him by the Minister which made clear that the sex offender would not be given early release.

So, a misunderstanding of his intent, a defective computer, incompetent staff and a missed letter are all to blame – not Mr. Killeen.

To top it all, Mr. Killeen is using a public relations firm to help ‘explain’ his case – I wonder who’s paying the bill?

Pay up or die

I then came home, flicked on the TV and got into bed. The first ad on the TV was from the Government telling people that bowel cancer can kill, but not if caught in time. If Bertie Ahern or Mary Harney or Michael McDowell were within reach I would have killed them. Literally, I’m not joking.

This quote is from a woman who is dying from cancer because she is a public rather than a private patient. If she had private health insurance she would have been treated in time but because she is a public patient she was put on a long waiting list, this delay has resulted in her cancer becoming terminal.

Her case has been passionately discussed on Liveline over the last number of days (Her letter to Liveline is on the site and is worth reading). The response from most callers was one of anger, frustration and powerlessness.

This is a normal reaction for citizens living in a corrupt state. They, and everybody else, are very well aware of what the problem is – corruption, incompetence and political cowardice. They know that the political system will not help them; they know that unless they pay up they will not get access to treatment.

On Questions and Answers, the Minister for Health, Mary Harney responded like politicians always do in corrupt states. She went into denial – It’s a great system, mistakes will happen, when they do, it’s someone else’s fault.

She blamed the victim’s doctor; she blamed hospital consultants and, incredibly, claimed that Ireland does not have a two tier health system. Harney leads a party that passionately believes in promoting private health care for profit over public health care for everybody.

There are, of course, many other reasons why Ireland has a third world health system. Recently, the Irish people agreed that it was ok for our Prime Minister to accept large payments from businessmen while he held public office.

For so long as Irish citizens accept such low standards from their politicians they will continue to get the same low standards in public services, with the same consequences

Courage and graft

I finally got to see the much praised film The Wind that Shakes the Barley. It brought back the great personal sacrifices that those people made for independence. Death, injury, torture and the loss of family, financial and career opportunities.

One comment in particular caught my attention. Just before one of the principal characters executed a British landlord and one of his own IRA men for informing, he said something like – I hope the country we’re fighting for is worth it.

I wonder what these people would have thought of Bertie Ahern’s recent whine that he was unfairly treated over his prostitution of ministerial office for money from Manchester businessmen.

Justice delayed – until after election

It is now over three years since Fianna Fail TD, Michael Collins was found to have had a bogus offshore account. Since then he has been charged on two counts; cheating the Office of The Collector General by applying for a tax clearance cert at a time when he had undeclared tax liabilities and obtaining a tax clearance cert by false pretences.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has dropped the first charge, no reason was given – it’s a state secret.

Action on the second charge has been adjourned until July because; according to Mr. Collins’ defence counsel

“the accused is a member of the Oireachtas, which was now at a particular stage in the electoral cycle.”

The curious thing is Mr. Collins has already announced his intention to retire from politics, so why has justice been put on hold until after the election?

The more cynical among us could be forgiven for thinking that this apparently seamless cooperation between the justice and political systems is designed to avert any political embarrassment for the principal government party.

Give us the money but not the regulations

Recently, I wrote about Irish farmers demanding that they be given 14 days notice of any inspection by the Dept. of Agriculture.

On today’s Six One News, IFA president, Padraig Walshe, was threatening to make the controversy an election issue if the Government refuses to comply with their demands.

According to Walshe, the dept is ‘over vigorous’ in its enforcement of EU regulations. If the decision was within the power of Irish politicians, there would be no inspections; no Irish politician has ever had the courage to stand up to the powerful farming lobby.

At stake here, however, is an incredible €2 billion in annual EU subsidies to Irish farmers – if the regulations are broken, the money dries up.

Any responsible government would insist that farmers comply with the rules. Incredibly, the Minister for Agriculture is actually going to go whingeing to Brussels to make yet another special case for irresponsible Irish farmers.

Parasite of humanity

Of course, the comments made by Gerry Gainford and Gordon Davies are correct regarding my last blog on the publication of the Moriarty report. Technically, Haughey is not a criminal and it is a fact that he escaped ‘legal’ justice during his lifetime.

If I can be personal for a moment I will explain where I’m coming from. Since 1979, I have been following Haughey’s career. I was just becoming politically aware at the time and knew nothing about him but I did know that the country was a basket case and needed a strong leader.

I was delighted, therefore, when he gained power that year because I felt that anyone with the balls to make a decision about arming the Nationalists in the North would have the courage to make the tough decisions to take Ireland out of the gutter.

Within a year, I realised that Haughey was just like most other Irish politicians, weak, visionless and self serving. By the mid 80s I knew that he was corrupt and there was little possibility of his being brought to justice because he operated within a system/state that was itself a corrupt entity.

So, for about the last 25 years I have been beating my angry head against a rock trying to convince anyone willing to listen about the truth of Haughey and the corrupt state that facilitated his activities.

Letters to the Editor, phone calls, letters, emails to politicians, interviews on radio and even participation on RTE’s television programme The Big Bite and in recent times, due to the expertise and patience of Gavin, on this blog.

In my opinion Haughey had four ambitions in life – money, power, a craving for respect and a wish to be remembered as a great statesman. As I witnessed his career I became ever more frustrated as he achieved money, power and a good degree of (misplaced) respect.

In the last years of his life Haughey worked hard on convincing people that he should be remembered as a great statesman. To a degree he was successful in this, even convincing Vincent Browne, one of his strongest critics, that he was, after all, a great man.

The Moriarty report, however, has destroyed any hope that Haughey will be remembered for anything other than for what he really was – a man who betrayed his family, his friends, his party and most particularly, his country.

With Haughey dead and a strong campaign led by our present Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, to create a false history of the most corrupt politician in Irish history it could have been different story.

If the Moriarty report had not been so damning it is likely that Haughey would have achieved his last ambition. It is in reference to this failure that I speak of justice being done.

By far the most damning conclusion in the report is how Haughey treated Brian Lenihan. There are few actions of Man that attract such abhorrence and odium as someone who is prepared to steal money from a dying man.

Haughey is such an individual and I am greatly relieved that the world now knows the truth about this parasite of humanity.

Haughey is a criminal

Charles Haughey, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland is a criminal.

One of the most damning facts to emerge from the Moriarty Tribunal that was published today is the fact that Haughey robbed nearly €200,000 from a fund set up to save Brian Lenihan’s life.

I just want to repeat that in my own words – Haughey was the type of individual who robbed money from another human who needed that money for a life saving operation.

Today is a (rare) good day for justice in Ireland

Maintaining the illusion

In a real democracy the revelations of the mafia type scams engaged in by estate agents and mortgage brokers as exposed on last Monday’s Prime Time would provoke immediate and effective police action.

In this corrupt state no effective action is ever taken. It is however, very important to maintain the illusion that Ireland is an accountable democracy. Here are some examples of great Irish illusionists.

Bertie Ahern, our Prime Minister declared that legislation to deal with such corruption is due to come before the Oireachtas shortly. This is a standard response by politicians, it means nothing. There are dozens of urgent bills ‘due any day now’.

Billy Hawkes, The Data Protection Commissioner has sent in a team of inspectors to investigate the two companies highlighted in the Prime Time programme. He has also said his office will be carrying out random inspections of mortgage brokers over the next couple of weeks.

The suspicion here is that this idea of actually inspecting companies has only just occurred to the commissioner. In any case the commissioner’s office is, like all Irish ‘enforcement’ authorities, a toothless tiger.

Paul Appleby, Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement has launched a consultation paper to address the very dodgy activities surrounding many estate management companies covered by the Prime Time programme.

Submissions from interested parties should be on Mr. Appleby’s desk by next March. No sense of urgency there. Doesn’t matter really because Mr. Appleby’s office is also a toothless tiger.

The so called Financial Regulator is also going to investigate the mafia type operations of estate agents, developers and estate management companies as a result of the programme.

Don’t expect much here as this organization is the must useless of all Irish ‘enforcement’ authorities.

Despite the millions that have been robbed from consumers by financial institutions over recent years, the FR has never taken action against any of them. In any case, consumers will never know the result of the investigation because the FR treats all such information as a state secret.

Barry Andrews, Fianna Fail backbencher was wheeled out to waffle about how the Government was going to take action. He (rashly) stated that he would see to it that action would be taken before the upcoming general election. His promises mean nothing as he is a powerless non entity.

Irish consumers can be sure of only one thing – the State will take no effective action against these cowboys.

National self respect?

I see the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet has died. Right up to his death the Chileans pursed him on human rights, fraud and corruption charges.

In contrast, our corrupt ‘little dictator’ Haughey, was well looked after by the State. He was allowed to live out his final days in luxury with the full support and loyalty of our current Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern.

When Haughey died he was given a State funeral at which Ahern delivered a glowing oration for the corrupt politician.

The Chileans could teach us something about national self respect.