Ryan who?

I recently came across an article about some radio broadcaster called Ryan Tubridy.

Apparently he’s worried about the amount of public interest surrounding his relationship with his girlfriend Aoibhinn something or other.

I asked a friend if he had ever heard of this guy Tubridy.

Don’t think so says he but I once knew a Runi Turbidy from the small village of Ólafsvík in Western Iceland (pop. 1,010).

Runi worked as a security man on the radio mast in Ólafsvík, which I’m told, is the tallest structure in Western Europe.

He did have a girlfriend called Alfhildur something or other and was worried about the amount of attention she was receiving from a nearby flock of sheep.

Ah, I thought, that must be the fella. Obviously, the author of the article mistakenly entered Ireland instead of Iceland.

Sure such a thing could happen to anyone.

This is what we have become: A dictatorship

This government spent €1.1 million of taxpayers’ money in promoting a ‘Yes’ vote in the Children’s referendum.

So what part of the following statement, issued in 1995, by Supreme Court judge Liam Hamilton did state officials/politicians not understand?

The use by the government of public funds to fund a campaign designed to influence the voters in favour of a Yes vote is an interference with the democratic process and the constitutional process.

In my opinion state officials and politicians were fully aware of judge Hamilton’s judgement, they knew very well that what they were doing was unconstitutional but went ahead and did it anyway.

Just like officials in the Department of Health continued (and are still continuing) to break the law even after they were challenged by the Ombudsman.

In a similar vein we have government after government arrogantly ignoring the will of the people by dismissing their votes in referendums and forcing them to vote again until the result tallies with the state’s agenda.

There are literally thousands of examples over the last number of decades where Irish governments/politicians/officials deliberately ignored or broke laws to suit their own political or personal interests.

Solicitor Malachy Steenson (a ‘No’ vote campaigner) is correct in his assertion that we have moved from being a democracy to being a dictatorship.

Most dictatorships, in an effort to look respectable, create a fig leaf of laws, constitution and democratic principles.

The ruling elite then proceeds, under this thin blanket of ‘respectability’, to act in their own interests at the expense of ordinary citizens.

This what we have become.

OPW still refusing to answer questions

I spoke with an official at the Office of Public Works (OPW) yesterday morning about my questions regarding the missing art work from Leinster House.

To date I had been communicating with OPW officials via their Press Office.

I was assured by this official that she would look into the matter and call me back before noon.

Predictably, there was no call back. After several attempts today I finally spoke with the same official who made it crystal clear to me that my questions were not going to be answered.

When I asked for the specific rule/regulation/law she was basing her refusal on she told me to put my request in writing.

This is my fourth email to the OPW requesting answers to very simple questions.

Answers that would be forthcoming immediately and without fuss if I lived in a functional democracy.

Dear…,

Re our phone conversation today regarding the missing art work from Leinster House.

I would be grateful if you could confirm to me the precise rules/regulations/laws on which your office is refusing to answer my questions on this matter.

Yours Sincerely
Anthony Sheridan

Office of Public Works refuses to answer questions regarding missing art works

I received a second reply from the Office of Public Works (OPW) Press Office in response to my list of questions regarding the art works missing from Leinster House.

It was pretty much like the first reply, that is, a general overview of what the office does but no answers to my questions.

I rang the OPW Press Office and spoke to the official who sent the email.

She informed me that the information they possess is only as good as they get from OPW officials. She very kindly agreed to re-submit my questions to OPW officials.

I received an email from an OPW official (through the Press Office) effectively telling me to take a hike. My questions were not going to be answered.

Both emails are reproduced below.

Good afternoon Mr. Sheridan,

I refer to your email. Please see response below:

The OPW Art Management Office manages the State Art Collection.

As you are aware it is currently undertaking a major inventory project and is therefore not in a position to confirm any works as being unaccounted for.

The inventory involves photographing and cataloguing art works and decorative objects in the State Art Collection that are located in many State properties.

Leinster House is one of these properties. There are over 700 art works catalogued on the OPW art database under the location of the Houses of the Oireachtas complex (which includes all buildings).

OPW does not release inventory details while the project is ongoing.

Please note that within the buildings in the Leinster House complex, there are: 365 prints, 290 paintings, 24 sculptures, 21 drawings, 14 photographs, 6 reproductions and 4 textiles.

There are works by important Irish artists such as Leo Whelan, Seán O’Sullivan, Maurice McGonigal, Patrick Hickey and Tom Ryan on display alongside numerous works such as James Hanley, Sonja Landweer, Mary Fitzgerald, Stephen Vaughan and Cora Cummins.

OPW Art Management Office continue to work closely with Leinster House staff re the State Art Collection and it is expected the inventory will be completed within the next 3 – 4 weeks.

Regards

Good afternoon Mr. Sheridan,

I refer to our telephone conversation. As agreed, I reverted to the Art Management Section in OPW. Please see response below.

“The OPW Art Management Office is currently engaged in the inventory check in Leinster House.

The Office is aware that the art works located in Leinster House are the property of the State and take this inventory review very seriously.

Staff are now working on this project in co-operation with staff from Leinster House.

It is not possible to present information on the inventory at present as it is in progress and the results are not yet complete.

As the collection is a circulating one, it is general policy for collection management purposes not to release precise locations of art works as these works move from location to location and information tends to date quickly.

It is also policy not to release detailed information on locations for security reasons.

Please assure Mr Sheridan that the OPW is completely focused on this inventory. We are being supported in this endeavour by the staff in Leinster House.

Please advise Mr. Sheridan also that his interest is appreciated but it is not possible to release such details while we are working on the inventory”.
I hope this clarifies the matter.

Regards

Sean Quinn joins Bertie Ahern in la la land

Sean Quinn was on the airwaves again yesterday blaming everybody for his self-inflicted woes.

On the possibility of going jail.

With the current attitude of Anglo it’s very likely to happen, I’ve done everything in my power to purge my contempt.

Translation: It’s all the fault of Anglo.

On his deliberate hiding of assets from Anglo.

Yes, we clearly stated in front of Judge Dunne that we did everything in our power to take as many assets as we could from under their now because we knew they had a claim against us, €2.8 billion, we knew we only owed them €445 million.

We think it’s an absolute disgrace, it’s daylight robbery. So we made no apologies about trying to take as many assets from Anglo as we could and to make sure that we give them the minimum amount of information of where they were.

So, no room for misinterpretation there. They tried to move the money offshore because Anglo had robbed them.

On accepting responsibility for his part in the fall of Anglo and the subsequent massive damage done to the country.

Sean Quinn had absolutely nothing to do with the overall losses in the Irish banking system.

Odd how dodgy people like Quinn, Lawlor and Wallace tend to talk about themselves in the third person. It’s as if they’re psychologically separating themselves from their activities.

So there’s one Sean Quinn out there who placed a massive bet on Anglo in order to substantially increase his already massive wealth and lost billions and now demands that Irish taxpayers pick up the bill.

The other Sean Quinn sees himself as an innocent victim of Anglo’s evil activities and is appealing to the people, who are picking up his massive bill, for sympathy and support.

On the money owed to Anglo.

You must remember it’s the Quinn Group that owes this money, the Quinn family doesn’t owe this money, they never borrowed money. This money was all borrowed by the Quinn Group.

How some of those commentators can say that the family owe €2.8 billion when they should know the Group owes €2.8 billion if the debts were legitimate, which we believe they’re not.

Your contention is that you don’t own the Group anymore?

No, so how could the family pay back if they don’t own the Group?

This is the same tactic used by the fraudster Mick Wallace TD. I don’t owe Revenue any money; the company MJ Wallace owes it.

Quinn getting a bit befuddled as he tries to keep his stories from sounding like Bertie Ahern’s lies.

I would claim that the five children owned all of these companies, these companies were never owned by Anglo. Anglo never invested any money in these companies.

These companies were owned by the kids; paid for by the kids.

Sorry, they were owned by the kids; but the Group borrowed the money.

This level of delusion is up there with the liar Ahern’s claim that he won the money on the horses.

Do you feel a level of guilt for it all?

I think the interviewer meant; did he feel any guilt for the damage done to Ireland and its people.

Quinn: I do indeed, I built up something that made them all multimillionaires and then all of a sudden I made this one mistake.

Spent a pile of money on Anglo, we all know what happened, bang, bang, bang.

And then all of a sudden, I leave the kids no money, no jobs, no reputation.

Hunted by the media, hunted by surveillance companies. It’s just absolutely horrendous what they’re going through and I do feel guilty about that.

I feel very sorry for him (his son in jail), it’s totally unfair, a totally innocent man.

He’s a victim of something he’s totally innocent of and I feel very bad about that.

At this point I was in floods of tears.

Surely someone should set up a support group with the aim of restoring ‘the kids’ to their multimillionaire status?

The inhumanity of it all.

Bouncing Czechs

Fans from the Czech Republic were jumping up and down in pure ecstasy when their team scored against Greece.

A commentator responded:

We have a situation here that involves Greeks and thousands of bouncing Czechs.

Same crime; different messages

I wrote recently about a woman convicted of social welfare fraud totalling €229,000.

Even though the woman repaid the money the judge said it was important to send out a message to deter such crimes, or words to that effect.

Meanwhile, a struck-off solicitor who stole more than €9,000 during what was described as a schematic criminal fraud has also been before the courts.

The solicitor’s lawyers asked the judge to note that he had repaid the stolen money but the judge was clear.

A message has to be sent out to deter such crimes.

Seven months jail –suspended.