Category: Mahon Tribunal

Unfit for public office

Michael Nugent over at That’s Ireland wrote an excellent piece that gets right to the heart of what Bertiegate is all about. Here’s what he had to say:

At this stage, it doesn’t really matter what findings the Tribunal eventually makes about Bertie Ahern taking bribes from Owen O’Callaghan. Because, even on the basis of Ahern’s own evidence, which is the best spin that he and his supporters can put on things, Bertie Ahern is unfit for public office.

Imagine if Owen O’Callaghan never existed, and the Tribunal had never been established, and yet we somehow became aware of the following behaviour by our Prime Minister. Here’s the situation if Ahern is telling the truth:

• Our Prime Minister took money from businessmen, and put it towards buying a house for himself. He did not pay tax on at least some of this money, which he has described as ‘a political donation for personal use.’

• Our Prime Minister lodged several times his salary into various bank accounts, in his own name, his girlfriend’s name, and his friend Tim Collins name, and he has given varying and unbelievable explanations for these lodgements.

• Our Prime Minister accepted money from friends and businessmen who he appointed to state boards. He said that he appointed them not because they gave him money, but because they were his friends.

• Our Prime Minister was aware for over a decade that political party funds in his constituency had been given to his girlfriend for her to buy a house. This money was not repaid until the Tribunal found out about it.

• Our Prime Minister told our national parliament that he had consulted the tax authorities about certain personal financial transactions of his, when this was not true. He later claimed that ‘the tax authorities’ means his personal tax advisers.

I could go on, but there is more than enough there. Even if he had never met Owen O’Callaghan, Bertie Ahern is unfit for public office. And that is on the basis of Ahern’s own evidence about his personal finances.

Bertie Ahern has corrupted the offices of Finance Minister and Taoiseach, and Fianna Fail, the Green Party and the PDs are corrupting Irish politics by allowing Ahern to stay in office.

PS: Just discovered that Michael Nugent co-wrote the play I Keano with Arthur Mathews and Paul Woodfull. I saw the play recently in Cork Opera House – Absolutely brilliant.

The untouchable golden circle

Sometimes it’s just some small unexpected comment or story that tells us what kind of a country we live in.

An angry caller to last Friday’s Liveline was wondering why people like Bertie Ahern never seem to come under the same scrutiny as ‘ordinary’ citizens.

“One time I had a small business and I had a tax audit. I said to the tax inspectors, why are you hassling the small businesses’? They told me straight out:

‘we’re not allowed go after the big guys.’

They said it reflects badly on Irish business in general, that they have too many smart accountants and smart solicitors and they have friends in high places.

You can ask anyone who has ever worked in Revenue and they will back me up on that. That’s how it is, there’s an untouchable golden circle.”

Joe Duffy – A Bertie man?

Strict balance and the ability to act fairly as devils advocate are the hallmarks of a good broadcaster. Professional broadcasters must also be very careful to keep their own personal views and prejudices out of any discussion.

Few could seriously argue that Joe Duffy doesn’t live up to these laudable standards. But even the most professional of broadcasters can, at times, stray from the straight and narrow.

On last Friday’s show, during discussion about Ahern’s latest fantasies at the tribunal Joe strongly defended Bertie – The ‘loan’ to Celia was not Fianna Fail money per se, it’s in the name of trustees; Bertie works extraordinarily hard, seven days a week morning to night, he can’t remember everything.

Joe was very critical of the overall cost of the tribunal, the length of time it was taking and the fees paid to barristers and even brought up judge Mahon’s tax settlement with Revenue. Generally, he allowed pro Bertie callers to speak without interruption but frequently challenged anti Bertie callers.

At one point towards the end of the programme an anti Bertie caller named Mairead struggled to make her points in the face of an onslaught by Joe, a pro Bertie caller named Mary and Fianna Fail fanatic Jimmy Guerin.

It’s rare to witness someone as professional as Joe Duffy allow his own views to become part of a discussion but it is interesting to note that he is a Bertie man and strongly disapproves of the Mahon Tribunal.

Copy to:
Liveline

Government in hiding

What emerged at the Mahon Tribunal yesterday would cause a major political crisis in a functional democracy. In Ireland, not a single Government Minister or representative, to my knowledge, featured on the national airwaves to tell the people what was going on. All we got was wall to wall talk between journalists.

Morning Ireland – Journalist Brian Dowling. No public representative

Today with Pat Kenny – Journalist Fergal Keane and Michael Clifford. Defence Minister, Willie O’Dea was on talking about Irish troops going to Chad and was only briefly asked about the tribunal.

News at One – Journalist John Kilraine – No public representative.

Drivetime – Journalists Fergal Keane, Brian Dowling, Harry McGee, Justine McCarthy, Terry Prone and Noel Whelan – No public representative.

Six One News – Journalist John Kilraine and Brian Dowling – No public representative.

Nine News – Journalist Brian Dowling – No public representative.

Primetime – Journalists Michael Clifford and Sam Smyth – No public representative.

The Late Debate – Journalists Fionn Sheehan and Fergal Keane. At last, in the middle of the night, two lightweight politicians, Fianna Fail TD Frank Fahy and Fine Gael Senator Eugene O’Regan.

Perhaps they’ll come out of hiding over the weekend.

Different countries – different standards

Today with Pat Kenny (Thursday 21st Feb.).

Report from a real democracy where citizens and public figures are aware of the importance of accountability.

Country – United Kingdom.

Politician – Ian Paisley Jnr.

“There is a perception out there that he is careless in ways and he doesn’t always give enough attention to the correct detail…I have to say, no smoking gun has yet been produced either of him or the developer with whom he’s been aligned or linked.

But the perception out there is what he was doing was bordering on the sharp practice and that’s what militated against him and forced his resignation. And the word sleaze is now endemic within his own party ranks and they feel the party will be tainted because of the perception associated with him in terms of his association with developers.”

Report from a corrupt country where almost all citizens are totally ignorant of the very serious consequences that follow when public figures are not made accountable.

Country – Republic of Ireland.
Politician – Bertie Ahern.

On the lodgement of a particular £5,000 to his account.

“He believes he got it from an individual in a company but he’s now gone back to those people. The individual is dead, they can’t locate the account. But he said; ‘It was a donation for political purposes, but a political donation for my personal use. He said he felt free to put this political donation into his own account and use it to save up to buy a house. If he was told it was a strictly political donation it would have gone to the party.”

Bozo and Borgs

It really is fascinating to observe how quickly Green Party politicians have been assimilated Borg like into the dodgy world of Fianna Fail double speak.

Green Party TD Paul Gogarty speaking on The Late Debate (Tuesday, 12 Feb) was in no doubt about who was responsible for keeping an eye on the murky activities of Fianna Fail.

It’s the electorate who are the moral guardians of Fianna Fail, nothing to do with us.

A caller to the show asked: Who is that clown from the Greens?

Gogarty helpfully replied – “Bozo is my middle name.”

Bertie the bomb

It has been obvious for some time now that Bertie Ahern has something to hide. Nobody with an ounce of intelligence, with the possible exception of Martin Mansergh, could believe otherwise,

But Bertie’s High Court strategy can have only one meaning – It can only mean that he has something really big to hide, something so big that he is willing to risk everything on one roll of the High Court dice.

Meanwhile, the Greens continue to insist that the bomb ticking away beside them is none of their concern. It’s a personal matter for Bertie, it’s a matter for his lawyers; it’s a matter for the tribunal.

They’re unlikely to survive the explosion.

A one party corrupt State

Last Thursday’s Irish Examiner carried a hard hitting editorial concerning the latest episode from Bertie’s fantasy land.

Unfortunately, the writer is, like most Irish citizens, still labouring under the illusion that Ireland is a normal democracy. For example he writes;

“It is unimaginable that he thinks this kind of two-fingers-to-you buffoonery is acceptable or plausible to anyone other than a card-carrying Fianna Fáil lifer.”

Poll after poll, election after election over many decades makes it absolutely clear that the majority of Irish people are more than happy with this type of ‘two fingers-to-you buffoonery’.

The editorial goes on;

“What is at stake now is not the political career or reputation of an individual — it is the integrity of our political process.”

The integrity of the political process was completely wiped out in the 1980s when it failed, with the happy co-operation of the Irish electorate, to put the corrupt Haughey in jail.

The media and the Irish people seem to be completely unaware of a brutal reality that faces them every day.

Bertie Ahern and his fellow Mafiosi are not worried or angry about the possibility of Mahon uncovering evidence of corruption; they know that the Irish people have long ago accepted the corrupt ways of Fianna Fail despite the horrendous consequences this has for many of their fellow citizens.

No, Ahern and his fellow Mafiosi are angry by the very fact that they are being questioned at all, that there is still a minority of people out there who have not yet accepted that Ireland is, effectively, a one party corrupt State.

Ahern's quadruple negative

Here’s how Bertie Ahern tried to climb out of the latest hole he has dug for himself (Drivetime, 38th minute).

“For legal and professional reasons neither myself nor my advisors have been in a position to respond to any of the accuracy and completeness of the reports about those issues so it is not correct, if I said so I wasn’t correct, so I, I can’t recall if I did say, but I did not say, if I did say it I didn’t mean to say it that these issues could not be dealt with until the end of the Mahon Tribunal, that is not what Revenue said.”

Eamonn Gilmore described Ahern’s explanation as a quadruple negative.

Irish Independent journalist, Fionan Sheehan said he was in a state of shock at what Ahern was now claiming because just eight days ago he had asked Ahern.

“Is it the position that the Revenue Commissioners have told your advisors that they’ll have to wait for the Mahon Tribunal to report back before finalizing your situation?”

Ahern confirmed that that was the case and reiterated that ‘fact’ several times during the ensuing discussion.

Sheehan said the Taoiseach’s claim was widely reported across the media that evening and the next day and nobody from Government disputed the reports. Now, eight days later, Ahern was saying something completely different.