Author: Anthony

The madness of O'Connor

Brendan O’Connor, the right wing Sunday Independent journalist is becoming increasingly agitated as the Mahon Tribunal slowly but surely closes in on his hero, Bertie Ahern.

He launched his latest tirade against the tribunal with the demand: “It should be shut down; it should be shut down now.”

From there his article descended into, well, madness really.

The country cannot afford it in financial terms.

It’s paralysing the affairs of state.

It’s preventing us from tackling the economic downturn.

The hounding of Bertie by the media and the Opposition is putting our jobs, homes and children’s future at risk.

People are no longer interested, there’s no appetite for it

Enda Kenny is a lame duck leader obsessed with hounding Bertie while everyone else has moved on.

The Daily Mail is hounding Bertie just to get a foothold in the Irish market.

The media, Opposition and the tribunal are only hounding Bertie because they have nothing else. Without the Bertie campaign many of them stand to lose status, money, work and relevance.

And then there are the lawyers; earning a fortune from the Bertie witch-hunt.

The whole thing has become a self-interested obsessional stalking, a mental illness that is spreading all the time, that has been foisted on the people against their will.

Vast tracts of our political and media establishment have lost touch with reality. Deluded, obsessed, mad people have led us down a cul de sac.

We have seen the greatest minds of our generation destroyed by madness and we have seen the greatest politician of our generation and his government rendered impotent by that madness.

Ah yes, the Tribunal is definitely getting very close.

Tighter budgetary situation…for some

It has long been accepted that there is a direct correlation between the number of students in a class and the quality of education that those students receive. For example, a class of ten students is more likely to achieve better results than a class of forty. The reason for this is obvious; students in small classes receive a more personal, direct and therefore better quality tutoring from their teachers.

It is because of this obvious fact that teachers, parents and associated organisations have been campaigning for decades to reduce class sizes in Ireland, which currently has the second highest teacher/pupil ratio in the EU. `They have largely failed in their efforts principally due to the consistent refusal by successive governments to provide the necessary funds.

Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin was on RTE (3rd item) last Friday mouthing the most recent excuse for not providing these critical funds.

“I think everybody recognises that there is a tighter budgetary situation this year and everything in our Programme for Government is in fact predicated on strong economic growth and it’s our major responsibility as a government to make sure that we keep the economy strong.”

Obviously, Ms. Hanafin believes that a pay increase of €38,000 for Bertie Ahern and €25,000 for her and her fellow ministers should not be considered within the ‘tighter budgetary situation’.

When she was finally pinned down on the matter she made the astonishing claim:

“There is no relationship at all, on any international study, to the quality of education and to the numbers in the class.”

If that’s the case, she was asked, why worry about class sizes at all? She replied as all Irish politicians do – with waffle.

The truth – In chilling words

We know by now that corruption, incompetence, hypocrisy and cowardice are endemic among those who mismanage this country so the reaction of Minister for Health Mary Harney to the latest cancer scandal is to be expected. It is, however, worth putting her weasel words on record.

We had the usual waffle from her last Wednesday (News at One, 1st item) when the reports were published.

“The issue was always to ensure the patients came first…(yet another) apology to the victims…we must learn the lessons…must ensure it doesn’t happen again…what’s important now is the future…the media caused untold anxiety.”

Her solutions were nothing short of revolutionary –

We’ve got to have somebody in charge at a national level…very basic management tools have now got to be put in place.

She strongly rejected that suggestion that the HSE had become a monster that she and her colleagues had created. Given the level of her incompetence it’s difficult to tell whether she believes that the eleven old health boards were actually abolished and replaced with the HSE (See here for what really happened).

Everybody in the real world knows that the eleven health boards are still there, still fully staffed, still sucking countless millions out of the health system. Everybody knows that the creation of the HSE, the twelfth health board, was the moment the health system went out of control, the moment when the bureaucrats took over, the moment when the system became more important than the patients, the moment when it began to kill people.

In words that were never meant to be publicly aired, Harney told the truth to Rebecca O’Malley, a woman who was nearly killed by the system (Nine News, 1st item, 2nd report).

“You do know, don’t you; that it isn’t safe to go into any of our hospitals.”

Millions being robbed as State stands idly by

In absolute desperation, Paul Hansard chairman of SIPTUs Dublin Construction Branch; put his life at risk by climbing to the top of a 52 metre crane in order to highlight the pension rights of builders. Hansard is alleging that his employer, Gmac Scaffolding, is breaking the law by not paying pension contributions (Six One News, 9th item).

Hansard displayed a pay slip from a previous employer that had detailed all deductions and compared it with a pay slip from Gmac that did not itemise deductions or carry any mention of mandatory pension contributions.

“How could anyone expect the chairman of Dublin’s construction branch (SIPTU) to work for a non compliant contractor on a Government project? What chance have ordinary workers out there got? So I had to make a stand.”

His stand cost him his job and for good measure, Gmac also sacked his son.

This might seem like a minor industrial dispute and indeed it was treated as such by the media, especially RTE. But in fact what’s happening here is criminality on a massive scale. Criminality that politicians, police, unions and so called regulatory agencies are all aware of but do little or nothing to stop, criminality that has been going on since the 1960s.

By law, all building firms must register workers in the Construction Federation Operatives Pension Scheme (CFOPS) and pay pension and sickness contributions. The company share of the pension contribution is just over €6 per week. For this employees receive sickness benefits and a €65,000 mortality lump sum, payable to their families in the event of death.

The scheme is allegedly policed by the Construction Industry Monitoring Agency, the Pensions Board and the Pensions Ombudsman Paul Kenny.

So why did Paul Hansard feel the need to risk his life and livelihood in order to obtain his most basic rights when all these so called enforcement agencies are supposed to be working on his behalf?

The answer is simple – Ireland is a rotten and corrupt state where law enforcement is for the little people, where white collar crime has yet to be recognised never mind tackled.

Government agencies like the Pensions Board and the Pensions Ombudsman do a lot of talking but make very little effort to protect workers from white collar criminals.

Here’s a list of media reports that prove the point (My emphasis).

2004/13th January – Irish Examiner.

It is estimated as many as half the country’s 4,000 construction firms have illegally avoided their pension obligations since the scheme began in the 1960s.

An Irish Examiner investigation subsequently named and shamed some of the country’s largest firms and exposed them for ripping off workers. These included some of the country’s leading construction companies with lucrative contracts on major Government infrastructure projects.

2004/ 9th February – Irish Examiner.

Pensions Ombudsman Paul Kenny is to investigate the widespread abuse of pensions law in the construction industry.

Mr. Kenny said he was extremely worried that construction firms were failing to pay pension contributions for workers, with families being deprived of badly needed mortality benefits.

I would say this is an extremely worrying situation that people seem to have been able to ignore legal obligations,” said Mr. Kenny.

Up to 50,000 construction employees are being cheated of their pension and sickness benefits worth an estimated €35m annually.

Mr. Kenny said he was anxious to pursue any company responsible for seeing families lose benefits.

The survivors of anybody who dies on a building site or, indeed, anyone who should have been in that scheme who dies of natural causes are entitled to that benefit,” he said.

Mr. Kenny said he could investigate all cases of companies depriving families of mortality benefits going back six years to April 1996

2005/20th October – Irish Times.

The Ombudsman has signalled a tougher stance against construction industry employers, saying he will refer complaints where the law has been broken so that prosecutions can be taken.

Complaints received include failure to register employees; failure to pay over contributions already deducted from employees’ pay, which Mr. Kenny described as “theft and nothing more”; and unethical practices in which workers are forced to pretend to be self-employed.

Since its establishment in April 2003 up until the end of 2004, the Ombudsman’s office received over 450 official complaints and his office handled over 1,500 telephone queries. In 2004, the Ombudsman made 23 determinations, but only upheld seven complaints. So far this year, he has made 46 determinations, upholding 12 complaints.

A further 43 cases were also settled by mediation last year, with 33 per cent ending in some concession to the complainant.

2006/16th February – Irish Times.

Construction bosses are stealing at least €120 million a year from workers but “not one of them has faced any serious rigour of the law”, Socialist TD Joe Higgins claimed yesterday.

He was referring to the statement by the pensions Ombudsman that between 70,000 and 120,000 construction workers were being denied their legal and mandatory pension rights.

Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern said. It was a long-term issue and “having stronger legislation, a pensions ombudsman and proper investigation of the operation of pension schemes” were hugely beneficial.

2006/14th September – Irish Independent.

The Ombudsman also warns that construction firms which deduct workers’ pension payments and do not remit them to the scheme will be reported to the Garda Fraud Office for investigation.

“There are still depressing numbers of complaints about the failure of construction employers to register employees, or pay contributions or, worst of all, the theft by employers of contributions which have not been remitted.”

He made clear that builders would have to pay any pension arrears owing before new legislation came into force in July – and delay could cost them even more.

State authorities have the power to put an immediate stop to this outrageous abuse, theft and fraud. The legislation is there, the enforcement agencies are there and the State has full knowledge of the crimes being committed.

The obvious question is – Why isn’t the State acting against these criminals?

The answer is obvious to anyone with even the remotest knowledge of how things are done in this country.

Frank Dunlop – No regrets, no worries

Frank Dunlop has completed his evidence to the Mahon Tribunal (RTE, 7th item). He has no regrets and only one concern – to get his book published before the tribunal reports.

He was one of the central facilitators in some of the most destructive and blatant planning corruption in the history of the State and he’s not in the least bit worried about any possible consequences.

And he has no need to worry because he lives in a country that accepts corruption as a normal and legitimate aspect of its culture.

HSE Leprechauns

How’s this for a great piece of Leprechaun logic?

The Health Service Executive (HSE) is closing down a home for homeless pregnant women so that the women can be looked after in their own homes.

Yes, that’s correct – The HSE is going to look after homeless pregnant women in their own homes.

Somebody from the home was supposed to discuss the matter on Liveline today but, apparently, the ruthless bureaucrats in the HSE got to them first and imposed a news blackout.

Sinn Fein Councillor Christy Burke, who recently seconded a motion at a Dublin City Council meeting calling for the abolition of the HSE, suspects that the HSE is planning to sell the home.

He’s probably right; the property is located on Eglington Road in Donnybrook, which according to Joe Duffy, is the second most expensive piece of real estate in the country after Ailsbury Road.

So, out with these homeless women, the HSE Leprechauns want to dig for their crock of gold.

Fianna Fail mafia

Fianna Fail extremist Brendan O’Connor, writing in last Sunday’s Independent, issued the following hilarious warning:

“If Bertie Ahern is effectively hounded out of office anytime soon, just let me warn you now that the country is going to feel a massive sense of collective shame and regret.”

This piece of idiocy was immediately followed by an even more hilarious mafia style threat:

“And when the hangover kicks in we will look for people to blame. And it won’t be Bertie’s own loyal backbenchers or Brian Cowan. Maybe Enda Kenny and Frank Connolly should organise to be out of the country that week.”

O’Connor is right in one respect; Fianna Fail is a family. He writes about the great tradition of loyalty to the leader, about the (Fianna Fail) family putting on a united face.

Brian Cowen, speaking recently in defence of Bertie the ‘ward boss’ said that loyalty (to the leader/party) was the greatest virtue.

Mary Hanafin, speaking on Today FM last Sunday spoke passionately about how members of the ‘family’ look after each other, how loyal they were to the party. A panel member remarked that it sounded like she was talking about the Sopranos. And of course that’s exactly what Fianna Fail is; a mafia.

Public Affairs Consultant, Peter White was in no doubt when he spoke on the Marian Finucane Show last Sunday.

“There’s only one human quality that Fianna Fail espouses and that’s loyalty to the brotherhood, the party and there’s only one other organisation in Europe that has the same approach – The Mafia.

Blog Awards and the psychologically imbalanced

Congratulations to all the winners and to those who organised and presented the Blog Awards on Saturday night. , it was a very enjoyable event.

It’s always interesting to meet the faces/personalities behind the computer screen. Myself and Gavin had a really interesting conversation, ranging across politics, religion and war with Michael Nugent of That’s Ireland. John Waters also came up for analysis and I mentioned an article that Waters had written in April 2006 for the now defunct Catholic newspaper, The Voice.

Waters was writing about David Beckham’s admission that he suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Beckham had spoken about how he was addicted to rearranging hotel rooms and lining up cans of soft drinks to make ‘everything perfect’.

Most of the article is taken up with an explanation of OCD and how the condition affects people. Here’s how Waters concludes the article which is entitled –

Beckham’s obsession is a God complex.

“But there are ways of seeing such things other than in a clinical context. What is called OCD, if it should appropriately be called a disease at all, is quite manifestly a disease of the spirit.

Yes, it can be tracked in a clinical context, but excessive emphasis on this aspect can obscure the fact that it is one of a host of escalating symptoms of atheistic society, in which the contagion of disbelief is placing enormous and unacknowledged or misdiagnosed pressure on the individual to become the ‘god’ of his or her own life. Other such conditions include alcoholism, drug-addition, gambling, over-eating and excessive dieting.

One does not have to be a David Beckham, and be described in newspapers as ‘godlike’, to suffer from these modern afflictions. And while they may indeed be relatively amenable to clinical diagnosis and pharmaceutical or therapeutic treatment, the result of such interventions can frequently result in the suppression of symptoms while the underlying condition is left unaddressed.

The desire to impose order on the universe and to become unsettled at our inevitable failure to do so is ultimately a symptom of the compulsion to take over from a God we no longer know.

In the modern world, saturated with unbelief, this can afflict both believer and unbeliever. Denied the certainties that informed the serenity of our ancestors, we feel increasingly pressured to occupy in our own lives the throne where once we would have acknowledged the presence of our creator. The self-imposed pressure to become the ‘god’ of our own lives is, literally, driving us mad.

There is but one solution, and it is neither a pill nor a therapy: the idea that there is One who has all power, in whose hands all order is ultimately decided.”

Clearly, David Beckham is not the only one suffering from a psychological imbalance.

Forces of law and order waiting for permission

I see Joe Burke, chairman of Dublin Port Company and close friend of Bertie Ahern, is to resume work next week despite being deemed too ill to be questioned by Gardai in a sexual assault investigation (Irish Independent).

Burke has already resumed a full social life but Gardai are still waiting ‘for permission’ from Burke’s medical team before inconveniencing this important man.

It’s reasonable to assume from this timid and respectful approach by the forces of law and order that if Burke’s medical team decides that he can never be questioned then the Gardai will meekly accept that decision.