Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
I see the fraudster and tax cheat Mick Wallace is thinking of getting out of politics.
This follows an embarrassing turnout to an event he was organizing in his own constituency.
Could this be another indication that Irish citizens are waking up to the damage done to the country by electing low grade representatives?
It is reported in today’s Irish Examiner that an unprecedented 83 complaints were made to the Clerk of the Dail regarding the latest Michael Lowry scandal.
Personally, I’m heartened by this development. For years I have been making complaints and asking questions, both orally and in writing, in response to the corrupt activities of politicians and officials.
I have always been, and still am, treated by these people as nothing more than a crank.
Perhaps Irish citizens are finally waking up to the enormous damage being done to them and their children by this diseased state.
The head of Bank of Ireland, Richie Boucher, gave two fingers to the Oireachtas Finance Committee yesterday.
Bankers have been giving the two fingers to politicians and by extension to the people of Ireland for decades with no fear whatsoever that they will be brought to account.
For decades, politicians have been ‘outraged’ by the arrogant and greedy behaviour of bankers but for some odd reason never seem to get around to actually doing anything about the situation.
And it’s not just politicians who seem to be completely powerless in the face of the all powerful banks.
Take Tony Foley for example. Mr. Foley is a seasoned academic; he’s a senior lecturer in economics, no less, at DCU.
But despite his academic credentials, position and experience Mr. Foley effectively admits that he has no idea what’s going on when it comes to bankers in Ireland.
Not only that but Mr. Foley is also frightened, very worried and greatly surprised by the antics of Irish bankers.
Here’s some of what he had to say on The Late Debate (1 Nov) the other night.
AIB is 99% owned by the Government. It frightens me that AIB are talking about raising interest rates by about five or six percent, that they would have to increase their margins hoping to offer investors a return of about 8 to 12% in equity.
And the thing that surprised me greatly was, this is a government owned bank.
Has the Government told them that this is the target equity requirement?
They talked about talking to investors; I didn’t know the Government told them to talk to investors.
They were talking of maybe in two years investors might be willing to put money in.
I wasn’t aware there was a timetable for re-privatisation of AIB.
What do you think is going on Mr. Foley was asked.
I think they’re forgetting that they’re owned by the state and I think they’re behaving as private sector banks.
We don’t want investors now because the Government owns the equity. We want the bank to operate on behalf of the public.
Later on we might be looking for investors if we want to sell them so I don’t even know why they’re talking to investors right now.
As my good deed for the day I’m going to enlighten Mr. Foley, I’m going to try and relieve him of some of that fear, worry and surprise under which he is clearly labouring.
The state does not own AIB; it’s all pretence.
AIB and the State are marking time in the hope that the crisis will work itself out.
The state is marking time in the (vain) hope that AIB and the economy will somehow recover.
When (if) that happens the pretence that the people own the bank can be quietly dropped.
AIB will then return to what it does best, exploiting and ripping off its customers.
The billions owed by the bank, will of course, remain off the books and on the shoulders of citizens for decades to come.
AIB is also marking time until things settle down. In the meantime it’s continuing to operate, with the full backing of the political and administrative system, as a private sector bank.
This is the part that puzzles Mr. Foley and many other ‘experts’.
They simply cannot accept a brutal reality that has been obvious for many decades.
The state/administrative/political system supports the banks no matter what they do. We saw it with the Dirt scandal, with Ansbacher, with NIB, and endless other scandals.
It’s crucial to understand that state authorities knew about and in some cases actively supported these activities as they were happening.
It’s also crucial to understand that white-collar crime is not actually a crime in Ireland; it’s an intrinsic, well-established aspect of the governing process.
That’s why politicians, bankers and other people of power and influence are, and never will be, brought to account.
The situation will only change when enough people realise that our corrupt political/administrative system does not act in the interests of Ireland and its people.
Copy to:
Tony Foley
Letter in today’s Irish Times.
The letter supports the core principle of Public Inquiry – that Ireland is an intrinsically corrupt state.
That all politicians and political parties, once they have their snouts in the trough, have no problem in abandoning their principles.
Sir,
Prof Ray Kinsella has suggested that at least one seat in the Seanad should be reserved for the Diaspora (October 24th).
Frankly, such a seat would have all the attraction of a berth on the Titanic as it approaches the iceberg.
One of the unremarked benefits of emigration is that the emigrant can leave behind the endemic sleaze, nepotism and corruption of Irish political life.
The fiction that the creators of the Republic sought power for the people of Ireland has been totally exposed as successive “governments” of the same political clique overturn their “principles” as soon as they get their snouts in the trough.
The reality is that in a country much smaller in population than London there are far too many TDs, far too many “political advisers”, far too large political salaries and far too large allowances.
Moreover, there is clearly no intention of changing matters except around the fringes.
When Enda Kenny and his cronies go crawling to Angela Merkel, does it ever occur to them how they must appear when they are paying themselves pretty much the same as their German equivalents who have a 10 times larger population?
I suggest the time to offer emigrants a say in Irish political life is when political degeneracy here has been eliminated.
In the meantime, they would be better served by involving themselves in the political life of the countries to which they have emigrated rather than trying to prop up the edifice of the country that has failed them.
Yours etc,
Kevin O’Sullivan
Co Donegal
I have often described politicians, businessmen and even ordinary citizens as living in a parallel universe when it comes to the reality of how things are done in Ireland.
But the manner in which the media has reported Mick Wallace’s admission that he hired a hitman to recover owed money is beginning to make me suspect that perhaps it’s me that’s living in a parallel universe
Here are some examples of how Wallace’s claim has been reported (my emphasis).
He had once spoken to a hitman who described how he could threaten a contractor with a gun in order to recoup money owed to him.
He once threatened to hire a hitman.
He made it clear that he did not actually hire a hitman.
Ok, I need to do a forensic examination of exactly what Wallace told Marian Finucane to see if I’m missing something that’s obvious to everybody else.
Fact one: Marian Finucane brought up the matter of how Wallace dealt with money he was once owed by a building contractor.
She described Wallace as having dealt with the matter in a very particular kind of way.
Fact two: Wallace did not dispute Finucane’s description but launched immediately into the story.
Fact three: Wallace stated he was owed €170,000 but only received €150,000 from the building contractor.
Fact four: Wallace made it clear he was unhappy with being refused the money he was owed.
Fact five: Wallace stated he tried to retrieve the money he was owed through his solicitor but strongly suggested that this option was a dead end.
Fact six: Wallace stated he met a debt collector the very next night in a pub (the night after talking to his solicitor, presumably).
Fact seven: Wallace recounted his conversation with the debt collector as follows:
I said, there’s a guy who owes me money, a contractor right. I’ve never met the owner but I’m dealing with a contracts manager, all my dealings have been with him.
If I said to you; go get my money, how would you do it?
Well, he said; I just need his name and the company he works for and I’d find out the rest and I’d go out to his house at eight or nine at night when he’s at home. I’d knock on the door, I’d put my foot in the door and I’d have a gun with me and I’d give him seven days to pay and generally they pay.
And I said, well, I’m owed €20,000. What would it cost me?
He said; four. You get sixteen and I get four.
I said right, ok. Let me think about it.
Fact eight: Wallace recounted how he arranged to meet a guy for a pint who used to work for him but now worked for the contracts manager involved in the matter.
Wallace recounted the following exchange between himself and the man he invited for a pint.
By the way, I’m going to get that money from the contractor.
Are you serious?
I am, yeah.
That’s great, how did you do it?
I haven’t got it yet but I’m going to get it. This guy has guaranteed me I’m going to get it.
How did you do it?
Well, I hired a hitman and I explained to him (the man he was having a pint with) how he (the hitman) is going to get the money.
I don’t believe you Wallace; I don’t believe you; that’s incredible.
What can I do, I need the money, they owe it to me; he will pay so there won’t be any trouble.
Fact nine: Wallace stated that two days later he received a phone call from the owner of the company that owed him money and he agreed to accept €16,000 from the company.
Fact ten: Wallace ended his account of this matter with the following sentence.
But to be honest, no, I wouldn’t have sent a gunman to his door, no.
Here’s my understanding of Wallace’s claims.
He was refused money he was owed by a building contractor. He was unable to retrieve the money through his solicitor. He hired a hitman to recover the money for him.
Try as I might I am completely unable to change the meaning or even put any kind of slant on the following words that came from Wallace’s own mouth:
I hired a hitman.
Neither can I put any slant on Wallace’s words:
This guy has guaranteed me I’m going to get it.
His claim that he wouldn’t send a gunman is bizarre and unbelievable when compared to his frank and detailed account of events.
There’s an article in today’s Irish Independent regarding my complaint against Mick Wallace.
Independent TD and friend of Wallace, Maureen O’Sullivan, said that Wallace’s ‘hitman’ comments were very unfortunate.
She continued:
I know he said he didn’t use a hitman but the interview could have done without a mention of it.
The point to note here is that Ms O’Sullivan seems completely unconcerned by the fact that a fellow politician seems to be admitting that he committed a serious crime.
Her sole concern seems to be that the matter was mentioned at all. In common with most Irish politicians Ms. O’Sullivan would, apparently, prefer if such matters were swept under the carpet.
Ireland is not a democratic state.
It is a state governed under the rules and very low standards of gombeenism and stroke politics.
Every politician/political party must decide, on coming to power, whether to cooperate with the rotten system to further their own interests or challenge the system in the interests of the Irish people.
Here’s some examples from recent times of decisions made that support the rotten system.
Former Progressive Democrats TD, Fiona O’Malley.
It’s something that has always annoyed me, that the PDs are watchdogs. We have our own standards. Every other political party is responsible for their own standards within their own party. We are not watchdogs for any other party.
Green Party leader and then Minister for the Environment John Gormley.
We never assigned ourselves that role because it’s a role which you cannot fulfull properly and do your work as well. We’re not the moral watchdog of any political party…we look after our probity and our standards…we cannot be responsible for events that took place before our entry into government.
Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton effectively rejecting the ethical standards of Roisin Shortall in favour of Minister Reilly’s stroke politics.
The fortunes of individual politicians and political parties comes after the issue of restoring the fortunes and the businesses and the employment that’s been lost in this country, and that’s our objective.
An article on Minister Shortall’s resignation by journalist Fionnan Sheahan in today’s Irish Independent could have been written by James Reilly himself.
The title of the article gives the first hint that Sheahan is not impressed with Ms. Shortall’s decision to resign on principle.
What did she hope to achieve by this?
Some more quotes from the article:
She’s now out in the cold.
She had ambitions to be a cabinet minister.
Her disappointment at being overlooked…was evident.
She felt frustrated at not being able to wield influence inside of Government.
Still, she was appointed to a reasonable junior ministry.
Her colleagues in Government were none too impressed by her petulant speech.
(The speech where she was critical of the Minister for Health).
Teeing it up as a point of principle on an issue her colleagues had moved on from.
There were few tears being shed within the coalition.
Ms Shortall merely joins the ranks of the disaffected Labour TDs.
Clearly, Mr. Sheahan is one of those journalists who have gone over to the dark side.
He, like most of the politicians he mixes with, has lost his understanding of the concept of principle.
Holding power at any cost is all that matters.
Well done to Roisin Shortall. An Irish government minister resigning on a point of principle is a very rare event indeed.
Betrayed Irish citizens can only hope it’s the first glimmer of a change in the corrupt, gombeen culture of Irish politics.
And make no mistake about it; Health Minister James O’Reilly is a gombeen, stroke politician of the lowest order.
As is his fellow gombeen colleague Leo Varadkar who provided us with some hilarity in his attempts to sound ethical while defending gombeenism.
Asked by Sean O’Rourke if O’Reilly had engaged in stroke politics Varadkar replied:
It looks like it but I don’t know if it is or not.
Varadkar likes to see himself as one of the brave new wave of politicians who are going to change the way politics is done in Ireland.
Unfortunately, as he tries to sound honest and ethical he just can’t quite manage to pull away from the gombeen influence that he was weaned on.
And so he ends up being ridiculous by effectively claiming:
Yes, it is stroke politics (The brave new Varadkar).
But no, it’s not stroke politics (The gombeen Varadkar).
In the end politicians like Varadkar will have to make a choice, regress back fully into the mindset of gombeenism or follow the example of politicians like Ms. Shortall and stand on principle, whatever the cost.
I was impressed with a quote by an angry lady on the Frontline last night when the issue of property tax was being discussed.
When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty.
I was less impressed with the self-proclaimed hypocrite Luke Ming Flanagan when the issue of appropriate dress for TDs was being discussed.
It’s what you say and what you do (that’s important).
Indeed, and we all know Flanagan believes that supporting his friend, the tax fraudster Wallace, is more important than serving the national interest.