Suspended garda begins challenge to tribunal

Latest from the Morris Tribunal:

The detective wants the module deferred until a criminal trial in which he is being prosecuted is completed. He denies the charge and all allegations against him.

The move follows a judgment last Friday by tribunal chairman Mr Justice Frederick Morris refusing the detective’s application to adjourn the module.

The chairman ruled that the module should proceed in private as a public hearing could prejudice Sgt White’s criminal trial. He said the evidence would cover the same issues as those to be heard in the trial.

…

The chairman said he was not satisfied that it was in the interests of justice or necessary to protect the right of Sgt White to a fair trial to grant an adjournment until the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.

He said the legal cases could go on for some time, particularly if they were appealed. It was now more than four years since Sgt White was charged. Delays had already taken place in the hearing of the trial and there was a realistic danger that it could be some years before it came to a hearing, if ever.

Anti-corruption group calls for ombudsman

Over the weekend a new anti-corruption group, headed by Frank McBrearty Jnr., was launched at the Mansion House in Dublin. This is a welcome development. I was contacted some weeks back by a representative of the new group but have not heard back since. The Irish Times reports on it today:

He announced the new group at a public meeting held on Saturday afternoon in Dublin’s Mansion House. He likened the new group to the One in Four campaign, in that it will seek to deal with what he terms as victims of the abuse of power by State institutions.

Mr McBrearty was accompanied at the launch by eight other speakers on the platform, including TDs Dan Boyle, Joe Higgins and Sean Crowe, as well as journalists Frank Connolly and Eamonn McCann; Aisling Reidy of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties; and Labour Cllr Nicky Kelly and Osgur Breathnach – both of whom were wrongly convicted for the Sallins train robbery in 1976.

About 250 people attended the meeting, including Labour Party justice spokesman Joe Costello.

Mr McBrearty said the primary aim of the group was the setting up of an ombudsman similar to the office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Nuala O’Loan.

This weblog welcomes the aims of Anti-Corruption Ireland, and hope that Irishcorruption.com can assist in highlighting corruption in Ireland.

First rule – Always be covered

I think it’s very curious that the Government have decided not to publish the Ferns Report on the internet for “legal reasons’. The report is available from Government Publications only in hard copy. It is not available on CD.

A spokesman for the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Dept. responsible for the report told me

‘The report was not actually published. It was placed before the Houses of the Oireachtas and is therefore covered by Executive privilege.’

This is consistent with the way things are done in Ireland. No matter how serious the situation is, no matter what damage has been done to innocent citizens, no matter what loss has been suffered, the first rule is ABC – Always Be Covered.

Of much less importance but also curious is how difficult it is to contact the Government Publications Office. You would imagine that this service would be available on the internet for citizens to browse through the many publications.

Not only is it unavailable on the net but it is “invisible’ in the telephone directory. You must first be inspired to realise that this important office comes under the Office of Public Works (OPW).

The Ferns Report is on the internet, despite government shenanigans. It can be accessed at Ferns Report.

Government Publications – 01/6476879
Mail Order Section – 01/6476000

The sheriff is not for the good guys

BANKING Rottweiler Liam O’Reilly still doesn’t trust the banking sector not to get up to mischief again. “There’s an old saying. Trust . . . and verify,” he smiles.

The above quote is from an interview with the Financial Regulator’s chief executive, Liam O’Reilly in last Sunday’s Independent .

Anyone unfamiliar with the fact that Ireland is a corrupt state might get the impression that O’Reilly is an Eliot Ness type figure relentlessly pursuing the corrupt and protecting the interests of honest citizens.

An analysis of the article will clear up any such misconceptions.

AIB will have more reason than most to cheer O’Reilly’s impending retirement from the Financial Regulator’s office, having been hit for €34m after the forex rip off

AIB were not hit for €34m. They were not hit for anything. The €34m in question was the amount they stole from their customers and that’s all they were required to pay back.

At the time the Financial regulator did not have the power (even if it wanted to) to impose any punishment on AIB because the civil servants who established the organisation did not provide for any such power. This is like a car manufacturer designing a car with no petrol tank – in other words, gross incompetence.

There was always a very clear determination by (AIB chairman) Dermot Gleeson and the board to sort it out. It’s not to say that in this room that there weren’t some very hard and tough conversations. But it was always businesslike. It was never personal,” he says. “A bit like the mafia.

Unwittingly, O’Reilly hits the nail on the head here. ‘A bit like the Mafia’ Can you imagine the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) the American equivalent of our Financial Regulator, inviting Enron into the office to “sort out” allegations of very serious corruption? All done in private with no police involvement.

In the US, the police and SEC were involved from the start. Everything was done in public and through the courts, in other words justice was seen to be done. Our Financial Regulator operates, for the most part, in secrecy. This policy benefits the corrupt and damages the interests of ordinary citizens.

On the Cologne Re corruption, O’Reilly is quoted as follows.

“We were on top of that from day one…”We were quietly moving on it.’

Quietly is the operative word here. The Australians and the Americans immediately initiated legal action, keeping their public (customers) fully informed of events while our Financial Regulator kept things quiet preferring to merely “monitor” the situation. This is despite the fact that the corruption originated in Dublin’s IFSC centre. No wonder the New York Times labeled the IFSC “the financial wild west”.

‘Up until May of this year the regulator had secured over €69m in refunds for consumers’

‘In refunds’?? The consumer, somehow, is supposed to be grateful that the regulator managed to get refunds for stolen money. No fines, no police involvement, just quietly refund the stolen money.

‘Some 32 institutions have been nailed for 259 cases of overcharging since May 2004.’

What does O’Reilly mean by “nailed’?? None of these institutions were punished in any way whatsoever for their corruption. All of them are protected by the regulator through a policy of secrecy. This secrecy puts the ordinary citizen at a serious disadvantage in that he is unaware that he may be dealing with an organisation that has a record of stealing from its customers.

‘Perhaps AIB won’t be the only bank who’ll be happy to see the sheriff leave town.’

AIB were never afraid of O’Reilly nor do they care who replaces him. They are safe in the knowledge that his successor will maintain the policies that have always protected the financial institutions at the expense of ordinary citizens.

That’s how things are done in the financial ‘wild west’ sector in Ireland

Councillor charged with misuse of funds

From today’s IT, in a story by John Fallon:

A councillor has appeared in court in connection with the alleged misappropriation of funds belonging to Galway County Council.

Cllr Michael Fahy, who resigned from Fianna Fail last year when this matter first emerged, but who continues to serve as an independent member of the council, appeared before Kinvara District Court.

And the alleged crime:

The alleged offences relate to incidents going back over four years and include summonses in relation to amounts of €7,523.91 and €3,702.12. He also faces two summonses under the Larceny Act 1916 and under the Criminal Justice Act.

Council struck deal to sell public park it didn't own

A helpful reader emails from Limerick highlighting a story from the Irish Examiner last week. Karl Hanlon writes in the Examiner:

Limerick City Council struck a deal to sell off part of a public park they didn’t yet own to a developer. Documents show the council agreed to “facilitate” a private development of the land nearly a full year before planning permission was granted to the company for a 59-unit apartment complex and a mix of retail/office space.

Freedom of Information documents show the local authority agreed in writing to sell part of the People’s Park to Reidy Civil Engineering Ltd for €1.57 million as far back as 2002, even though it didn’t own it at the time.

The land was, in fact, held in trust and covered by the terms of a 500-year lease entered into by the Earl of Limerick, the People’s Park Trustees and Limerick Corporation in the 19th Century.

But wait, there’s more

In January 2004, Limerick City Council formally completed the purchase of the site from both the People’s Park Trustees and the Earl of Limerick’s estate for €150,000 and later completed the sale of the same lands to the developer for €1.57m more than 10 times the price.

The sale of the 0.44 acre site was only formally approved by City Hall earlier this year.

Limerick city manager Tom Mackey denied yesterday that the price agreed was less than the market value of the land and said he was satisfied that the disposal of the land had been carried out properly.

A spokesman for Limerick City Council confirmed that the Department of the Environment had been in contact with the local authority’s finance department seeking clarification on details of the sale of the land.

It is also understood that Environment Minister Dick Roche has been presented with a letter detailing many aspects of the disposal of the land by the council.

Dick Roche is on the case…we are saved.

The sale was not put out to public tender and a slightly larger piece of land adjoining that purchased by Reidy Civil Engineering Ltd raised some €2.85m when it was sold to another developer on the open market.

Limerick City Council said there was nothing unusual in deciding against putting the site on the open market and said the sale price was reached on a “pro-rata” basis relative to the sale of the adjoining site.

Local residents raised strong objections to the controversial development on a site which they said had been given to the people of the city for use as a public park.

Independent city councillor Jim Long who first brought the controversy to light, said local residents were angry that it appeared that a deal was done without adequate public consultation.

Minister of State Tim O’Malley said yesterday: “The questions are there to be answered, and the day is long gone when deals like this could be done without the degree of accountability required.”

The questions are there to be answered indeed, but they won’t be.

Theft in the army

In a unrelated story to that posted below:

In a separate development, MPs have begun an inquiry into allegations that a member of the Defence Forces at Rockhill Barracks, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, had been stealing diesel from military vehicles and replacing it with illegal, laundered fuel.

It has been alleged the fuel used to refill the vehicles at Rockhill had its origins in an illicit fuel laundering operation run by individuals linked to the Provisional IRA. Much of the laundered fuel operations in Border counties are controlled by paramilitary figures.

Mr O’Dea has confirmed that an allegation relating to the larceny of fuel is being investigated.

More nice language from O’Dea. It is interesting that this story features as a footnote to the story previous, it hints at collusion between the Provos and the Army in Donegal, a claim I have not read prior to this – besides perhaps the infamous Gardai.

Army fraud suspects may face Garda

Conor Lally writing in today’s Irish Times details the story of money going missing. I like the way the headline says may face Garda. (Gardai?)

Two members of the Defence Forces who were involved in an alleged 10-year misappropriation of funds may face a Garda investigation, Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea has said.

The Army last week stated that €70,000 had been recovered and that, because the personnel involved had not used other expended funds for their own personal gain, gardaa­ would not be called in.

However, Mr O’Dea has said he is not satisfied with statements on the matter made by the Southern Command, in whose area the matter took place.

“The final decision will rest with me as Minister for Defence to decide on what further action is needed . . . If I believe there was any form of criminal activity involved, I will ask outside authorities to investigate and I will make that decision once I study the Military Police (MP) investigation report this week.”

I like the word misappropriation, it sounds nice. It reminds me of Father Ted, the money was just resting in his account.

They were then allegedly paying the hotels by cheque for more meals than were consumed and allegedly had an arrangement with the hotels whereby the surplus money was kept on deposit for them. The money was then used during future visits.

It is alleged the men were also taking some cash sums from the money on deposit and using it to buy supplies such as stationery.

When the matter came to light, some €70,000 was being held on deposit by three hotels. This has since been recovered.

However, it is believed the alleged misappropriation took place for up to 10 years and that much larger sums were involved during the entire period.

Well as long as the money is recovered, no crime was committed right? And €70,000 pays for quite alot of meals. But wait:

However, it is believed the alleged misappropriation took place for up to 10 years and that much larger sums were involved during the entire period.

So this arrangement was a longstanding one, and a number of hotels turned themselves into banks. The question is where did all the money go, and what advantage was it to the hotels to hold on to the money, extra business from the army?

Call me cynical, but I can’t see any arrests arising from this.

Claims of solicitors' conflict of interest

I have heard stories like this from friends, and it was raised recently and reported in today’s Irish Times. Basically people are coming in to solicitor’s offices and trying to force their elderly parent(s) to sign over land or property to them.

Ken Murphy, director-general of the Law Society, said there was a clear ethical obligation on any solicitor not to act in a situation where there was a conflict of interest between their clients.

“Certainly if there is a person with diminished capacity and that person is signing away an interest then in principle there should be separate and independent legal advice for both parties,” he said.

If a solicitor was acting for two parties where there was a conflict of interest he or she could face a professional misconduct hearing and there was also the possibility that the transaction the solicitor was involved in could be challenged at a later stage, he added.

Mr Murphy said anyone with concerns about solicitors acting in situations where they had a conflict of interest should report this to the Law Society. They should also seek independent legal advice “if they have suffered as a result of this situation”.

By the way it is Day 22 since reports of solicitors stealing money was first aired. Still no arrests.

Corruption comparisons

Not only is America the most powerful country in the world today but it is by far the most powerful country in history. Therefore, when we talk about those who are presently in power in the White House, we are talking about the most powerful people ever in the history of the world. Yet, we read that one of these people, Lewis Libby, the vice-president’s chief of staff, could be facing 30 years in jail and millions of dollars in fines.

His alleged crimes? Perjury, making a false statement and obstruction of justice. I mention this case because it is useful in strengthening my opinion that Ireland is not just a country that suffers from a degree of corruption but is, as an entity, a corrupt state. Making comparisons is a good method of confirming this.

Anyone familiar with corruption in Ireland in recent years will know that perjury, making false statements and obstructing justice are very common. This is especially true of the more powerful members of Irish society.

Charlie Haughey, for example obstructed the McCracken tribunal but a judge ruled that because he was so well known he would not get a fair trial. This, in effect puts him above the law, a position he shares with hundreds of other so called elites of Irish society.

If Lewis Libby was an Irish politician, he would be receiving standing ovations from his political party and high praise from the leader of the country.