Category: The State

Outsourcing justice

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has found Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani guilty in a contempt of court case.

However, the court gave Mr. Gilani only a symbolic sentence and he will not have to serve any time in jail.

Earlier this month former Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde was convicted of negligence related to the collapse of his nation’s banking system.

Both of these cases contain a mixture of politics and farce; Haarde said his conviction was ridiculous.

The thing to note, however, from an Irish perspective, is that both of these countries possess a law enforcement system with the power and will to put even the most powerful in the dock.

It is inconceivable that the Irish law enforcement system would haul a sitting Taoiseach into the courts.

Such matters are outsourced to never ending tribunals until the politician retires or dies.

The Corruption perceptions index 2011

Iceland 13
Ireland 19
Pakistan 134

Mahon Tribunal fallout

Letter in today’s Irish Times.

A chara,

I refer to Anthony Sheridan’s letter (April 18th) in which he seems annoyed about the lack of progress by Fine Gael in its investigation regarding Olivia Mitchell TD.

He can imagine how I feel whereby in the Clondalkin area another elected Fine Gael politician, Cllr Therese Ridge has had findings by the Mahon tribunal made against her and yet Fine Gael has now appointed her to the executive of the Local Authorities Members’ Association (Home News, April 14th).

Is mise,

Paul Doran
Monastery Walk,
Clondalkin,
Dublin 22

Sensational news: Corruption Act enforced in Ireland

I see a former Garda has been charged in connection with passing on confidential State information.

Daniel Tarrant is being charged under section 8 of the Corruption Act of ‘corruptly obtaining a gift, consideration or advantage’.

Rumours that a civil servant was overcome by dust inhalation while reading up on this law have been denied.

Ireland is a neutral country!

Caught just a snatch of a documentary on the war in Sudan where civilians, mostly women and children, were being bombed by aircraft using intelligence gathered from drones.

Apparently, the bombing is part of a strategy by the Sudanese government to defeat rebels by forcing them to hide out in a remote, mountainous area with little food or water.

The rebels managed to shoot down a drone and when dismantled it was discovered that the electronics of the aircraft had been manufactured in Iran and Ireland.

Cowen delivers State of the Nation speech – a year after being thrown out of office

Some guy called Deaglan De Breadun wrote an article about some guy called Brian Cowen who was leader of some country called Ireland.

Apparently, this Cowen guy had some sort of leadership role in Ireland and has just delivered a state of the nation address on the major crisis evolving in that country – a year after being thrown out of office.

In the 8,400 word speech the Cowen guy blames the international financial crisis and the people of Ireland for everything.

He makes a strong case for a more orderly and better-regulated economic order instead of the anarchic greed and avarice that brought us (the world) to our present sorry state.

An electorate that has learnt to vote according to its pocket-book and local or sectional concerns rather than the broader national interest.

The De Breadun guy obviously has great admiration for this Cowen guy, which, in all sympathy, is a pretty sad way to live.

As for the Cowen guy – well, he’s just sad.

State/Catholic child indoctrination rule recommended for deletion

The Advisory Group on Patronage and Pluralism in national schools has recommended that Rule 68 should be deleted as soon as possible.

Rule 68 is a rule issued by representatives of the Catholic god when they wielded total power in our schools and begins:

Of all parts of a school curriculum Religious Instruction is by far the most important, as its subject matter, God’s honour and service, includes the proper use of all man’s faculties, and affords the most powerful inducements to their proper use.

Thankfully, this state supported religious indoctrination/abuse of innocent children is rapidly coming to an end.

Here’s the rule in full:

Rule 68

Of all parts of a school curriculum Religious Instruction is by far the most important, as its subject matter, God’s honour and service, includes the proper use of all man’s faculties, and affords the most powerful inducements to their proper use.

Religious Instruction is, therefore, a fundamental part of the school course, and a religious spirit should inform and vivify the whole work of the school.

The teacher should constantly inculcate the practice of charity, justice, truth, purity, patience, temperance, obedience to lawful authority, and all the other moral virtues.

In this way he will fulfil the primary duty of an educator, the moulding to perfect form of his pupils’ character, habituating them to observe, in their relations with God and with their neighbours, the laws which God, both directly through the dictates of natural reason and through Revelation, and indirectly through the ordinance of lawful authority, imposes on mankind.

Ignorance and gullibility

Letter in yesterday’s Irish Times.

The people of Ireland can only hope that the the ignorance and gullibility evident in this letter is confined to the author.

Sir,

I have never been a supporter of Fianna Fáil, but I must say that I have been impressed very much with Micheál Martin’s handling of the whole affair thus far.

The pressure to hold ranks and kick for touch on this one must be enormous but the Corkman’s statesmanship has been paramount.

I hope he keeps his nerve and is rewarded for showing another view of Fianna Fáil.

He is at the opposite end of the spectrum to where Haughey, Burke, Flynn and Ahern gather.

Yours, etc,

Pat Burke Walsh
Rosslare Strand
Co Wexford.

O'Malley's view

Letter in yesterday’s Irish Times

Sir,

Noel Whelan (Opinion, March 24th) suggested expelling Bertie Ahern was of a different order to the expulsions of Neil Blaney in 1972 and of me in 1985, because in this case the party is expelling a former leader.

He is wrong.

Blaney’s and my expulsions, both for “conduct unbecoming” a member of the party, were about the future direction of Fianna Fáil.

In 1972 the party chose constitutional republicanism over ethnic bigotry, and in 1985 Fianna Fáil chose corruption and personal aggrandisement over basic ethical standards. Those expulsions mattered.

Expelling Bertie Ahern was an attempt at damage limitation and to re-cast the party’s position on past events.

But Ahern epitomised the Fianna Fáil approach to politics since Haughey took over the party’s leadership.

It will take more than his expulsion to rid the party of the stain with which successive leaders and senior members have tarnished it.

Yours, etc

Desmond O’Malley

Politicians comfortable within a corrupt political/administrative system

Deputy leader of Sinn Fein Mary Lou McDonald was not pleased when Pat Kenny said the nation was scandalised over the Inkgate incident (Frontline, 5th March).

To say the nation is scandalised is blowing things out of proportion.

That Ms. McDonald seems blind to the deep anger generated by this latest rip off of taxpayers hard earned money indicates that she and her party are more in tune with the corrupt political/administrative system than the radical reform ideals they constantly proclaim.

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte is another politician who seems very comfortable operating within our corrupt political/administrative system.

The implications of the new standing charge for low-use electricity customers were ‘not earth-shattering‘ according to Minister Rabbitte.

He was responding to the move by ESB Electric Ireland to hit more than 100,000 domestic electricity customers with a 50 per cent increase in their standing charge if they use an average of two units or less per day from February 1st.

Minister Rabbitte has suggested that the new charge is aimed at (by definition, relatively wealthy) holiday cottage owners (100,000 of them?) rather than a scam to rip off the most vulnerable in society.

Independent TD Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan is yet another politician who has settled very easily into our corrupt political/administrative system.

Just after he was elected Mr. Flanagan said he would donate half of his €92,000 salary to fund projects in his community.

One year on from his promise Mr. Flanagan has refused point blank to give even a broad outline of where his alleged donations have gone.

I decided to donate on the basis of guaranteed anonymity. The alternative is that I get community groups complaining that one group was favoured over the other.

In a functional democracy this silly excuse would be greeted with hilarity and even deep skepticism.

In a deeply corrupt state like Ireland, where barefaced lying is the norm among the political class it is simply unbelievable.

I don’t believe for a moment that any of the above politicians are corrupt in any way but they do operate within a deeply corrupt political/administrative system and must, like almost every other state official, react to that system as circumstances and their own particular personal/political interests dictate.

Whether that’s denial, lying or arrogant dismissal doesn’t matter a great deal.

In the end all such reactions do serious damage to Ireland and its people.

Copy to:
Mary Lou McDonald
Pat Rabbitte
Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan

Gardai acting as government political force?

Protesters failed in their attempt to stage a peaceful, democratic protest during the visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping because Irish police effectively abandoned their democratic obligation to allow and protect such protests.

Effectively abandoning their obligation as a civil police force for all citizens the Irish police apparently behaved as a political force acting in the interests of government.

The following is taken from RTEs This Week programme (6.30) covering an attempted protest in the Phoenix Part against the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

Protester: Can we have our property back please?

Guard: I cannot let you protest.

Protester: Why? What grounds are you taking this from us? Why?

Protester: He asked me, what is in your bag? I said there’s a couple of books and my Tibetan flag and I asked him, do you want to search and he said yes.I opened the bag and he saw the flag and said, what is this? I said this is a Tibetan flag and he said this is a public threat.

Woman protester: This is my own property.

Gurad: I’ll tell you what. It’s near 0945 now, right. This gentleman will be gone out of here at 1030.

Protester: We don’t care, we want our property back now.

Guard: We’ll give you your property back if you leave the Park, will you leave the park?

Protester: We will, we promise.

Guard: You follow us out the Castleknock gates and we’ll give you back your flags but you will not be allowed back into the park.

UDC lecturer and barrister specialising on the law of the European Convention of Human Rights said:

It would be dangerous to think that you could exclude demonstraters from those places just because they’re visible to foreign visitors.

A complaint has been submitted to the Garda Ombudsman on the matter but, as always in Ireland, people should not hold their breaths.