Politicians, journalists, expensive wines and objectivity

Recently, Irish Independent journalist Liam Collins had dinner with former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds at the luxurious, five stars, Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin 4.

Collins expressed shock at how expensive the wine was but Reynolds with a (royal?) wave of his hand replied.

“Don’t mind that, I haven’t bought you a drink in a long time, just pick something you like.”

Collins doesn’t say if his friend Albert also paid for the meal but I think it’s a safe bet that he did.

Given Collins’ close and rewarding friendship with Reynolds it was no surprise that the journalist went on to lavish praise on the former Taoiseach while severely castigating those who would dare question his hero’s honesty and integrity.

According to Collins the Mahon Tribunal is nothing better than a long-winded Star Chamber, an expensive charade, a sad blood sport for those with nothing better to do.

And those who still show interest in the tribunal are nothing but a “gaggle of old age pensioners with nothing better to do with their lives and a few anoraks’ from RTE.

It really is disturbing to witness large sections of the Irish media progressively lose their objectivity as a result of their very close friendships with politicians and in particular with politicians who would see such cosy relationships as a distinct advantage when they are under pressure to answer very serious questions.

Copy to:
Liam Collins

A true reflection

Letter in today’s Irish Times

Robbery, bribery and delays

Madam, – In your travel supplement of August 2nd, Manchan Magan exhorts us all to travel to the Congo with him. “We will probably be robbed,” he writes, “and it’s inevitable that we will be asked for bribes and will have to face significant delays.

Sure we can stay in Dublin and experience the very same without the added expense of a flight to Africa.

Yours etc,

BRIAN FOLEY,
Poddle Park, Kimmage, Dublin 12.

Mulcahy's silly nuclear button

I know only two things about Nick Mulcahy. He is the editor of the Irish business magazine Business Plus and he knows very little about corporate fraud.

I gleaned these facts after reading an article in the Irish Independent by Mulcahy in which he analyses the latest developments in the DCC/Fyffes case.

According to Mulcahy, ODCE ‘pressed the nuclear button’ when they asked the High Court to appoint an inspector to investigate DCC/Fyffes over allegations of insider trading.

Pressing the nuclear button or taking the nuclear option means taking an action of last resort. In other words, only taking the most serious action after all other avenues have been exhausted.

So what action did so called Irish regulatory/enforcement authorities take in relation to the €83 million fraud perpetuated by Jim Flavin of DCC before being forced to press the nuclear button?

Initially, not a damn thing. When it became obvious that something very strange had occurred on the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) regarding DCC/Fyffes shares not a single Irish authority acted.

It was only when the London Stock Exchange, a regulatory agency operating from a functional jurisdiction, insisted that an investigation be carried out that the ISE finally took action.

The manner in which the ISE investigation was conducted has itself raised very serious questions regarding ethical and possibly illegal interactions between the ISE, DCC and the DPP. In the best traditions of ignoring suspected wrongdoing in Ireland, this aspect of the scandal has been practically ignored to date.

After the (suspect) ISE investigation was completed, again, nothing happened. The ISE, Irish police, Financial Regulator and the Government simply buried their collective heads in the sand.

It was only when Fyffes, fearing possible financial consequences if it failed to protect the interests of its shareholders, was forced to take a civil action against DCC that the case became active again.

It is entirely from this civil case and the publicity that it generated that the ODCE, possibly the weakest financial regulatory agency in the State, was embarrassed into taking action.

If the ODCE action is successful, and that is highly unlikely, and if it decides to punish DCC/Jim Flavin for any wrongdoing then that punishment will represent the absolute minimum action that the State can take in the case.

ODCE boss, Paul Appleby, knew that he hadn’t a hope in hell of a successful action if he was depending on his miniscule legislative power and resources. That’s why he scuttled over to the High Court and the Supreme Court when they were adjudicating on DCC/Fyffes, to make a pathetic plea to these courts to use their considerable powers to act against DCC/Flavin. His pleas were rejected out of hand.

As a last resort (and there’s certainly nothing nuclear about the effort) Appleby made a formal application to the High Court for the appointment of an inspector. The only advantage Appleby and ODCE will enjoy from this appointment is that their meagre resources will not be totally obliterated as they would have been if they were forced to take the action themselves.

So, what happens now? Well, the farce continues. The High Court inspector will take years to complete his investigation (The NIB investigation took six years).

ODCE then have the option of seeking to have those involved in the scandal disqualified from involvement in the management of a company (This is the absolute minimum punishment available to the State). This action will also take years (ODCE has only just completed action against those in the NIB scandal after years of legal wrangling).

By that time Jim Flavin and many others involved will have retired (and may even have died) and the whole matter will be seen as historical. It is an absolute certainty that those involved in the scandal will never be subject to a police investigation, will never be brought before a court to give an account of their actions, will never see the inside of a prison.

The Supreme Court found that Jim Flavin of DCC had engaged in insider trading involving sums of over €83 million. If the same finding was made in a functional democracy strong, immediate and effective action would have been taken by the police and all associated state enforcement/regulatory agencies.

If we are to judge by a recent and very similar insider trading case in the US, Flavin would now be serving a lengthy jail sentence, he would have been forced to repay his ill gotten gains; he would have had his substantial wealth seriously reduced by the imposition of hefty fines and forfeits.

Nick Mulcahy’s amateurish and naïve analysis of this case is an important factor in how white collar crime is dealt with in this country. Government and so called regulatory agencies will continue to ignore allegations of serious fraud until they are brought under strong pressure by well informed and persistent journalists.

Mulcahy’s silly ‘nuclear button’ conclusion is an indication of just how far away we are from that ideal situation.

Copy to:
Business Plus
ODCE
Financial Regulator
DCC

Reynolds – Haughey fellow traveller?

For many years the cowardly and corrupt Haughey hid behind sick notes from his doctors to avoid making himself accountable before the tribunals.

Invariably, soon after every ‘health crisis’ we would see photographs of Haughey cruising in the Mediterranean or supping champagne at one function or another. Albert Reynolds, if seems, has adopted the same strategy.

It has been reported that Reynolds is unable to answer tribunal questions due to a ‘significant cognitive impairment’. This condition, among other things, involves memory loss. On that basis it is safe to say that practically every politician and businessman appearing before the tribunals is suffering from severe cognitive impairment.

It may be that Reynolds is genuinely unable to give evidence due to health problems but when I see pictures of him accepting the freedom of Cork and living it up at the Galway races I have only one thought – Haughey fellow traveler.

DCC/Fyffes scandal – RTE still ignoring the story

Last Tuesday afternoon the High Court appointed an inspector to investigate the issues and circumstances surrounding the DCC/Fyffes scandal.

RTE made a very short report on the development on its Six One News (10th report) the same evening. There was no background information, no interviews with DCC/Fyffes officials, no interviews with state regulatory agencies, no in depth reporting of any kind. The development was not carried on RTEs Nine News and to my knowledge no other programme reported on the development.

In other words, RTE are continuing with their virtual news blackout on this very serious and important story. My question is simple – Why?

Copy to: RTE News

Ahern and Dunlop

I have often wondered at the relationship between Bertie Ahern and Frank Dunlop. It is a relationship Ahern rarely if ever mentions. But it is one that was more or less constant in the early 1990s. Ahern has always said he never received “even a drink of water” from Owen O’Callaghan.

But O’Callaghan rarely gave money himself (except that 100k cheque to FF via Des Richardson, and other amounts to some councillors). Usually Dunlop did the money-giving. And in the early 90s, Dunlop was meeting Ahern very regularly.

Today’s evidence surrounding Ahern, Chilton O’Connor (O’Callaghan’s bankers and Liam Lawlor’s son was an employee), Dunlop and O’Callaghan makes for very interesting reading. One of my favourite bits was the meeting in November 1994 between Ahern, O’Callaghan and Bill O’Connor about the proposed stadium at Neilstown.

Ahern told O’Callaghan “he was wasting his time”. (Q539) O’Callaghan asked him why that was. “He said that for a start our location was on the wrong side of the Liffey.” This was despite Ahern’s meeting in LA earlier that year with Chilton O’Connor, which apparently occurred without the knowledge of O’Callaghan.

Of course, this is O’Callaghan’s version of the meeting. Ahern claims that it was far less important. A letter later sent by Bill O’Connor to Ahern was in a positive light, and did not show any disappointment that Ahern had dismissed it out of hand.

Tammany Hall passports – The next phase of the farce

I spoke again with my contact in the Passports Office regarding the Tammany Hall passport scheme operated by politicians for the benefit of favoured constituents.

The review has been going on now since last February and should have been published earlier this month. Alas, something always seems to crop up just when publication is near.

On this occasion the Dept. Secretary General is out of the country and the other seven committee members are powerless to act until he returns tomorrow. If the committee, in their wisdom, decide that the review is ready they will sign off on the document and forward it to the Minister for Foreign Affairs for his consideration.

We will then be into the next phase of the farce – Trying to get an answer from the Minister.

Son – Not like father

TDs are on a basic salary of about €100,000. This sum can be almost doubled when expenses and allowances are taken into account. Most expenses are unvouched, in other words, it’s assumed that politicians will not rob the taxpayer. And, of course, most allowances are tax free.

In addition, most Fianna Fail TDs and many from other parties are all on nice little earners chairing committees, sub committees and whatever you’re having yourself. Committee chairpersons get €19,535, vice chairpersons €9,700 and sub committees chairpersons €6,200.

Only a misinformed fool would claim that our politicians are badly paid but on the Marian Finucane Show last Sunday Billy Keane made just such a claim. Here’s what he had to say.

“The decision that they wouldn’t take the pay rises was a crazy one, they should have taken the pay rises because if you look at the head of the bank of Ireland he’s going to get about 20 times a year what the Taoiseach is getting who’s running the biggest company in Ireland – Ireland Inc.

You (addressing Fianna Fail TD Peter Power who was on the panel) should have taken your pay rises and be men and woman enough to stand up and say we’re worth it that in the future if the politicians are properly paid they won’t be in the kind of financial trouble that Bertie found himself in when he was separated.

I have a lot of sympathy for him but he got himself into a mess, he was short of money because he was being paid peanuts and you know the old saying if you pay peanuts you’ll get monkeys and I think they should have had the courage of their convictions and say we’re worth it, we work very long hours, they have to work around the clock.”

Even Peter Power laughed at Keane’s obvious ignorance regarding pay rates for TDs.

To my knowledge Keane is son of the late lamented John B; a man of genius who, I’m sure, would be deeply embarrassed to hear such misinformed nonsense.

Irish journalism – Soft as a marshmallow

This video, exposing MEPs as they sign on for expenses they are not entitled to, is an excellent example of hard hitting, professional journalism in action.

The German reporters ambushed the MEPs as they arrived to sign on for their expenses. Some of the MEPs legged it in embarrassment as soon as they spotted the reporters. The reporters were not shy about challenging these politicians. “It’s seven o’clock in the morning, what are you doing here with your suitcase?”

German Green Party MEP Hiltrud Breyer ran for the lift in a panic but the reporters kept the lift door open and strongly challenged her behaviour.

“Why are you running away, are you ashamed that you wanted to sign the list? Please come out of the lift, what is your problem?”

“Such impertinence.”

“Why is it impertinence? Why are you in such a hurry to get away, why won’t you speak with us, you are a member of the European Parliament.”

“Leave me alone,” she pleaded.

It has been many long years since we witnessed such robust journalism in Ireland. RTE, in particular, has gone soft as a marshmallow when it comes to asking the hard questions. Indeed, the dangerous friendship that has developed between Irish journalists and the body politic has seen some members of the press getting angry when their favourite politician is attacked.

Irish Times journalist, Michael O’Regan, got very angry recently when Fine Gael TD Leo Varadkar attacked Bertie Ahern’s fantasy tales at the Mahon Tribunal.

“I thought that was utterly unfair, I thought the language he used was unfortunate to be quite honest with you and I thought he’d want to get his act together. He’s in the door, he’s wet behind the ears, and he’d want to think before he speaks.”

O’Regan has never displayed such passionate disapproval when reporting on the endless stream of corruption that infects Irish politics and business.

Ignorance and naivety are also common in Irish journalism. Irish Daily Star journalist Catherine Halloran recently (10th July) gave us the ‘benefit’ of her thoughts on Bertie Ahern’s fantasy tales.

“If Ahern had come out at the start and come clean, given the full story and not veered away from that story maybe his legacy would be completely different, maybe he would still be in office.”