Category: Fianna Fail

Government warning: Brian Cowen is not a drunken buffoon

My instinct is that you need to go easy on Brian Cowen as it might be perceived to be a bit personal at this stage. You should spread the attention around as much as possible.”

“This is not a reaction to any pressure from Government; we have not received any objections or complaints on behalf of anybody in Government. This is about fairness.”

So wrote the producer of the Gerry Ryan Show, Siobhan Hough, to satirist, Oliver Callan, regarding his increasingly controversial portrayal of Brian Cowen as a drunken buffoon (Sunday Independent).

Not a reaction to any pressure from the Government? Yes, of course, Siobhan, we believe you.

We're looking into it…

Fianna Fail TD Thomas Byrne was asked questions about TDs pay and expenses on Saturday View.

On expenses.

“That’s a good question actually. “We certainly have to lead by example and I would have no problem with a fully vouched expenses system (They keep saying that but nothing happens).

On the €61 for just turning up for work.

Yes, that has to be looked at…proposals have been put forward to the Minister for Finance and he has been slow to come back on them and think it’s because he probably wants a much more radical approach to expenses and we may see that before the supplementary budget.

On junior ministers.

“I’m not going to start criticising my colleagues but certainly in this day and age…there’s certainly an argument to reduce junior ministers…but let’s leave that for the budget

On payments to chairmen of committees. (Chair 20k, vice chair 10k and conveners on 5k).

“I think they should be reduced…certainly the money should be reduced…it’s alright when the money’s there but at this stage it will all have to be looked at, we have to show example.

“I’ts alright when the money’s there.”?? Pure Fianna Fail.

Pride in your country – Irish style

In a debate on the relevance of Seanad Eireann on Today with Pat Kenny yesterday Joe Higgins and John Drennan were very critical of the institution and called for its abolition.

Fianna Fail senator John Hanafin was not happy with the views expressed and accused the two gentlemen of being cynics. “Have they no pride in their country at all”, he thundered on today’s show (Thursday).

A Councillor from Limerick called to say how a senator had told her that the Senate was ‘the best club in Dublin’. Subsidised Restaurants and bars, free parking in the city centre, all the perks.

A Mr. Liam O’Kelly called to say how he brought five school children to the Senate to show them democracy in action but not a single senator was to be seen. He was shocked and outraged and, I’m sure, the children were more than a little puzzled.

The chairman, two ushers, a stenographer and two clerical assistants sat there twiddling their thumbs. (Waiting for democracy to show up?)

Pat Kenny, with information from a reliable source, provided the answer. They were all in the bar drinking and placing bets on the races in Cheltenham.

Now that’s having pride in your country – Irish style.

Copy to:

Senator Hanafin

The Haughey's: A renegade family

Katherine Rodgers upset many Fianna Fail supporters when she wrote the following in the Star newspaper recently.

“Security was beefed up for the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis this weekend, only to be expected at a convention of the biggest criminals in the country.”

Seems like a pretty reasonable comment to me but Dick O’Leary, head of a Cumainn founded by the corrupt Haughey, was angry.

“It’s a scurrilous remark and is 100% wrong.” “Mr. Haughey did an awful lot of good for the country; he’s the greatest Irishman that ever walked.”

(Liveline, Tuesday 2nd March).

Later, the discussion moved on to the sale of the corrupt Haughey’s art collection. A caller wanted to know if Mrs. Haughey would be keeping the proceeds of the sale or making a donation to charity.

Joe Duffy, who obviously has a soft spot for Mrs. Haughey, said:

“Even if it was going to Mrs. Haughey, Mrs. Haughey of all people in this country is in most people’s, sorry, in everyone’s eyes totally above reproach and indeed much admired for her dignity.”

So, not just some, not just most but everyone in the country thinks Mrs. Haughey is above reproach and is a woman of great dignity. Well, here’ one citizen who takes the complete opposite view.

In my opinion the Haughey family, including Mrs. Haughey, are renegade citizens.

She was happy to live off the proceeds of her husband’s corruption and obviously had no concern whatsoever about the huge damage done to Ireland and its people by that corruption.

When the Moriarty Tribunal finally exposed he husband for the criminal he was she and her family contemptuously rejected the findings of this agency which represented the Irish people.

A sizeable percentage of the monies now in the hands of this renegade family are the proceeds of criminal activities by the corrupt Haughey. His mansion, for example, was sold for an estimated €45 million.

Ireland will never rid itself of the disease of corruption for so long as people like Joe Duffy are happy to bow and scrape before ruthless and greedy people like the Haughey’s.

Copy to:
Joe Duffy

Cronyism: Alive and well in Ireland

Former Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Dermot Gallagher, has been appointed the new chairman of the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).

On ‘retirement’ from Foreign Affairs, Mr. Gallagher received an estimated gratuity of €400,000 and a pension of €126,000.

During the controversy surrounding his nomination last month Mr. Gallagher said he could yet decide to do the job at no cost to the taxpayer. At the time he said:

“I think everybody has to make a serious contribution in the current climate, I certainly would be prepared to do not just my bit, but significantly more than that.” and “Quite seriously, I am not interested in the money.”

(Has this man been talking to Mark Duffy?).

On reflection, (and after the controversy has died down) Mr. Gallagher has forgotten all about ‘doing his bit for his country’ and opted to take a salary of €90,000, the maximum allowed to him under pension abatement rules (About three times the average industrial wage).

There was no open and transparent recruitment process and the Opposition was not consulted. Finance Minister, Brian Lenihan said

“There was no constitutional convention or legal obligation on the Government to consult the Opposition.”

Here’s what a recent Transparency International report on how things are done in Ireland had to say about such Government decisions.

“Significantly however, Ireland is regarded by domestic and international observers as suffering high levels of ‘legal corruption’. While no laws may be broken, personal relationships, patronage, political favours, and political donations are believed to influence political decisions and policy to a considerable degree. The situation is compounded by a lack of transparency in political funding and lobbying.”

I have no doubt that Mr. Gallagher is a man of the highest integrity and will carry out his duties in a very professional and honest manner.

He is, however, human and given the very sensitive nature of his new job there will always be a cloud hanging over his work particularly if he finds himself dealing with a case involving a member of Fianna Fail, the party that has been so generous to him.

In other words, Mr. Gallagher begins his job tainted by the manner in which he was appointed and that is not in the best interests of the country.

Copy to:
Dermot Gallagher
Brian Lenihan

Ignoring the disease of corruption

Green Party leader, John Gormley gave a good speech at his party’s convention last night and I have no doubt that he and all of his party colleagues are 100% genuine in their intentions.

Unfortunately, they’re still labouring under the illusion that Ireland is a normal functional democracy. So when Gormley tells the nation that white collar criminals will be pursued and face the full rigours of the law; that they will pay for what they have done to the country, he probably believes what he’s saying but it’s not going to happen.

Gormley finished his speech with the quote:

“We must do what we conceive to be the right thing and not bother our heads or burden our souls with whether we’ll be successful because if we don’t do the right thing, we’ll do the wrong thing and we’ll be part of the disease and not part of the cure.”

He seems to be completely unaware that by adopting a head in the sand policy (we look after our probity and our standards and ignore those of Fianna Fail) towards political and financial corruption his party has already become an active supporter of the diseased system.

His party is acting like a doctor determined to cure a patient of a skin rash while studiously ignoring a deadly disease eating away deep within the patient’s body.

High flying minister sees no anger

Alan McQuaid of Bloxham Stockbrokers has said the Irish economy is now in severe crisis mode and the labour market, excluding the public sector, is heading for meltdown.

Meanwhile, Minister for Tourism Martin Cullen continues to defend his use of helicopters as a mode of transport. When challenged he said:

“If you would consider spending nine hours in a car to do one function, or doing what I did to cover 10 functions, that’s the choice.”

Mr. Cullen’s visit to his new decentralised headquarters in Killarney on Monday cost €8,130 so when he formally takes up residence the cost to taxpayer’s is going to be big as Mr. Cullen will, no doubt, have to attend many important meetings in Dublin.

Mr. Cullen is unlikely to lower his by now very expensive standards. He and three officials spent €67, 000 at the Olympics last summer and he has insisted that he will be flying either first or business class for his St. Patrick’s Day junket.

When asked would he be travelling Ryanair he said that although he doesn’t yet know his destination he does know that Ryanair doesn’t travel there. Defending his Paddy’s day outing Cullen said the trip was “an opportunity that is the envy of everyone” all over the world.

Mr. Cullen is one of those ministers who seems very well briefed on so called international envy but completely unaware of national anger.

Hanafin – Operating from the sewer

Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin, as reported by RTE (2nd report, 1st item),

“had the crowd on its feet when she vowed to deal with foreign welfare fraudsters.”

Hanafin is the most undemocratic and ruthless minister since the electorate had the good sense to throw out the extreme right wing politician Michael McDowell.

Hanafin doesn’t seem to have any particular ideology; staying in power seems to be her only ambition and if that means rousing the rabble to a fever pitch of racist hatred against ‘foreign welfare fraudsters’ then so be it.

Crisis averted as Minister makes it to very important meeting

The Government announced an emergency budget for the end of this month as the economy continues to go down the tubes. Significant tax increases and ruthless government spending cuts will mean an even greater burden for most citizens. Brian Cowen said, again, that everybody must pull together, everybody must feel the pain if we’re to survive this deep crisis.

Meanwhile, the people of Ireland and the world came close to an even bigger crisis when the door of a helicopter carrying Tourism Minister Martin Cullen fell off 500ft over Killarney National Park. Some commentators expressed relief that the minister didn’t fall out as a result of the accident.

The incident developed into a full scale international crisis when officials realised that the minister’s Mercedes would not get him back to Dublin in time for a very important meeting.

A meeting in Washington between Barack Obama and Gordon Brown was interrupted to discuss the crisis. The UK Prime Minister, boarding a standard British Airways flight home, said that Obama was in the process of ordering Air Force One to pick up Minister Cullen when news came that another helicopter had been found in Cork.

An ordinary citizen who has just lost his job and is trying to feed his family and pay a massive mortgage on social welfare payments said that he was greatly relieved the Minister made it back in time for his very important meeting.

He also said that the €8,130 cost of the first helicopter trip and whatever the cost of the second aircraft was well worth it to get this very important Minister to his very important meeting.