Category: Fianna Fail

Depressing sleaze

Many of the callers to Liveline today (Monday) were depressed as well as angry by the outcome of the Beverly Flynn/RTE scandal. They seemed genuinely puzzled that yet again a politician has got off the hook for wrongdoing.

Later on, on Questions and Answers, there was even more depression when Alan Shatter of Fine Gael received high praise from Willie O’Dea for his strong defence of Flynn.

Shatter claimed that Flynn was the victim of a lynch mob; that people were getting over excited about the whole event and that she should be allowed to get on with her life.

He was pure Fianna Fail on tax evasion when he trotted out the ridiculous argument that all the banks were at it at the time.

The only real passion/anger on the show came from Willie O’Dea when he strongly attacked Eamonn McCann for suggesting that Fianna Fail supported tax evasion.

How could anyone even suggest such a thing?

Lessons from Liberia

It is reported in today’s Irish Times (20th June, sub required) that the Auditor General of Liberia has strongly attacked its president for the non accountability of millions of dollars. A number of comparisons can be made with this scandal and the situation in Ireland.

Liberia is one of the most corrupt countries in the world but with help from the international community it is making a serious attempt to fight the disease. Here in Ireland, we have yet to even admit that we are seriously infected.

The matter was taboo during the election because it was judged too risky to attack Bertie Ahern on his personal finances. Neither can we expect much action from the new arrivals in government. Green Party TD Ciaran Cuffe has already made his party’s position crystal clear;

“The Green Party is not the moral guardian of Fianna Fail or anybody else.”

Liberia’s Auditor General is paid by the international community, obviously to ensure an independent and objective voice in the fight against corruption.

Ireland is badly in need of such an arrangement. An investigation into the non accountability of millions, secretly paid to independent TDs to buy their political support, would be a priority.

Roche secures Ruairi Quinn's defection to Fianna Fail?

“In a vindictive farewell Dick Roche signed the go ahead for the M3 before being tossed out of office.”

This was how Rodney Rice introduced Saturday View. I agree with his comments but judging from other reactions it would seem that Dick Roche’s action has put him in line for sainthood.

The ex minister was interviewed on Today with Tom McGurk (Fri. 15th June) where he informed the nation of what a great minister he had been.

I’m a great man for making decisions; I made the decision on nitrates when others feared to act.

My colleagues agree that I put together a very effective programme on environment.

The second Nice Treaty referendum was a very complex and badly written document. I broke it down into its component parts so that ordinary people (the peasants, so to speak) could understand it. I could have ignored the very negative views on the ‘no’ side but I chose to deal with them up front.

I’m very pleased that there are only three lines in the policy document on local government reform that weren’t written by my hand (Did he go through the whole document to check?).

I did great work on the EU Constitution.

I drove the civil servants in my dept very hard but they responded very well. (Obviously, these civil servants were an unruly rabble when Roche became minister).

I did John Gormley some service by not passing the buck to him.

(Echoes of Haughey there).

Tom McGurk was very impressed, he sounded like a schoolgirl who had just met her favourite film star. He was on the verge of breaking down in an uncontrolled giggle of admiration. He didn’t ask for the great man’s autograph on air but I suspect he was favoured afterwards.

Later on things became even more surreal when Labour TD Ruairi Quinn was being interviewed and made comment on the Roche interview.

“Any citizen of this Republic listening to that dialogue this morning, there are very few countries in the world that I can envisage where you would have that open frank exchange between an office holder and interviewer and the rest of the Republic and I just thought it was wonderful radio. I’m very proud of this county.”

I fully expected him to break out with a rendition of Amhran na bhFiann and announce his defection to Fianna Fail.

It has to be election fatigue, it just has to be….

Fianna Fail, natural home for person of no reputation

I couldn’t agree more with Bertie Ahern’s view that Beverly Flynn’s natural home is within the Fianna Fail party.

She’s a woman that actively encouraged tax evasion while a senior client manager at National Irish Bank. In an attempt to save her reputation she sued RTE but the Chief Justice declared that “she had not reputation to lose.”

She’s the daughter of Padraig Flynn, the man who allegedly pocketed £50,000 he received from developer Tom Gilmartin but which was meant for the Fianna Fail party. It is believed that at least some of this money ended up in a bogus non-resident account.

Tax evasion, dodgy financial dealings, illegal offshore accounts – Yes, Fianna Fail is the natural home for a person of no reputation like Beverly Flynn.

Bunny rabbits supping with the devil

There’s an image that flashes in my mind every time I hear Green Party spokespersons struggling to adapt to life on Planet Bertie.

Mr. Bunny Rabbit, out for his nightly stroll, is suddenly blinded by two very bright lights bearing down on him and he thinks; ‘I wonder what’s going to happen next?

The story so far…

On the M3:

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned during these negotiations, when a project is underway and it may not, in the public mind seem like a difficulty to stop it, but when you start looking at the legality of it, the contractual arrangements, the work that’s being done and the momentum that’s built up, it becomes very, very difficult to stop that train in its tracks.”

(Green TD, Trevor Sargent, Tonight with Vincent Browne, Wed. 13th June).

So, if only the Green’s had known about the legal and contractual arrangements already in place regarding Tara they would have been happy to drop their long and passionate campaign to stop a major motorway running through the Tara/Skryne valley

On Shannon:

“It’s probably more difficult than the M3 situation because you’re not only dealing with a situation that is ongoing but also with a situation that is internationally complex and probably requires a number of governments to be involved in resolving it, but we did get some movements on renditions.”

(Trevor Sargent: Link as above).

So, not much comfort for the countless thousands dying in Iraq but Trevor did add that they got a great deal on home insulation.

On Corruption:

“The Green Party is not the moral guardian of Fianna Fail or anybody else.”

(Green TD, Ciaran Cuffe).

That’s clear enough, Bertie can rest easy.

On their own members:

“It did surprise me the amount of ‘Save Tara’, ‘Vote no’ posters that were outside the Mansion House on Wednesday as if us not participating in government, that our moral purity would shine from the hills and suddenly get a sea change. That was never going to happen.”

(Green TD, Paul Gogarty).

So, keep quiet and forget all that campaigning, educating, lobbying, protesting stuff. The only way to get change is to er…sup with the devil?

Haughey and coalition gobshites

The subject of Fianna Fail in coalition came up on Saturday View.

Sean Haughey suggested that leading Fianna Fail into coalition will be seen as an important aspect of his (corrupt) father’s legacy. Apparently, we are supposed to believe that the corrupt Haughey acted in the higher national interest, which is exactly what the criminal claimed at the time.

The reality, as always with Haughey, was very different.

In 1989, after yet another failed election, Haughey had to choose between going to the country again or abandoning the Fianna Fail core ‘value’ on coalition. He knew that if he failed again he would be finished in politics.

Given that power was always his primary objective he had no problem doing what was necessary in his own interests. He completely bypassed his cabinet on the matter, calling them “a crowd of gobshites.” Some legacy

Fatal compromise

It hardly needs to be said that being in government is the place to be. It’s the only place where a political party has any hope of getting its policies implemented.

It is also true that a small party like the Greens, negotiating from a position of weakness, could not hope to have all or even the greater part of their policies accepted.

Having said that, however, I think the Greens have made a major mistake.

Yes, they have been waiting 25 years for this opportunity, yes, it would have been very difficult to wait another five years, yes they would have lost credibility as a serious political party if they were seen as uncompromising. But at what price will power come?

They will now serve in a government intent on committing the greatest act of environmental vandalism in Irish history, the building of the M3 through the historic and immensely important Tara-Skryne valley.

They will also be complicit in Mary Harney’s co-location of hospitals. This scheme, which will cost taxpayers countless millions, will, I believe, be seen in years to come as the most disastrous health policy since the savage health cuts made in the 1980s by Charlie Haughey.

Co-location will, I believe, be seen as the moment when Ireland took the American road to health care. Those with money will receive first class care while those without will just have to make do.

The Green’s have argued that they are doing what many of their colleagues have already successfully done in other European countries – joining mainstream politics in order to advance their policies.

But Ireland is not like other European countries, it is a country that suffers to an enormous degree from corruption and there are only two ways of dealing with this corrosive disease – meet it head on and eradicate it or pretend it doesn’t exist with all the damaging consequences that that entails.

The Progressive Democrats, under Mary Harney, quickly realised that if they wanted to stay in power in a state that is intrinsically corrupt they had to compromise on their principles and integrity. In the end, they did this with remarkable ease and are now indistinguishable from Fianna Fail in every aspect but name.

The Greens will have to do the same; they will have to pretend that the raging elephant of corruption is not in the room. Indeed, they have already begun to slot comfortably into the scheme of things. Corporate donations and all other serious reforms for tackling corruption in public life are off the table.

Their spokespersons are already mouthing the tired mantra favoured by Fianna Fail:

“We will have to wait for the tribunal to report.” Or, “These are all matters for the tribunal and it behoves us all to blah blah blah.”

Ciaran Cuffe, speaking on Tonight with Vincent Browne, was crystal clear on the Green’s new policy on corruption and issues of standards in public life.

“The Green Party is not the moral guardian of Fianna Fail or anybody else.”

The bottom line is that the Green’s will have to be as ruthless as the PDs in abandoning their core values in order to savour the few crumbs contemptuously thrown to them by Fianna Fail.

The general consensus seems to be that this government will last the full term of five years. I disagree. I don’t believe the general membership of the Green party have it in them to live cheek by jowl with the most corrupt political party in the county without tearing themselves apart.

I will be surprised if the present arrangement survives its first year.

Still waiting for answers from Dublin City Council

On April 22nd last I wrote about my attempts to get information from Dublin City Council regarding the illegal erection of posters by Minister of State Pat the Cope Gallagher.

My question was, and still is, very simple. “Was the minister fined and if so, by how much?”

My last contact with DCC on that occasion was with Mr. Pat Cronin, head of waste management. He refused to answer my question, insisting that I put my case in writing and he would deal with it further.

On 24th April I wrote to Mr. Cronin by registered post. Despite several phone calls since I have not even being able to confirm if Mr. Cronin received my letter.

However, on the 22nd of May I did have another conversation with the public servant who first refused to divulge information on the matter. The conversation is worth posting as it gives a good idea of how things are done in our banana republic.

Me: I want to know, was the minister fined?

Public Servant: Why him in particular?

Me: Because he’s a government minister who deliberately set out to break the law

PS: How do you know he deliberately set out to break the law?

Me: Because you confirmed it to me when I last spoke to you and through the media

PS: I didn’t, I never used that word, let’s get something clear here; I never said to you that he deliberately set out to break the law

Me: OK, he has said himself that he did it, it’s in the papers

PS: No, he didn’t say he deliberately set out to break the law, he did put up the posters

Me: And the posters were illegal, so, did he put them up accidentally?

PS: Yes,

Me: Did he? (In astonishment)

PS: Yes, he didn’t know that they don’t have the strict regulations in Donegal that we have here

Me: (Still astonished) Hold on, are you telling me, are you confirming to me that the minister didn’t know he was breaking the law?

PS: That’s right, I am

Me: Did he tell you that?

PS: Yes, I was talking to him. He apologised profusely (“I honestly, genuinely did not know that I was breaking the law”). You see, you cannot put up posters in Dublin city but if you go across the road to Fingal, you know, when you cross the border, you can put up the posters

Me: No, you’re probably not familiar with the Litter Pollution Act, 1997, but I am

PS: Excuse me, I am, I work on it

Me: Ok, you should know so that’s it’s illegal to put up posters without permission, full stop, the LPA 1997 covers the whole country

PS: I understand, yes

Me: But what you’re saying is that it applies in some places

PS: I said, other local authorities are not as strict as we are

Me: I’m not concerned about strict or not strict. I’m concerned about breaking the law, especially when a government minister breaks the law

PS: I’m not defending Pat the Cope Gallagher, it’s not my job; he’s well able to do it himself.

Me: A couple of days after the minister ‘accidentally’ broke the law, he was given back the posters intact and he put them up again in Donegal. He broke the law again in Donegal. Now, we have to assume that he knew he was breaking the law in Donegal

PS: I’m not commentating on that

Me: There’s another thing I need to find out. You and Pat Cronin have refused to tell me if you have taken action against the minister.

PS: We don’t discuss anybody’s business

Me: But what I want to know is; are you basing your refusal on legislation/regulation?

PS: I’m basing it on office policy

Me: I don’t accept that. I’m a member of the public; this is a government minister who has broken the law. I have a right to know, you’re telling me I don’t have a right to know.

PS: I’m not telling you that, I’m telling you I’m not telling you.

Me: Are you entitled to refuse me the information

PS: Yes,

Me: By what law/regulation?

PS: On the grounds that I’m the manager of this office and I do not discuss anybody’s business with anybody else

Me: Are you absolutely sure, on a personal basis, that you’re not breaking any public service regulations by refusing me the information?

PS: I am quite happy in not giving out information, I never give out information. If Pat Cronin wants to answer you he’s quite entitled to. I’m happy in the decision I’ve made, that’s my answer to you.

I am in the process of taking further action regarding the refusal of DCC staff to answer my questions and I will post on the matter as things develop.

In the meantime I have taken the following actions regarding Gallagher’s illegal activities:

Submitted a formal complaint to DCC regarding Gallagher’s breach of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997.

Submitted a formal complaint to Donegal County Council regarding Gallagher’s breach of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997, in that part of the country. I will be writing on this particular saga soon.

Submitted an official complaint to the Standards in Public Office Commission regarding Gallagher’s breach of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997.

My complaint to SIPO is made on the basis that the minister is in serious breach of the Code of Conduct for Office Holders as outlined by the Standards in Office Commission (Office Holders) Sections:

1.3 Requirement to observe the Code of Conduct.
1.4 Principles of Ethical Conduct.
1.5 Highest ethical standards to be applied at all times.

Quiet Mary

It’s not surprising that Fianna Fail is once again back in government. What is surprising is the strength of the surge towards the party as the campaign drew to a close. It seems that voters were simply not willing to take the risk of putting the economy in the hands of a new administration.

It is likely that the new government will consist of Mary Harney and Fianna Fail leaning independents which, in effect, will be a Fianna Fail majority administration.

Mary Harney, who long ago learned to turn a blind eye to the FF way of ‘doing business’, will be keeping very quiet. She will be only too happy to concentrate on her campaign of setting up an American style health system where personal wealth will be the deciding factor in the quality of treatment received.

All is crystal clear now

Our great nation is indeed fortunate to have a Tanaiste and Minister for Justice of the standing and alertness of Michael McDowell.

At the first whisper of serious questions being raised concerning the financial dealings of his buddy Bertie he immediately demanded a full and vigorous investigation by Bertie into the allegations.

The nation is doubly blessed in the leadership, integrity and scintillating investigative skills of Michael’s buddy Bertie.

After a vigorous investigation which took just a few days, unlike those dastardly leaking tribunals, Bertie reported back to an anxious nation that all was well. He had no question to answer after all; it was all a nasty conspiracy by the opposition in league with a low-down malicious media.

Everything is crystal clear now, let the nation march forward