Getting the message out

I was delighted when contacted by the political correspondent of the Irish Independent, Fionnan Sheahan, regarding my complaint to SIPO about the Bertiegate payments.

As a result of his article I was contacted by Noel Walsh of Shannon & Northern Sound Radio and gave an interview which provided an excellent opportunity to explain what Gavin and I are trying to achieve on the Blog.

There’s just one small but important point I would like to make on the article. While serving in the navy I was not a commissioned officer but held a rank equivalent to a sergeant in the army.

Here’s the article

Bertiegate’ ethics complaint ‘unlikely to succeed’

Thursday April 19th 2007

ONE of the people who made an official complaint to the ethics watchdog about the Taoiseach’s ‘Bertiegate’ payments identified himself yesterday.

Anthony Sheridan, a self-styled anti-corruption campaigner from Cork, made one of the two official complaints to the Standards In Public Office Commission (SIPO) about Bertie Ahern.

SIPO is informally inquiring into the complaints Mr. Ahern breached ethics legislation arising from payments of over €50,000 made to him by friends in the early 1990s.

Mr. Sheridan made his complaint under the Ethics In Public Office Act. He claims the Taoiseach breached the act by accepting the cash when he was Finance Minister.

Mr. Sheridan said from his communications with SIPO staff, he doubted if his complaint would succeed.
He said he made the complaint as the commission cannot investigate an issue unless it receives an official request from a member of the public to do so.

“I think it was important to do it anyway to get it on the record,” he said.

“I am outraged the commission are not allowed to initiate an investigation without a complaint. How Banana Republic is that?” he said.

Mr. Sheridan is a former Navy officer, living in Cobh.

He now runs the website www.publicinquiry.eu with his nephew, Gavin Sheridan, and campaigns against corruption.

Fionnan Sheahan

© Irish Independent