We will not get through this crisis if our political institutions and system of governance do not change radically.
We should be clear that, economic stabilisation, much less recovery, will be stymied by alienation from our political system, by fragmentation of political support, and by the very real prospect of a rise in disenchantment and extremism among the tens of thousands who have joined the dole queue.
We need a realignment of politics in Ireland – we need democratic choices that mean something to contemporary society. We need a sense of right and wrong. We need a whole new political ethic premised on values-based leadership.
We need to engage individuals who have little interest in power as such, who have a commitment as well as a widely acknowledged expertise that is capable of restoring trust, confidence and a sense of direction.
So writes Prof. Ray Kinsella in today’s Irish Times. The professor is calling for the complete dismantling of the present (corrupt) political and administrative system.
He is, in effect, calling for a revolution and certainly nothing less will do. It is (depressingly) fascinating to observe politicians from all parties continue to behave as if the approaching disaster is nothing more than a local political/financial crisis.
Of course, this is inevitable. I pray it can be a peaceful revolution
Agree, but when?? I am alternately apalled, amazed, horrified, and gobsmacked that there has been so little evidence of the anger that everybody talks about. Is it because people are scared to manifest their opinions, in fear of sanctions from our government? Given the penchant for our leaders to threaten us maybe that is why we feel cowed…., pun intended. I note that today our PM is joined by his lickspittle finance minister in the threat department, labelling those who say he is protecting his party’s funders as {name your insulted party}…..
New “privacy” legislation will effectively gag journalist from disclosing thieving bankers or CEO’s and their corrupt government lackeys, keeping the tax paying public from having any notion of how their money is spent or whose pockets it is filling.
Does anybody manufacture guillotines anymore? Maybe somewhere in France?
Ive just finished watching Prime Time and my suspicions are now finally confirmed that not only have our politicians but our civil servants have been taking us for fools too. I have been banging on about this for years to any one who would listen, sometimes its just nice to say “I told you so”. The “Bearded Ones” who control the unions have become so smug that all they do now is repeat the same old mantra “the lower paid civil servant” conveniently forgetting the “higher paid civil servant”. Why is it that the only powerful unions in this country act on behalf of the Public Sector. The very sector that has Guarenteed Jobs, Guarenteed pensions. They are laughing at the ordinary people of Ireland. Bring on the Revolution and I will personally fund the purchase of a guillotine.
This thing is only beginning.If France was as big a basket case as Ireland,and if the Irish had the gumption of the French people,there would be cars burning on Kildare street and blocades in O´Connell St.!
Fianna Fail would already be out of power.
Question is- with what to replace them?
Well, it sounds good, we certainly need to be without these clowns if the Country is ever to come to anything – but surely the problem with any kind of revolt might be that Irish are being exploited by Irish, so it isn’t the same as the good-old-being-exploited by the English, etc., etc… how can we turn against our own? We had a rebellion which ultimately put them in power, mostly due to the voters being asleep, voting like Daddy,not voting at all, etc. And so they bequeathed to us this trail of corruption which leaks down from the top, the cronyism,nepotism,lying, cheating, fraud and outright theft which we are now seeing bubble to the scummy surface. But for God’s sake if the citizens are to do anything, let it be at the polls and not by way of some never-ending tribunal.
The problem with the polls is that the hard core Fianna Fail vote will always vote for them. They are the “I’M all right Jack” brigade, get youself a chimpanzee stick a Fianna fail badge on it and it would still get elected.
Yes Pat Lynch – you got it right; (and we know that if the chimp had a FF chimp parent we don’t even need a poll) They will stick to the FF line, those who are indoctrinated from birth – BUT – surely there are enough NON-FF-BRAINWASHED-TYPES to pull it off? Aren’t we hearing enough nowadays that we could hope for a massive Anti-Fianna Failure vote?And since we won’t be using our New Super Electronic Mchinery to count the votes then if we sharpen our pencils – they may prove destructive enough…
My pencil is ready. But if that doesn’t work I still have the guillotine on order. Get out your check book Pat.
FF loyalist have a misplace allegiance based on the de Valera tradition. What they fail to realize is the Finna Fail of today is the twisted sister of the Fianna Fail of 1926. I appreciate their sentimentality, and up with the focal (and that is another cause that is badly used and abused for the fiancial gain of a few) but as a nation we can not stand idly by while Cowen runs this country into the ground for the greedy elite. We stood against the Lisbon Treaty, and they were gobsmacked. We can take them out of the Dail too.
Pat,
It’s very easy for you to bang on about the ‘Civil Service’ taking people for fools etc and the mention of ‘lower paid’ and ‘higher paid’ Civil Servants but hang on a second….. I am assuming that you work in the private sector and that when times were good that you ‘made hay’. In the private sector the potential is there to make huge amounts when times are good but yet when times turn rough because of the greed of those in the private sector the first thing that those in the private sector do is jump on those who have plodded along on a just above inflation wage increase every year in public service. Pat if you want stability and you don’t want to make hundreds of thousands then join the Public Service, if you want to take your chances then branch out but FFS don’t slag off those who choose to plod along.
Peader
Go to your local deli and order a Revolution, i’ll have one to go please.
Long standing TD pay awards, it is more a case of be thankful you greedy bastards that you have an overpaid job and are still in it, for the moment and opposition take note, you too can be greedy bastards as you take from the taxpayers trough as well.
Jesus F****** Christ, what sort of a country have we become. If the climate was warmer we could grow bananas in this so called republic.
The pension levy rates are as follows:
A person earning €15,000 gross would pay a pension levy of 3% and the levy rises gradually thereafter.
* 5% on a salary of €25,000
* 6.4% on €35,000
* 7.2% on €45,000
* 7.7% on €55,000
* 8.1% on €65,000
* 8.5% on €85,000
* 8.8% on €100,000
* 9.2% on €150,000
* 9.4% on €200,000
* 9.6% on €300,000.
The following is quoted from the Irish Times.
“Public service pensions in Ireland are on average far more attractive than those in the private sector.
On retirement public servants receive a tax-free lump sum of 1½ times salary and then receive a pension of half salary. That pension continues to increase in line with pay and productivity increases in the public service.
The idea of a pension levy is that, in the light of their job security and better pensions, public servants should be asked to make a contribution to easing the problems facing the exchequer.”
So this levy they are complaining about is really just their own money put away to go back to them when they retire isn’t it? Isn’t that how pentions work in the private sector? My husbands pension contribution was taken from his pay check in construction. What are they complaining about will someone please tell me?
Peader
To take up Janet’s point
On retirement public servants receive a tax-free lump sum of 1½ times salary and then receive a pension of half salary.
Those highly paid civil servants we read about in the papers in the last few days
Pension of €80,000 per annum (INDEX LINKED) and €250,000 lump sum.
I can give you an example of my pension entitlements
I have salted away €45,000 after tax income in a pension fund, which I could do because of the Celtic Tiger, due to the crash it is now worth €39,000. This will entitles me when I retire to the princly sum of €179 PER MONTH and a lump sum of €11,000. In order for me to have a pension like these “PLODDERS” as you call them I would need to have invested €1.5 MILLION after tax income.
You see now why I am pissed off, And they then have the gall to complain about the pension levy.
Lets take up your point about the Private Sector, who do you think the private sector are?
Are they shop assistants, factory workers, farmers, office staff, sales reps, I can go on. How many of these have guarenteed jobs with guarenteed pensions, NONE. Yet they pay their taxes they loose their jobs. Yes this is the REAL private sector.
I will readily admit that some people have made a lot of money during the boom times but not as many as you think.
Irish Times Monday, April 27, 2009
Government to change rules on insolvent pensions
“THOUSANDS OF retirees are facing the prospect of having their pensions frozen under Government plans aimed at dealing with insolvent private pension funds”
“Last December, a leaked Government memo pointed to a hole of €20–€30 billion in defined-benefit pension schemes and noted that more than 90 per cent were expected to be in the red at the end of this year.”
I notice as usual none of this affects the defined-benfit pensions of our “plodding” Civil Servants
When I pay top dollar in my taxes I expect top quality service for that, not “plodders”. But we all know what we get.
I wonder how the vast majority of people in the private sector could have saved €37,500 every year for 40 years to amass the €1.5 Million that would be required in their pension fund in order for them to have a similar grossly inflated pension like our Civil Servants.
The inequities in this country never cease to amaze me.
Government is supposed to supply services with tax revenue. Let’s see now, what services are we getting with our increased taxed levy, Hospital A&E closings, transportation reductions, classroom sizes increasing, contracts with farmers on forestry and REPS not honoured? Funny how Government says they must honour the contracts on storage facilities for E voting machines for the next 30 years, but its ok for them to break their contracts with farmers.
Where is the value for money here? I’m with you Pat. Up the Revolution!
We won’t know WHY the Govt MUST honour the contracts on storing the bucket-of-bolts voting machines – UNTIL WE KNOW who own(s) the storage facilities and WHO made the storage deals, and if and how the two are related – either by blood, religion, club-membership, or just plain old FF nod-nod-wink-wink backslapping cronyism. Can’t they just remove them and say ‘That’s it…’and let ’em go to Court, where, hopefully, the Attorney General won’t be acting for the Government. JJ Tolkien, CS Lewis and Isaac whats his name couldn’t dream up the kind of fantasy tales we are hearing from this so-called Government…
Brother-In-Law
This is who are taking us for a ride
Irish Independent Monday December 24 2007
RETURNING officers took out leases of up to 25 years to store controversial e-voting machines, even though they only have a lifespan of 20 years.
It has been revealed that further bungles in the administration of the computers, which have never been used, are putting extra financial burdens on the taxpayer.
The Government has been deliberating on the fate of the machines, made obsolete since glitches were found in their security system.
An estimated €51.3m has already been spent on the ballot system although serious doubts have been raised over whether it will ever be used.
And the Government is also paying in the region of €2.6m a year just to keep the electronic balloting system in storage.
Annual storage costs were €528,000 this year, while last year the cost amounted to €706,000, €696,000 in 2005 and €658,000 in 2004.
Irish Independent Friday, February 13, 2009
LOCAL AUTHORITIES have contracts of up to 25 years for the storage of e-voting machines and face costs of millions for this facility, the Labour Party has claimed.
Parliamentary replies have shown that the e-voting machines have cost €54 million since first purchased, and storage last year cost €204,000 for the 7,491 machines involved.
If the machines are finally to be got rid of, it could cost the State millions in penalty clauses to buy out these contracts, said Labour environment spokesman Ciarán Lynch. Mr Lynch said in the Dáil yesterday that local authorities have contracts of up to 25 years with private contractors for storage of the voting machines and “will be paying money for the next 20 years”.
He asked if the Government planned to amend “procurement legislation in order to get out” of its commitment “for the next 25 years to pay for the storage of these machines”.
The Munster Express Friday, February 13th, 2009
Formal accounts laid before the Dáil this last year showed that in its three years of operation the Commission on Electronic Voting cost a further €1.899m. More than half of this money – €1.043m – was accounted for by consultancy fees.
Waterford News & Star Friday, February 18, 2005
AN expensive storage facility at the Johnstown Business Park in the city is contracted to remain the home of 170 electronic voting machines for the next nine years.
Despite costing up to five times the national average to store the machines, which have never been used, in the region of €40,000 a year will continue to be paid to the owners of the Johnstown property.
They are local auctioneer John Rohan, his wife Bernadette and businessman Michael Cahillane and his wife Monica, trading as Johnstown Properties Ltd.
The high storage costs were exclusively revealed by the Waterford News & Star as far back as May 21 last when it was confirmed that the cost was in the order of €40,000 annually.
Over the weekend when it emerged that the cost of storing the machines in Waterford was up to five times higher than elsewhere in the country, Michael Cahillane said that his business partner had declared his interest in the successful tender. He also said that the property was chosen because it met rigorous specifications laid down by the manufacturers of the voting machines.
Just Google, its all there. But do they care, NO!!! as long as their cronies are OK
Those E-voting machines would make good weight. I suppose if they were tied to the necks of certain Ministers of Government and heaved into the sea they might have been worth it all in the end.
Janet, I would rather save their necks for the guillotine, off with their heads.
Thanks, Nome de Plume, your info was what I more or less expected. Wonder what the ‘rigorous specifications’ were from the manufacturers when they sold Ireland stuff that wouldn’t work anyway…Or was it that we didn’t have competent operators, maybe FAS hadn’t got an e-voting machine module from their consultant designers in time. Or maybe somebody just went an’ spent the money an’ had a great time. If we get those weight-driven and apparantly foolproof manually operated machines you guys are talking about, we will also need tumbrils; knitting needles and wool (not yarn, we’ve had enough of those) baskets for catching the useless parts (the heads) and howling mobs. Suggest the Grey Power Gang for this. Christ Almighty, makes yer weep.