Operating in the wrong country

When a tearful Bertie Ahern was interviewed by RTEs Bryan Dobson in September 2006, he mentioned that he appointed people to State boards because they were his friends. Bryan Dobson didn’t seem to notice that what the Taoiseach was admitting is considered a crime in real democracies.

I wonder was Dobson thinking of that infamous interview when he was reporting on the travails of former French president Jacques Chirac on last night’s Six One News? (11th item)

Poor old Jacques has been placed under judicial investigation for giving out jobs to 40 political sympathisers while he was mayor of Paris.

Despite denying any wrongdoing Jacques will still have to face some sort of accountability.

How he must envy Irish politicians who live in a country where they face losing power if they don’t’ give jobs to political sympathisers

Puffed up politicians

When Minister for Health, Mary Harney, was asked for her reaction to a recent poll that said only 13% of people believed the health service had improved since she had taken over and a massive 53% said that it had got worse, she replied:

“That’s not surprising because the public perceive the health service on the basis of what they hear from programmes like yours.”

(RTE, News at One, 1st item)

This is more than just the usual cowardly political reaction of blaming the media. It is patronizing and insulting to the intelligence of Irish citizens. Effectively, Harney is suggesting that ordinary people are incapable of coming to their own independent conclusions.

As a further defence she quoted figures from another poll that found up to 90% of patients were very happy with the health service. The crucial difference here is that it was a poll of patients.

I remember around the mid 1980s when military personnel were getting more vocal about the primitive conditions in military hospitals the authorities responded by asking patients to sign a form declaring that they had received adequate care or, alternatively, outline any complaints they might have.

Not surprisingly, I never witnessed or heard of a single patient making a complaint.

The 90% positive response also reminds me of so called elections in places like Saddam’s Iraq or the North Korea of Kim Jong il.

These are situations where those in power are more interested in their own puffed up appearances rather than facing inconvenient realities – Much like Ireland in 2007.

DCC/Fyffes case: Curious RTE (non) coverage

The RTE coverage of the DCC/Fyffes scandal is curious. When the Supreme Court made its decision last July, RTE, of course, reported the event but there was very little in depth analysis.

The case was up again in the Supreme Court on 13th November last. RTE News at One (6th item) reported on proceedings and did an interview with Richard Curran, deputy editor of the Sunday Business Post, but after that it was a virtual blackout.

I have carried out a comprehensive (but not exhaustive) trawl of the various news/current affairs programmes on RTE and have found no further mention of the case.

This is curious because the case is not just run of the mill business interest but is a story of major national importance involving two very important companies that could see costs/awards running to well over €100 million.

It is also, to my knowledge, the first incidence of insider trading in modern Irish history. That fact alone should warrant extensive mainline coverage.

Even allowing that the RTE business section seems to be severely under resourced the lack of interest in the DCC/Fyffes case is puzzling.

Grotesque distortion of the English language

Michael Buckley is a former chief executive of Allied Irish Banks, an organisation responsible for the theft of millions from both customers and the State.

He is now the senior independent director on DCCs board, a board that is fully supportive of its executive chairman, Jim Flavin, who was found by the Supreme Court to have engaged in insider trading.

Buckley says that that the board’s stance is

“grounded in justice, fairness, honesty and decency”.

Words like justice, fairness, honesty and decency coming out of Buckley’s mouth in respect of these events can only be described as a grotesque distortion of the English language.

Later, he further justifies the board’s stance by saying:

“Anyone concerned for the reputation of the Irish market as a result of the affair would reach the same conclusion.”

This is a less than subtle message to regulatory agencies that if they make a big fuss about this it could make Ireland look bad internationally.

A similar strategy was employed during the DIRT scandal. Politicians, government departments like Revenue, Dept. of Finance and other so called regulatory agencies were warned that if they did anything to stop the mass criminality involved there would be a flight of capital out of the country.

This strategy worked until the only real regulatory agency, the media, got wind of the scandal.

Judging from the almost complete lack of action against DCC and Jim Flavin, it looks like the so called Irish regulatory/law enforcement agencies have again folded under pressure from the likes of Buckley.

The 'Do Nothing' strategy

Last May, Revenue Commissioners chairman Frank Daly is quoted in the Irish Times (Sub. Re’q).

“We have turned a corner as far as tax evasion is concerned, and it is important that we keep going in the right direction.”

“There was no indication of any serious area of systematic fraud or evasion within the tax system.”

In yesterday’s Sunday Independent we learn that after a Revenue trawl through just 86 accountants 52 (60%) of them were found to be underpaying tax. I just love that soft and gentle word ‘underpaying’.

Apparently, no such word exists for dodgy social welfare recipients. They are unequivocally referred to as thieves, cheats and fraudsters who do untold damage to the state and its citizens by their grasping greed

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) is the authority allegedly responsible for keeping accountants in line. A spokesman for the institute said they did nothing if any of its members made a settlement with the taxman as a result of ‘underpaying’ tax.

Do nothing? Yes, that would be close to the strategy of most so called regulatory agencies in Ireland.

Digout day

We would like to lend our support to Digout Day. It follows an excellent post over at That’s Ireland, Fianna Fail’s Fifty Ways to Laugh at Voters.

I guess the only problem I would have with the post is that it only covers some of the scandals that have happened, especially since 1997. Would it be better to create a Wiki or individual collaborative post detailing every single political scandal since 1997, or better yet since 1980?

Update: A video version is now available:

A powerful 'nobody'

Janette Byrne describes herself as a nobody (Irish Independent) .

In fact she is more powerful than any politician or bureaucrat. If the power she holds could be instilled in even a significant minority of Irish citizens then this country would be rid of the likes of Harney, Ahern and their army of faceless, unaccountable bureaucrats. Here’s her letter (Emphasis mine).

I write to you in light of the recent uncertainty surrounding the exclusion of oncologist John Crown from ‘The Late Late Show’ panel.

I had the honour of being a ‘Late Late Show’ guest over a year ago (September 29, 2006). I was there, in part, to highlight my book, ‘If It Were Just Cancer’, but also as a founder member of the lobby group Patients Together. I am just an ordinary person, a cancer patient who suffered the indignity of A&E, a filthy ward, the fear and terror of not getting a bed and, as a consequence, being denied the right to avail of my urgently required chemotherapy.

From the day I was given the all clear, I vowed that, on behalf of the other girls, women, and men, not as blessed as me, that I would highlight our suffering. I wanted the nation to know, what it meant to be seriously ill in modern Ireland. I am not an academic. I am not a mover and shaker.

I grew up in a close, loving family of eight in Finglas in what was known as a “Corpo-bought” house. I left school at 15. I worked as a hairdresser, had a son at 19, worked in a tyre outlet and then as a rep. I eventually started my own business in 1994.

My new position in the spotlight on ‘The Late Late Show’, in the papers and on the radio was terrifying. I lost many hours of sleep with the worry of letting everybody down. My mother believes I survived at God’s will to do this work. I am inclined to believe I am driven by those gone before me, goading me to stand up and be heard.

Where am I going with all this?

The night I appeared on ‘The Late Late Show’ was one of the most privileged in my life. My family, friends and supporters were dotted around the country watching, my heart was bursting with pride and fear. I wanted to say something that would touch the Irish people; I wanted to make them understand how we, as patients, are being failed. I was sick with nerves, but I knew the girls on the ward were with me in spirit.

I made it through the show but fell into my son’s arms crying and shaking when it finished. It was just all too much for me. I remember one of the researchers hugging me, “Well done Janette, you were brilliant and you have caused such a fuss”.
I was surprised and worried. What had I done?

She explained that “certain people” had been screaming down the phone wanting to know: “Who made the decision to put her on the show? Why were we not told she would be on?” The researcher took delight in their annoyance given that they can find it hard to get any comments or even returned calls from these people.

And here they were, hopping mad, phoning more and more irritated as I continued speaking. What in God’s name could make these people so irate? Little old me rattling on about the indignity of our health service, what was I saying that incited such fear and upset? I have found the answer.

I was telling the truth.

I was an ordinary person telling how it is. I had nothing to gain and nothing to lose. Until that moment, I had never realised how powerful the ordinary person who is willing to stand up and be heard can be. I find it so sad that we have a section of our community who want to silence the truth.

Following the show and my naive decision to gate crash a HSE press gathering, I received texts from a renowned health correspondent saying he had received calls questioning who I was. Who was funding Patients Together? Who was yanking my chain? How many members do we have, etc?

I will save these scrutinisers any further time-wasting and stress worrying about me.

I am a nobody, a taxpayer, an Irish citizen, an honest and loyal person who whispered a promise to the dead that I would be their voice until our overcrowded, under-funded, diseased Health Service learns to treat us with dignity and care.

Really you have nothing to be afraid of.

Janette Byrne
Patients Together
Finglas Park
Dublin 11

Living in Bertieland

Gene Kerrigan, in form, as ever:

In the real world — imagine it’s your home or mine — suppose you’re asked how come thirty grand in sterling ended up in your account.

Imagine explaining that to your partner, let alone a tribunal.

In Bertieland, when thirty grand in sterling ended up in his account he said, “I had some cash saved, so I bought sterling to pay this guy back, then I decided I didn’t have to, so . . . ”

And then he’s told that can’t be true, because in that period no one bought that amount of sterling. So, he says, maybe he bought it in installments, at different banks.

Which ones? Well, maybe he didn’t buy it, maybe he was busy so he got someone else to do it. Who? Can’t remember.

Imagine that conversation in your house. You’d be in big trouble, right?

In Bertieland, Brian Cowen totally believes that story. Not a blush out of him. Brian Lenihan is convinced. Mary Hanafin, Micheal Martin — not a dickybird from any of them. In Bertieland, this story is entirely unremarkable.

Yet, despite this supine adulation from his peers; despite his €38,000 rise; despite having 10 years to implement his political agenda, Mr Ahern continues to whine.

Bertie's stupid challenge answered

Strapped Ahern needs ‘dig-out’

Irish Independent Letters

Friday November 16 2007

Having been reduced to tears by Mr Ahern’s Dobson interview last year, I pity poverty-stricken Bertie having to exist on a mere €310,000 (plus expenses, driver, jet, make-up, and so on).

I feel like organising a whip-around, a dig-out AND a soft loan for him.

And I will be rushing to accept his oh-so-credible advice on wage restraint. In response to Bertie’s invitation to put other leaders’ arrangements up front, here goes:

• €310,000 – Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
• €279,000 – US President George Bush.
• €270,000 – Irish Tanaiste Brian Cowen.
• €268,000 – UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
• €261,000 – German Prime Minister Angela Merkel.
• €240,000 – Irish Cabinet ministers.
• €240,000 – French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
• €210,000 – Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
• €192,000 – Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.
• €123,000 – Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
• €122,000 – Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (Norway has the same population as Ireland).
• €49,500 – Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

The same “independent” process that so deservedly rewarded our leaders also determined that the chief executive of the HSE, Brendan Drumm, was currently being overpaid to the tune of €57,000 per annum, when compared to an equivalent position in the private sector. (Luckily, that one isn’t mandatory.)

And those greedy foreign leaders have prolonged holidays, unlike Mr Ahern, who spends a massive 1.5 days in the Dail for almost 20 weeks per year. Most of the rest of the time he has to undertake onerous tasks like opening pubs, off-licenses and private hospitals.

Ray Corcoran
Ballymun
Dublin 11