Two views

Letter’s in today’s Irish Times.

Madam,

Judge Mary Fahy deserves great praise for her liberal and perfectly logical judgment regarding what she called the “ludicrous and ridiculous” prosecutions brought by Galway gardaí against nine restaurants for serving wine on Good Friday ( The Irish Times , September 10th).

This religiously inspired medieval law should be scrapped forthwith.

Yours, etc,

ANTHONY SHERIDAN

Madam,

The comments of Judge Mary Fahy, criticising laws banning the sale of alcohol on Good Friday, are astounding. Even more amazing is that the judge refused to apply the law and record convictions against people who had demonstrably broken it.

Since when is it the responsibility of judges of the District Court to criticise and refuse to implement acts of the Oireachtas? Are we to live in a state where judges pick and choose the laws which, in their opinion, are worth applying? – Yours, etc,

MICHAEL KELLY

God bless Ireland

Picture the scene:

A large group of policemen are sitting around the station with nothing to do. Organised crime has been terminated; carnage on the roads has been brought to a halt; even white collar crime has, at last, been tackled and the jails are full.

What are we to do pleads a desperately enthusiastic rookie. The experienced Sgt. has the answer. C’mon me boyos, it’s Good Friday – Let’s raid the restaurants.

And so, the greatest insult to the Great One in his heavenly abode is finally redressed, the greatest danger facing the civilised world is narrowly averted by our boys in blue as they bravely tackle those evil, meat eating, wine drinking demons

The world, nay, the universe is at peace – God bless Ireland.

Back to the UK?

Letter in this morning’s Irish Independent

Shoppers fleeing rip-off Republic

Tuesday September 09 2008

The news that private bus companies are running buses from Dublin, and as far as Athlone, to the Asda stores in the North should be proof positive that prices here are far too high.

Why would anyone travel as far as 300 kilometres on a bus to do their weekly shop, unless there was a huge difference in prices?

This year, 40pc of the shoppers in the Asda store in Strabane are from the Republic, as opposed to 27pc last year. This is a national disgrace.

Mary Coughlan has commissioned yet another report as to why prices are so much higher here than up North. She had better get the report on her desk without delay or she could find herself out of a job faster than she thinks.

People are fed up being ripped off in this republic and morale is sinking fast.

If the Government can’t sort out the problems we’re all facing then it’s time to get a new one, or else Dick Roche will be having another referendum — not on the Lisbon Treaty — but on whether or not we go back into the United Kingdom.

RORY O’MEARA
DUBLIN 8

Within a few days…

Last week I mentioned that a member of the Passport Review Committee promised to get back to me within a few days with an answer to one of my questions. Not surprisingly – she didn’t, so I rang again today.

I was talking to someone new, which surprised me; I thought I had already spoken to everyone in DFA.

Anyway, I filled him in on the case background and again put my question – Would the special passport facility for members of the Oireachtas be advertised in the Department’s literature and posted on the Passport Office’s website so that all citizens could avail of the service?

He assured me he would check it out and get back to me – within a few days.

PDs – A humiliating end

It’s almost, and I stress ‘almost’, sad to see the PDs (Pathetic Dopes?) spin out their inevitable demise in such a humiliating fashion.

Mary Harney has always been a dyed in the wool Fianna Failer, a fact clearly demonstrated by her complete abandonment of ethical standards after taking over leadership of the PDs.

Her unwavering loyalty to a chancer like Bertie Ahern was bound to result in the destruction of a party that once had the potential to really break the mould of Irish (corrupt) politics.

Dangerous talk in a dream world

David McWilliams took Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan to task on Saturday View.

“Three years ago when I said this thing can’t last, house prices will fall, I was told ‘that’s dangerous talk. Don’t ever suggest that, it’s unpatriotic.’ The minute we muzzle economic analysis we go back into the dream world that left us in this mess. And you know minister, that anybody that punctured the dream, anybody who said this was fundamentally detrimental to the economy was told, you’re dangerous. I’m saying again, look at the banking system that’s where the weakness is.”

The Minister replied;

“I can assure your listeners that the Regulator has maintained a very detailed supervision of Irish banks and that the Irish banks are not in anything like the difficulties that their counterparts in the US are.”

Here’s the reality. The Irish banking system is the least regulated in the Western world. The New York Times described the Irish system as the “Wild West of European finance”. Irish banks have robbed countless millions from the State and their customers over the years and not a single bank or official has ever been investigated by the police.

The so called Regulator has never punished the banks in any form whatsoever and usually allows them to investigate themselves. Irish banks are among the most profitable and greedy in the World mainly because they can pretty much do as they please without any fear of consequences.

This Minister knows nothing about the real situation because his information comes from the Central Bank and the so called Financial Regulator who take their orders from the banks. Taxpayers should hold on tightly to their wallets, the banks will soon be looking to do some more pick pocketing.

Different folk – Different law

The new charity legislation going through the Dail was discussed on Today with Pat Kenny during the week.

Pat mentioned the case of a Romanian woman who was charged with organising a bogus charity collection in Dun Laoghaire. The woman was up in the children’s court under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act and was remanded on bail until a further hearing later this month.

Meanwhile, yet another solicitor is under investigation by the Law Society amid allegations of forging passports and falsifying bank loans to the tune of €1 million. (A million Euro fraud seems to be the magic figure that triggers action against solicitors)

We’re told there’s the ‘possibility’ that the Fraud Squad may even be called in. It’s unlikely as I’m sure they’re fully focused on dealing with that dangerous Romanian child.

And let’s not forget that Jim Flavin is and will remain a free man despite his €83 million fraud on the Irish Stock Market.

We’ll never see Flavin or that solicitor remanded on bail – the very idea.

The horrors are still happening

Anyone unfamiliar with the horrors done to women by Michael Neary at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda should read this article by Marie O’Connor in yesterday’s Sunday Independent.

The article exposes the rotten underbelly of how this country is ‘managed’. And don’t for a moment think that things are any different today, they’re not – Nothing has changed.

Banking sector looks for help

It was only a matter of time before the Irish banking sector was forced to make a move on the growing sub prime crisis.

The headline in this morning’s Irish Independent “Banking chiefs seek ‘dig-out’ from taxpayers” leaves us in no doubt as to who they think should pay to get them out of the mess.

Richie Boucher, the chief executive of Research Financial Services Ireland wants long term funding to the banks to be “provided domestically” by taxpayer’s.

Why domestically? Well, Boucher explains that it wouldn’t be prudent to be ‘overly reliant’ on the European Central Bank for borrowings.

What he really means, I suspect, is that the ECB would impose strict conditions and demand accountability for any rescue package whereas Irish politicians can be pressurised into handing over taxpayer’s money without the need for all that awkward repayment and accountability stuff.