Mary Harney: Once a politican of courage and integrity

At a recent conference proposing a universal health system Minister for Health Mary Harney warned against creating false expectations (RTE, 31.00).

We live in an environment where we don’t have access to additional revenue in the medium term for health just as we haven’t for other areas of public policy either.

And therefore to make recommendations that weren’t based on neutral revenue perspectives would be recommendations that couldn’t be implemented.

During the boom years when there was plenty of money around Harney could easily have put in place a universal health system that was fair to all citizens.

Instead, she enthusiastically pursued a right wing, for profit policy that has firmly established a two tier health system where those with money gain immediate access to treatment while those without, like Suzie Long, are left to take their chances.

Listening to such dishonest waffle from this politician it’s difficult to believe that she was once a person of courage and integrity, that she was a leading influence in challenging the corrupt activities of the criminal Haughey.

Lenihan, making it up as he goes along

George Hook of Newstalk Radio asked Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan how it was that in the UK bankers like Fred Goodwin of RBS were not allowed to hold on to lucrative retirement packages while failed Irish bankers walked away with millions.

Lenihan’s response was a classic make it up as you go along explanation.

I don’t know about Fred Goodwin’s case, he mustn’t have had a firm contractual position or they wouldn’t have been able to rescind it.

When the Government took control of the banks Mr. Goodwin didn’t have a finalised package.

A lot of these gentlemen have finalised packages in Ireland which were written into their contracts long before the guarantee… I’m faced with a legal brick wall.

So, Lenihan starts off by saying he knows nothing about Goodwin’s case. He then immediately contradicts himself by stating that Goodwin made himself vulnerable by not having a finalised package.

Irish bankers on the other hand, according to Lenihan, were clever in making sure they had watertight contracts and as a result he was up against a legal brick wall in regard to taking action against them.

Lenihan: A heavily qualified, mealy mouthed apology.

According to a report by Irish Independent political editor Fionnan Sheahan the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has apologised for his part in the economic crisis.

I was a member of the party throughout that era and I’m certainly sorry for what happened, no question of that.

I might not have been in a position of lead responsibility, but in so far as even I was a member of the governing party, as a deputy supporting it or Minister of State supporting it, I have to take responsibility.

Sheahan’s report, however, only tells part of the story. Lenihan’s apology was heavily qualified. He only accepted part responsibility blaming the Opposition and everybody else for getting caught up in a degree of unreality.

When George Hook asked for permission to report that the Minister for Finance had apologised for the mess Lenihan replied:

I didn’t say that, I said I would apologise to the extent to which the government played a part in this but I don’t accept that the government was the only party responsible.

Anthony Cronin: Appalled at Ahern's tax exemption

Writer Anthony Cronin has urged the government to introduce new tax exemption guidelines for writers (RTE, 35.00).

Speaking at the annual assembly of Aosdana Cronin said he was appalled that former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was granted tax exemptions for his autobiography which Mr. Cronin described as a ghost written political book that was not literature.

It always amuses me to see people like Cronin get hot under the collar when low grade people like Ahern take advantage of the system for their own greedy ends.

Cronin was, and remains, a strong supporter of the criminal Haughey and, as we all know, the chancer Ahern served most of his political apprenticeship under the master of corruption.

What do people like Cronin expect from such associations – Leaders of integrity?

The Kelly's: Like father, like son

Somebody by the name of Simon Kelly wrote an article recently in the Sunday Tribune thanking Anglo Irish Bank for being there to help the Irish people in the early days of the Celtic Tiger.

According to Kelly thousands of jobs would not have been created if Anglo wasn’t there to support business and grow the economy.

In other words Kelly is saying that the countless billions needed to keep zombie Anglo alive is a fair price to pay for a few thousand jobs.

This is akin to saying – Ok, Hitler had his failings but he created thousands of jobs building the autobahns, or, the people of Haiti should be thankful for the massive death and destruction visited on their country by the earthquake because the disaster resulted in massive international aid.

Here are a few more gems of wisdom from this former developer.

It’s a national phenomenon (the financial crisis) caused by the actions of hundreds of thousands of people, each in their own way causing a boom, and now a bust.

Everybody had skin in the game so stop looking for scapegoats as a way to hide personal guilt.

So I say to Charlie Bird and the like; get off David’s lawn and get out of Sean’s front drive. They have lost everything but they still have to live. The bank failed because we all failed.

If you want to know what caused the crash and the failure of Anglo, have a look in the mirror. We all built the boom and we all caused the bust.

So there you have it, we’re all to blame for what went on in Anglo. Seanie and the others are being scapegoated just so we can all hide our personal guilt for the part we played in destroying the country.

So who is this Simon Kelly? Well, it turns out he’s none other than the son of property developer Paddy Kelly. I wrote about Kelly Snr. after listening to an interview he gave to Eamon Dunphy in November 2009.

The interview occurred before the putrefying stench from Anglo had seeped out and infected the entire nation.

Like his son, Paddy Kelly also blamed others for the financial disaster. It was the fault of the planning process; it was the fault of government policy.

Kelly openly admitted that ‘brown envelopes’ were taken to smooth out planning problems that were so tedious, they would try the patience of Job. He also admitted that he would build anywhere no matter what the consequences once he got planning permission.

When asked about Anglo he said:

Well, I think of the skill of Anglo Irish and the people involved, those people are so creative.

All the banks are in danger but you’ll find that as the weeks go on Anglo Irish are in very good shape and you’d be surprised how good the quality is of the people in there…watch Anglo and be optimistic.

We can see from this interview and the Sunday Tribune article why the Kelly’s are failed property developers but I don’t think the people of Ireland, who will be paying for the activities of the ‘creative’ people in Anglo for decades to come, will appreciate being blamed for the recklessness and greed of property developers and bankers.

Copy to:
Simon Kelly

Time to bury the body of our diseased nation

I’m certainly not going to influence the regulator in any respect. I think that would be bad for the country and I think we really need to learn the lessons of the banking crisis.

The perception that the regulator can be subject to political interference or influence would be very bad for this country. (Brian Lenihan, Minister for Finance).

From 1922 until 2003 Ireland had no financial regulator whatsoever. As a result the Irish financial sector became infested with criminals who acted with impunity under the protection and connivance of a corruption political system.

From 2003 until the appointment of Matthew Elderfield last year we had a so called financial regulator that cooperated with and protected the same criminals under instruction from a corrupt and conniving political system.

Today we have a real financial regulator being subjected to massive pressure from the same corrupt and conniving political system because, for the first time in the history of the state, a financial regulator is making an honest attempt to clean up the mess.

Let me make something crystal clear – Mr. Elderfield will not succeed in his job. The corruption and rot is far too deep, far too widespread throughout Irish society for him to have any hope. We are a diseased nation, terminally infected with the disease of corruption, not even radical surgery can save us.

Lenihan’s words about perceptions and political interference in financial regulation are decades too late. He, his party and the entire political system is a dinosaur way past its extinction date.

We need to accept that as a nation we are a failed entity, a dead nation. We need to bury the diseased body of our corrupt political system and start again.

The brutal truth in numbers

Letter in today’s Irish Independent.

Our bank bailout bill just doesn’t add up.

The final cost of the US bank bailout is €65bn. The ESRI just announced our bank bailout will be €73bn.

America has a population of 350 million people. We have a population of four million people.

America allowed Lehman Brothers to go bankrupt, even though it was systemically important as the subsequent stock market crash proved.

We rescued Anglo Irish Bank, even though it was not systemically important. We now know it was purely a gambling medium for the country’s greediest people.

Per head of population, Americans now owe €185 and 71 cent each for the greed of its banking fraternity. By contrast, we now owe €18,250 per head of population.

In spite of these staggering numbers, the Government, which promoted this level of greed and which is now passing the colossal bill to the taxpayer, the public sector, the unemployed and poor, refuses to accept any responsibility or admit how badly it got it wrong.

They are still in power, still deciding the fate of a country they have broken.

To borrow a recent notable quote from a highly offended individual of delicate sensibilities: “I find this, more than anything, to be beyond the Pale.”

Jarlath Challoner
Portlaoise, co Laois

RTE saves minister from nasty union man

Sean (RTE presenter Sean O’Rourke) and Brian (Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan) engaged in a lovely, gentle conversation today on such matters as the economy, the progress of the trades union/government deal and connections between Quinn Insurance and Anglo Irish Bank.

I was very impressed with Sean’s patience as he listened attentively and quietly to Brian as he rambled on wistfully about consumer confidence, turning corners and learning lessons.

From time to time I did hear a number of squeaks in the background as Sean gently tried, without success, to interrupt Brian’s ramblings.

It was clear that Sean and Brian are best friends forever and that RTE is their favourite place in the whole wide world to meet and chat about all kinds of nice things.

The mood was spoiled however when Sean had to change into riot gear (government issued) including baton, shield and helmet to interview a nasty union man – Liam Doran general secretary of the Irish nurses and midwives organisation.

Initially O’Rourke allowed Doran have his say but as we learned later in the attack he, O’Rourke, was carefully timing this nasty union man.

You’ve gone on at some length actually and I allowed you to talk for about three minutes before I asked you a second question so if I could just come back in with another one.

Really, what has become of us when RTE, a government controlled broadcaster, allows a union man to argue his case for three whole minutes without interruption?

I was so worried that Brian was still in the studio and heard all that nasty stuff about fairness and accountability but Sean assured listeners that he had left the premises and so wouldn’t be talking to the nasty union man.

The ESRI fairy tale

What a beautiful morning? I had breakfast, took a short stroll and then read an amazing fairy tale written by somebody in the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

Well, not the actual document but media reports on the report. Here’s my translation of just some of the chapters of this amazing fairy tale.

The captain of RMS Titanic sits down with his (ESRI) advisors to discuss the condition of the ship (of state).

Chapter One:

Next year, the ESRI forecasts a return to growth of 2.75%, led by the export sector.

Translation:

Captain, although the ship is at a complete stop and water is flooding across the bow we expect to be underway at a speed of 2.75% very soon.

Chapter two:

The Institute also said the cost of saving the banking system was manageable and it warned that a rejection of the Croke Park agreement on pay and reform by public service unions could lead to higher borrowing costs for the Government.

Translation:

Don’t worry about that iceberg we struck about an hour ago captain. The damage caused to the hull is manageable and we’ve warned the dead bodies in the flooded compartments that they must agree to our new conditions on pay and reform.

Chapter Three:

The ESRI says the cost of NAMA and the bank recapitalisations is manageable, but should never have been incurred in the first place.

Translation:

But, asks a worried captain, shouldn’t we take a closer look at the damaged hull?

Captain, please, everything is under control. The collision with the iceberg is not part of the ship’s voyage plan therefore it never happened in the first place.