Was Mary Harney protecting Ansbacher account holders?

I often wondered why then minister and leader of the Progressive Democrats, Mary Harney, suddenly shut down the Ansbacher investigation in 2004.

Perhaps the following question, put to Enda Kenny by Sinn Fein’s Mary Lou McDonald, explains Harney’s decision.

Do you believe Mr. Ryan (the whistleblower) when he says that his investigation that was shut down by Mary Harney when he uncovered names of senior politicians from the Progressive Democrats, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, that they held offshore accounts, revelations that would have been most uncomfortable for the political establishment?

RTE: How about a criminal series featuring corrupt politicians and bankers?

Letter in yesterday’s Irish Times

‘Love/Hate’ and drama

Sir,

Judging from all the media coverage for the drama series Love/Hate, including in The Irish Times, it was by all accounts one of the most successful ever undertaken by RTÉ. There is no doubt that the characters in the series, drawn from working-class areas of Dublin, mirror those in real life, whose activities have devastated many a community throughout the country.

What a pity that RTÉ has never broadcast a series featuring the criminal activities of those politicians, bankers, developers and others from districts such as Dublin 4 and other affluent areas in the city and other parts of the country.

Could RTÉ create a series about these criminals who destroyed our county and ruined countless lives? Undoubtedly.
Would they be let? Never.

Yours, etc,

Bernard Neary
Dublin 7.

Economic Management Council and democratic accountability

Letter in yesterday’s Irish Times.

The Economic Management Council is just one of the indications of how our country is gradually losing any democratic accountability.

Economic Management Council

Sir,

Eoghan Murphy TD (“Fine Gael promised political reform, but the Government hasn’t delivered”, Opinion & Analysis, November 5th) and Noel Whelan (“How the Economic Management Council undermines Cabinet and Government”, Opinion & Analysis, November 7th) make some excellent points about the pretentiously named Economic Management Council (EMC), in particular in respect of the gradual expansion of its remit.

In April 2011 shortly after the EMC was established, the Taoiseach told the Dáil that it would deal with “economic planning and budgetary matters, the economic recovery programme including the representation of Ireland internationally in negotiations with the troika, the integration of the work of departments and agencies and the co-ordination of banking policy”.

Can someone explain how water services, an environmental matter previously under the remit of local government, came within this remit? The EMC has apparently been considering this issue since last April, clearly not to much avail.

The primary concern which has been raised is that the EMC acts as a government within a government, coming to conclusions on issues which are then presented to the Cabinet as faits accomplis for rubber-stamping.

This raises the prospect that civil servants and political advisers who attend EMC meetings have more impact on important decisions than the democratically elected members of Cabinet who are excluded from meetings.

This is further compounded by the 50:50 division of the EMC between Fine Gael and Labour Ministers, compared to 2:1 majority in favour of Fine Gael at Cabinet level and a similar division in terms of their respective representation in the Dáil. In other words, the Labour Party has a disproportionate influence over the decisions of the EMC relative to what it ought to be entitled to and, as a result, over the decisions of Government as a whole.

If these impressions about the operations of the EMC are to be dispelled, then the Dáil ought surely be made aware of instances where the Cabinet as a whole has rejected or overturned a recommendation made by the EMC. To date, however, no such instance has been publicly acknowledged.

Yours, etc,

Thomas Ryan, BL
Dublin 6W

Love/Hate fiction more rational than our corrupt body politic

I tuned into RTEs John Murray Show yesterday morning where the discussion centred on some fictional series called Love/Hate.

Murray and his guest were very excited about the horror featured in the show and wondered would there be another series.

Having never watched an episode of the show I got bored and switched over to another channel for the news but, to my amazement, the same fictional series was been seriously reported and analysed as if it was real – on news programmes for feck sake.

And so it was throughout the day, Newstalk, Today FM, RTE, Liveline, Drivetime, News at One, Six One News and many more, all reporting, analysing, debating, anguishing, speculating who will die next, will there be another series.

The producer, actors, RTE’s head of drama and whoever you’re having yourself were all interviewed at length as to their reaction to this fictional programme.

Actors spoke in shock about the horror they felt as they acted, I stress, acted, in the programme, commentators wondered would the actors/viewers need psychological help in dealing with the fiction, I stress, fiction.

In our bizarre state fiction had finally merged with what passes for reality.

I wondered why and, very quickly, the answer came as I listened to reports of the latest political scandal involving allegations of serious tax evasion by senior politicians.

The family of former Fine Gael TD, Attorney General and High Court judge, Declan Costello claimed he had ‘forgotten’ he had a Guinness and Mahon bank account and he never did anything wrong anyway so stop asking question.

Then I heard the Minister for Enterprise and Jobs, Richard Bruton, without the slightest sign of embarrassment, tell the nation that the witness statement he received from the whistle blower, which contained very serious allegations against senior politicians and state agencies like Revenue, the Gardai and the Office of Corporate Enforcement, remained hidden in his office for two full years because someone in the department had retired.

And I thought to myself – No, the nation’s media treating a fictional series as if it was real is not really all that surprising.

In fact, it’s more rational than the horrific reality we suffer every day under the jackboot of our corrupt body politic.

Fine Gael TD Eoghan Murphy is a political coward

Do you rate Enda Kenny?

Yes, I think he’s done an excellent job for the country.

With this short sentence Fine Gael TD Eoghan Murphy totally destroyed his credibility.

Murphy was all over the media today telling us how important it was to reform the political system to protect the nation from the terrible prospect of Sinn Fein getting into power.

Before exposing the rank hypocrisy of this politician let’s outline some background to the political system he suddenly sees as needing reform.

The political/administrative system that Murphy supports is 100% responsible for the destruction of our country.

It was this corrupt political/administrative system that drove the country and with it the wealth, dreams and futures of a large percentage of the population over the cliff of despair.

Sinn Fein had absolutely nothing to do with the betrayal of our country; Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour were the chief architects of the catastrophe.

Enda Kenny is the Taoiseach. He announced to the nation that a democratic revolution was in process after the last election, he promised to make the government accountable – He lied.

Deputy Murphy is a political coward because he’s afraid to utter this obvious truth.

Instead, like all of his fellow cowardly colleagues, he makes the arrogant assumption that the people will believe anything and so he tells us that Kenny is too busy to engage in political reform.

Or, to make an analogy – the captain of Titanic is too busy checking accounts to bother about the sinking ship.

On Newstalk (6 min) Murphy told us that this generation of new politicians had a responsibility to reform how politics was done.

He cited the ramming through of legislation establishing Irish Water in just three hours as an example of how undemocratic politics has become.

We should have had the courage of our convictions, to stand up and say, we’re not going to be abused this way.

The problem is that Murphy and his fellow cowards didn’t stand up, they did allow themselves and democracy and the Irish people to be abused by our corrupt political/administrative system just as generations of politicians have done over the decades.

Neither did the coward stand up when the ‘busy’ Taoiseach’ abused democracy with his interference in the bank inquiry.

The coward again failed to stand up for his convictions when the ‘busy’ Taoiseach was abusing democracy over the McNulty scandal.

Now, suddenly, with Sinn Fein becoming ever more powerful the coward has begun to grow a pair of balls or, more accurately, a pair of self-protection balls.

I trust Enda Kenny, I trust Joan Burton, I trust all (the current politicians who are in power) but if a new government came in (Sinn Fein) and the Dail could not keep that new government to account I think that would be very worrying.

We have to think about putting protections into our political system for the future.

Murphy’s mindset tells us how warped political thinking has become in our blighted country.

He fully supports Taoiseach Enda Kenny, the current leader of our corrupt political/administrative system, the system that destroyed the country and continues to abuse both democracy and the people.

He agrees that political reform is needed but not for the good of the people, the country or democracy.

No, he wants reform because the corrupt system he supports is in danger of being wiped out by a new political force that may actually tell the truth, may actually work for the good of the country and its people instead of betraying every democratic principle in existence.

Copy to:
Fine Gael
Eoghan Murphy

Irish Examiner: Water protesters to blame for global over-population

I’ve read many silly editorials in my time but the opinion expressed in Tuesday’s Irish Examiner has to be the most absurd, most idiotic of them all.

The subject matter is global over-population but somehow the editor manages to link this problem with the activities of those opposing water charges. Here’s a quote:

As population figures (continue to accelerate) is there any possibility that those who so vehemently oppose water charges might make a connection between the two issues?

What next?

Water charges protesters responsible for Ebola.

Hilarious bullshit.

Is Irish Water the greatest fraud inflicted on Irish citizens?

I believe that the establishment of Irish Water will turn out to be the greatest fraud inflicted on the Irish people since independence.

I suspect that Irish Water has already been sold to private business. There are a number of signals that seem to point to this, which I’ll come back to later.

I strongly suspect that there are forces working behind the scenes, with the Government’s full support, who are pushing an already agreed but secret agenda.

I strongly suspect that today’s bizarre incident where unasked for legal advice was thrown at the Public Accounts Committee warning them that they have no legal right to question Irish Water CEO John Tierney is part of this secret agenda.

I strongly suspect that business interests, who have powerful politicians in their pockets, are calling the shots.

I strongly suspect that senior ministers and even the Taoiseach are receiving direct orders from these business interests directing them in how they should respond to the people’s opposition to water charges.

Senator Power: A gormless gombeen clone

Fianna Fail senator Averil Power was clear and passionate about her reasons for entering politics.

The reason I got involved in politics is because I want to be involved in the present and I want to be involved in trying to change things and I’m genuine about that and I see there are other young members, people like Martin, (Conway FG senator).

There are new people across all parties that want to change and I think what we need to learn is how do we change the system, how do we put in place a proper system of transparency and scrutiny.

Sadly for the people of Ireland senator Power is nothing more than your average gormless gombeen politician whose loyalty is strictly confined to her own career, her constituents who are the fodder for her election campaigns and her corrupt party.

We know Power is a gormless gombeen because she speaks the exact same language as that spoken by every other gombeen politician down through the decades.

She speaks the language that destroys democracy; that brings untold misery on ordinary citizens while enriching those in the golden circle.

In a discussion on the Fine Gael McNulty political stroke Vincent Browne put it to senator Power (13.40 min.) that Fianna Fail had brought such cronyism to a fine art over the years and that it was a joke to pretend that it was all in the past.

Power responded exactly as countless other Fianna Fail gombeen politicians have responded in the past.

I think there were a lot of mistakes made in the past.

Mistakes, mistakes, thundered Browne who went on to tear strips out of the hapless politician.

Are you seriously suggesting that Fianna Fail’s policy of cronyism and stroke politics over decades and decades in office was nothing more than a mistake?

Power then compounded her gombeenism with political stupidity by challenging Browne, not once, but twice, to give her even one example of Fianna Fail ever appointing anyone to a board in such a manner.

The very fact that Power made the challenge in the first place suggested that she was familiar with the history of Fianna Fail, that she could stand over anything Browne could throw at her regarding her party’s past behaviour.

Yet, when Browne met her challenge by recounting a similar example of stroke politics by Fianna Fail, Power claimed she had never read about that incident and that in any case she was just four years of age when it occurred.

There are three aspects of senator Power’s typically gombeen performance I will comment on.

One: Fianna Fail is the party that invented and infected the political system with cronyism and stroke politics. The corruption introduced by Fianna Fail into the political system was the direct cause of the 2008 economic catastrophe that has impoverished so many Irish citizens.

That cronyism/corruption is still alive and well today in Fianna Fail and the wider body politic. That culture of corruption is still inflicting untold damage on Ireland and its people; we only have to listen to the news to confirm the truth of this.

Two: Senator Power’s abdication of responsibility for the disgraceful history of her party is, at best, dishonest.

When she joined Fianna Fail she was signing up to that party’s history in addition to its current policies and conduct.

As a member of that organisation and as a public representative she has an obligation to know the history of her party and to state clearly where she stands on its disgraceful betrayal of the Irish people.

Three: Her claim that young politicians in the mainstream parties are the future hope for political reform is grotesquely laughable.

There is not a single young politician within the mainstream parties with the courage to step out and challenge the culture of cronyism and corruption that does so much damage to Ireland and its people.

They are all, like senator Power, pathetic clones of their older gombeen peers.

I’ll end by speaking a language that senator Power will not understand, a language she has never heard of or studied.

Vincent Browne: Senator, would you agree that your party took this type of cronyism to a fine art over many years in office?

Senator: Yes, I fully agree with that statement and I would like to go even further.

As a new and young member of the party I want to condemn and totally reject the corrupt behaviour of previous party members and leaders over the years. I recognise and apologise to the people of Ireland for the massive damage done to their interests as a result of that corruption.

I pledge here and now, live on air, that I will work to rid Irish politics, and my party in particular, of the disease of corruption, cronyism and stroke politics.

I realise this is a politically dangerous stand for me to take but I believe it’s worth the risk, not just to protect my personal integrity, but in the hope that I can make some recompense to the Irish people for the damage done by my party.

Copy to:
Senator Power

The truth about water

Letter in today’s Irish Times.

Sir,

Water is the new oil. Mega-banks such as Goldman Sachs, CitiGroup and JP Morgan are buying up water resources, engineering infrastructure and water rights worldwide. They know that, as water becomes more scarce with climate change and population growth, there are vast profits to be made. In addition, the lucrative potential of “big data” means that Irish Water, as an asset, is far more valuable with PPS numbers attached than without. Not just water, but our very identities are being commercialised without our consent.

The privatisation of water transgresses all notions of natural justice and threatens ordinary citizens with withdrawal of a life-giving resource that nobody should ever have to live in fear of losing. Privatisation of public services has repeatedly been shown to have disastrous consequences, in terms of quality of service, workers’ rights and value for money.

Any country where access to the basic prerequisites of life can only be guaranteed to the wealthy is a failed society. We elect our politicians to run the country on our behalf, to distribute resources and to ensure a minimum acceptable standard of living for all citizens. In the perennial battle between ordinary citizens and the profit-seeking corporations that seek to dominate and exploit us, we pay our politicians so we can be sure they are on our side? Are they?

Yours etc,

Maeve Halpin,
Dublin 6.