Media coverage – Page 8 – Public Inquiry

Breaking News: Sinn Fein shed arrested

By Anthony Sheridan

There was a sensational story on the front of today’s Irish Times.

Adams canvasser owns shed where ‘Slab’ Murphy cash found

My god I thought. Could this possibly be true, could somebody who canvasses for Gerry Adams actually own a shed and could that shed be the very same shed where another ‘sinister’ Fenian hid some cash?

This is even more explosive (pun intended) than the recent, truly shocking story in the Irish Sun where it was revealed that Adams worked just eight metres, yes, that’s right, just eight metres, away from a vice den over his constituency office.

My god; is there no end to this man’s heinous crimes?

Well, thats it, I’ve heard enough. Gerry Adams, every member and supporter of Sinn Fein, every citizen who may even have considered voting for the party of sinisterism should be arrested forthwith and put away – at least until the election is over.

It’s the only way to protect the stability, prosperity and genuine democracy bestowed upon us over the years by Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour.

Oh, and that evil shed, That shed should also be arrested and locked away; it’s clearly a threat to all of our futures.

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

Miriam Lord endorses Michael Martin

By Anthony Sheridan

Michael Martin and the Fianna Fail party will be delighted with this glowing endorsement of their leader by Irish Times columnist Miriam Lord.

Lord, in common with all establishment journalists, possesses an amazing ability of writing about Irish politics and in particular about Fianna Fail without ever mentioning the dreaded phrase – political corruption.

Michael must be delighted to have so many friendly journalists singing his praises in the comfortable realm of denial.

Copy to:
Miriam Lord

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

Journalist Alison O’Connor: The Titanic still floats

Political corruption is the single most important issue for the people of Ireland in this election.

Political corruption is the reason the people of Ireland destroyed Fianna Fail in the last election.

The hope that political corruption would be acknowledged and dealt with is the reason Fine Gael and Labour were elected in 2011.

And yet, political corruption is the rampaging elephant in the room that is studiously ignored, not just by the main political parties, but also by the great bulk of establishment journalists.

These journalists confine themselves strictly to analysing the current fluid political landscape created by political corruption but never, ever actually mention the elephant in the room.

They write about Fianna Fail as if corruption within that party was not principally responsible for the economic and social catastrophe of 2008.

They write about Fine Gael and Labour as if these parties were not willing participants in infecting the body politic and wider society with the disease of corruption.

It’s akin to analysing and opinionating on the fallout following the sinking of the Titanic but at the same time, pretending that the ship was still afloat.

Take journalist Alison O’Connor for example. In an article in last Friday’s Irish Examiner she tells us that Fine Gael won the 2011 election because Fianna Fail mishandled the economy.

Wrong.

Fine Gael won the election on the back of a promise to change the way politics was done in Ireland. In other words, to root out the political corruption that has blighted Ireland for decades.

Ms. O’Connor, in common with all other establishment journalists, seems to be totally unaware that Ireland is going through a dramatic and historic transition whereby the people are rejecting the old corrupt regime in favour of those who want to create a genuinely democratic republic.

All such political transitions throughout history involve a degree of instability as the old regime fights to retain its corrupt power in the face of rejection by ordinary people.

As an establishment journalist Ms. O’Connor does not see the driving force that is dramatically changing the Irish political landscape. She still operates in the old regime mindset, refusing to believe that the ship is sinking.

Her concern for an election outcome that would see a hung Dail confirms her old regime mindset.

We need to reflect long and hard on that (a hung Dail) and what it would mean for a country that still has its economic stabilisers on.

She 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 journalists like Ms. O’Connor 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:
Ms. O’Connor

PJ Mara and speaking ill of the dead

Nauseating is the only appropriate word to describe the response to the death of PJ Mara.

Before continuing I want to make comment on one of the most ridiculous, most hypocritical of Irish cultural myths – the demand that we should never speak ill of the dead.

In the vast majority of cases this is a laudable principle. Nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes in life; we all do some wrong. So when an ordinary person dies it is right that their mistakes and wrongs be forgiven and forgotten.

But it is completely different when the person in question is not an ordinary person. When the deceased person’s actions and decisions had a massive impact on the lives of other humans and on their country.

I will use an extreme example to make the point. Nobody in their right mind would suggest that the actions of child killer Robert Black should be put to one side just because he died.

At the other extreme nobody would object to the avalanche of praise and respect afforded to Nobel laureate and poet Seamus Heaney when he passed away in 2013.

My point is obvious; when somebody with a significant public stature dies their lives should be honestly appraised with perhaps an emphasis on the good but certainly never a complete denial of the bad.

And that is one of the great hypocrisies of official Ireland. When a member of their class passes away the truth is immediately locked up and the doors to lies and hypocrisy are opened. Anyone who dares make even a sneaking reference to anything negative is immediately attacked as speaking ill of the dead.

One such individual was Alan Barrett, Director of ESRI on the Marian Finucane Show last Sunday.

Mr. Barrett, tentatively, made some references to the truth regarding Mara’s career but he didn’t get very far before Ms. Finucane interrupted his flow.

I found the coverage quite extraordinary and not wanting to criticise political journalists there’s an element of which it’s terribly self- indulgent by the people who are writing about it. My perspective is that this is a guy that worked with possibly the most corrupt man in Irish history, Charlie Haughey. A man who almost spawned a generation of men who behaved wrongly.

Marian Finucane had heard enough, Barrett was talking truth and that is unacceptable when referring to an honoured member of the political ruling class.

We don’t want to demonise him.

Barrett went on to make his point, all the time being very careful of his words in case he spoke too much truth.

When he suggested that a lot of Mara’s work was nothing more than facilitating access to government ministers Michael O’Regan, parliamentary correspondent for the Irish Times and probably the most captured journalist in Irish media, took him to task.

All parties do it argued O’Regan as if that was justification enough for political corruption.

The discussion, now successfully steered away from truth, reverted to the usual lies and hypocrisy.

O’Regan went on to extol the great achievement of the (corrupt) Haughey aided and abetted by his (henchman) PJ Mara.

As I said, all very nauseating but depressingly predictable.

Copy to:
Marian Finucane
Michael O’Regan

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

Editing letters to the Irish Times

Over the years I have had many letters published in the Irish Times and with very few exceptions they were published exactly as written.

A letter in today’s paper, however, is heavily edited almost to the point of being rewritten. I’m not complaining (yes, I know, it’s a first) as the point I was making in the letter just about remains but, in my opinion, (which is as humble as ever) with much less punch.

Here are both letters for comparison.

The original of the species:

15 December 2015

Sir,

The news that junior minister Ann Phelan was the only TD present in the Dail chamber for the passing of legislation is a perfect representation of the relevance of our much debased parliament.

No sarcasm or cynicism intended, just brutal reality.

Yours etc.,
Anthony Sheridan

The Irish Times edited version:

15 December 2015

Sir,

Further to “Minister of State talks to herself in Dáil as other TDs fail to show up” (December 15th), the news that Ann Phelan was the only TD present in the Dáil chamber for the passing of legislation is a perfect representation of how relevant our parliament is.

Yours, etc,
Anthony Sheridan
Cobh,
Co Cork.

Stephen Collins: An enemy of my country

This is, without a shadow of doubt, the most stupid, most ignorant comment/opinion ever written by a so-called journalist in the history of our corrupt/failed state.

The notion that corruption is rife across the political system because of the dubious behaviour of a few needs to be challenged, not simply because it is wrong but because it has the capacity to further erode confidence in our democracy.

Stephen Collins is either a complete and utter moron or he is a supporter of state/political corruption. There can be no other reason for his sheer idiocy.

As a private individual it does not matter a damn what this ignorant journalist thinks but as an opinion maker in one of the most influential newspapers in the country his comments do serious damage to Ireland and its people.

For that reason I see this idiot as an enemy of my country.

Copy to:
Stephen Collins
Irish Times management