Beef baron Larry Goodman was well known as an astute businessman who had an uncanny ability of keeping tabs on every detail of his huge empire. But when the Beef Tribunal reported in August 1994 it found that Larry knew nothing of the massive fraud and tax evasion rampant throughout his company. Deals done, arrangements made, blind eyes turned.
Tax cheat Michael Lowry had a massive extension built on to his house courtesy of the Dunne family. The extension was illegal as it had no planning permission and therefore should have been demolished. Michael managed to get retrospective planning permission. Deals done, arrangements made, blind eyes turned.
Corrupt politician Charles Haughey should have been brought to justice for lying to the McCracken tribunal. It was decided, however, that he was too well known to get a fair trial and was, in effect, placed above the law. Deals done, arrangements made, blind eyes turned.
Beverly Flynn encouraged tax evasion. She sued RTE for saying so and lost. She owed RTE/taxpayer nearly €3million as a result of her actions. Now we’re told that she will only have to pay a fraction of this. Deals done, arrangements made, blind eyes turned.
Real accountability, no matter what it costs the taxpayer or the reputation of the country, must be avoided.