A day is a long time in politics

I wrote another piece for GlobalComment and it was really difficult to reconstruct the sequence of events! The draft version was over 3000 words.

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As long as I am running this Government, I will run it as I see fit and as I believe, based on my philosophy.

Brian Cowen, Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) thundered in the Irish Parliament in January 2009. Two years later, he is still Taoiseach but just a shadow of his former self. His personal approval rating is 8%. Many find it amazing that there are still 8% of people who approve of the job he is doing.

January 2011 was a very strange month in Ireland. It kicked off with the publication of a secret book – The Fitzpatrick Tapes by Tom Lyons and Brian Carey, proofed and published in complete secrecy. Sean Fitzpatrick had been one of the poster boys for the boom. As chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, he was friend to politician and property developer alike, dishing out the money with an even hand. But he was also a gambler – Anglo was a festering mountain of debt that has been referred to as the worst bank in the world. As the house of cards was toppling, the Irish Government first guaranteed and then nationalised Anglo. This bankrupted the country. Fitzpatrick was declared bankrupt.


The politicians with whom Fitzpatrick had intermingled so easily, sought to distance themselves from this pariah. Cowen, who was Finance Minister at the time sought to minimise the links between himself and the former banker. Maybe Fitzpatrick was annoyed or vengeful when in interviews for The Fitzpatrick Tapes he revealed that he had had more contact with Cowen than Cowen disclosed to the Dáil (Irish parliament). The meeting that sparked political upheaval was a round of golf and dinner at Druids Glen in Wicklow.

There was uproar. What had Cowen known when Anglo was nationalised? What was discussed during the game? How did the Taoiseach come to be playing golf with the devil of Irish banking?
When the Dáil finally returned to work on 12 January. Golfgate was the issue of the day. The opposition had a field day. There were accusations of cozy and improper relationships with bankers, economic treason and even questions on the golf handicap of the Taoiseach. The government benches were silent. There was no heckling or eye contact or aspersions cast on the characters of members of the opposition. Questions were flung at the Taoiseach which he batted back with the ever ready bat of I-did-nothing-wrong with a side order of bluster.

He might have gotten away with it too but as it happens, there was another TD (MP) at present at Druid’s Glen that day. Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin of Sinn Féin had been attending a wedding at Druid’s Glen that day. He pinned the Taoiseach with the simple question of who else had been in the company.
Cowen was forced to reveal that in addition to Fitzpatrick, Alan Gray – a member of the Board of the Central Bank and Gary McGann – former Anglo director, had joined them for dinner. Cowen maintained that there was no discussion of the bank or its financial difficulties. He was not taken at his word.

Government backbenchers were furious. The Green Party, junior coalition partners stated that it was not Sherlock Holmes, and would to continue in Government. The Minister for Tourism was trice asked whether she had confidence in Cowen and trice did she dodge the question.

For a few hours, Cowen looked sure to resign. There was a Fianna Fáil (majority coalition party of which Cowen was the president) parliamentary party meeting the next day and when it was postponed by a few hours, rumours were rife that Ireland would finally be rid of the most unpopular Taoiseach in its history. Reports that TDs were packing stationary into their cars surfaced which is apparently a sign of an imminent election.

But it was another false dawn. Cowen would spend some time consulting with the party, catharsis indefinitely postponed while Fianna Fáil navelgazed. Labour tabled a motion of no confidence in the Government but timing ensured that it could not be taken for another week.

After consulting with the parliamentary party, Cowen came out fighting. To quell doubt, he proposed a motion of confidence in himself as leader of the party, to be taken in the following days. Just three hours after Cowen’s announcement, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin declared his intention to vote against Cowen because “very survival of the party is at stake”.

And it is always all about the party. The motion of confidence was not about the state of the nation but about the state of one political party. Most of the Fianna Fáil Party did not declare one way or another but Martin’s position had support.

The day of the vote of confidence dragged for what seemed like forever. Even the staid media outlets were repeating speculation and rumours. Finally the doors to Leinster House opened to declare that the party was now united behind Mr Cowen and that the issue of his leadership and been “clearly and definitively” dealt with. It was like a body blow. How could even the Fianna Fáil TDs support this man? Martin resigned as Minister for Foreign Affairs.

It seemed we were stuck with Cowen for another while at least but the next two days brought a few developments. A total of seven senior ministers resigned and the situation came to a head on “Unholy Thursday” when the Tánaiste (Deputy Leader) could not say who lead the Ministery for Justice. The Dáil had to be suspended following rowdy protests from the opposition leaders, until Cowen could be found to explain what was going on. Article 28 of Bunreacht na hEireann (the Irish Constitution) states that the Government must not be smaller than 7 members or larger than 15 members and Ministers were rapidly disappearing.

Finish reading here

I, for one, welcome our new ECB overlords

Last weekend, it was painful to watch government ministers lie through their teeth. Everybody knows they lied. Everybody knows that Ireland needs assistance from the EU. Everybody knows the government is corrupt and incompetent.

This week, I continue to be flabbergasted at the maFFia's response to being caught out lying. Reducing the debate to technicalities is obfuscating the issue. There are two types of lies - commission and omission. Commission is saying an untruth. Omission is hiding a truth. Perhaps they technically did not tell untruths but they have been continually hiding the truth. That is lying.

Instead they aggressively ask members of the opposition what would they do. That's totally irrelevant. It doesn't matter. The issue is that the Cabinet has conspired to cover up criminal activity. How much did they know and when? They will not answer. How much personal money did the Cabinet have in Anglo Irish Bank? That has not been answered. We need justice. But the DPP will not act. The president will not act.

The feeling in my belly is repugnance. I feel the darkness inside threatening to come out. Every time I hear another FFer lie, I have to stop myself from flinging the radio across the room. I know they are unshameable. I know a guillotine would bounce off their necks. And despite all they have done, I know there are people in Ireland who will always vote locally not matter what the Party does. I know the Greens have sold out. I know the Director of Public Prosecutions is a political office. I know the DPP never prosecutes FFers even when they lie under oath. So what can I do? I march. I question. I talk to ministers but none of that changes anything.

I hate violence. I've survived violence. I've seen the results on violence - one of my jobs included organising documents and photographs of human rights violations. I have had guns pulled on me. I hate violence but I am being to wonder about the application of violence. The government will not resign. The DPP will not prosecute current and former members of the government that are directly responsible for the economic crisis. Peaceful public protests resulted in brutal retaliation by riot police.  I don't think violence but ultimately solve anything but it is the only way to unembed these disgusting corrupt gombeens?

I am glad the ECB is here. I am glad the IMF is here. I am glad that we finally have some adults in charge of the books - adults that have not been infected with parish pump politics and gombeenism; adults who won't be here long enough to be corrupted by the vested interests; adults who can take mature decisions; and adults who did not have to censor the media and lie to the public.

I don't mourn for our loss of sovereignty. Sovereignty is worth jack shit when the country is broke. I mourn the loss our values in our society. I mourn that people voted Fianna Fáil and thus allowed the FFers to squander the country's wealth by buying the last two elections. I mourn that Irish people voted in a government that always put their party first. And when people reply about there not being any alternative, I want to scream. First of all, we don't know how an opposition coalition would have acted in their place and secondly it is irrelevant. Why continue to vote for someone you know to be corrupt when there are other candidates on the ballot paper?

We need an election. And then we need to overhaul the entire government and senior civil servant institutions. When that is done maybe we can grow up as a country, have politicians who stand for something besides self-interest; and leave civil war politics behind for good.

They say pain. They are wrong.

I just sent this vid to Cowen, Lenihan and Gormley.


The Watson Institute presents Mark Blyth on Austerity from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

Won't make a difference I bet but just in case

Broken promises: Ireland’s 2010 Budget exploits the vulnerable

I've a new post on GlobalComment

“The worst is over,” said Minister of Finance Brian Lenihan on 9 December on the presentation of the 2010 Budget. It is actually truly astounding that the Irish Government believes that the worst of the recession is over. The number of people signing on the Live Register of the Unemployed is still increasing. The number of people living in poverty is rising. The number of people unable to pay their bills is rising. The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul has reported a fourfold increase in people applying for food assistance. The worst is certainly not over.

The rhetoric of “everyone sharing the pain” has popped up in every conversation about the financial state of the nation in the lead up to Budget 2010. Another very soundbite was “protecting the vulnerable in society,” and it was emphasized to the hilt. Everyone was in favour of protecting the vulnerable. There was a consensus. In forty minutes, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan demonstrated that the Irish government does not care about people living in poverty, or the need for hospital beds or the sharing of pain, and most especially not protecting the vulnerable. Lenihan and the Irish Government are protecting the least vulnerable.

Continue reading...

Strike

Doomsday

It's done. No job creation. No stimulus. Just more pain. Reduction in child benefit, disability allowance. More taxes - fuel and carbon. Lenihan has essentially invited those who can, to kindly depart the country.

Hopeless, jobless and emigrating - wonderful combo there Lenihan, you ignorant asshole.

No provision for transport, broadband, electricity development. No mention of the glut sucker Anglo.

This is so frustrating. So many vested interests and corruption and Lenihan caters to every single no.

Will type more when not so angry

Gormley's green expenses

Gormless defends his limo bill on the grounds that Hay-on-Wye is in the middle of nowhere. I suppose that it never occurred to him to take the train. Both European and American government members transport themselves by train. Is Gormless too good for it? Is he better than Joe Biden?

I think someone should lend him a dictionary because he doesn't seem to understand the meaning of expenses, excess or green.

Greens don't care about life outside the capital

Gormless is a City Green and clearly has no interest in Ireland's biodiversity or the preservation of living off the land.

Gormley's spokesman said: "This research was on political attitudes in Dublin South East to assist the minister in policy formulation. This expenditure is permissible under the expenditure guidelines and fully receipted."

When forming his policy, Gormless asked his constituents. Apparently, the custodians of the land - the farmers - do not have anything to contribute, nor indeed anybody outside Dublin. Pretty much ensures skewed research that the taxpayer funds.

In the PFG, the Greens got to destroy an industry that employs people living in the country. Not a single Green went to a fur farm to see the conditions. Not a single Green talked to the farmers. No, they just assumed that they knew best and certainly better than some muck savage from outside Dublin.

There are no alternative livelihoods put in place or a plan to deal with the hundreds of thousands of mink currently on the farms. Is there any plan at all, for that matter. Do the Greens want to get rid of mink farms because mink are cute? Are they going to ban all animal farming next? Are cows too ugly to save? After all, leather comes from cows as well as delicious beef.

The Irish Green party is a city party after all. Wouldn't want country folk to start making a fuss. "Farmers don't vote green", is the justification for this attitude. But farmers are some of the greenest people in Ireland. I wouldn't support the greens if I was a farmer. They didn't fight for REPS - the single biggest contribution to biodiversity and care of land in Ireland and the "green" party shot it down. It's just as well that they claim to be an education party because green they ain't.

Amazing the changes of heart the Greens have had since going into coalition with Fianna Fáil! No more opposition to the motorway through Tara and no more support for Shell to Sea.

Greens are not green

The Green parliamentary party don't care about the environment. They are a bunch of middle-class Dubs who have never let their designer loofers come in contact with an actual farm.

Trevor Sargent resigned on a point of principle and I respect him for that. Ryan's gone over to the part side. Gormley is a lapdog with no political sense

They are in a government that abolished the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) without protest. Abolishing hunting is counter-productive to the environment becuae hunters maintain the hedgerows and animal life but the Greens are as sophisticated about cute animals as children. What about protecting the rats? Or the mosquitoes? Or the thousands of dogs are put down every year.

They claim credit for reversing the cuts in education but they were in the government that implemented those cuts. How can they take credit for that? Oh yeah I forgot, they don't care about the country. They are a load of power-hungry assholes.

Dead politicians walking

This is the end, my only friend the end... The future of Ireland contains the debt of banks and it will be decades before the coffers will fill. NAMA is about to awaken - the wolf that will devour our money, healthcare and education systems, pensions and future.

And there was a chance to stop NAMA. Green party members were balloted. They could have voted it down - voted down legislation that Dr Joseph Stiglitz called criminal. But there was no enlightened self-interest at that vote. Instead Fianna Fáil lite voted to ensure that not a single Green will get elected in the next few decades.



Dead politicians walking. In exchange for conceding NAMA, the Greens got nothing but aspirational bullshit. Words like recommend, advise, consider, examine etc. are not hard commitments, they are wishy washy feelgood bullshit to make pretty with the Greens.

They have no idea how to play hardball. Ironically they are both naive and evil. Gormley looks perpetually bewildered. Ryan's gone over to the dark side. Are there any other Greens? Not so as you'd notice.

There is no money in the kitty and there's nothing in the PFG about protecting the vulnerable. The Greens have sold the country out in exchange for power.  It's a poor strategy - short term gain at the expense of the future. Political lilliputians.

School can't afford toilet paper

It's not just that the bubble has burst, or that many people are two paychecks from homelessness, but it's also that we do not have enough money to provide toilet paper for our schools. From the Irish Times:

It is a cost-cutting measure that could have come from the era of Frank McCourt's misery memoir of poverty and deprivation, Angela's Ashes. As the Irish government tries to plug the black hole in the country's public's finances, a school in Cork, which declares itself strapped for cash, has asked its pupils to bring in their own lavatory paper.
Parents with children at St John's Girls' national school, in Carrigaline, County Cork, received the request last week.

The school's principal, Catherine O'Neill, wrote: "Dear parent, from time to time we will request your daughter to bring in a toilet roll to her class teacher. These rolls will be specifically for your daughter's class and will be dispensed by the class teacher. We would also request that your daughter has tissues in her sack at all times."

But JOD gets to fly first class, go to racemeetings and fly from Dublin to Kerry. Rody Molloy gets his pension topped up, a free car and a million euro bonus. A little perspective please, government.

Old news is new news

While this is all very shocking in our current economic crisis, the people of Kerry South were well aware of "The Bull"'s antics with the garda driver and the flights.

It was whispered in the pubs of Killarney, Dingle and Kilgarven. I wanted to blog on it last March ago but there was no proof.

Kerry people knew but nobody said a word. I'd wager that Jackie Healy-Rae was well aware of his colleague's flights but he did not out O'Donoghue. Nothing goes on in Killorglin or Castlemaine that the community doesn't know about. It's probably the same with all the smaller towns in Ireland. I bet there is enough information out there to bring down a government.

We must blow the whistle and call time. Enough. No more cosy cartels, political parties or senior public servants. Cut off corruption at the top.

How about this: every TD gets a credit card for expenses and each charge is immediately posted up on the government websites. No more profits off miles and meals. No more disguising the trivialities under miscellaneous subheadings. TDs need to be accountable to their constituents.

Hell if the British Foreign Minister can fly Aer Lingus, and the Dutch Crown Prince and Princess ride bikes then why can't Irish Ministers fly steerage with the rest of us plebs?

*image from the Tribune

Fianna Fáil and resignations

From the Irish Times

Mr Cowen yesterday deflected criticism of Ms Coughlan’s decision to approve a “golden handshake” for Mr Molloy last November, which enhanced the long-term value of his pension by an estimated €1 million.

Course he did. Holy Saint Dermot "Back to the good old days" Ahern defended Sweary Mary on Radio 1 this afternoon. Angling to be Tánaiste that one is.

Fianna Fáil have brass necks. They are unshameable. A quick non-apology and back to business as usual. How many of them have committed firing offenses?

• Batt O'Keeffe for the Magdalanes as employees remark
  
• Brian Lenihan for getting the budget wrong and not reading the necessary documents; for nationalising Anglo Irish Bank to bail out FF grassroots members
  
• John O'Donaghue for his expenses
• Martin Cullen for his expenses, e-voting, abuse of government jet
  
• Mary O' Rourke for racism
• Mary Coughlan for the FÁS and Rody Molly debacle
• Michael Woods for negotiating immunity for child rapists and torturers who were in the church
• Mary Harney for the health system
• Bertie Ahern for, amongst other things, the gas and oil deal with Shell
• Brian Cowen for continuing lack of leadership and allowing corrupt public servants to resign instead of firing them
• Dermot Ahern for amendments to the criminal justice lawand the blasphemy law
  

Right, who have I forgotten?

It's not inspiring to think so many government ministers have said and done things that they should be fired for. Where is the political will, accountability and justice there? The government is supposed to serve the people.

There is a cancer in the body politic when we keep returning these corrupt fuckers. New people need to stand for election but the best and brightest are leaving Ireland because who wants to spend their life paying for these fools' mistakes and not a single person is fired or takes responsibility?

Does it take their blood flowing in the streets to get resignations? I abhor violence but I wonder whether anything short of that will get them out of government.

No, no, no to NAMA

I heart Deputy Burton

Iceland

A friend of mine is back from Iceland. He says that parents are not sending their children to school because they can't afford uniforms and books. People in Iceland are afraid of hunger during the winter.

That is a terrifying prospect. What would you do if you lost your job and there was no social welfare. I wonder how long any of us could survive on barter in an Icelandic winter.

Now I'm even more scared of the FFers being in power and having the potential to bankrupt the state. I have some veggies growing but I doubt it would feed the extended family for long. Think about it - supermarkets do not have huge stocks in store. Within a few days of not delivering, food would be scarce.

Now I know that supermarkets do not go broke just because the government does. But this time two years ago, Iceland was considered a stable haven for international investment. Now, the people are afraid of hunger and food shortages.

Which government would you trust to get us out of that mess, if Fianna Fáil gets us into it with NAMA.

NAMA, good banks and Biffo reappears

Yesterday Fine Gael came out with a new financial alternative to NAMA and while I am no financial wizard, on the surface it seems better.

It seems to me that NAMA is a get out of jail free card for the banks and developers that financed and developed such risky projects. I do not see why the taxpayer should be penalised for others pursuit of profit. They rolled the dice and now they must pay the piper for their tune is over. There was no intention of contributing to the state coffers if their gamble had had an alternative ending. That would have been their profit.

The next thing is the pricing of the assets. They are not worth anything like their stated prices. The market needs to readjust and the government cannot prevent this by artificially inflating prices to pay off developer buddies.

This government thought the boom would last forever, which just goes to show that a qualification in history and applied basic common sense should be a required course to govern in a modern society.

Even within the past 20 years, in the personal experience of several cabinet members, there have been boom and bust cycles coupled with risky bank ventures and highly indebted financial institutions. While it is true that the public suffered in the 80s the property moguls were killing city centres and tearing down historical building. All of this has happened before and will happen again unless those in power change the system. Reform or you will be reformed.

The Greens, also in government lest we forget, are having a special party conference on the issue of NAMA. No exactly a united government but it is easier to get a consensus without taking the electorate into account. The Greens don't have that option unlike their governing partners.

On the other side of the house, Fine Gael propose a good bank instead of the state paying off the bad debts of developers. Richard Bruton outlined the plan on the Last Word yesterday and while their are kinks to be worked out, it seems a fairer plan.

Naturally this is controversial because there is no solidarity. The government knows they are out in the next election so they are on some kind of Bushian destructo mission to leave the opposition to clean up their mess. As a PR strategy, it is completely unethical and totally in line with Fianna Fáil's history.

Commenting on Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny’s declaration earlier yesterday that his party would vote against Nama, which he described as a “double or quits” gamble by Fianna Fáil, the Taoiseach said: “Glib one-liners aren’t the way to deal with what are very difficult and complex questions.

This is the first time since the summer recess that the Taoiseach has spoken out in public. He's been missing, presumably resting have a difficult year of denials, dithering and procrastinating.

Way to go Biffo.

Latest blow to civil liberties coming soon to Ireland

Random drug testing on motorists. Nah it's an April July fools joke. That would be in violation of our human rights surely? From the IT

RANDOM DRUG testing of motorists will be a key part of the new anti-drugs strategy to be published in September, said Minister of State John Curran.

Alcohol will also be included in the drugs strategy for the first time, and there will be a designated minister dealing with drugs.

Mr Curran told the Oireachtas committee dealing with community affairs that illegal drug use increased from 5.6 per cent of the population in 2003 to 7.2 per cent in 2007 among the 15-64 age group, although greatest usage was among those under 35.

Right so because of the actions of 7.2% of the population, 100% of the drivers of Ireland have to deal with invasive tests. I don't think there's any breathalyzer for cocaine, hash or heroin. What is proposed? Blood, urine or a hair sample. I, for example, will only give blood if it's taken by a medical professional with my full informed consent. And I don't take illicit drugs!

John Curran, who I presume is responsible for this monumental fuck up, is confused. Mixing legal and illegal drugs in the same legislation is a stupid move because of the status of the outcome. What if a person has smoked a joint with the same intoxication as a glass of wine? Joints are illegal but the test is for intoxication. If the person is not intoxicated do the police just let them go or do they arrest for illicit substances. And that's just one of the problems.

Maybe Curran is just trying to entrap one of his FF colleagues that is a well known coke-head. Maybe this is what the government think is a tough stance on drugs? And maybe they are just wondering how many civil liberties they can take away before the people rise up and say "NO MORE".

Ireland is on a right-wing track and is legislating itself into a police state. Dev would be so proud. It's disgusting.

Corruption most blatant

In yesterday's Irish Times The Ceann Comhairle defends his lavish approach to public money

Commenting on the expenses incurred by John O’Donoghue, former minister for tourism and now Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, the department said “every effort is made to secure the best possible rates” for Ministers and their delegations. The statement was in response to a Sunday newspaper report that documents released under the Freedom of Information Act showed Mr O’Donoghue, his wife Kate Ann and his private secretary, ran up a travel bill of more than €100,000 over a period of two years.

In addition to the expenses detailed in the article, it is common knowledge that O'Donoghue takes a helicopter to Kerry if he's going home of an evening and has his state car drive down from Dublin to pick him up. Likewise he sends the state car down to Kerry to pick up his wife if she fancies a day in Dublin. All this at the taxpayers expense.

I thought we got rid of a ruling class in this country when Ireland became a republic. The truth is simple. Members's of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party have become the ruling class and try the country as their personal treasure chest. The taxpayers are the peasants, to be disregarded and mocked as the government places taxes and levies that could be likened to pre-revolutionary France. Well France had their revolution and I think the anger of the Irish people won't be contained for long. The streets may not run red with blood but there may be a few grazes.

The success of Fianna Fáil can be explained in part by the Irish Press. Owned by Dev and his family, it was never critical of the FFers or their policies. A perfect little propaganda machine.

Dev killed our economy and impoverished our parents and grandparents. Dev and all the Taoisigh since him permitted the industrial schools to continue despite extensive reports of abuse. In fact, Ministers for Education disappeared complaints and the entire text of the Cussen report from public records. Lenihan Senior was involved in dismissing complaints too.

Think of Haughey. He had a private island, an estate and racehorses all on a TD, Minister or Taoseach's salary. How is such a thing possible. It is not of course but the journalists of the day did not dare to cross the Short Fella.

How many Fianna Fáil TDs have made Irish politics into a hereditary dynasty? Let's list them

• Cowen
• Lenihan
• Coughlan
• O Cuiv
• Kitt
• Andrews
• O Flynn
• Ahern
• Connolly
• Brennan
  

They have been brought up with the arrogance of petty privilege and the perceived entitlement to rule. We the people have bought their line of bullshit but people have become so disillusioned with the state of Irish government that it is easier to emigrate and be a success elsewhere that try and provoke change in this country. Good people will not stand for election because the ruling elites have the money, power and backing of their party.

I was supporting a candidate for the European elections. A bright guy with policies of change. The truth is that it was extremely difficult to get any publicity or to get on or be given any time on The Last Word, The Right Hook, Drive Time, Prime Time, Pat Kenny Show, Morning Ireland or any of the national newspapers or television current affairs programmes. I know because I phoned every day to try and make it happen. Instead the media focused on Ganley, the candidate with the money and the standing MEP's opinions about Ganley. It's easier to serve on the International Criminal Court than to get heard in Ireland without a political party.

People like O'Donaghue are taking advantage of public money because they can. Because they consider themselves elite. Because the people of Ireland are given little choice in the elections. Just consider this:

John O'Donoghue, his wife Kate Ann, and his private secretary Therese O'Connor ran up a travel bill of over €126,000 in the space of just two years.

Among the expenditure were a series of €900-a-night hotels, €7,591 on "airport pick-ups" during a two-day trip to London, €120 for hat rental, €250 for water taxis and €80 to "Indians for moving the luggage".

On one luxurious trip to Venice, the former arts minister, his wife and the civil servant ran up hotel bills of €5,834 at the Albergo San Marco, the Hotel Cipriani and the San Clemente Palace. The ministerial entourage travelled to Italy by government jet, where they were collected by a private airport boat and taken to their luxury accommodation.

He is not even trying to hide the bill padding. And that's what corruption has come to in Ireland. Why bother hiding it when there are no consequences to such spending, never mind the othering of the luggage handlers - "Indians for moving the luggage" indeed.

One of the main contributing factors to our current economic shitstorm is that Lenihan nationalised Anglo Irish Bank. Now he said he did so because the bank was of systemic importance. Of course, he said that he didn't read that part of the report

Brian Lenihan came under intense political pressure last night, following his admission that he only learned about the transfer of €7 billion to Anglo Irish Bank last month, even though his department informed the Financial Regulator about the issue last October.

... Stressing that he only learnt about the issue last month, he said the money transfer was not identified as a risk factor in the 720-page report. “I did not read the report in its entirety but focused on the risk factors outlined therein.”

He added the Taoiseach had not been given a copy of the report. “It was not circulated to the Taoiseach or to other Ministers. I returned any copies I received because I was conscious of the confidential character of the information involved.”

The conclusion is that either Lenihan is criminally incompetent or criminally ignorant. But what if there was another possibility? The real reason why Anglo was nationalised, aside from bailing out Fianna Fáil' developer buddies and getting kickbacks?

Someone I know was serving at a Fianna Fáil banquet two years ago. What is interesting is that all the bills were paid by cheque. What was more interesting is that all but one cheque were drawn on Anglo Irish Bank. And that is the real reason that Anglo was nationalised. The party's money was tied up in the bank. Lenihan, Cowen and Coughlan would be out in a flash if their grassroots supporters lost their money. FF's motto would seem to be party first, developers second and the country in a distant third.

So Anglo was nationalised. And the country is fucked. We bail out the banks, cut social welfare, put levies on the public service, increase taxes, invent new taxes, levies and charges, cut the already mismanaged and incompetent health service, cut education funding among other austerty measures. Now the taxpayer suffers the consequences of the property bubble, the bailout of the Fianna Fáil developer buddies and the choice to put party before country.

The result is that those of us who have children or plan on procreating have to measure whether it is fair to bring them up in Ireland, knowing that they will be paying for Fianna Fáil's failings in their taxes or emigrating because of a stagnant economy. Is it fair on the children to stay in Ireland? Maybe it's just best to leave once the world economy picks up. Or if you stay, will you stand for election? Let's wrest our country back from the special interest groups and loosen the death grip of the FFers.

Our glorious financial leader

What do you reckon - incompetent or corrupt?




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