The State – Page 15 – Public Inquiry

Ireland should ensure it remains under the protection of the European sharks

The European Union was never designed to deal with the current global financial crisis.

The initial idea was to create a loose confederation of states that agreed with and cooperated on a range of mutual interests like finance, environment, trade, law and so on.

The creation of a single currency was a step too far for such a loose confederation.

It was overly optimistic to think that a large group of nations with widely divergent interests, expectations and political sensitivities could all operate as a single unit within a single currency.

If the single currency never existed the various countries of the EU would have struggled through the current crisis with varying degrees of success and failure.

Ireland, for example, would have been destroyed while Germany would have remained strong.

That’s all academic now because the Euro has become not just critical for individual European countries but is also a critical factor in the health of the global financial system.

The decision by the majority of European countries to forge ahead with a separate treaty was the only alternative to a complete collapse of the Euro and perhaps the entire EU project.

Ireland should now do everything possible to ensure it signs up to the new treaty.

That means no drawn out referendum campaign and no quibbling about retaining our corporation tax at the present rate.

The reality is as simple as it is brutal.

The UK, although a big shark, now finds itself alone in a big sea full of other big sharks only too eager to gobble it up if necessary.

Ireland, as a tiny fish, in that big sea full of sharks should do all in its power to ensure it remains under the protection of the large group of European sharks.

Michael Wallace TD is a thief

When Independent TD, Michael Wallace, was asked what the public will think of his failure to pass on his workers’ pension scheme contributions he responded:

People will make their own calls on that.

Here’s my call:

Michael Wallace is a thief and a hypocrite.

He’s a thief because he took money from his workers that was supposed to go to their pension scheme and kept it for himself.

He’s a hypocrite because instead of just accepting that’s he’s a common thief and taking his punishment he sermonises about how the courts were right to take the matter seriously.

He talks out of both sides of his mouth; accepting that he’s guilty but, at the same time, not as guilty as some would believe.

He tries to off load some of his guilt on the Pensions Board claiming he had serious communications problems with the board.

Taoiseach's speech: The usual waffle and denial

Because Enda Kenny’s address to the nation was little more than the usual collection of meaningless platitudes it is easy to analyse.

Point One: As a nation we are living beyond our means (Borrowed from the criminal politician Haughey).

Point Two: You, ordinary citizens, are not to blame. (But you will pay the price for the political and financial corruption that has destroyed the country).

Point Three: We must ensure this never happens again. (This is standard waffle which is usually followed up with – we must move on, the past is another country; anger is not a policy etc., etc.).

The key point in the Taoiseach’s speech was, however – who he blamed for the catastrophe?

If, as he had already stated, the Irish people weren’t to blame – then who?

Let me be clear – Ireland supports stronger economic governance throughout Europe, and particularly in the Eurozone.

In fact, the Irish people are paying the price now for the absence of such rules in the past.

So there you have it. It is now almost universally believed within Ireland that Europe is the cause of our complete failure as a state.

No mention of political corruption, no mention of financial corruption and no mention of bureaucratic corruption.

And why would there be any mention of the real causes of our failure as a state?

After all, to do so would mean having to leave the bubble of denial and enter the brutal realty of what we really are as a nation.

Reminder: Ireland is not to blame for the catastrophe

At the very beginning of a Prime Time special last night viewers were ‘informed’ of who was responsible for Ireland’s woes.

2,000 miles away a country in turmoil lit the spark in a wildfire that would overwhelm Ireland and threaten to destroy the single currency.

Greece, according to the programme, was brought to the brink of financial collapse by a combination of corruption, chronic indebtedness and a dysfunctional tax system.

Ireland, on the other hand was ‘damaged’ by a combination of reckless banks, inept regulators and disastrous economic policies.

For a full hour the programme analysed the loss of Ireland’s financial independence without once mentioning the word ‘corruption’.

It is no mean achievement to analyse a country brought to ruin by political, financial and administrative corruption without once referring to that reality.

Greece is corrupt; Ireland is not, apparently.

So let’s bring ourselves up to date on who is to blame for the catastrophe visited upon Ireland.

The global financial crisis.

Lehman Brothers.

The German and French banks

And now – the Greeks.

Copy to:

Prime Time

No matter what happens, the taxpayer will pay

The board of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is paid by the taxpayer.

The Compliance Committee, who may conduct the investigation into the RTE/Fr. Reynolds affair, is paid by the taxpayer.

If the Authority decides to employ an outside source to conduct the investigation that source will be paid by the taxpayer.

If RTE is found guilty of either breaching the regulations or failing to co-operate with the Authority the station can be fined up to €250,000.

Any fine imposed will be paid by the taxpayer.

Economist, Colm McCarthy’s response to the Kevin Cardiff scandal.

It was just a classification error.

I had a lot of sympathy for Kevin Cardiff fielding questions from a posse of politicians on the highest horses that they could locate.

It was an unedifying spectacle.

Colm McCarthy may be an expert on economics but he clearly knows nothing about the concept of accountability.

Italians light years ahead of the Irish in recognising corrupt and traitorous politicians

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has resigned amid jeers from hundreds of protesters shouting buffoon, clown and Mafiosi.

What an uncivilised lot.

Here in our banana republic when the criminal Haughey was forced to resign in disgrace he was warmly praised by most of our gombeen party leaders.

Most of the media elevated the criminal to the status of national statesman excusing his crimes by arguing that he had done more good than bad.

When the scumbag Ahern was also forced to resign in disgrace he too was elevated to the status of national hero by the body politic.

When the then leader of the Opposition, Enda Kenny, suggested that perhaps there should be an election he was roundly condemned, not just by Ahern’s confederates in treason, but also by the same section of the media who agreed with Ahern’s description of the criminal Haughey as being a patriot to his fingertips.

The Italians are light years ahead of the Irish when it comes to recognising and reacting to corrupt and traitorous politicians.

Closing the Vatican embassy

It’s unlikely that the Government’s decision to close Ireland’s embassy to the Vatican is a deliberate insult but I suspect the Catholic Church will take it as such or at least I hope it does.

After all, being lumped in as surplus to requirements with far away East Timor and rogue state Iran is not exactly edifying.

McGuinness: Not good enough for the morons who destroyed the country

The entry of Martin McGuinness into the presidential election has brought to the surface a unique and particularly virulent form of Irish hypocrisy.

In it’s simplest form this hypocrisy can be expressed in a sentence – McGuinness is good enough for the people of Northern Ireland but ‘his type’ does not measure up to the high standards of political leadership in the Republic.

This view is, of course, pure and utter bullshit propagated by a ruling elite who labour under the delusion that Ireland is a functional democracy when in reality it is nothing more than a banana republic, a failed state that has more in common with a badly run mafia than a modern democratic state.

McGuinness is accepted by the people of Northern Ireland, by the British Government and the British people, by all the peoples and governments of the European Union, by the United Nations, by the United States, indeed by the entire world as a bona fide, hard working and genuine politician who has made a major contribution in bringing peace to Northern Ireland.

Only the hypocritical, incompetent morons who destroyed our country are of the view that McGuinness is not a fit person to hold high office.

In order to stop McGuinness at all cost, this campaign is going to have an additional ingredient – a state/government strategy to smear McGuinness at every opportunity.

This strategy will probably include government leaks, the handing over of files to ‘friendly’ journalists and heightened Garda activity against republican supporters.

Dana and Senator Norris

As an atheist my views on religion are a million miles away from those of Dana Rosemary Scallon but despite that I admire her as a person and believe she would make a good president.

I admire her because she doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what she is – a conservative Catholic. When defending her church/beliefs she doesn’t come across as a hypocrite or as a loony religious fanatic.

David Norris, on the other hand, has gone down in my estimation in recent years principally because of his hypocritical defence of that corrupt quango, Seanad Eireann.

He has shown himself to be more interested in preserving the rotten system that has destroyed our country than supporting those who want to destroy that system and build a new republic.