Desperate times for Bertie

The very fact that Bertie Ahern has chosen to appeal to public sympathy in an attempt to get himself off the hook is an indication of his desperation. In his interview with RTE’s Brian Dobson, Ahern resorted to the usual excuses.

No favours were sought or given – It was a debt of honour that I will repay (sometime) – In hindsight, if I knew my daughters and I were going to be successful I would have acted differently – I broke no law – It was a relatively small amount compared to being offered millions.

The debt of honour excuse is the same tactic used by Ahern’s mentor and hero, the corrupt Charlie Haughey when he was asked to explain why he never repaid a loan to Allied Irish Banks – AIB is still waiting for payment.

In her enthusiasm to defend Bertie on Primetime, the Minister for Education, Mary Hanifin may have got herself into a spot of bother. She claimed (wrongly) that Michael Lowry had received very large amounts of money from businessmen who he didn’t know. Pat Rabbitte remarked that Lowry’s solicitors will probably have something to say about such claims.

Mary O’Rourke, adopted her most severe school teacher persona when Vincent Browne interrupted her gallant defence of Bertie with one of his famous sighs. The exchange between the two provides a good laugh.

Freedom of speech and personal destiny

I never thought I would find myself sympathising with the Pope or agreeing with a journalist with such extreme views as Mary Ellen Synon.

The recent comments by the Pope that has so upset the Muslim world should be seen in the West in simple terms – Should religious belief be allowed to take precedence over freedom of speech?

Mary Ellen Synon was debating on Today FM the case of a Jehovah’s Witness who was forcibly given blood against her express wishes. The presenter Sam Smyth and the panel which included Pat Rabbitte strongly disagreed with Synon’s view that the woman’s rights were violated.

I suspect the judge was taking a typically Irish approach to a very difficult problem. His decision saved him and the medical personnel from facing the consequences of allowing a person to make a free decision about her own destiny.

The case could, however, open up a Pandora’s Box. For example, what happens now if a person decides not to avail of treatment for cancer? Can a family member or indeed the State go to court and force treatment because they know what’s best?

In the case of the Pope and Islam, the West should defend its cherished right to free speech. In the case of the Jehovah Witness, the right of a sane adult to decide their own destiny should be sacrosanct.

Angry Hungarians – Sheepish Irish

The political crisis in Hungary was discussed on last Wednesday’s Pat Kenny Show. (1.32 Mins) During the discussion with Irish Times journalist, Dan McLoughlin, an astonished Pat made the following comment.

“It’s just if you translate this into Bertie Ahern addressing Fianna Fail…we lied morning noon and night…we screwed up a lot…no European government has done something as boneheaded as we have, if Bertie said that he’d be gone tomorrow morning.”

Dan McLaughlin agreed and added,

“He’s actually continuing a tradition by which Hungarian politicians don’t really take responsibility for their actions…they just don’t step down…there isn’t a tradition of taking that responsibility”.

Meanwhile, back in Ireland our Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern has been telling journalists to ‘mind their own business’ when asked what he did with money he admits he got from a number of businessmen when he was Minister for Finance in 1993.

“If I got something as a present, I can use it…”

he stated, in response to allegations that the money was used to cover his legal expenses in a marriage separation case.

Bertie, known by some as ‘blank cheque bertie’ because of his willingness to sign whole books of (taxpayers) blank cheques for his corrupt idol, Charlie Haughey.

Bertie, a member of a political system that refuses to take responsibility for political corruption but instead establishes never ending tribunals which have no power to find anyone guilty.

Bertie, a politician who presides over a country where corruption and incompetence are endemic but nobody is ever held to account, where State agencies operate in almost total secrecy and break the law on a regular basis.

Bertie, a politician who holds power in a country where, sadly, the citizens never get angry – no matter how often they are kicked in the teeth.

Different States – Different reactions

Because corruption is so widespread in Ireland, so much part of our culture, it can crop up anywhere and hardly be noticed. Take for example the Progressive Democrats’ proposal to abolish residential stamp duty.

In an interview on RTE’s News at One, the PD’s deputy leader, Liz O’Donnell was asked did her party cost the proposal. She replied vaguely,

“There’s an exercise going on in the Department of Finance”.

When further pressed,

“Is this exercise at the behest of the Progressive Democrats?” She replied, even more vaguely, “I’m not sure whether it’s at our behest”

This is where the interviewer should have politely asked Ms. O’Donnell that perhaps she could find out and get back to the RTE newsroom so that citizens would know who was paying for this ‘exercise’ – the taxpayer or her party.

Unfortunately, it is not in our culture to demand answers from our politicians so they know that they can give any old answer because nobody will ever bring them to account.

Here’s what I think. The ‘exercise’ going on in the Dept. of Finance is a PD initiated exercise but it is being paid for by Irish taxpayers’, hence Ms. O’Donnell’s vagueness.

I simply do not believe that a politician of her experience, serving in a party that has been in power for nearly ten years does not know this simple but important detail. I could, of course, be wrong.

Meanwhile, over in Hungary there was a major riot when citizens learned that their Prime Minister, Mr. Ferenc Gyurcsany had lied to them. One placard read “We will bury the government of Gyurcsany”. Another angry protester demanded that the PM should resign and that “He and his ‘friends’ should leave this county for good.”

Ah, if only Irish citizens could generate such anger at the skullduggery of their politicians.

Asking questions

The following question was asked on last week’s Questions and Answers.

“The latest MRBI poll for the Irish Times gave politicians the lowest confidence rating. Would the panel like to comment?”

Noel Whelan, political analyst, claimed that the low confidence rating resulted from the high level of cynicism in the media, the implication being the Irish people are too stupid to see beyond what they read in the papers. He also claimed that politicians do not get enough credit for their efforts to cut through this cynicism.

Sarah Carey, Sunday Times columnist, agreed with Whelan and added that Irish people were too willing to be bought off by the promises of politicians. Again, the implication is that Irish people are too stupid to notice that they are being bribed.

Stephen Collins, political correspondent with the Irish Times, agreed with Noel Whelan and Sarah Carey. He claimed that Irish people just don’t think enough about these things, practically stating that Irish people really are stupid and act simply on their prejudices.

Pat Rabbitte, politician, obviously agreed with the journalists and made the defence that while some Irish politicians were bad, they were no worse than politicians from other countries. He also blamed snide journalism and the media in general.

Dermot Ahern, Minister for Foreign Affairs, also agreed with the journalists. Politicians, he said, were neither better nor worse than the general population; politicians are perceived to be bad because they are the most under the microscope.

When the man who asked the question described the panel as smug and suggested that perhaps Irish politicians lacked competence he was quickly rebuffed.

The clip is well worth watching because it provides a valuable insight into the mindset of Irish politicians and journalists of how far away they are from the reality that they live in a state that is itself a corrupt entity.

Bizarre reality of Irish corruption

I have said in the past that denial is a crucial factor when living in a corrupt country like Ireland. This is especially important for those directly involved in politics, business and even the media.

However, sometimes, this absolute refusal to face reality can result in some bizarre reasoning. The following examples will make the point.

Former Irish Press editor and historian Tim Pat Coogan, a man who is widely respected, made the ludicrous claim at the Humbert Summer School that Haughey’s corruption was due to head injuries he suffered in a car accident in the 1960s.

The Fianna Fail politician and form EU commissioner, Padraig Flynn also made bizarre comments about Haughey but I don’t pay too much attention to him because I genuinely believe he occupies a different reality from the rest of us. The second example is even more surreal.

Ben Dunne has learned that the Moriarty Tribunal is going to make damning findings against him. In a desperate attempt to avoid facing reality Dunne is claiming that various traumatic events in his life, like his kidnapping by the IRA in 1981, have affected his ability to recall certain matters under investigation by the tribunal.

By far the most crucial ‘forgotten event’ is a meeting between Dunne and a Revenue Commissioners chairman in 1987, arranged by Haughey, that resulted in a capital gains bill on the Dunnes Stores family trust being reduced by about €22 million. Dunne made a substantial payment to Haughey shortly after this meeting.

Dunne is asking rational people to believe that his traumatic experiences have only affected his memory on matters that could get him into serious trouble. In all other respects, his memory is apparently perfect.

If Moriarty does make the connection between Dunne’s payment and a Haughey ‘favour’ it will do serious damage to the campaign by Haughey supporters, led by Bertie Ahern, to fabricate the most grotesque lie in Irish history – That Haughey was really an honest man.

Death and politics

A man bled to death in an Irish hospital while his family looked helplessly on. Facilities and medical care was available to help the man but they were refused. Why? Because of the incompetence, in fighting and arrogance of so called medical professionals in the so called Irish health service.

Meanwhile, as the grieving family tried to come to terms with the shocking report into the man’s death the person in charge of the health service, Mary Harney, was being praised by all and sundry for the quality of her political leadership.

Nobody has been held accountable for this man’s death, nobody ever will. He is just one of many people who have died while in the care of the Irish health service and to date not a single person has been brought to book

Political police?

A special committee has been established by Fianna Fail to carry out an internal investigation into allegations that one of its councillors, Liam Kelly, has been taking drugs (Irish Times). Cllr. Kelly has claimed that he is being blackmailed on the matter.

Here’s what Bertie Ahern had to say on the matter.

“Was he snorting cocaine or was he not? If he was that’s a serious matter and the party will deal with it, the other issues are issues for the Gardai, extortion and other matters, they are not matters for the party.”

In real democracies, the police investigate allegations of illegal drug use. In Ireland, when the allegations are against a politician from the ruling party, the police apparently keep their distance.

Solicitors secret court delivers first verdict

I see the Irish Law Society’s secret court has delivered its first verdict concerning the theft of tens of thousands by its members from abuse victims appearing before the Residential Institutions Redress Board (Irish Independent).
These vulnerable people, already sexually and physically abused by State and Church were again abused by their sleazy solicitors who robbed a sizeable portion of their modest compensation awards.
No solicitor, of course, will appear before a real court. It’s all dealt with behind closed doors, solicitors passing judgement on fellow solicitors with a token lay representation.
The solicitor in question, a Mr. Michael Buggy, practicing in Kilkenny was found to have deducted fees from an award granted to an abuse victim and failed to provide the victim with a full bill of costs.
These transgressions are direct breaches of law under the Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1994, Section 68 (1) (3) yet the State shows no interest in charging this solicitor under this act.