Body Politic – Page 5 – Public Inquiry

Fergus Finlay: Politics is not corrupt

By Anthony Sheridan

The headline of the article was not only dramatic, it was 100% true.

Politics is corrupt; public administration is corrupt, and democracy is dead

Unfortunately, the author of the article, Fergus Finlay, does not believe the truth of his own headline. He makes his real views crystal clear in the body of the article.

I’ve had correspondents who have accused me of being stupid and naïve because I should have realised years ago that politics is corrupt, public administration is corrupt, and democracy is dead.

Maybe I am stupid and naïve, but I don’t believe politics is essentially corrupt.

So Finlay believes those who have corresponded with him hold the view that politics is corrupt whereas he believes there is merely a risk of the state going corrupt.

I am absolutely convinced that the issue of accountability, and how its absence runs the risk of corrupting our state, should be a central issue in the general election campaign.

But it is obvious (and should be to Finlay) from the rest of his article that Ireland is indeed a corrupt state.

He writes about the horror inflicted on Grace by state authorities. He expresses hope that the investigation into the horror will be free from obstacles.

He is naïve in the extreme.

The scandal will be covered up or put on the slow train to nowhere until it becomes a non-memory. I can say with absolute certainty that there will be no justice whatsoever for Grace. This fact is easily proven by simply looking back on the endless stream of similar cases that have been run into the sand of unaccountability over the decades.

He then goes on to list, as if to punish himself for his naivety, other areas of public life where corruption is rampant – Banks, builders, politicians, the legal and accounting professions, charities.

Then, blinded by this close encounter with the glare of truth he, as always, makes a quick escape back into the cave of shadows.

In the comfort of the cave he talks to the shadows about how the wording of the Constitution might be used to persuade the corrupt to mend their ways.

He writes about the defeated referendum proposal to give Oireachtas Committees greater powers of investigation.

Even if (and it’s a big if) such committees successfully investigated wrongdoing and corruption the state would, as it has done with the conclusions of many investigations/tribunals, simply ignore the findings.

And it is crucial to keep in mind that the decision not to act against corruption is no accident. It is a deliberate policy, designed to protect the corrupt, faithfully adhered to by the ruling political class principally made up of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour.

Again, I don’t have to argue the point here. We simply have to look at the record of non-action by the mainstream parties over the past several decades to see the truth.

In his conclusion Mr. Finlay asks:

Could a lack of accountability kill democracy?

It most certainly could, we wouldn’t be the first country to be killed off by the disease of corruption.

But I’m optimistic that the current corrupt political/administrative system, that has done so much damage to Ireland and its people will, ultimately, be defeated.

It will be defeated by the emerging power of the growing number of citizens who have rejected the old regime and are successfully challenging its culture of corruption.

This election is shaping up to deliver a major victory for those who are determined to create a functional, genuinely democratic republic.

Mr. Finlay is a loyal supporter of the old regime, not because he’s corrupt, stupid or naïve but because he has lived all his adult life too close to the core of the rotten system.

Over the years that closeness has damaged his objectivity to such a degree that he is no longer capable of recognizing that the source of his anger and puzzlement is right there in front of his eyes.

Copy to:
Fergus Finlay

Ivan Yates: How to get a cheap vote by exploiting family grief

Close up Red POLITICAL CORRUPTION Text at the Center of Word Tag Cloud on White Background.

By Anthony Sheridan

Is former Fine Gael minister Ivan Yates a master of cynicism or has his principles and integrity been seriously damaged by his involvement in the corrupt culture of Irish politics?

I suspect it’s the latter.

Writing in yesterday’s Irish Independent Yates tells us that this election provides an opportunity to get rid of gobdaws from Irish politics.

We don’t need more gobdaws from Ballymagash blathering a torrent of parochial nonsense.

He goes on:

Given that standards in all professions are rising, politicians should not get a free pass. Let’s hope the 32nd Dáil comprises bright, smart people – and is devoid of cute hoors. We must separate the opportunist attention-seekers with an eye on a lucrative job, and people of genuine integrity whose aim is honourable public service.

Then, right beneath the words ‘people of genuine integrity whose aim is honourable public service’, Yates writes another article entitled:

Brass-neck survival guide for canvassers

Here Yates outlines in lurid detail how candidates and their supporters should lie, distort, abuse, fabricate and misrepresent themselves in order to get an opportunity to ‘provide honourable public service with genuine integrity’.

One particularly obnoxious piece of advice goes:

Be aware of any recent bereavement involving householders or the extended family – if your candidate attended the funeral, you may be in luck.

What level of depravity does a person have to sink to where they believe a traumatic family death is a ‘lucky’ opportunity for a cheap vote?

Copy to:
Ivan Yates

‘Slab’ Murphy sentencing decision: A manipulation of justice for political ends?

By Anthony Sheridan

In a functional democracy the decision to defer the sentencing of Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy until polling day would be seen as a blatant manipulation of the justice system in support of a political agenda.

And this questionable decision is not without precedent. In 2007 Judge Alan Mahon suspended the tribunal he was chairing until after the approaching election when then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was due to answer allegations made against him.

So, in 2007, a judge suspends an investigation that, if it had continued, would have resulted in bad publicity for a Taoiseach and his party in the run up to an election.

In 2016 a court decides to deliver a sentence on polling day which is likely to deliver massive political advantage to the incumbent government and do serious damage to the prospects of an opposition party.

The court could have waited until Monday 29 to deliver its sentence ensuring that the event remained solely one of justice. The decision to deliver the sentence on polling day has, whether intentional or not, turned the event into one of justice and politics.

No functional democracy would tolerate such an apparent manipulation of justice.

Economist Dan O’Brien: Thinking exclusively confined within the establishment stockade

By Anthony Sheridan

Chief economist at the Institute of International and European Affairs Dan O’Brien penned the following comment in last Sunday’s Sunday Independent.

The early days of the election campaign have been marked by the absence of auction politics.

The comment does very serious damage to Mr. O’Brien’s credibility as a serious commentator/analyst because even the most disinterested, most uninformed citizen knows that, apart from gangland crime, there has been nothing else but auction politics during, and for a considerable time prior, to the election campaign getting underway.

The curious thing about Mr. O’Brien’s thinking is that he knows there is something seriously wrong about the manner in which our country is governed but, in common with most establishment journalist/commentators, he is puzzled as to the exact cause.

In March last year I wrote an article in response to Mr. O’Brien’s puzzlement in the hope that it might trigger a different line of thought but, judging from his latest contribution, my efforts were in vain.

Mr. O’Brien’s thinking is exclusively confined within the establishment stockade that has just one message – old regime stability or new politics chaos.

The old regime consists of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour, the parties that, over the decades, honed political corruption to a fine art ultimately leading to the economic and social catastrophe of 2008.

New politics consists of a mass of independents, new parties like Renua, Social Democrats, Independent Alliance and the rise of Sinn Fein.

These individuals and parties exist and are becoming increasingly more popular and powerful as a direct result of the political corruption practiced by the old regime parties.

Their mission is as simple as it is crucial for the future of Ireland and its people- to remove the old corrupt regime from the levers of power and build, for the first time ever, a functional, truly democratic republic.

It is likely that Mr. O’Brien will dismiss my views out of hand so I will end by repeating my concluding comments regarding the political blindness of another establishment journalist, Alison O’Connor.

He fails to see that the people of Ireland do not see the economy as the most important issue, that they do not fear political instability if it means an end to political corruption, that they are no longer afraid of the state, of government, of change.

It is fascinating to observe commentators like Mr. O’Brien analyse the election and politics in general as if the dramatic and historic transition taking place in Irish politics since 2008 was not happening.

Copy to:
Dan O’Brien

Fergus Finlay: Living in the cave of shadows

We have betrayed one of our fellow citizens. We need to feel a sense of shame about that.

This is the opinion expressed by Fergus Finlay in an article about a woman who suffered unspeakable and degrading cruelty at the hands of the state.

On the assumption that the ‘we’ Mr. Finlay speaks of includes me I want to make my position crystal clear.

I am in no way responsible for the horrors inflicted on this woman by the state.

I strongly believe, however, that Mr. Finlay is responsible, at least to some extent, for what happened to her and that he should indeed hang his head in shame for the part he has played in her suffering.

I am in no way responsible because I have been campaigning against political/administrative corruption in Ireland since 1982 when I first realised that I lived in an intrinsically corrupt state.

If influential political operators/opinion makers like Mr. Finlay arrived at the same conclusion at the same time it is highly likely that this woman would never have suffered because she would have been living in a functional democracy where justice and accountability were an ingrained aspect of governance.

But this woman did not and does not live in a functional democracy.

She lives in a state where politicians can be filmed openly asking for bribes and not only are they not arrested and charged but are allowed to continue in office. Political corruption is to blame for this.

She lives in a country where corrupt politicians are allowed to sit in our parliament as if they were individuals of principle and integrity. Political corruption is to blame for this.

She lives in a country where politicians regularly manipulate the law to help their friends or spy on journalists and ordinary citizens to protect their own corrupt interests. Political corruption is to blame for this.

She lives in a country where bankers, property developers and other powerful groups receive massive financial, political and legal support at the expense of the state and its people. Political corruption is to blame for this.

But most of all she lives in a country where the state frequently intervenes, sometimes illegally, to protect the powerful and the corrupt. Political corruption is to blame for this.

Mr. Finlay is, of course, in no way corrupt himself. Indeed, he is a man of passionate anger when it comes to the many injustices that are frequently exposed in our state. But in addition to anger Mr. Finlay frequently expresses puzzlement about the endless stream of corruption that has blighted our country since independence.

Here’s why he is puzzled.

Mr. Finlay lives in Plato’s cave of shadows. He firmly believes that the mainstream political parties are real. Trapped within his cave he does not see that they are merely shadows masquerading as democratic entities.

He does not see that Ireland, unique among Western democracies, is ruled by a single political class made up principally of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour. He does not see that these fake entities play a game of election musical chairs as each in turn, or together in coalition, plunder the nation’s resources.

He does not see that this corrupt political class has spread the disease of corruption throughout the land but particularly within the civil and public service where loyalty to the state and its people has been, largely, abandoned.

He does not seem to be aware that since the catastrophe of 2008 this corrupt political regime has been engaged in a life or death struggle with a significant and growing percentage of the population who have been politically radicalised and are determined to rid their country of the disease of political corruption.

Mr. Finlay does not see all this because he lives in the cave with the shadows. All he sees are shadows posing as democratic politicians, shadows that pose as law enforcement agencies, shadows that pose as accountable government departments but in reality are nothing more than obedient lapdogs to their corrupt political masters.

Blinding flashes of truth from outside the cave increasingly encroach on Mr. Finlay’s comfortable existence in the cave of shadows. His anger and puzzlement continues to grow as he witnesses the ever increasing incidence of abuse and corruption

The recent brutal treatment of Grace by the state is just one of countless cases of abuse and corruption that has triggered his anger over many, many years.

And yet, Mr. Finlay has never once stopped to take a hard look at the shadows and ask the most obvious question – are they real, have I been wasting my entire life shouting at shadows?

I have never lived in the cave of shadows. That’s why I could see I was living in an intrinsically corrupt state in 1982. That’s why I’m not to blame for the horror visited upon Grace by the state.

My anger is, and has always been, directed at the true source of Grace’s suffering, the corrupt political/administrative system that continues to inflict so much damage and suffering on the people of our state.

I’m sure Mr. Finlay will strongly disagree with my analysis but to do so with any credibility he must answer the following question.

Why is it that decade after decade after decade we witness the same horrors, the same corruption originating from the same political/administrative system without ever witnessing accountability or justice?

How many more Grace’s have to suffer unspeakable cruelty before Mr. Finlay walks out of the cave of shadows into the light of reality?

I hope it’s not too many.

Copy to:
Fergus Finlay

Niamh Horan: A chronically uninformed journalist

Irish Independent journalist Niamh Horan tells us that the heroes of 1916 would baulk at the lack of courage shown by Ireland’s leaders of today.

Be that as it may but those 1916 leaders would also baulk at the low standards of journalism operating in the Ireland of 2016.

Ms. Horan is just one of a disturbingly large number of Irish journalists who are chronically uninformed, biased or captured.

In her article Ms. Horan blames global financial interests for the catastrophe visited upon Ireland and its people since 2008. That ‘invasion’ by global interests was, apparently, facilitated by cowardice on the part of Irish politicians.

Ms. Horan then tells us that the (criminal) politician Haughey would never have allowed those nasty financial invaders to damage the interests of Ireland.

I weep for Ireland and its future when I read such tripe.

Here are the facts that Ms. Horan is either ignorant of or chooses to ignore.

Global financial interests have been exploiting the markets since Adam was a boy; there is nothing new about this fact.

The success or otherwise of these global financial sharks depends on the strength of governance of any particular country.

Ireland suffered, and continues to suffer, catastrophic consequences not because global financial interests do what they do but because our political system is irreformably corrupt.

The man who did more than any other to spread the disease of corruption is none other than the man who Ms. Horan so admires, the criminal politician Haughey.

Copy to:
Ms. Horan

Elaine Byrne: Suffering from chronic naivety

Elaine Byrne is, allegedly, an expert on the subject of corruption. She has written a great tome on the subject that involved years of research and writing. She regularly guests on radio and television offering her expert opinion on the subject and writes regular articles in such respected newspapers as the Irish Times and Sunday Business Post.

It is therefore incredible to realise that Ms. Byrne has little or no idea of what she’s talking about. She understands and indeed is angry that corruption exists in Ireland but she has no idea whatsoever of the nature, extent or origin of the disease that is destroying our country.

Her ignorance is clearly demonstrated by the following comment in response to the latest corruption scandal as exposed by RTE.

It is a few councillors. I don’t believe that those actions are reflective of the vast majority of elected officials in Ireland who believe in public service and who believe in making Ireland better.

However, those few politicians undermine all the good work that successive government’s have done in implementing legislation because it damages public trust in the ability of public life to operate ethically.

Ms. Byrne’s claim that successive governments have implemented good anti-corruption legislation is laughable. Yes, an ocean of legislation has been introduced to, allegedly, combat corruption but it is specifically designed not to be effective. We know this because it never is.

This is no accident, it is a deliberate strategy implemented by all mainstream parties with the conscious intent of protecting the corrupt. The evidence for this is overwhelming should Ms. Byrne ever care to check it out.

That Irish anti-corruption legislation is no more than a mountain of paper gathering dust in government departments is confirmed by the news that there is very little that can be done to bring this latest nest of corrupt politicians to justice.

This proves how effective banana republic legislation is in protecting the corrupt.

In a functional democracy, well informed, objective journalists and commentators play a crucial role in educating and informing the general public of the activities of politicians and other state officials.

Influential opinion makers like Ms. Byrne, who are obviously blinded by chronic naivety or are actively supportive of corrupt regimes, do enormous damage, not only to their own credibility but also to society at large.

I suspect Ms. Byrne’s thinking, seriously flawed by chronic naivety on the issue of rampant political corruption, operates as follows:

She feels there’s something wrong with the body (politic) so she goes to the doctor for advice. The doctor tells her that the body is suffering from the very serious disease of political corruption.

If the disease is not rooted out immediately, the doctor warns, using the strongest medicine (law enforcement) available the body will be destroyed with the subsequent catastrophic consequences for every cell in the body.

Unable to face the reality of this appalling vista she retreats into the comfortable bubble of denial. When asked by family and friends (readers and listeners) how serious the condition is she replies:

Oh it’s just a few cancerous cells, the vast majority of cells in the body (politic) are fine and healthy.

On the way home I met a man who knows a man who knows a politician who said powerful new medicine (legislation) is being drafted as a matter of urgency to combat the disease, so no need to worry.

But…but…asks one of her friends anxiously, isn’t that the same man who sold you fake medicine on several previous occasions?

Yes, but this time he said he’d keep his promise.

Copy to:
Elaine Byrne

Fintan O’Toole: Falling for the myth that the people are to blame

Fintan O’Toole is, as always; spot on in his damning critique of how things are done in Ireland, of how our political system is incompetent and totally incapable of reforming itself.

Surprisingly, however, Mr. O’Toole is now blaming the electorate for this failure.

Until we as voters elect politicians with enough self-respect, and enough respect for us, to demand the right to do the job we pay them for…

This tendency to blame ordinary people for political incompetence and corruption is common among the media – it is also false.

For over thirty years Irish voters have been desperately struggling to bring about political change. In election after election they have clearly indicated that they want a political system that puts the country first.

Here’s a section of an open letter I wrote last March to Green Party leader Eamon Ryan on the issue.

A brief look at recent political history over the last three decades proves the point.

The people trusted the Progressive Democrats (PDs) because they promised accountability and reform in response to corruption within Fianna Fail

Ultimately, the PDs betrayed the people when they abandoned their integrity and principles in exchange for power and influence.

The people rejected the PDs for their betrayal.

Dick Spring gained the trust of the people in the run up to the 1992 election on the basis that he would deal with what he called the cancer of political corruption that was doing so much damage to Ireland and its people.

He immediately betrayed that trust when he went into coalition with the very cancer (Fianna Fail and the criminal politician Haughey) he had just condemned.

The people rejected Dick Spring for his betrayal.

In opposition, the Green Party gained the trust of the people by promising to reform politics, to challenge corruption.

Once in power however, the party abandoned the responsibilities of power/government and instead focused entirely on getting its own green agenda enacted. The party looked the other way as political corruption continued to wreak havoc on the lives of Irish citizens.

Here’s John Gormley in response to political corruption:

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.

The people rejected the Green Party for its betrayal.

The Labour Party (again) and Fine Gael gained the trust, of a by now desperate people, in the run up to the 2011 election by promising to take immediate action to counter political corruption, by promising to urgently introduce the political reform the people have been desperately seeking for more than thirty years.

But once again the body politic betrayed the people.

The people will reject this government for its betrayal.

But, on this occasion, there is a difference in the people’s response.

They have finally rejected the system itself that has betrayed them. Our country is now in a transition period that will ultimately see the end of the old regime and the beginning of a new type of politics.

Recent polls have clearly demonstrated that the people have lost all faith in the political system as currently constituted. This fact is most clearly seen in the form of hundreds of thousands of citizens on the streets in protest against oppressive taxes.

These people are not on the streets primarily to protest against taxes, they are, effectively, in rebellion against the political/administrative system that has betrayed them for decades.

Your comment that the people must re-engage with politics is symptomatic of a political mindset that is in the process of passing into history. I would invite you to wake up and look around you.

A significant percentage of the people are in open rebellion against the political system that you represent, they have taken to the streets in rebellion, they have begun voting in their droves for Sinn Fein and independents for just one principal reason – they no longer trust you, your party or the political system that you represent.

Not since 1916 have the Irish people been so politically energised, not since 1916 have the people been so radically politicised, not since 1916 has the ruling power been so blind to what’s been happening on the streets and in the minds of the people.

Not since 1916 has the governing power been so disengaged from politics and the people.

Sadly, it has to be said, this disengagement from the true mood of the Irish people is also prevalent throughout the media.

Copy to:
Fintan O’Toole

Political lies cause suffering and death. Enda Kenny is a political liar

Political lies cause suffering and death. Enda Kenny is a political liar.

War is the most obvious and most deadly consequence of political lying. Over the centuries, countless millions have died because politicians lied when they should have told the truth.

But war is not the only cause of death as a result of political lies. There was a massive increase in the suicide rate following the economic collapse in 2008 (Recession directly to blame for up to 566 suicides).

These desperate people died, at least in part, because our politicians lied to them.

In Ireland, alone among Western democracies, political lying has become a fully accepted part of political discourse. It is also common right throughout the civil and public service.

Political lying has become part of Irish political culture principally because lying politicians are rarely challenged by the media.

Here’s Pat Rabbitte casually demonstrating this truth when asked about election promises regarding child benefit:

Sean O’Rourke:

You didn’t go into all that detail before the general election, you kept it really simple – Protect child benefit, vote Labour?

Rabbitte:

Well, I mean, isn’t that what you tend to do during an election?

The criminal politician Haughey lied right through his decades long career, including lying under oath at various tribunals and investigations. Despite the enormous damage done to Ireland and its people by this criminal’s lying he was, largely, fawned upon by large segments of the media and members of the establishment.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern almost certainly lied under oath at the Mahon Tribunal. My assertion that lying is the accepted norm in Irish political and administrative goverance is confirmed by the disgraceful fact that no action has been (or ever will be) taken against Ahern by any state authority.

Political lying is the principal cause of the catastrophic economic collapse of 2008 that resulted in thousands of suicides, massive emigration and the horrific destruction of the wealth, hopes and ambitions of hundreds of thousands of Irish citizens.

And yet, a disturbingly large section of the media and most of the establishment appear to be more than happy to live in comfortable denial amidst the wreckage and suffering caused by political lying.

The following is just a sample of various journalists, commentators and politicians who, for whatever reason, cannot or will not make the obvious link between political lying and the infliction of great hardship.

Caroline O’Doherty: Irish Examiner:

Kenny’s lie was:

A fisherman’s tale.

O’Doherty then went to use most of her article to advise Fine Gael on how best to present their (lying) leader to best advantage in the upcoming election campaign.

Caroline O’Doherty is not aware or doesn’t care that political lies cause suffering and death.

Editorial: Irish Examiner:

Kenny was, while dishonest, just a Walter Mitty character using:

Folksy parables.

The editor warned that Kenny must act quickly if he wants to be re-elected and, as always, took the opportuntiy to take a swipe at Gerry Adams/Sinn Fein.

The editor of the Irish Examiner is not aware or doesn’t care that political lies cause suffering and death.

Eilis O’Hanlon: Sunday Independent:

Kenny ruined it by going a ‘a little bit too far’ in attempting to portray himself as the man who saved the country from anarchy and, predictably, O’Hanlon blamed the media:

So why the outcry last week? The media, having got bored with the feel-good narrative which the Government has been pushing since the Budget, saw a chance to put the Taoiseach on the back foot.

Eilis O’Hanlon is not aware or doesn’t care that political lies cause suffering and death.

Michael Lehane: Morning Ireland (RTE):

On being asked did the whole issue matter:

It doesn’t matter but there is a political vacuum there because the Dail isn’t sitting so the focus didn’t come off it (but) it has gone the distance now.

Michael Lehane is not aware or doesn’t care that political lies cause suffering and death.

Pat Rabbitte: Labour TD: (Speaking on RTE):

The Taoiseach makes the point, perhaps in a folksy, homespun way.

Pat Rabbitte is not aware or doesn’t care that political lies cause suffering and death.

Noel Whelan: Irish Times:

Mr. Whelan believes that Kenny is a storyteller whose utterance was no accident.

It was part of a cleverly designed but clumsily implemented strategy from Fine Gael to remind voters of how serious the crisis was so as to talk up its part in turning it around.

Noel Whelan is not aware or doesn’t care that political lies cause suffering and death.

Gerry Adams: Sinn Fein president:

Mr. Adams accused Kenny of being a spoof who tells tall tales. Mr. Adams said he was not accusing the Taoiseach of lying but of just getting carried away with himself.

Gerry Adams is not aware or doesn’t care that political lies cause suffering and death.

Fergus Finlay: Chief Executive of Barnardos and former Labour Party advisor: (Late Debate RTE):

Why are we getting our knickers in a knot about it? Mother of God, this kind of thing happens all the time. It’s a bit of craic, that’s all it is, a bit of political craic and I don’t see how it affects anything other than the gaiety of the nation for a week.

I think it shows that we don’t have a sense of humour. You know, let’s get a grip for heaven’s sake, it’s about nothing.

Fergus Finlay is not aware or doesn’t care that political lies cause suffering and death.

Gary Murphy: Professor of Political Science, DCU (Late Debate RTE).

The Taoiseach does have a habit of self-aggrandisement or over-egging situations. He’s guilty of guilding the lily so to speak.

Professor Murphy is not aware or doesn’t care that political lies cause suffering and death.

Catherine Halloran: Political Correspondent Irish Daily Star: (Ryan Tubridy Show, RTE):

I think it’s his folksy way of trying to relate to people.

It’s better than telling lies. At least we know he has his finger on the pulse he met the man or woman who told him this and I don’t doubt for a second that he has met those people, he’s a politician… The fact that Enda does take the time out to stop and talk to people and listen to their experiences means he’s in a position to make judgement on them.

Catherine Halloran is not aware or doesn’t care that political lies cause suffering and death.

Shaun Connolly: Irish Examiner:

Mr. Connolly believes Kenny was simply caught out telling an over-excited porkie. He was guilty of a slightly embarrassing, but ultimately harmless, comment.

Shaun Connolly is not aware or doesn’t care that political lies cause suffering and death.

Copy to:
Enda Kenny
All individuals quoted
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Government

Why the State is targetting Sinn Fein

In recent times I have written several articles on the very obvious anti Sinn Fein propaganda campaign being conducted by the mainstream political parties and state agencies aided and abetted by a large segment of the media.

I am aware that writing such articles can be seen as supporting Sinn Fein and, by extension, supporting violence both political and criminal.

This article is to make my position crystal clear.

The core philosophy of this website is that Ireland is an intrinsically corrupt state. By this I mean that, unlike functional democracies, the Irish state actively defends, supports and protects those involved in corruption.

Corruption, to one degree or another is, of course, present in every country on the planet. Corrupt behaviour is an intrinsic aspect of human nature, it will always be with us.

But there is a huge difference between a country that suffers from a degree of corruption and a country that is, in and of itself, intrinscially corrupt.

A state is corrupt when its powers and resources are principally utilised for the benefit of a tiny but very powerful minority of individuals and organisations at the expense of the people and the greater good.

This is overwhemingly and indisputably the case in Ireland.

The corrupt regime is made up, principally, of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour with the unquestioning support of most state agencies and a disturbingly large section of the media.

Family dynasties constitute the core of the corrupt political system. Over the decades the corrupting influence of these families has spread the disease of corruption right through the influential pillars of the state and society such as the legal system, higher civil servants, the police and so on.

At some critical point, which I believe was during the 1980s when the criminal politician Haughey was at the height of his powers, the state flipped from being a democracy with some corruption to a state that that had become corrupt in and of itself.

From that moment right up to today state power does not, for the most part, operate for the good of the people. It works to maintain, protect and enhance the power of the corrupt elite.

This corrupt political/administrative regime is directly and wholly responsible for the economic catastrophe that has wreaked so much damage and loss on Ireland and its people since 2008.

And this is where Sinn Fein enters the picture.

The 2008 economic catastrophe caused serious panic within the corrupt regime. For a short period it was feared that the power, influence and wealth built up over many decades would be lost as the people began to transfer their alligience to political forces outside its power base.

Sinn Fein is being targeted because it poses the greatest threat to the power of the corrupt regime. It is the best organised, best financed, most powerful political force outside the mainstream. It is united, focused and led by a cohort of articulate and committed politicians.

It is for this reason and this reason alone that the corrupt political/administrative system, in cooperation with its many friends in the media, has targeted Sinn Fein.

The corrupt regime knows very well that if Sinn Fein gains power, even partial power in a coalition, the game is up. The cosy golden circle that has abused Irish democracy and its people for the last several decades will no longer hold sway.

People from outside the ruling elite, dangerous people with principles, people who will actually do what’s right for the country rather than vested interests will be exercising power within the corrupt citadel.

It is therefore absolutely crucial, from the corrupt regime’s point of view, that Sinn Fein’s power is destroyed or, at least, damaged to such an extent that it becomes an irrelevant political force.

It is this black propaganda campaign that I write about. It has nothing to do with Sinn Fein’s politics/policies per se but rather to challenge and expose the continuing efforts of a ruthless and diseased political system that will do anything, even commit criminal acts, to preserve its power and influence.

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All political parties
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