Drennan finally sees the light

I’m delighted to see that Sunday Independent journalist and (former?) Haugheyite, John Drennan, has at last realized what kind of a country he lives in.

Here’s some of what Drennan had to say in 2007 in defence of his hero the corrupt Haughey, the man, more than any other, who is responsible for turning Ireland into the banana republic it is today.

Why Haughey was never found to be corrupt:

Mr. Haughey was merely following precedents set by such illustrious figures as O’Connell and Parnell.

Reason for perception that Haughey was corrupt:

Haughey’s ‘corruption’ is the fantastical creation of a petit bourgeoisie of Tim Healy-style hysteria mongers, whose insipid viciousness explains their expertise in the price of everything and their ignorance about the value of anything.

On Haughey’s ‘fiscal probity’:

Mr. Haughey did make money courtesy of some good advice from patriotic sources.

On taking money from businessmen:

Of course Mr. Haughey did take money from Ben Dunne and other public-spirited businessmen. However, this was for life-style as distinct to political purposes.

On Haughey’s ‘insourcing’ of the FF leader’s allowance:

It was in payment for putting his home at Kinsealy at the service of the nation.

On Haughey’s tax problems:

Mr. Haughey did have some minor tax problems. However, unless you are in love with the lifeless technicalities of accountancy it would be easy to believe a gift is not a salary.

On Haughey’s refusal to cooperate with tribunals:

Some would argue that a refusal to obey those semi-legal, amoral instruments of oppression that collude with simpering creeps like Frank Dunlop as both try to save their respective skins was a genuine act of patriotism.

Real reason for hatred of Haughey:

The hatred of Haughey is all about the challenge he posed to a society which was petrified by notions of class…” (Quotes PJ Mara; ‘Haughey’s enemies thought they were ‘the fucking aristocracy.’).

Ireland without Haughey’s type:

…a dandified, foppish, lattefied, hygiene-obsessed, anti-smoking and anti-drinking (unless it’s a glass of red wine for the heart) school of bourgeois… a hissing, pissy, sanctimonious hysterical desert, which could only be invented by the petite bourgeoisie.

Phew – Did this man love Haughey and his standards or what?

Now Drennan, having finally woken up, is talking revolution against the inheritors of the corrupt Haughey’s legacy. Here are some quotes from yesterday’s article.

While the hanging bit is a tad excessive, when it comes to numbers Mr Swift may actually have been too prescriptive — for any bonfire of our Tiger nonentities should include a right good sprinkling of politicians, clerics, regulators, barristers, mandarins and social partners.

Last week, as the IMF unveiled Ireland’s status as a failed political entity, the collective immunity to reason that has gripped our leaders was epitomised by Brian Lenihan’s apparently sincere boast that we were on “the right track”.

What may have far more serious consequences is the apparent belief of our political dullards that, even though the country they created now resembles a pyramid scheme devised by con artists, life should go on as normal.

However, although they are incapable of recognising it, the real truth is that the Ireland created by the “Spoilt Princes” and “Marie Antoinettes” of Fianna Fail is now so damaged that the system needs the sort of revolution where things are busted up and put together again in a radically different way. (This is exactly what needs to be done)

Any transformation in the way this country works needs to start with taking the axe to the top civil service mandarins who have turned this country into an economic tiphead.

we need to select at least six of the top mandarins, line them up against a wall and sack them pour encourager les autres.

The axe need not be confined to our greedy, inept mandarins. It is past time that the salaries of greedy ministers, greedy judges, greedy barristers, greedy university professors and even greedier hospital consultants are halved — and if you people want to revolt, then try your luck in the private sector.

Nothing epitomised the dazed, disengaged incompetent nature of a Cabinet whose capacity to rule is totally compromised by its incestuous relationship with vested interests, more than Dermot Ahern’s recent astonishing claim that he was in politics because it puts money on the table.

So far, the response of the people and our elite to this transformation has been one of dazed stupefaction. However, unless Mr Cowen gets ahead of the people and starts to do the work required to rescue us, he may learn that no amount of sunshine will save him from a revolt by a nation which has been betrayed almost beyond reason by its elite.

Welcome to the Public Inquiry way of thinking Mr. Drennan.