Corruption worsens

under populist leaders watchdog

PUBLISHED
25/01/2017

1
Former prime minister David Cameron speaks at the 2016 AntiCorruption Summit in London

People who turn to populist politicians

promising to upset the status quo and end
corruption may be feeding the problem, a
watchdog group has warned.

Transparency International's annual Corruption

Perceptions Index for 2016 said that in countries with
populist or autocratic leaders "instead of tackling crony
capitalism, those leaders usually install even worse forms
of corrupt systems".
The group's board chairman, Jose Ugaz, cited Hungary
and Turkey, whose scores have worsened in recent years
under leaders with authoritarian leanings, while

Argentina, which ousted a populist government, has

improved in the rankings, he said.
Based on expert opinions of public sector corruption, the
annual report rated Denmark and New Zealand as the
least-corrupt countries, followed by Finland, Sweden,
Switzerland, and Norway.
Somalia was ranked most corrupt, followed by South
Sudan, North Korea and Syria.
Rounding out the top 10 least corrupt were Singapore, the
Netherlands, Canada, and the tie-placing trio of Germany,
Luxembourg and the United Kingdom in the No 10 spot.
The United States was placed 18th, down from 16th in
2015.
Transparency International research director Finn
Heinrich said the organisation was taking a wait-and-see
approach to Donald Trump's presidency, but already had
"serious concerns".
"Donald Trump came on board as the people in Hungary
and Turkey, on an anti-corruption ticket. He said, 'We're
going to drain this swamp'," Mr Heinrich said.
"But if you look at his action so far, there is nepotism. The
people in his cabinet have many conflicts of interest.
"They are not people who stand for transparency."
The index scores countries on a range of factors, such as
whether government officials are held to account or go
unpunished for corruption, the perceived prevalence of
bribery and whether public institutions respond to
people's needs.
Nearly 70% of the 176 countries scored below 50 on the
100-point scale, with a zero meaning a country is
perceived to be highly corrupt and 100 indicating it is
perceived to be very clean.
"This year, more countries declined in the index than
improved, showing the need for urgent action," the report
said.
The country that dropped most sharply in the rankings
was Qatar, which has faced criticism over alleged human
rights abuses involving migrant construction workers

since it was chosen to host the 2022 World Cup.

It plunged 10 points, falling to 31st on the list from 22nd
last year.
Still, Mr Heinrich said Qatar's government had in the past
shown itself "willing and keen" to fight corruption and
Transparency would appeal for more fundamental reforms
to ensure better freedom of speech and more media
freedom, among other things.
"You can't fight corruption without having accountability
and transparency in the entire public process," he said.
Afghanistan, a perennial fixture near the bottom of the list,
improved the most in 2016.
Its score on the Transparency International index rose
four points, but was still ranked 169th, just ahead of Libya,
Sudan and Yemen.
http://www.independent.ie/worldnews/corruption-worsens-under-populist-leaderswatchdog-35396348.html

EU REFERENDUM
The forever agonising awkward relationship the UK has with the European
Union will be put to the people at a rushed referendum on EU membership
brought about by pressure towards David Cameron, Prime Minister by his
Conservative Party eurosceptics. The date will be 23rd June 2016.
People are expected to proceed to the ballot boxes to answer a fundamental
question Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European
Union or leave the European Union? And while many see the date itself to be
the day on which the faith of Europe is to be sealed, FEPS together with its
British Members - Fabian Society and Policy Network - is aiming at analysing
the entire development from a broader perspective.
First of all, the negotiations process has kept the EU hostage for a while making it impossible to make progress with important dossiers. That is
because decisions on the matters, such as the infamous already Mobility
Package have been postponed until after the EU will have responded to the
demands formulated by the British Prime Minister David Cameron. Although in
the aftermath of the recent summit there is no agreement if the deal reached
is indeed redefining the membership condition, there is no doubt that the
process itself has already established precedent and herewith changed the
nature of policy making within the EU. That is an issue that FEPS wishes
to explore, seeking to anticipate on the political consequences of it in a long
term perspective.
Secondly, while the political forces in favour of the UK leaving the EU have

been quite aggressive with their message - the campaign in favour of staying
altogether has been troubled. Europe is at the crossroads itself, it is facing
numerous challenges (from the results of the economic crisis to the questions
of how to deal with the migration emergency). This makes it hard to anchor
the communication on a tangible promise of better future prospects, prosperity
and progress that the integration should guarantee for all its inhabitants. This
clearly points out that what is desperately needed not only in the UK, but also
across other Member States where the anti-European forces are growing
in strength, is to devise a clear, positive case for Europe.
Thirdly, there is a clear anticipation that the existing gap between the EU and
its citizens have grown significantly. In fact specifically Brussles is blamed for
almost everything these days, seen to be distanced and bureaucratic from
real people. It no longer manifests itself only in the low participation rates in
the EU elections, but also is exhibited by negativity of people living in the EU
on a daily basis. Here the outstanding example is the fear that citizens tend to
have regarding the sustainability of the freedom of movement of workers and
the principles of equal treatment, as applied in practice. The distributional
conflicts seem to be growing. These need a progressive response that would
show the way out, while abiding by and reinforcing the belief in core values of
solidarity and equality.
With that in mind, FEPS has taken upon a handful of projects, which hopefully
will contribute to coining convincing, progressive argument for more and not
less integration. The list of these entails so far:
- FEPS and Fabian Society research project on the attitudes of the British
citizens towards the European Union - it aims at echoing what is being the
core sense of so called kitchen table debates in order to seek a convincing,
progressive agenda for Europe from the UKs perspective. Though the
attitudes are to be analysed in the current political climate, the idea is to see
what postulates should eventually be at the heart of the UKs Presidency and
proclaimed by the Labour Party ahead of the EU elections 2019.
- FEPS and Policy Network Brussels debate - featuring among the
others Lord (Roger) Liddle, Chair of Policy Network, Anita Pollack, Former
MEP, Richard Corbett, MEP, Jo Leinen MEP:

Michael Noonan Banks should be

punished
Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Banks should be punished for their disgraceful

treatment of tracker mortgage customers, says Finance
Minister Michael Noonan.

Disgraceful treatment of tracker mortgage customers, he

tells Dil.
He told the Dil many borrowers had incurred
considerable loss, with some losing their homes as a
result of the tracker mortgage scandal.
Sinn Fin accused banks of corporate theft and said that
institutions had deliberately overcharged around 15,000
mortgage holders.
Around 15 lenders, including Bank of Ireland, AIB,
Permanent TSB, and Ulster Bank, moved customers off
tracker rates on to more expensive loans.
Mr Noonan said: The existing powers of the Central Bank
are strong and should be used to punish wrong doing.
While Mr Noonan told the Dil while he agreed with the
sentiment of the motion on the tracker mortgage scandal
tabled by Sinn Fin, the Government would be tabling
their own motion.

He said: The lenders who caused this harm to

impacted tracker mortgage borrowers in the first instance
by their incorrect actions have the primary
responsibility for rectifying the problem.
Mr Noonan said the Central Banks industry-wide
examination should be completed with appropriate
redress and compensation to impacted customers, as soon
as possible.
Fianna Fils Michael McGrath asked Mr Noonan to
intervene to make sure mortgage holders are put on the
right rate immediately.
He said the Central Bank is not in the Champions
League when it comes to consumer protection and that
would have to be examined.
Sinn Fins Pearse Doherty said families had lost their
homes and parents have been unable to afford to send
children to college. People were made bankrupt while
others suffered mental breakdowns as a result of the
financial strain the increased mortgage rates caused, he
said.
There are certain things that will never be able to
compensate, there are certain things that you will never
be able to give back to these families, but what [the
banks] need to do is they need to inform everybody that
they are going to make right and then they need to
restore them onto the right rates, said Mr Doherty.
The Sinn Fin motion, to be voted on tomorrow, calls for a
full redress scheme that works for victims within a strict
deadline and for an overhaul of white collar crime so the
bankers responsible can be held to account.
The controversy came to light two years ago when the
State-controlled Permanent TSB set aside tens of millions
in its accounts for a potential compensation scheme
ahead of a share sale.
It emerged that customers who originally took out tracker
mortgages were being overcharged by around 15 banks.
This is the biggest financial scandal that we have seen in
recent times, said Mr Doherty.
Tensions in Government are boiling over as ministers
failed to reach agreement on three significant issues due
before the Dil this week.

Almost half of the Cabinet meeting was consumed by

arguments over the three opposition motions relating to
tracker mortgages, home care packages, and the Stardust
tragedy due to be discussed and voted on in the Dil.
Despite the lengthy discussion which at times became
heated as members of the Independent Alliance and Fine
Gael clashed ministers left the meeting without clarity.
The most contentious issue was around a motion calling
for a Commission of Investigation into the Stardust
tragedy, which the Government deferred making a
decision on.
Independent Alliance Minister Finian McGrath has come
out strongly in support of setting up a new inquiry into the
nightclub fire, which killed 48 people in 1981.
Although Mr McGrath was backed by Independent Alliance
colleague Shane Ross at the meeting, Fine Gael ministers
are thought to have serious issues with new evidence
which is being put forward.
It is understood that Fine Gael would also find it difficult to
stomach voting for a motion which is critical of the
Government.
We have an ongoing discussion in relation to this and
Finian has made no secret as to where he stands, a
Government spokesman said.
Ministers also deferred decisions on how to vote on a Sinn
Fin motion around tracker mortgages and a Fianna Fil

motion on home care packages.

Government scrambled to come to some sort of a solution
on Sinn Fins motion, with no agreement reached just
hours before it was due to be debated last night.
A Government spokesman claimed ministers ran out of
time and said the power opposition now wield has
slowed down the workings of Government.
When you increase the amount of motions and bills from
opposition, allied to the fact that we are operating in a
minority government, that enhances parliament ownership
of any outcome while also by necessity slowing down the
process, the Government spokesman said.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has welcomed the relaxation in the
mortgage rules announced by the Central Bank today,
writes Daniel McConnell of the Irish Examiner.
The decision of the Central Bank is to be welcomed here.
Obviously they have put in conditions in respect of second
and subsequent buyers. The Governments programme of
5bn worth of investment through the five pillars is very
important, he told reporters.
So I welcome the decision of the Central Bank, obviously
they have made it clear they will continue to monitor
these conditions very carefully in the hope they level the
opportunity to enable people to get on the property ladder
without going over a cliff, the Taoiseach said.

Meanwhile, the The Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan

said the updated rules should enable all of those
borrowing to purchase a home to find it easier to source a
mortgage that suits their needs.
Mr Noonan in particular welcomed the abolition of the
220,000 loan-to-value threshold limit for First-Time
Buyers.
The change in the prudential rules, together with the HelpTo-Buy scheme announced by the Minister for Finance in
the Budget, will be of great help to first-time buyers.
"These two measures, which reinforce each other, will
have a significant impact on the capability of first-time
buyers to fund their first family home," a departmental
spokesman said.
About 100 homes were repossessed by banks after the
borrower was denied the right to tracker mortgage rates,
the Central Bank has said.
The number was revealed as the regulator was forced to
concede that the scale of the scandal was almost twice as
big as a report had claimed a day earlier.
The Central Bank's review of the controversy where banks
either refused customers access to low tracker rates or did
not make it an option initially put the figure at 8,200.
But amid damning criticism at the Oireachtas Finance
Committee, where chairman John McGuinness accused
Central Bank governor Philip Lane of being afraid of the
banks, the head of the regulator said the real number was
about 15,000.

Mr Lane said: "This is a tremendous problem and we are

expecting significant redress and compensation which of
course has to be a special case for people who have lost
their homes."
The committee hearing was suspended after the Central
Bank chief faced a withering attack on its assessment of
the scale of the tracker scandal and was ordered to get
more complete numbers.
The refusal of banks to allow customers to move on to
tracker rates first emerged as far back as 2010 - the year
taxpayers were lumbered with a multibillion-euro bailout.
In the six years since banks have repossessed more than
7,500 homes and apartments.
Mr McGuinness told Mr Lane that the information on
tracker refusals, or lack of it, was striking.
"Are you bullied by the banks? Is the Central Bank ready
for the banks? That really is the question that emerges in
my mind," he told the regulator.
"I would conclude from the information that you are giving
and how you are approaching this is that you are afraid of

the banks, that you are afraid to take them on."

The Central Bank governor hit back: "There is zero basis
for that."
Mr McGuinness accused Mr Lane of being unwilling to set
out the exact totals involved in the tracker scandal or to
play "hardball" with the banks.
"It would seem to me that you either feel bullied by them
or that you are fearful of them, but you are not engaging
as I would expect you to engage," he said.
The clash took place in the wake of a report from the
Central Bank which revealed that at least 8,200 home
owners were blocked from moving to tracker mortgages,
the lowest interest rate in the market.
Mr Lane said banks were now under an "extremely
intrusive regime" and added: "We have no reason as
supervisors or regulators to go lightly on the banks."
The Central Bank said 2,100 Bank of Ireland mortgages
were restored to tracker rates when the issue was
identified in that bank in 2010 and 2011.
It is understood refunds were made for the overcharging
but no compensation was given.
There were also about 1,400 cases of customers being
denied tracker rates involving Springboard Mortgages,
which was a subsidiary of Permanent TSB.
It is understood these numbers are on top of the 8,200
other cases identified in the Central Bank trawl of trackers,
which looked into 15 lenders from late 2015.
The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has
welcomed the decision by the Central Bank to ease
deposit rules for first-time buyers.
Prospective buyers will now only require a deposit worth

10% of the entire value of a property. Rules limiting the

amount that first-time buyers can borrow have also been
relaxed.
Ronan OHara, chairman of the SCSIs Residential
Professional Group said the move would provide much
needed assistance to first time buyers, many of whom are
struggling to save for a deposit.

This is a well-considered move by the Central Bank and

the focus on first time buyers is welcome, particularly in
Dublin and other cities," he said.
"This will give confidence to the market and hopefully will
encourage more builders to begin developments.
"The retention of the Loan to Income ratios will hopefully
help to curb price increases.
"Buyers can now focus on buying sooner and in locations
where they have family support."
"This is also good news for vendors in the second hand
market as first-time buyers are not limited to the new
homes sector," he said.

However, the SCSI also pointed out that sourcing the

required deposit and mortgage is just one part of the
equation and much more needs to be done on the supply
side.
OHara said the Society had consistently called on the
Government to introduce initiatives such as reducing VAT
on affordable housing, making public land suitable for
housing available and providing finance to builders.
Home to buy schemes or changing mortgage rules will
have little impact overall on the housing crisis because
supply is the problem, not demand, OHara concluded.
Reducing or even eliminating VAT on affordable housing
and establishing a Development Finance Agency with
expertise in construction lending would ensure the houses
that first time buyers so badly need are built in a short
time frame. That is what is required.
The Central Bank has announced a major change to its
mortgage deposit rules for first-time buyers.
It has confirmed that the rule requiring first-time buyers to
have a deposit of 20%, on properties above a certain
value, will be scrapped.
It means that a first-time buyer will now only require a
deposit worth 10% of the entire value of a property,
regardless of its price.

However the 20% deposit rule will continue to apply to

second-time and subsequent buyers.
The Central Bank is also relaxing the rules which limit the
amount that first-time buyers can borrow, relative to their
income.
Five per cent of the value of new lending to first time
buyers will be allowed above the 90% loan to value (LTV)
limit and 20% of the value of new lending to second and
subsequent buyers for primary residences will be allowed
above the 80% LTV limit.
Governor Philip Lane said: "Over the past 18 months, the
measures have helped to ensure that those who buy
homes are better prepared to manage their mortgage
payments in the event of a future downturn in the
economy or in the housing market.
"While our review process affirmed the value of the overall
framework, some modifications to the measures were
suggested by our evidence-based analysis.
"The 3.5 times ceiling on the loan to income ratio remains
unchanged.

"The 90% loan to value ratio limit for all first time buyers
simplifies the overall framework, with only 5% of lending
permitted above this level.
"The 20% allowance for lending above the 80% loan to
value ceiling for second and subsequent buyers is broadly
in line with current lending patterns.
"The loan to value requirements for all other buyers will
remain in place.
"Taken together, these measures constitute a sustainable
framework to underpin our financial stability objectives.
The changes cast doubt over Michael Noonan's plans for a
help-to-buy scheme, which were intended to help firsttime buyers overcome the onerous rules on deposits.

http://www.irishexam
iner.com/ireland/mic
hael-noonan-banksshould-be-punished440623.html

Ireland wants to be
key to EU's evolution
- Enda Kenny
Updated / Jan. 24,

The Taoiseach has said Ireland will remain an

enthusiastic member of the European Union and the
single market, and wants to be a key player in its
evolution.
Enda Kenny was speaking at the second European
Financial Forum at Dublin Castle, which is being
dominated by matters relating to Brexit.
Mr Kenny defended the Government's response to
Brexit, which he said started the day after the results
of the June vote became known.
He said the Government was prepared to negotiate
"hard and fair" when it comes to the terms of Britain's
departure from the EU.
The Taoiseach said Ireland had proven capable of
dealing with profound problems in the past and it
would do so again in the face of challenges posed by
Brexit.
Mr Kenny welcomed the clarity from Theresa May in
her Brexit 12 point plan last week.

He also repeated his pitch to the European Banking

Authority to consider moving its headquarters to
Dublin from London.
Earlier, the chief executive of IDA Ireland Martin
Shanahan said financial services companies were
advanced in their plans to move certain operations
out of London and he said he believed decisions
were impending very soon.
He said Ireland stood to be the beneficiary of good
quality jobs and operations leaving London and he
denied that Ireland had missed the boat with the
announcement by one bank that it was moving 1,000
jobs to Paris.
Mr Shanahan said the outcome of the UK Brexit
referendum had created the need for companies to
reconsider their European footprint.
Today's Forum is organised by IDA Ireland in
association with the Financial Times and IFS Ireland.
Described as a European platform for top decisionmakers and influencers in the public, private and
regulatory fields of financial services, the Forum will
explore the disruptive forces that are shaping the
financial sector into the future and discuss where
opportunities lie.

"Ireland's proposition of EU market access,

regulatory passport, global product distribution, cost
effectiveness, deep domain knowledge, innovative
technology offerings and superior customer service
together with English language and a Common Law
system will continue to prove compelling to financial
services companies," Mr Shanahan stated.
Ireland is home to over 400 IFS companies, both
foreign-owned and indigenous, spread throughout the
country. The sector employs over 40,000 people.
Central Bank Governor Philip Lane also addressed
the forum, focusing his comments on the implications
of globalisation and technological disruption on the
financial sector.
Mr Lane said the expansion of emerging economies
was a central factor in many of the topics on the
international financial agenda.

He said: "The high degree of interconnectedness

across currency areas makes it imperative that
central banks actively cooperate in the sharing of
information and analysis, so that monetary policy
decisions are based on a shared understanding of
current macro-financial conditions."

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND TO BE A KEY PLAYER?

"The Taoiseach (Prime Minister Enda Kenny TD) has said
Ireland will remain an enthusiastic member of the
European Union and the single market, and wants to be a
key player in its evolution." (RTE Jan. 24, 2017 23:47)
Allowing for the apparently unstoppable and amazing
amounts of corruption going on in and around the
European Union for decades now, the very best way that
Prime Minister Kenny could set about making the Republic
of Ireland a "key player" in the evolution of Europe would,
in my opinion, be for him and colleagues, in ALL THREE of
the main branches of the Republic of Ireland's Government
(Executive, Legislative, and Judicial), to start policing and
enforcing the principles, and the law, connected with
Article 47 of THE CHARTER OF THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, and with other similar
legislation based on the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
RELATED ISSUES
1) Prime Minister Enda Kenny TD, Article 47 of EU Charter
of Fundamental Rights, William Finnerty:
https://www.google.ie/:
2) The Tripartite Division of Powers of the Republic of
Ireland Government:
http://www.humanrightsireland.com/
/26/GeneralElection.htm
EUROPEAN COMMISSION - ec.europa.eu other rights which
derive directly from the Charter of the Fundamental Rights
... the European Union. 12. Article 47 of ... of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights 2013
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/criminal/files/com_2013_821_en
.pdf

Does the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

Threaten the ...

3. Comparison to Similar Provisions in Other ... drawing up
the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. ... Universal
Declaration of Human Rights,

http://www.jeanmonnetprogram.org/archive/papers/01/010
401-04.html
3. Comparison to Similar Provisions in Other Human Rights
Instruments
3.1. Earlier Draft European Parliament Instruments
The European Parliament was one of the first and most
ardent supporters of an EU catalogue of human rights and
of accession by the Community to the ECHR.71 This policy
dates back to the 1977 Joint Declaration on Human Rights
of the Parliament, Council and Commission,72 based on an
initiative from the Parliament, which was followed up by
the Parliament's Draft Treaty on a European Union from
1984 (the Spinelli Report), which included a provision
similar to what is now Article 6 TEU.73
In April 1989, the European Parliament adopted the first
tentative Community catalogue of human rights (based on
the De Gucht Report), which was an important source of
inspiration for the Charter Convention. The European
Parliament's Declaration of Fundamental Rights and
Freedoms of 12 April 198974 included a provision similar
to Article 53, called Article 27, "Degree of Protection,"
which provided that:
"No provision in this Declaration shall be interpreted as
restricting the protection afforded by Community law, the
law of the Member States, international law and
international conventions and accords on fundamental
rights and freedoms or as standing in the way of its
development."
The similarity with Article 53 of the Charter, both in
wording and title, is striking. Like Article 53, the
grammatical subject of the provision is limited to the
instrument itself ("No provision in this Declaration"), and
not to a wider concept such as the Treaties or Community

law in general. There are, however, important differences.

Article 27 refers to "the law" of Member States in general,
not only the "constitutions," and the provision is timeneutral in the sense that future developments are
accounted for, whereas Article 53, at least on a strict
reading, refers only to higher levels of protection existing
at the time of the adoption of the Charter. Furthermore,
Article 27, unlike Article 53, is not limited to conventions
to which "all" the Member States are party, and it does not
include an "in their respective fields of application"
proviso.75
In 1994, a committee of the European Parliament adopted
a draft constitution for the European Union (the Herman
Report).76 In Title VII, the draft incorporated a revised
version of the 1989 catalogue of human rights. Point 24 of
this Title, "Degree of Protection," is based on Article 27
and reads as follows:
"No provision in this Constitution may be interpreted as
restricting the protection afforded by the law of the Union,
the law of the Member States, and international law."
The brevity of this provision is admirable, considering that
it does not legally exclude anything significant from its
model in Article 27 of the Declaration. One difference,
however, is important to note. By using the expression,
"No provision in this Constitution," the clause suggests
that all other provisions in the draft constitution, including
stipulations on the powers of the Community regulator
and adjudicator, would be subordinate to, inter alia, all
rights provisions in the law of the Member States.
Such a challenge to the supremacy of EU law was not
intended; on the contrary, the draft constitution Article
1(6) explicitly stipulated that "The law of the Union takes
precedence over the law of Member States." Yet on a
purely textual analysis, employing general rules of
interpretation (lex specialis), it would be hard to refute
that point 24 of Title VII posed a challenge to the doctrine
of supremacy. Article 7 of the draft constitution, which
provided that "The Union shall respect fundamental rights

as guaranteed by the [ECHR], by the other applicable

international instruments and as they derive from the
constitutional principles shared by the Member States"
(emphasis added), could soften this interpretation
somewhat, by its explicit reference to "the constitutional
principles shared by the Member States," but had the draft
constitution been adopted, the supremacy problem would
no doubt have been real. With respect to Article 7 of the
draft, it is noteworthy that, like Article 52(3) of the Charter
and Article 6(2) TEU, it ensures that the ECHR should
serves as a minimum level of protection.
3.2. The European Convention on Human Rights
3.2.1. Text of Article 53 ECHR
Since 1974 all Members of the European Union have been
Contracting Parties to the ECHR of 1950 under the
auspices of the Council of Europe.77 The ECHR and the
case law from the European Court of Human Rights have
served as important points of reference, both in the case
law of the ECJ and for the Convention drawing up the EU
Charter of Fundamental Rights. The model on which the
drafters based Article 53 of the Charter is found in Article
53 (ex Article 60) of the ECHR, probably the first
international human rights provision of its kind and likely
also a source of inspiration for later international
instruments (see below).78 Article 53,79 entitled
"Safeguard for existing human rights," provides that:
"Nothing in this Convention shall be construed as limiting
or derogating from any of the human rights and
fundamental freedoms which may be ensured under the
laws of any High Contracting Party or under any other
agreement to which it is a Party."
Like Article 27 of the European Parliament Declaration of
Human Rights, Article 53 ECHR differs from Article 53 of
the Charter by being time-neutral ("may be ensured"), by
referring to domestic law in general (not only
constitutions), and by taking into account other
conventions to which "any" (not "all") of the Contracting

Parties is party. Another difference that distinguishes the

text from both Article 53 of the Charter and Article 27 of
the Declaration is that there is no reference to
international law in general, only international
agreements. From the travaux prparatoires to the ECHR it
appears that the Article was adopted on a British draft
based on an Italian suggestion without any debate in the
drafting committee of legal experts.80
The European Social Charter from 1961, a Council of
Europe treaty not under the jurisdiction of the European
Court of Human Rights, contains a similar provision in its
Article 32.81 The title of the provision, "Relations between
the Charter and domestic law or international
agreements," is overly broad compared to the content. In
line with Article 53 ECHR the Article simply provides that:
"The provisions of this Charter shall not prejudice the
provisions of domestic law or of any bilateral or
multilateral treaties, conventions or agreements which are
already in force, or may come into force, under which
more favourable treatment would be accorded to the
persons protected." Although the wording differs (and is
reminiscent of the "Most Favored Nation" language of
international trade law) the legal effect and content seem
to be the same as Article 53 ECHR.82
3.2.2. Case-law
There is relatively little case law about Article 53 ECHR
from the European Court of Human Rights or the nowextinct European Commission of Human Rights. The few
existing cases do not seem to have been the subject of
any systematic analysis by scholars (see 3.2.3. below).
The limited case law indicates that there is some
confusion about the true meaning and purpose of Article
53 and that the European Court of Human Rights is
reluctant to refer to it.
On one issue the case law is very clear: individual
applicants cannot invoke Article 53 to support a claim that
their rights under national law or other treaties, e.g. the
UN Covenants, have been violated. Such applications will

be dismissed as incompatible ratione materiae with the

ECHR, cf. Article 35(3) ECHR. The European Commission of
Human Rights has stated very plainly that Strasbourg
"n'est pas comptente pour examiner des requtes
relatives des prtendues violations d'autres instruments
internationaux ou du droit interne. L'article [53] de la
Convention ne confre aucunement aux organes de celleci pareille comptence."83
This does not mean, however, that the European Court of
Human Rights disregards other human rights instruments;
it simply means that a claim has to be based on a
provision of the ECHR to be entertained by the Court, and
that the Court cannot apply national law or other treaties.
There are numerous examples of cases where the Court
has referred to domestic law of Contracting Parties (as
evidence of evolving European standards) and to other
international instruments, e.g. the UN Covenants and
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), as inspiration
and support for a certain interpretation of the ECHR, often
to the benefit of the individual applicant. But the Court has
never found it warranted, much less necessary, to refer to
Article 53 as part of such dynamic interpretations of the
ECHR.84 There are also a few examples of reasoning a
contrario based on comparisons with other instruments,
most strikingly in the first German Berufsverbot cases in
which the Court found that the ECHR did not protect a
right of equal access to public service and cited not only
the ECHR travaux prparatoires but also the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR, which do
protect such a right.85
If Contracting Parties invoke Article 53 to defend
themselves against an arguable claim that they have
violated the ECHR, the legal situation is a little more
ambiguous. Generally, Contracting Parties have not been
successful in such efforts; the Court has never explicitly
referred to Article 53 as a basis for finding no violation.
There have been three recent cases where the respondent
government before the Court invoked Article 53.
Probably the most illustrative of these cases is the Open

Door case against Ireland, on information about abortion,

from 1992. The Irish government invoked Article 53 to
argue that Article 10 ECHR on freedom of expression
should not be interpreted to limit the right to unborn life,
which had recently been endorsed by a constitutional
referendum.
The Court rejected this argument in a somewhat cryptic
manner, sidestepping any general interpretation of Article
53. The Court said that it did not call "into question under
the Convention the regime of protection of unborn life"
under Irish law, and recalled that "the [contested]
injunction did not prevent Irish women from having
abortions abroad and that the information it sought to
restrain was available from other sources [...] Accordingly,
it is not the interpretation of Article 10 but the position in
Ireland as regards the implementation of the law that
makes possible the continuance of the current level of
abortions obtained by Irish women abroad."86 One is left
to ponder whether, had the Irish government effectively
blocked all incoming information about abortion abroad
and prevented pregnant women from leaving the country,
the European Court of Human Rights would have
sustained the injunction on the basis of Article 53. My
contention is: clearly not. But the Court probably refrained
from saying so because it was not strictly necessary and
such a statement could have made its finding of a
violation of Article 10 ECHR even more controversial.
The Court was split fifteen votes to eight. Quite
remarkably, almost all the dissenting judges gave some
weight to the Irish government's Article 53 argument. A
dissenting opinion by four judges, including Judge Pettiti,
author of the leading French commentary to the ECHR,
found that the Court had "failed to take sufficient account
of the reference to "the rights of others" in Article 10
[ECHR] and of Article [53] in relation to the provisions in
the Irish legislation which afford a broader protection of
rights than the Convention." Another dissenting opinion by
Judge de Meyer (see 2.3.3. below on his earlier writings on
Article 53) stated that it was essentially the Irish right to
life, rather than morals, that was at stake and that the

case accordingly raised "serious problems from the point

of view of Articles 2, 17 and [53]." Ad hoc Judge Blayney
from Ireland devoted most of his dissenting opinion to
Article 53, saying that the Court was "precluded" by this
provision from finding that there had been a breach of
Article 10. "The right of the unborn to be born," he stated,
"is clearly a human right and it is guaranteed" by the Irish
Constitution. And, according to Judge Blayney, "Under
Article [53] nothing in the [ECHR] is to be construed as
limiting or derogating from that right." He dismissed the
arguments of the majority as irrelevant. "The sole issue is
whether a finding that the injunction constitutes a breach
of Article 10 amounts to interpreting that Article as
derogating from the human rights of the unborn as
guaranteed by the Constitution, and in my opinion it
does."
In the Jersild case against Denmark from 1994, concerning
a TV journalist who had been fined for broadcasting highly
racist remarks made to him during an interview with
members of a group that claimed to be a Danish branch of
the Ku Klux Klan, a similar question arose. This time the
allegedly colliding human rights norm was based on a UN
convention, the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
from 1965.87 The Danish government conceded that
Article 10 ECHR on freedom of expression was applicable,
but argued that Article 10 should not be interpreted in
such a way as to limit, derogate from or destroy the right
to protection against racial discrimination under CERD.
The Danish Government invoked Article 53 in this
connection, but it does not appear from the Court's
summary in the judgment, and not even the dissenting
opinions mention this provision.
The Court took a close look at the relevant provision of
CERD, Article 4, and observed that its "due regard" clause,
intended to somewhat soften the obligation to criminalize
all racist speech, had given rise to differing
interpretations. The UN control body, the CERD
Committee, had been divided in its (non-binding)
comments on the conviction of the journalist. The Court

said that it was particularly conscious of the vital

importance of combating racial discrimination, and that,
consequently, "the object and purpose pursued by [CERD]
were of great weight in determining whether the
applicant's conviction was "necessary" within the meaning
of Article 10(2) [ECHR]." The Court concluded that:
"Denmark's obligations under Article 10 [ECHR] must be
interpreted, to the extent possible, so as to be reconcilable
with its obligations under [CERD]. In this respect it is not
for the Court to interpret the "due regard" clause in Article
4 [CERD], which is open to various constructions. The
Court is, however, of the opinion that its interpretation of
Article 10 [ECHR] in the present case is compatible with
Denmark's obligations under [CERD]." The Court found
that the conviction of the journalist had violated Article 10
ECHR.
In one dissenting opinion by four Judges, including thenPresident of the Court, Rolf Ryssdal, it was said that CERD
"probably" did not require the punishment of the
journalist, but that CERD supported their conclusion. In a
dissenting opinion by three other Judges, it was said that
CERD "manifestly cannot be ignored when the [ECHR] is
being implemented [...] It must [...] guide the European
Court of Human Rights in its decisions." Neither of the
opinions referred to Article 53.
The third recent case in which Article 53 was invoked by
the respondent government, is the Gustafsson case
against Sweden from 1996, which concerned labor union
blockades of a small restaurant whose owner refused to
sign collective labor agreements.88 The case raised the
intricate issues of conflict between positive and negative
aspects of freedom of association and the extent to which
Contracting Parties are under positive obligations to
protect individuals against action by other private
individuals. The government argued, inter alia, that Article
53 entitled Sweden to protect the labor unions' positive
freedom of association and assembly as fundamental
rights under Swedish law.
Somewhat reluctantly, the majority of the Court agreed

that Article 11 ECHR on freedom of association was

applicable to the facts. However, the Court gave a wide
"margin of appreciation" to Sweden, referring, inter alia, to
the special Swedish model of collective bargaining on the
labor market (which works in lieu of legislation). The Court
did not address the issue of Article 53, but said that it saw
"no reason to doubt that the union action pursued
legitimate interests consistent with Article 11 [ECHR]." The
Court further recalled that "the legitimate character of
collective bargaining is recognised by a number of
international instruments, in particular [...] the European
Social Charter, [...] the [ICESCR] and [two ILO]
Conventions." The Court concluded that Sweden had not
violated the ECHR.
A dissenting opinion by Judge Martens, joined by one of
the longest-serving judges of the Court, Judge Matscher
(author of many books on the ECHR) contains an
illuminating, but debatable, argument against the
application of Article 53. Judge Martens rejected the
Swedish government's argument that the immunity of the
blockading trade unions was a fundamental right under
Swedish law, and as such should be respected by the
Court under, what Judge Martens characterized as, "the
interpretative rule of Article [53]." "The immunity from suit
which trade unions enjoy under Swedish law," Judge
Martens declared, "does not come within the category of
the "human rights and fundamental freedoms" referred to
in Article [53]. The essential flaw of that immunity is that it
is incompatible both with the rule of law and with a proper
protection of the individual's negative rights under Article
11. Having created a right that is thus essentially flawed,
Sweden should not be allowed to pass it off as a human
right or fundamental freedom." (See comments in 4.4.
below at note 163).
The three cases discussed above show that governments
have tried to use Article 53 when conflicting human rights
values and norms, either of national or international origin,
collide with applicable provisions of the ECHR, and that
the Court has confirmed its willingness to give these
conflicting interests serious consideration, even to the

extent of exonerating the government (Gustafsson). But

there is no indication that Article 53 plays any role in this
connection.
In the early ground-breaking case, Golder, from 1975, the
Court read the right of access to a court into the fair trial
guarantee of Article 6 ECHR, which does not provide any
textual support for (or against) such a right.89 The Court
did so by emphasizing the rule-of-law object and purpose
of the ECHR, and rejecting the idea that a law-making
treaty such as the ECHR should be interpreted in dubio
mitius. In a separate opinion, Judge Verdross invoked to
Article 53 as an interpretative principle limiting the
teleological and dynamic approach of the majority: "The
Convention makes a clear distinction between the rights
and freedoms it secures itself (Article 1) and those which
have their basis in the internal law of the Contracting
States (Article [53]). [It] results, in my view, from Article 1
that among such [defined] rights and freedoms can only
be numbered those which the Convention states in
express terms or which are included in one or other of
them." And Judge Verdross added that "Considerations of
legal certainty too make this conclusion mandatory: the
States [... ] ought to be sure that [defined] bounds will be
strictly observed."90
As is evident from the case law of the European Court of
Human Rights, the Court has not viewed Article 53 as
placing any constraints on its dynamic and teleological
style of interpretation. Since then, the Court has on
several occasions discovered or stipulated inherent rights.
The source of the rights, as well as the limiting principle, is
mainly the gradual evolution of common European
standards.91
There are a few other cases which shed some light on the
meaning of Article 53. In the Ekbatani and Burghartz
cases, the Court referred to Article 53 to make clear that
additional rights in the 7th protocol (Article 2 on the right
to appeal in criminal cases and Article 5 on the equality of
spouses, respectively) could not be interpreted as
prejudicing the rights already guaranteed by original

provisions in the ECHR (Article 6 on the right to a fair trial

and Article 8 on the right to family life, respectively).92
The point is of fairly limited application and simply implies
that Article 53 may have an internal, interpretative effect
with respect to rights instruments under the jurisdiction of
the European Court of Human Rights.
In the Handyside case against the UK from 1976,
concerning pornography and freedom of expression,
another aspect of Article 53 surfaced.93 The applicant
argued that the measures taken against him and his books
could not have been "necessary in a democratic society"
under Article 10(2), given the fact that the authorities had
taken no action against the materials in other parts of the
UK. Cleverly, the Court replied that Article 53 showed that
the ECHR, "never puts the [...] the Contracting States
under an obligation to limit the rights and freedoms [that
the ECHR] guarantees. [ ...] The competent authorities in
[other parts of the UK] may, in the light of local conditions,
have had plausible reasons for not taking action against
the book and its publisher. Their failure to act - into which
the Court does not have to enquire [...] - does not prove
that the judgment [against the applicant] was not a
response to a real necessity, bearing in mind the national
authorities' margin of appreciation." This combination of
margin-of-appreciation arguments with Article 53 has not
been seen since; the reasoning of the Court does not
seem particularly compelling, at least in general, given the
ideals of non-discrimination underlying the Convention
and the rule of law.
In a few other judgments, Article 53 has been referred to
in dissenting and concurring opinions of slight, if any,
persuasiveness or illumination on the topic.94
3.2.3. Theory
Article 15 ECHR regarding derogation in time of war and
other public emergency contains what some scholars see
as a special expression of the general principle of Article
53 ECHR.95 Article 15(1) provides, inter alia, that the
Contracting Parties may rely on the derogation clause only

if the emergency measures taken "are not inconsistent

with its other obligations under international law." This has
been interpreted to mean that the European Court of
Human Rights must satisfy itself that the emergency
measures in question, even if they comply with the ECHR,
do not plausibly violate other treaty obligations of the
Contracting Party before the Court. But the Court has
expressly stated that it cannot authoritatively resolve
disputes about obligations of Contracting Parties under
treaties other than the ECHR.96 In my opinion, the case
law on Article 15(1) does not inform the interpretation of
Article 53 ECHR. Article 53 is a negative statement that
the ECHR does not purport to modify other obligations of
the Contracting Parties, whereas Article 15(1) is a positive,
direct statement that the Contracting Parties should also
observe other obligations when they derogate from the
ECHR in the special circumstances covered by Article 15.
The few scholars who have addressed Article 53
specifically generally agree that, in terms of positive law,
the provision expresses a simple principle - namely, that
the rights contained in the ECHR are minimum standards,
and that in case of a conflict between a right in the ECHR
with a national or international rule regarding the same
right, the individual is entitled to protection under the
most favorable provision.97 No one claims that Article 53
allows the Court to apply or enforce a more favorable
provision found outside the scope of the ECHR, or that that
Article 53 addresses a conflict between different human
rights, e.g. the right to freedom of expression in another
instrument and the right to a private life under the
ECHR.98
In his short article on Article 53, Judge Jan de Meyer (who
later referred to Article 53 in his dissent in the Open Door
case) seems to wish for more. While he admits that Article
53 and its cousins in other conventions do not incorporate
new rights or higher protection under their respective
systems of protection, he finds that the underlying idea of
such provisions is that it is impossible to define
exhaustively all the rights of man. In a stream of natural
law theory, de Meyer goes on to say that the human rights

conventions "ne crent pas ces droits, qui sont inhrents

la nature humaine. Ils ne peuvent que les reconnaitre et
tenter, tant bien que mal, de les dfinir. Ils ne peuvent que
constituer l'expression plus ou moins russie de principes
gnraux qui transcendent le droit positif et qui
s'imposent mme dfaut de tout texte de ce genre."99
De Meyer concludes, with reference to some of the cases
mentioned above at note 84 concerning new inherent or
broadened rights, and with reference to the human rights
doctrine of the European Court of Justice, that the "laws"
and "conventions," to which Article 53 refers, may
legitimately serve as sources of general principles of law
for the Court. De Meyer's understanding of human rights
instruments in general, and the aim of Article 53 in
particular, resembles some of the Ninth amendment
theories under the United States Bill of Rights (see 3.4.
below) although de Meyer does not mention the American
Constitution.
Professor Emmanuel Decaux draws a distinction between
the reference to domestic law and the reference to other
international agreements of Article 53. As to the reference
to domestic law, Decaux briefly considers various
possibilities and concludes that Article 53 has no practical
significance. The provision simply states the obvious,
namely that the enumeration of rights in the ECHR can
never by itself justify, through a reasoning a contrario, the
restriction of wider-ranging rights protected by other legal
rules. Article 53 is in effect, he implies, "un vide juridique."
As to the reference to other international agreements,
Decaux observes that Article 53 expresses a special
version of the interpretative principle regarding successive
treaties (see Article 30 of the Vienna Convention of the
Law of Treaties). The national judge in a legal system
where both the ECHR and other human rights treaties are
applicable will find (fairly evident) guidance in Article 53
as to which of two different standards on the same subject
matter to apply. For the international judge, in casu, the
European Court of Human Rights, it follows from the
Convention system that he or she can apply only the
ECHR. There is no incorporation by way of Article 53, even
if the Court may find inspiration in other instruments.100

3.2.4. Conclusion on Article 53 ECHR

The case law and theory show that the somewhat
mysterious Article 53 ECHR has spawned quite a number
of imaginative interpretations from individual applicants,
from Contracting Parties, and from dissenting Judges.
Apart from the Handyside case and the Ekbatani and
Burghartz cases, however, the Court has never expressly
relied on Article 53, and it has never given any
consolidated indication of how the Article may be used
outside the rather special and limited circumstances of
these three cases. The possible negative conclusions that
may be drawn on the basis of all the "failed" theories will
be discussed further in relation to the possible legal
implications of Article 53 of the Charter in the EU context
(see chapter 4 below).
3.3. International Conventions on Human Rights
All the Members of the EU are States Parties to the major
international human rights conventions under the auspices
of the United Nations.101 These instruments have some
relevance in the jurisprudence of the European Court of
Justice.102 The cornerstones in this set of conventions are
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), both from 1966. The
equivalent of Article 53 of the Charter in these two
conventions is Article 5(2) of both instruments. It reads:
"There shall be no restriction upon or derogation from any
of the fundamental human rights recognized or existing in
any State Party to the present Covenant pursuant to law,
conventions, regulations or custom on the pretext that the
present Covenant does not recognize such rights or that it
recognizes them to a lesser extent."103
The wording of this provision is rather different from both
Article 53 of the Charter and Article 53 of the ECHR. Most
notably, the language is more overtly political by
describing any attempts to use the Covenants to restrict
other rights as an abuse or absence of good faith (note the

word "pretext"). This gives the provision a more moral and

less legal tenor. Note also that there is no use of the words
"be interpreted" or "be construed," which makes the
language more direct.
The marked difference of style, however, does not entail
any difference in legal meaning. Article 5(2) has been
interpreted by commentators in much the same way as
Article 53 ECHR. Article 5(2) is described by scholars as an
interpretative principle meant to prevent national courts
from relying on the restrictions of the Covenant when
applying broader rights of a different origin. Likewise,
Article 5(2) does not imply incorporation of national rights
or rights recognized under other conventions.104
Furthermore, an obvious, but relevant, point has been
made that Article 5(2) does not in itself prevent a State
Party from adjusting more protective national rules or
withdrawing from international conventions affording a
higher level of protection.105 The comments to the
ICESCR also cover the ICCPR.106
In Kindler v. Canada from 1993, a non-binding decision by
the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) on an individual
complaint (communication) under the ICCPR, Article 5(2)
was invoked in a highly creative manner by a dissenting
Member of the Committee.107 The facts of the case were
similar to the ECHR case, Soering v. UK, concerning
extradition to the United States of a person who would be
charged with a capital offence, from a country that had
abolished the death penalty.108 A majority of the 18
member expert committee found that Canada would not
violate the ICCPR by extraditing Mr. Kindler to the United
States. Mr. Lallah of the Committee, former Chief Justice of
Mauritius and until recently the UN Special Rapporteur for
Burma (Myanmar), joined by one other Member, submitted
a detailed dissenting opinion. He argued that "Article 5(2)
would, even if Article 6 [on the right to life] was given a
minimal interpretation, have prevented Canada [where life
is protected more extensively than in the United States]
from invoking that minimal interpretation to restrict or
give lesser protection to that right by an executive act of
extradition though, in principle, permissible under

Canadian extradition law." Notwithstanding the good

intentions, this appears to be an unacceptable boot-strap
approach to Article 5(2). The level of protection afforded to
life by Canadian law, even if Canada itself did not impose
the death penalty on criminals, did not exclude extradition
to the United States. Under international law, Canadian
courts have the final say on what level of protection
domestic law provides, and their judgments should be
treated as established facts by international
adjudicators.109 Only if that level falls below the level of
protection afforded by the applicable convention
provisions regarding the right in question, as interpreted
by the international adjudicators, could the international
body legitimately find a violation of the convention.
The more recent and specialized UN human rights
conventions also contain provisions similar to Article 53.
Article 23 of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) from
1979 provides that nothing in the convention shall "affect
any provisions that are more conducive to the
achievement of equality between men and women which
may be contained in the legislation of a State Party, or in
any other international convention, treaty or agreement in
force for that State." The structure is closer to Article 53
ECHR than to the two Covenants, but the language is
more ambiguous.110 The UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) from 1989 contains an almost identical
provision in Article 41, providing that nothing in the
convention "shall affect any provisions which are more
conducive to the realization of the rights of the child and
which may be contained in the law of a State party or
international law in force for that State."111 A similar
provision in the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) from
1984, Article 1(2), has a more limited scope and is
simpler: "This article [which defines torture] is without
prejudice to any international instrument or national
legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider
application."112 Yet more examples of Article 53-like
provisions from international and regional human rights
instruments could be cited.113

Against this background, it seems justified to conclude

that the meaning expressed by all these provisions in
international and regional human rights instruments has
attained the status of a general principle of public
international law in the field of human rights.114 This
finding is all the less daring given the obviously limited
legal significance of the interpretative principle contained
in such provisions, which is hardly distinguishable from the
general principle that treaties should be interpreted in
good faith (see Article 31(1) of the Vienna Convention on
the Law of Treaties).
3.4. The United States Bill of Rights
Given the political context of the Charter, including the
accelerated debate on a constitutionalization and
federalization of the EU, it seems worthwhile to take a
glance at the United States - the federal state which
serves as the eternal bogey or template, depending on the
viewpoint, in the debate about a future federal Europe.
The Ninth Amendment to the American Constitution, which
forms part of the United States Bill of Rights from 1789,
contains a provision similar to Article 53. It reads as
follows:
"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights,
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others
retained by the people."
This sentence is known today as one of the most obscure
and controversial provisions in the Bill of Rights.115 It has
been given all kinds of names, such as "an opiate," "an
inkblot," "a mystery," "an old constitutional jester," "a
fountain of law" and a "Cinderella on the verge of taking
center stage."116 The drafting history is relatively
straightforward. Before and right after the adoption of the
Constitution in 1787, the Anti-Federalists demanded that
the Constitution be accompanied by a Bill of Rights which
would restrain the powers of the Federal Government. The
Federalists first argued against this idea, saying that it
would be impossible - and legally dangerous - to try to
enumerate all rights of man. It could lead people, and

eventually judges, to believe that "natural rights" which

were not placed in the list had been forfeited. Madison,
the drafter of the Bill of Rights, saw some truth in this
objection and, in what became the Ninth Amendment,
attempted to solve the problem.
As an aside, it might seem ironic that in today's Europe it
is the "Anti-Federalists" (e.g. the UK) who are reluctant to
accept a binding "Bill of Rights" formalizing human rights
constraints on the EU "Government," whereas the
"Federalists" (e.g. Germany) strongly favor such an
instrument. Perhaps it is not as ironic as it first seems
when compared to the American experience. The
European process of constitutionalization has evolved and evolves - in a different, sometimes opposite, way
compared to the American process. For one, the United
States was founded on a strong Constitution, shortly
thereafter consolidated with a Bill of Rights. The Bill of
Rights arguably came to real life only after the Civil War
and the advent of judicial activism. European judicial
activism, including the gradual development of an EU
human rights jurisprudence, has, by contrast, been a
major driving force in the informal European
constitutionalization almost from the beginning. European
political activism and attempts at formal
constitutionalization have been much slower and only
gained some momentum in the late 1980s.117 It is
against this background of almost reverse
constitutionalization that the European "Anti-Federalists"
regard the Charter as the sweetener for a bitter and
dangerous pill of a federal Europe with a formal
constitution. The "Federalists" see the Charter as a way to
increase citizens' confidence in Union institutions and to
install a new sense of purpose among the peoples of
Europe.
The Ninth Amendment lived an extremely quiet life for its
first 150 years. There were some suggestions in the early
case law that the Ninth and the Tenth Amendment were
merely affirmations of the enumerated limitations on
federal powers listed in Article I of the Constitution. In the
1950s the Ninth amendment was roused from its slumber

by a book called "The Forgotten Ninth Amendment," and

gained its current fame with the Griswold case from
1965.118 In Griswold, the Supreme Court struck down a
state law banning the sale and use of contraceptives by
invoking a new right of privacy, which the majority based
on a less-than-crystal-clear concept of "penumbras,
formed by emanations" from a string of Amendments,
including the Ninth. A concurring opinion by Justice
Goldberg focused on the Ninth Amendment and suggested
that it could support the protection of unenumerated
rights, among them the right to privacy. Not surprisingly,
the Ninth Amendment was invoked in thousands of cases
after Griswold, though to little avail. The Court has
preferred to use the due process clauses of the Fifth and
Fourteenth Amendment to give life to rights not explicitly
specified in the Bill of Rights, such as the right to
procreate and travel. Certain aspects of the right to
privacy (abortion rights) have been reaffirmed by some
Justices with reference to, inter alia, the Ninth
Amendment.119 The general attitude, however, is still
either silence or rejection when the Ninth Amendment is
invoked.
From a positive law perspective, what is then left of the
Ninth Amendment? The leading constitutional scholar
Laurence Tribe finds that the Ninth Amendment simply
serves as a rule against cramped construction of rights
and prohibits certain forms of arguments by negative
implication. He rejects the notion of "Ninth Amendment
Rights" as a common error, but stresses that the Ninth
Amendment is, nonetheless, a vital rule "without which
the Bill of Rights might have been more threatening than
reassuring [...] and without which, therefore, the 1787
Constitution might not have lasted."120 A parallel might
be drawn, if perhaps in less dramatic terms, to the political
importance of Article 53 of the Charter as evidenced by
the drafting history (see 2.6. above). Like the Ninth
Amendment, Article 53 was clearly meant to calm fears
about any diminishment of rights "retained by the people."
Professor Tribe's view of the Ninth Amendment as an
interpretative rule supporting a wide, dynamic approach to

human rights ties into some of the theories about Article

53 ECHR, as expressed in opinions by individual Judges of
the European Court of Human Rights. It should be noted,
however, that the European Court of Human Rights as
such has never found it necessary or helpful to refer to
Article 53 as the basis for such a style of interpretation.
Another difference to note is the fact that the Ninth
Amendment does not seem to have been discussed as a
tool with which to solve cases of two colliding rights, e.g.
the right to privacy, including abortion, under the federal
constitution, and a right to life, including the unborn life,
under a state constitution (compare the Open Door case).
The reason is no doubt that the supremacy of federal law
is unambiguously prescribed in the Constitution (cf. Article
VI, Clause 2) and is not contested by any state courts or
legislatures. The Supreme Court does draw some
inspiration from evolving human rights standards among
the several states when interpreting the federal
constitution, most notably in cases regarding execution of
the insane and mentally retarded and the Eighth
Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual
punishment.121 This practice is not, however, based on
the Ninth Amendment.
Notwithstanding the historical importance of the Ninth
Amendment, it seems difficult to argue, based on the
current case law of the Supreme Court, that the
interpretative principle contained in the Ninth Amendment
has much influence on the way the Bill of Rights is
interpreted today. At his unsuccessful confirmation
hearings in 1987, Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork,
famously alluded that the Ninth Amendment was merely
an inkblot. This reading does not seem wholly
unwarranted, from a positivist perspective, but was
obviously rather controversial in the American legal
environment.
71 On the human rights policy of the European Parliament
in general, see R. Rack and S. Lausegger, "The Role of the
European Parliament: Past and Future," and K. Bradley,
"Reflections on the Human Rights Role of The European
Parliament," both in Alston (Ed.), note 5 above, pp. 801-

837 and 839-858. See also the web site of the Parliament
at http://www.europarl.eu.int, and note 74 below.
72 See [1977] OJ C103/1.
73 See [1984] OJ C77/33, Article 4. The draft Treaty also
opened up for Community accession to, inter alia, the
ECHR.
74 See [1989] OJ C120/51. As with other policy resolutions
and initiatives by the European Parliament, the
Declaration is a non-binding instrument. It has been
invoked by plaintiffs in a few cases and was cited as
inspiration in the opinion by Advocate General van Gerven
in the Grogan case regarding abortion and freedom of
expression, see Case C-159/90, SPUC v. Grogan, [1991]
ECR I-4685. See also R. Bieber et al. (Eds.), Au nom des
peuples europens - In the name of the peoples of Europe,
(1996).
75 See also comments by Professor Joseph Weiler to
Article 27 in R. Bieber et al. (Eds.), note 74 above, pp. 35051, where one will find the origins of the author's
suspicions about Article 53 of the Charter: "[Article 27 is
an] ill-drafted provision [... which] may misleadingly
suggest that the standard of protection of human rights
within the field of Community law must always correspond
to the "highest" standard of protection to be found in the
European, or even international, space. [...] Clearly, Article
27 cannot compromise, for example, the overall principle
of supremacy of Community law vis--vis Member State
law."
76 See [1994] OJ C61/155, European Parliament's Draft
Constitution for the European Union of February 10, 1994.
77 See ETS No. 5. The European Convention of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was adopted in 1950
and entered into force in 1953. France joined the ECHR, as
the last Member of the Communities, in 1974. On the
ECHR in general, see, e.g., D.J. Harris et al., Law of the
European Convention of Human Rights, (1995), P. van Dijk

and G.J.H. van Hoof, Theory and Practice of the European

Convention on Human Rights, (1998), and J. Frowein,
Europische Menschenrechtskonvention: EMRKKommentar, (1996).
78 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by
the UN General Assembly in 1948, on which the ECHR was
based to a large extent, does not contain a provision
similar to Article 53 ECHR. Neither do the Geneva
Conventions on humanitarian law from 1949.
79 Article 53 used to be Article 60, before the ECHR was
amended by the 11th Protocol, which restructured the
control machinery of the ECHR (see ETS No. 155). The
Protocol entered into force on November 1, 1998. The title
of Article 53 is a new element (ex Article 60 did not have a
title) and was inserted to make sure that all provisions had
titles.
80 See E. Decaux, "Article 60," in Pettiti (Ed.), La
Convention Europenne des Droits de l'Homme Commentaire Article par Article, (1995), p. 897 with
references.
81 See ETS No. 35. The Charter was revised in 1996 (see
ETS No. 168), a revision which entered into force in 1999.
As of March 2001, all the Members of the EU (except
Germany and the Netherlands) are signatories, but only
France, Ireland, Italy and Sweden have ratified the Revised
Charter. The latitude towards reservations to the Revised
Social Charter is very wide, almost making the Charter an
la carte menu. Article 32 from the original Charter is
called Article H in the revised Charter, but its wording is
unchanged.
82 For general reference on the European Social Charter,
see D.J. Harris, The European Social Charter, (1984, 2nd
ed. 2000). Article 32 is briefly mentioned at p. 32 of the
first edition.
83 See Commission decisions in the following cases
against Greece, which involved claims relating to the

European Social Charter and the ICESCR: Markoupolou et

al. v. Greece, App. 20665/92, 20666, 20668, 21732,
21991-92, 21991, 21999, and 22219/93, all decided on
April 6, 1992, and M.K. et al v. Greece, App. 20723-24/92,
22213-18 and 22220-27/93, all decided on December 1,
1993. Commission decisions dismissing applications were
binding and final and are as such considered authoritative
precedents. Commission decisions were not published
systematically but are publicly available, along with all the
judgments of the Court, at the web site of the European
Court of Human Rights
(http://www.echr.coe.int/hudoc.htm).
84 Decaux, note 80 above, refers to many such cases in
his article on Article 53, i.a., Leander v. Sweden (1987), A116, Soering v. UK (1989), A-161, Costello-Roberts v. UK
(1993), A-247-C, and Marckx v. Belgium (1979), A-31, and
warns against, what he sees, as a tendency to regard
other treaties as almost material sources of law for the
Court. On the relevance of domestic law as a source of
inspiration for the Strasbourg Court, see note 91 below.
85 See Glasenapp v. FRG, (1986) A-104, para. 48, and
Kosiek v. FRG, (1986), A-105, para. 34. The judgments,
including the reasoning based on the comparison with the
ICCPR, were much criticized, since what was at issue was
freedom of expression and association and not a right of
access to public service. After the end of the cold war, the
decisions were all but reversed in Vogt v. Germany,
(1995), A-323.
86 See Open Door Counseling v. Ireland, (1992), A-246,
paras. 78-79. One year earlier, the ECJ had decided a very
similar case, where the individuals relied on the freedom
to provide services; the ECJ sidestepped the difficult issue
of necessity by concluding that the Treaty provision on
services did not apply to the facts as presented, see note
74 above and note 165 below about the Grogan case.
87 See Jersild v. Denmark, (1994), A-298, paras. 21, 27
and 30. The two dissenting opinions referred to were by
Judges Ryssdal, Bernhardt, Spielmann and Loizou, and by

Judges Glckl, Russo and Valticos.

88 See Gustafsson v. Sweden, (1996), Reports 1996-II, Vol.
9, para. 53 and para. 12 of the dissenting opinion by Judge
Martens. In the field of Community law, the ECJ has
addressed the issue of positive obligations in Case C68/95, Port GmbH, [1996] ECR I-6065, where it held, as
dicta, that the failure by Community institutions to take
action to prevent violations of fundamental rights could be
sanctioned by the Court. Compare Case C-265/95,
Commission v. France (Strawberries), [1997] ECR I-6959
involving blockades against imports. In that case, France
was found to have violated Article 28 (ex Article 30) TEC
through government inaction. The Court did not discuss
rights of collective labor action, which caused some
concern among European labor unions.
89 See Golder v. UK, (1975), A-18.
90 Another dissenting judge in Golder, Judge Zekia,
supported this view and also referred to Article 53 ECHR
finding that it "keeps intact such human rights as are
provided by national legislation. Right of access being a
[national] human right is no doubt included in the human
rights referred to in Article [53]. This in a way fills up the
gap for claims in respect of which no specific provision for
right of access is made in the Convention." Judge Zekia
wrote a similar dissenting opinion with reference to Article
53 in the earlier Wemhoff v. FRG (1968), A-7.
91 See D.J. Harris et al., note 77 above, pp. 6-11, and van
Dijk and van Hoof, note 77 above, pp. 74-80. In his article
on Article 53, Judge Jan de Meyer sees the Golder case
and other similar cases in the light of Article 53 as a
provision which may lend support to the concept of
inherent rights, note 97 below, pp. 127-128.
92 See Ekbatani v. Sweden, (1988), A-134, para. 26, and
Burghartz v. Switzerland, (1994), A-280-B, paras. 22-23. In
Maaouia v. France (2000), a concurring opinion of Judge
Costa, joined by Judges Hedigan and Pantiru, relied on this
principle and referred to Article 53 (judgment not yet

reported but available through the web-based database).

93 See Handyside v. UK (1976), A-24, para. 54. A similar
case came before the ECJ three years later where the
claim was based not on freedom of expression but on the
EC Treaty provisions on free movement of goods, see Case
34/79 Henn and Darby [1979] ECR 3795. The ECJ was
confronted with the same argument (that obscene
materials were in free circulation in parts of the UK) and
came out as the European Court of Human Rights did in
Handyside, by finding (somewhat outside its jurisdiction)
that there was generally "no lawful" trade in the goods in
the UK. The case was decided before the Court asserted
its power of human rights review over national measures
derogating from the fundamental freedoms, see note 13
above about the ERT case.
94 See Nilsen v. Norway (2000, not yet reported), an
Article 10 case regarding defamation of a professor who
had criticized the police for excessive violence; a
dissenting opinion by Judges Kris, Trmen, Str?znick and
Greve, referred to Article 53 to make the somewhat
strained point that persons such as the professor should
be protected against defamation in order not to hamper
the aim of the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT). In De
Wilde v. Belgium (1972), A-14, a collective separate
opinion of Judges Holmbck, Rodenbourg, Ross, Favre and
Bilge stated, as a rather obvious but perhaps useful
dictum, that if Belgian legislation provided for more
protection of detained persons than required by Article 5
ECHR, it followed from Article 53 that the Belgian
authorities should apply Belgian law. See also concurring
opinion by Judge Morenilla in Nortier v. the Netherlands
(1993), A-267, arguing that Article 53 supported the idea
that the fair trial guarantee in Article 6 should be applied
to juvenile proceedings in the same way as adult
proceedings.
95 See D.J. Harris et al., note 77 above, pp. 502-3, van Dijk
and van Hoof, note 77 above, pp. 740-41, and F.G. Jacobs
and R.A. White, The European Convention on Human
Rights, (1996), p. 320.

96 The cases have mainly concerned British emergency

measures in Northern Ireland and whether they satisfied
an additional requirement of Article 4 ICCPR that the
existence of an emergency must be "officially proclaimed."
In Brannigan and McBride v. UK (1993), A-258-B, the Court
found "that it is not its role to seek to define
authoritatively the meaning of the terms "officially
proclaimed" in Article 4 [ICCPR]. Nevertheless it must
examine whether there is any plausible basis for the
applicant's argument in this respect." The Court found that
there was no such "plausible claim" since a Cabinet
Minister had made a public statement, which was "well in
keeping with the notion of an official proclamation," paras.
72-73. See also the Commission's report in Cyprus v.
Turkey (1976), 4 EHHR 482, at p. 552.
97 The main articles are two shorter pieces by former
Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, Jan de
Meyer, "Brve rflexions a propos de l'article 60 de la
Convention europeenne des droits de l'homme," in
Matscher and Petzold (Eds.), Protecting Human Rights: The
European Dimension - Studies in Honour of Gerard J.
Wiarda, (1988), and by the French scholar, Emmanuel
Decaux, "Article 60," (1995), a chapter in a commentary
to the ECHR, see note 80 above. Standard works on the
ECHR (see note 77 above) hardly mention Article 53.
98 A Committee of Experts under the Council of Europe
examined the co-existence of the ECHR and the ICCPR in
1967-69. Article 53 and its counterpart in the ICCPR,
Article 5(2), see below, were said to have the effect of
excluding that provisions in one instrument may limit the
other and that restrictions allowed by one treaty should
not be invoked to limit the rights under the other treaty.
The Committee also concluded that this does not mean
that the most favorable provision of one treaty is
automatically incorporated into the other system of
protection. See de Meyer, note 97 above, p. 126.
99 De Meyer, note 97 above, p. 128. Compare a similar
statement on the nature of human rights recently made by

Judge of the European Court of Justice, Melchior Wathelet,

see note 151 below.
100 See Decaux, note 80 above, pp. 897-903. On a rather
special point of international relevance, Decaux questions
whether a French reservation to the ICCPR, which declares
that certain rights will (only) be applied in accordance with
the corresponding ECHR provisions, is compatible with
Article 53 combined with the similar provision of the
ICCPR, Article 5(2). The case, it would seem, does not
depend on Article 53 ECHR or Article 5(2) ICCPR (the
reservation could easily be implied to also relate to these
provisions), but rather whether the reservation is
compatible with the aim and purpose of the treaty to
which it is made, cf. Article 19 of the Vienna Convention on
the Law of Treaties. Good arguments could certainly be
made, also with reference to the importance of Articles 53
and 5, that that is not the case.
101 See status of ratification of the principal human rights
treaties as of March 28, 2001, at the web page of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(http://www.unhchr.ch/pdf/report.pdf). Greece joined the
ICCPR as the last EU Member in 1997. Not all Member
States have signed or ratified all the optional protocols to
the Conventions.
102 As to the relevance of UN conventions under EU law,
see, e.g., Grant v. South-West Trains, Case C-249/96
[1998] ECR I-62, regarding labor discrimination based on
sexual orientation, where the Court confirmed that the
ICCPR is one of the international instruments the Court
takes into account under its fundamental rights
jurisprudence. A non-binding and unreasoned opinion from
the UN HRC, however, according to which the term "sex"
should include sexual orientation under the ICCPR, was not
persuasive. "Such an observation, which does not in any
event appear to reflect the interpretation so far generally
accepted of the concept of discrimination based on sex
which appears in various international instruments
concerning the protection of fundamental rights, cannot in
any case constitute a basis for the Court to extend the

scope of Article 119 [now Article 141] of the Treaty. That

being so, the scope of that article, as of any provision of
Community law, is to be determined only by having regard
to its wording and purpose, its place in the scheme of the
Treaty and its legal context," para. 47.
103 See Article 5(2) ICCPR (999 UNTS 171). Article 5(2) of
the ICESCR (993 UNTS 3) differs only slightly from Article
5(2) ICCPR in that it refers to "any country" and not "any
State Party to the present Covenant." The difference does
not seem to have any legal significance.
104 See comments by L. Sohn, "Human Rights Law," 12
Tex. Intl. L. J. 129 (1977), dubbing Article 5(2) "the mostfavorable-to-individual clause" at p. 137, S. Joseph et al.,
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
(2000), p. 8, M. Nowak, The UN Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights: CCPR Commentary, (1993), p. 100, and D.
McGoldrick, The Human Rights Committee, (1991), p. 19,
who describes Article 5(2) as a "saving provision."
105 See T. Buergenthal, "To Respect and to Ensure: State
Obligations and Permissible Derogations," in L. Henkin
(Ed.), The International Bill of Rights, (1981), pp. 89-90, at
p. 90 with references in footnote.
106 See, e.g., M. Craven, The International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, (1995), p. 281. The
author sees a special problem with Article 5(2) ICESCR and
the right to strike, in so far as the ICESCR, unlike the
ICCPR, does not contain a derogation clause, see pp. 28384.
107 See Views of the HRC on Communication No.
470/1991, Kindler v. Canada, November 18, 1993,
(Document CCPR/C/48/D/470/1991, available at the web
page of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf). Similar dissents
occurred in Ng v. Canada (Communication No. 469/91) and
Cox v. Canada (Communication No. 539/93).
108 See Soering v. UK, note 84 above. Article 53 ECHR is

not seen to have been invoked in this case.

109 See, e.g., Ian Brownlie, Principles of Public
International Law, (1998, 5th ed.), pp. 39-41
("Interpretation of their own laws by national courts is
binding on an international tribunal") with references to
PCIJ and ICJ case law in note 47.
110 See 1249 UNTS 13. The ambiguous expression "more
conducive to the achievement of equality between men
and women" was connected to the difficult issue of
affirmative action. Certain delegations, inter alia, the
American, objected to wording such as "more favorable to
women" because it would go beyond the provision
allowing only for temporary affirmative action, CEDAW
Article 4. See L.A. Rehof, Guide to the Travaux
Prparatoires of the United Nations Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
(1993), pp. 216-222.
111 See 1577 UNTS 3. Decaux, note 80 above, finds the
innovative reference in CRC to "international law" overly
broad and vague, p. 898.
112 See 1465 UNTS 85.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?
uri=cellar:2bf140bf-a3f8-4ab2-b506fd71826e6da6.0023.02/DOC_6&format=PDF
113 See Article 10 of the UNESCO Convention against
Discrimination in Education ("This Convention shall not
have the effect of diminishing the rights which individuals
or groups may enjoy by virtue of agreements concluded
between two or more States, where such rights are not
contrary to the letter or spirit of this Convention"), Article
29(b) of the Inter-American Convention of Human Rights
("No provision of this Convention shall be interpreted as:
[...] b. Restricting the enjoyment or exercise of any right or
freedom recognized by virtue of the laws of any State
Party or by virtue of another convention to which one of
the said states is a party"), and Article 75(8) of the 1977
Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1949

("No provision of this Article may be construed as limiting

or infringing any other more favourable provision granting
greater protection, under any applicable rules of
international law, to persons covered by paragraph 1").
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?
uri=cellar:2bf140bf-a3f8-4ab2-b506fd71826e6da6.0023.02/DOC_5&format=PDF
114 On general principles of public international law, see
Article 38(c) of the Statute of the International Court of
Justice and Ian Brownlie, note 109 above, pp. 18-19. One
could also argue that the interpretative principle is part of
customary law on a par with most of the provisions in the
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. But with
Brownlie's words: "What is clear is the inappropriateness
of rigid categorization of the sources," p. 19. General
principles and customary rules of public international law
are sources under EU law, although rarely invoked before
the Court, see, e.g., Case C-162/96, Racke, [1998] ECR I3655, paras. 24 and 50, (concerning the rebus sic
stantibus principle) and CFI Case T-102/96, Gencor v.
Commission, [1999] ECR II-753, para. 50 (concerning the
territoriality principle).
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?
uri=cellar:2bf140bf-a3f8-4ab2-b506fd71826e6da6.0023.02/DOC_4&format=PDF
115 This section is primarily based on L. Tribe, American
Constitutional Law (1988, 2nd ed.), pp. 774-777, 962,
1308-1309, R. Caplan, "The History and Meaning of the
Ninth Amendment," 69 VA. L. Rev. 223 (1983), K. Palmer,
Constitutional Amendments: 1789 to the Present, (2000),
pp. 203-219, J. Vile, Encyclopedia of Constitutional
Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending
Issues, 1789-1995, (1996), pp. 220-221, and R. Newman
(Ed.), The Constitution and Its Amendments, (1999), Vol. 3,
pp. 131-134. Other works consulted include R. Berger,
"The Ninth Amendment," 66 Cornell L. Rev. 1 (1980), and
M. DeRosa, The Ninth Amendment and the Politics of
Creative Jurisprudence: Disparaging the Fundamental
Right of Popular Control, (1996).
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?

uri=cellar:2bf140bf-a3f8-4ab2-b506fd71826e6da6.0023.02/DOC_3&format=PDF
116 Compiled from the sources in note 115 above. The
quotes pertain to the following persons: Edmund Randolph
("an opiate"; 1789); Justice Jackson ("a mystery"; 1955);
John Ely ("an old constitutional jester"; 1980); Charles
Black ("a fountain of law"; 1981); Robert Bork ("an
inkblot"; 1987); and Stanford Levinson ("Cinderella on the
verge of taking center stage"; 1988).
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?
uri=cellar:2bf140bf-a3f8-4ab2-b506fd71826e6da6.0023.02/DOC_2&format=PDF
117 On the European process of constitutionalization, see
J.H.H. Weiler, note 7 above, pp. 10-101. The author notes
that some federations are created by integration, others
by devolution, p. 83. It will probably be fair to say that
both integration and devolution will have played a role if
the EU eventually transforms itself into a formal
federation.
118 See Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965).
119 See opinion by Justices O'Connor, Kennedy and Souter
in Planned Parenthood v. Casey 505 U.S. 833, (1992). See
also Justice Burgers' opinion in Richmond Newspapers v.
Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, (1980) on public access to trials.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?
uri=cellar:2bf140bf-a3f8-4ab2-b506fd71826e6da6.0023.02/DOC_1&format=PDF
120 L. Tribe, note 115 above, pp. 774-777, see especially
footnote 14. Numerous other theories have been offered,
from the vastly expansionist to the extremely restrictive.
The theory of R. Caplan, note 115 above, is illuminating in
the EU context. Based on close historical analysis, Caplan
concludes that the Ninth Amendment is simply a
recognition that rights protected by state constitutions will
continue in force until modified or eliminated by state
enactment, by federal preemption or by a judicial
determination of unconstitutionality. In an epilogue, the

author observes that the Ninth Amendment has been

eclipsed by the twin forces of constitutionalization and
federalization. States used to be the primary defenders of
individual rights but from the beginning of the 20th
century, the federal level took a more and more active
role as the individual rights provider and enforcer, both
through legislation and judicial review of state legislation.
A similar turn of events might also happen over time in
the EU.
121 See Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302 (1990), about the
mentally retarded, and Ford v. Wainwright 477 U.S. 399
(1986), about the insane. The Supreme Court refers to
"the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress
of a maturing society," and especially looks to legislation
enacted by the state legislatures as "the clearest and
most reliable evidence."

ECHR - The correct way to lodge an

application with the Court (English
Version)
Jan 3, 2014
This video clip is a tutorial explaining how the application form
must be completed in order to be examined by the Court.
Please note that although this video correctly reflects the main
points on lodging an application, some information needs to be
updated according to the latest reference documents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA_iGhvxYFM

Pearse Doherty TD to move Dil motion

on tracker mortgages and tackling white
collar crime
Jan 24, 2017
Sinn Fin Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD will move,
on Tuesday, a motion on the tracker mortgage scandal. The
motion calls for a strict deadline for redress and compensation
to the victims as well as calling for cooperation between An
Garda Sochana, the Central Bank and the Office of the
Director for Corporate Enforcement to hold those responsible
for the scandal to account. It would also call on the
government to bring forward legislation to ensure that
individuals in financial institutions can be held accountable for
white collar crime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hBuZ2MlSl0

Government signs off on

2.2m salary top-ups for
TDs and senators
Cormac McQuinn Twitter
PUBLISHED
25/01/2017

1
The payments were approved by ministers after Public Expenditure
Minister Paschal Donohoe brought the order on the additional
salaried allowances to Cabinet. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

The Government has approved salary topups for politicians totalling around 2.2m
over a full five-year Dil term.

The sum includes more than 1m for the chairpersons of

Oireachtas committees and 543,000 for TDs who serve
as party whips or assistant whips.
Two Government members who attend Cabinet Disabilities Minister Finian McGrath and Defence
Minister Paul Kehoe - are entitled to 15,829 per year
each. That's in addition to their junior minister-level
salaries of 121,639. A payment of 15,829 is also
available to Government chief whip Regina Doherty. Some
changes to the system of payments reflect the different
make-up of the Dil after last year's election.
The allowances are on top of a TD's basic salary of
87,258. That salary is set to increase by 2,700 this year,
amid wider pay rises in the public sector.
A small number of TDs have said they won't take the pay
hike while ministers' salaries have been frozen.
Among the payments approved last night is 5,520 for the

whips of the Social Democrats, the Green Party and

Independents4Change. These three groups weren't catered
for under the system in place during the last Dil. The
Fianna Fil whip, Michael Moynihan, can draw down a
payment of 17,480. That is unchanged from the figure
previously on offer to his party's whip.
The sum available to Sinn Fin whip Aengus Snodaigh is
9,200, up from 5,520 previously listed for his party
when it had fewer TDs. Sinn Fin says its TDs "take an
average wage" and use the balance for constituency
services. The whip's allowance is used for expenses
relating to the role, a spokesman said.
The 8,740 on offer to committee chairpersons remains
unchanged from the last Dil. There are currently 25
committees with chairpersons entitled to a payment.
Senators that hold leadership positions or serve as whips
are entitled to payments of more than 160,000 over five
years.
The payments were approved by ministers after Public
Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe brought the order
on the additional salaried allowances to Cabinet.
A Department for Public Expenditure spokesperson said it
was standard procedure for the system of allowances to be
considered to reflect the changes in the make-up of the
Dil and Seanad after an election. "Certain rates have been
revised to better reflect current party numbers," she said.
"New parties are also now represented in the Dil, which
must be accounted for."
She pointed out that other rates - including payments for
junior ministers that attend Cabinet - remained
unchanged. TDs and senators can only claim one payment,
so a party whip that also serves as a committee
chairperson can only claim one of the allowances. The
salaried allowances are subject to all taxes, PRSI and
pension deductions.
An Oireachtas spokesperson said the sums set out by the
department were linked to the various roles listed and

weren't necessarily drawn down by the individual TDs or

senators.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/governmentsigns-off-on-22m-salary-topups-for-tds-and-senators35396126.html

A massive number of people are on

Ireland's electoral register who
shouldn't be
Monday, January 25, 2016

A special investigation has revealed that Ireland's electoral

register is massively overstated by almost half a million
people.
A newstalk investigation that makes a comparison of the
register with the latest census shows there are more than
488,000 too many people entitled to vote, an overstating
of the register by 15%.
Political Analyst Ordan Flynn says this should raise
concerns about our democratic process.
Mr Flynn said: "I mean one of the essences of a democracy
is that you can trust the electoral system.
"When you've got a situation where, certainly at least half
a million people on the register shouldn't be on it, then
can you be truthfully confident that the register can be
totally trusted and the electoral system can be totally
trusted?"

According to the most recent census, the number of

people aged 18 and over in the country entitled to vote ie Irish and British citizens resident in Ireland - is
3,023,025.
However, in last years same sex marriage referendum
there were 3,221,681 voting cards issued.
That means that a minimum of 200,000 too many people
were registered to vote primarily due to people being on
the register for multiple addresses or those who emigrated
remaining on the register.
That 200,000 figure assumes a 100% registration rate
among citizens which is normally not the case in any
western democracy, where registration is voluntary.
Even assuming a registration rate of 90% then the register
is overstated by more than 488,000 voters.
At a registration rate of 85%, the overstating of the
register is well over 600,000.
WARNING Article rom January >>>2016<<<
"""When you've got a situation where, certainly at least
half a million people on the register shouldn't be on it,
then can you be truthfully confident that the register can

be totally trusted and the electoral system can be totally

trusted?"
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/amassive-number-of-people-are-on-irelands-electoralregister-who-shouldnt-be-717330.html

BAI calls for public

submissions on the
proposed sale of the
Celtic Media Group to
Denis OBriens INM
23rd January 2017

The BAI is now calling for public submissions on the

proposed sale of the Celtic Media Group to Denis
OBriens Independent News and Media.
It comes as the Communications Minister Denis
Naughten has asked the Broadcasting Authority of
Ireland to carry out a review of a proposed media
merger being led by Denis OBrien.
Celtic owns seven regional newspapers including
the Meath Chronicle, the Connaught Telegraph and
the Anglo-Celt in Co Cavan.

The BAI has been given 80 days to examine if the

takeover would be damaging to the plurality of

media in Ireland, given that INM already owns a

number of local newspapers.
The closing date for submissions is close of business
on February 14th.
I see the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland are looking for
submissions from the public in connection with the
monopolistic takeover by [REDACTED]'s empire of yet
another large chunk of our supposed independent media...
Of course this is just window dressing to make it look like
they are examining the viability of this takeover.
You just know that it is going to happen regardless of what
the "public" think...
http://www.bai.ie//bai-calls-for-submissions-on-proposed/

Brexit and the arrests at Dublin airport likely to feature

in todays Leaders Questions.
2:05PM TUESDAY

Christina Finn here to take you through Leaders

Questions today.
Fianna Fils Michel Martin is up first.
He quotes Tom Clonan (who has written for
TheJournal.ie) that Ireland is Europes weakest link
when it comes to security intelligence.
He says arrests at Dublin airport yesterday was a
serious security lapse and says questions need to be
asked.
A comprehensive review is needed, says Martin.
2:12PM TUESDAY

Im surprised a national security review hasnt been

initiated already, says Martin. We shouldnt be waiting

around.
Martin says this is a wake-up call for Irelands
security. Enda Kenny says its not clear how long this
operation has been going on for.
Possible terrorist threats is under constant review, says
the Tasoieach.
2:17PM TUESDAY

Gerry Adams is up next.

Adams says the governments tactic on Brexit appears
to be to wait and see what the British government says
first.
He says the Irish governments response has been
dismal. He asks Enda Kenny to ensure that a special
designated status is given to Northern Ireland.
Assert this approach, says Adams.
The Taoiseach says for the last 18 months the
government have been in Brexit preparations.
He lists off a range of actions he says the government

have done since the UK vote.

Obviously setting out all of that long before the PM
herself was elected
Share

2:21PM TUESDAY

He asks Adams to define what he means by special

status.
He tells Kenny that he should not accept as a matter of
course that the land frontier between UK and EU
should be on island of Ireland.
Enda says he agrees that there are significant
elements of the Good Friday Agreement have not been
implemented. He said these should be followed up on.
2:25PM TUESDAY

Independent 4 Change TD Mick Wallace is on his feet

talking about the ONeill report.
The harassment of whistleblowers continues, he said.
He raises the issue of former Garda Press Office David
Taylor. Highlighting what Garda Commissioner Noirin
OSulllivan said on the radio yesterday, Wallace lists off
what whistleblowers have been facing since raising
their concerns.
You can catch up with what she said here:
'I'm not aware of any campaign to discredit any
individual' - Nirn O'Sullivan

GARDA COMMISSIONER NIRN OSullivan has said that

she is not aware of any campaign to discredit any
individual in the context of Garda whistleblowers.
A number of protected disclosures by whistleblowers
concerning alleged corruption in the force are the subject of
a report by former High Court judge Iarfhlaith ONeill.
The results of that report are due for publication in the near
future.
Speaking to RTs Today with Sen ORourke, OSullivan
said we are currently involved in several tribunals, no doubt
we will be involved with many in the future also, and as
always our objective with any inquiry is to assist in the
fullest possible manner with the discovery of the truth.
Anything that is done is done with the objective of getting
the facts.
OSullivan was speaking in advance of the launch of a new
Garda code of ethics this morning. Asked if she felt the
pending report would vindicate her actions, she replied
simply that she is satisfied that the process will establish
the truth.
The Commissioner has been the subject of accusations that
she intended to jeopardise the testimony of Garda
whistleblower Maurice McCabe by conducting a smear
campaign against him.
I am constrained in what I can say. The whole concept of
speaking up is relatively new to everyone. Weve learned a
lot of lessons.
It takes great courage to speak up. Its a responsibility and a

right that we all have. Those who have spoken up have done
a service to An Garda Sochna.
Regarding the now-infamous description of whistleblowers
as disgusting by OSullivans predecessor Martin Callinan,
the Commissioner replied that he had been taken out of
context.
The action
OSullivan spoke of her experience joining the garda as a
20-year-old recruit in 1981, based at Store Street in Dublin.
In her earliest years on the force the Commissioner was a
part of the Mockies team of undercover garda targeting the
heroin epidemic then being seen in Dublins inner city.

I was a young woman who wanted to be in the middle of

the action, she said.
Initially I thought I would be a vet. My mother had always
told me I would have a wonderful pensionable job.
She described early moments of casual sexism that she
experienced in her career, including being asked to make
sandwiches for something that was going on, something
she refused to do.
Ive been accused of being a feminist and of not being a
feminist, so it depends upon your interpretation, she said.

I would have experienced different people, mostly men, who

didnt think I should be where I was. But I think that was
more to do with society at the time than because they didnt
want me.
Equally I came across men and women who identified
potential and pushed me to be the very best I could be.
Crime rate
Regarding the current levels of crime being seen in the
country, OSullivan said were at our lowest levels of crime
since 2012, but were not getting complacent.
We do a lot of unseen covert operations, intelligence-based
operations that the public often doesnt get to about, she
said.
OSullivan suggested that upwards of 18 lives threatened
via the ongoing Hutch-Kinahan feud being seen in Dublin
have been saved in the last year.
A lot of invisible work goes on behind the scenes, and the
number of lives saved from our interruptions was
significant, she said.
She acknowledged the difficult time the garda had gone
through due to a significant reduction in Garda numbers
in recent years.
Thankfully the Government has invested significantly in
getting us new members, she said.
150 new garda are due to graduate from Templemore
training college next week.

When are you going to publish the report, asks

Wallace.
2:30PM TUESDAY

Wallace asks if Garda Commissioner will be left in her

position when inquiry takes place.
Enda Kenny now reads out sections of the Protected
Disclosure Act. He said they cannot be bullied or
dismissed under this act.
However, Wallace said whistleblower Keith Harrison

wrote to Commissioner 14 times detailing harassment

and bullying. Wallace says Harrison has been out sick
since 2010.
Kenny says Attorney General is looking at report and
what can be published. He says there are concerns as
some of the report makes reference to third parties.
Ceann Comhairle cautions Wallace about what he is
saying under privilege, says he is sailing close to the
wind. Only close to it, says Wallace.
Wallace: Why are so many whistleblowers out sick?
2:33PM TUESDAY

Only right and proper that AG should decide what form

the report can be published. This will come back to
government very shortly, says the Taoiseach.
Independent TD Michael Harty is talking now. He
wants to know what the Taoiseach is gong to do to
protect rural Ireland against Brexit.
He welcomes the governments action plan on rural
development, but says it does not address Brexitproofing.
Read more about the plans here:

Enda Kenny says there is constant engagement on

agri issues, particularly on sectors highlighted by Harty
such as the mushroom industry.
Harty says his main concern is the strategy Ireland is
taking. He says we should be taking an independent
line rather than hitching our wagon to Europe.
Our strategy is vague, says Harty, who says we must
side with the UK on some matters.
I put it to you we need a ministry on Brexit, says
Harty.
Labours Brendan Howlin was also out on the Leinster
House plinth calling for this today.
Kenny disagrees with Harty. (The Taoiseach is heading
up the governments Brexit committee).
We will negotiate from a position of strength, says
Kenny.
The game hasnt even started, Minister Harty.
JUSTICE MINISTER FRANCES Fitzgerald has announced a
new inquiry into the protected disclosures of Garda

whistleblowers.
The subject of such whistleblowers has raised its head
repeatedly in recent days with independent TDs Clare Daly
and Mick Wallace calling for Garda Commissioner Noirn
OSullivans head repeatedly in the Dil, saying her position
has become untenable.
Former High Court judge Iarfhlaith ONeill will helm the
review into allegations that certain such disclosures were
interfered with.
ONeills specific remit will be to:
review allegations of wrongdoing contained in the
disclosures
make any inquiries with persons or bodies that he
considers appropriate in relation to the review
report back to the Minister within six weeks with any
recommendations he may have regarding further action
I am very grateful that a person of such eminent standing
has agreed to undertake the review, Fitzgerald said this
evening.

I am determined that An Garda Sochna operate to the very

highest standards and this involves ensuring that allegations
of wrongdoing are dealt with properly and the persons
making those allegations are fully protected and respected.

The Minister also reiterated that, per the Protected

Disclosures Act 2014, she herself can say nothing publicly
which might identify the persons making the disclosures.
This means that I cannot comment on the accuracy or
otherwise of reports which have appeared about the nature
of these disclosures.
Fianna Fils Justice spokesperson Jim OCallaghan this
evening welcomed the coming review.
I welcome the establishment of a formal inquiry to examine
these serious allegations, he said.
Fianna Fil has been clear in saying that such an
investigation is needed. We now look forward to the judge
working towards a speedy conclusion to his inquiry so that
we can get to the truth of these matters.

The government needs to take a fresh approach to rural

Ireland, to ensure that our towns and villages are not left
behind as the economy continues to grow.
THATS WHAT HEATHER HUMPHREYS, Minister for
Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the
Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys said in May last year.
Humphreys vowed to work with other departments to
ensure there is greater political co-ordination on areas that
impact rural Ireland.
Fast forward eight months and today the minister has
managed to get the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and a number of

high-profile ministers to join her down in Longford to

announce the governments new Action Plan on Rural
Development.
The reason for such fanfare around the plan is that it was a
key issue for independent TDs during its negotiations on
entering government.
It is a key priority for the Independent Alliance and is also a
key priority for independent TD, now Minister, Denis
Naughten.
During the recession, rural towns and villages were drained
of young people, with thousands emigrating abroad or to the
larger cities. This has resulted in boarded up shop fronts,
and a demographic imbalance in rural Ireland.
Lets Keep the Recovery Going
Fine Gaels Lets Keep the Recovery Going slogan didnt
ring true to many country voters, which is perhaps one of
the reasons the party now finds itself in a minority
government.

Without a promise that rural Ireland would get some

attention, rural TDs such as Naughten, Sean Canney and
Kevin Boxer Moran most likely wouldnt have entered into
government with Fine Gael.
During the election, every TD from rural Ireland were told
by their constituents that rural Ireland was being left

behind. We brought that to the table during the negotiations

and fought hard for rural Ireland, said Minister for State at
Office of Public Works and Flood Relief, Sean Canney.
This plan brings together ideas to resurrect and get rural
Ireland going again, he added, stating that it is an action
plan with specific targets and timelines.
The programme for government commits to a new rural
development minister (which was delivered in the form of
Minister Humphreys), as well as an ambitious promise of
delivering 200,000 jobs by 2020, of which 135,000 will be
outside of Dublin.
In September, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation,
Mary Mitchell OConnor told Fianna Fils Niall Collins that
46% of all IDA site visits up the end of September took place
in the Greater Dublin Area.

Counties like Leitrim, Monaghan and Roscommon have

been completely ignored by the IDA. There is no doubt that
this imbalance will continue to entrench a two-tier economy
across Ireland, said Collins.
He called on the government to redouble its efforts to spread
any emerging economic recovery fairly, and in a balanced
manner.
So, is this what this new plan will do?

It certainly has ambitious targets based around a number of

areas:
Supporting sustainable communities
Supporting enterprise and employment
Fostering culture and creativity in rural Ireland
Maximising rural transport and recreation potential
Improving rural infrastructure and connectivity
The action plan will cover a three-year period to 2020 and
touches on a wide range of sectors in Ireland, including
farmers, fishing communities, rural businesses, job seekers,
rural communities and families.
The government plans to deliver 135,000 jobs to rural areas
by investing 50 million up to 2020 for collaborative
approaches to job creation in the regions.
IDA visits to these regions will also have to increase over the
next few years if it is to meet its target of increasing Foreign
Direct Investment to regional areas by up to 40%.
In order to help businesses operating in country villages and
towns the Housing Department is also looking to roll out a
rates alleviation scheme.
Also included in the plans, is the development of an Atlantic
Economic Corridor to drive jobs and investment along the
western seaboard.

Canney said there is a need for a more even spread of jobs

around the country.
The concept of the corridor is to counter-balance the east

coast.
Particular attention is placed on the job creation in the
Gaeltacht, including the creation of 1,500 new jobs in
dars na Gaeltachta (a regional authority responsible for
development in the region) client companies by 2020 and
the development of innovation hubs in the Donegal, Mayo,
Galway and Kerry Gaeltacht regions to support
entrepreneurship.
Canney said the west coast from Cork to Limerick to
Donegal will be targeted to become hubs for jobs rather
than the focus always placed on Dublin.
We need to attract people back to their hometowns by
bringing more jobs to the regions. In turn, this will deliver
more services to the regions, fill the schools, improve local
economies and allow people to raise their families in rural
Ireland.
He said this plan will not just benefit those living in the
countryside.
We can all see the detrimental impacts on our cities said
Canney, pointing to the growing population in urban areas,
the lack of housing, and the homeless crisis in the capital.
But its not all about jobs. The government has a message for
those that left their rural hometown: They want you to come
back.
Whats in it for the returnees? The government says there
are a range of initiatives to benefit over 600 rural and
regional towns to be rolled out, including a pilot housing
scheme to encourage people return to town and village
centres.
Renovation grants to restore properties in rural
communities aims to attract house buyers, particularly older
people and first-time buyers, back to their rural
communities.
The Buy and Renewal Initiative which supports councils
and approved housing bodies to purchase housing units that
need refurbishment to be used for social housing will be
part of the plan, states the Housing Department.
The Repair and Leasing Initiative that Housing Minister
Simon Coveney announced last year which allows councils

to approach owners of vacant, privately-owned houses in

need of repair, with the option to either lease or repair the
housing unit, or to buy and remediate the unit are also
included in the grand scheme.
In order to get people to set up business and return back to
rural areas to live, the roll-out of high-speed broadband is to
be accelerated so people can be connected to broadband as
early as possible.
The plan commits to the development of exempted planning
regulations for 4G antennae to improve networks.
The government plans to follow in the footsteps of the Wild
Atlantic Way and market rural Ireland to tourists.
Its hoped activity tourism to the west and midlands will
increase visitors by 12% in the next three years.
Theres also going to be a 50 million funding injection in
sports, recreation and cultural facilities throughout the
country, including in rural areas.
The minister says the publication of the plan is only the start
of the process and it will be updated on a regular basis with
an opportunity to add new actions every six months.
Its understood reports will be submitted regularly to the
Cabinet Committee on Regional and Rural Affairs, which is
chaired by the Taoiseach.
RURAL IRELAND CANT develop further without highspeed broadband thats the feeling on the ground after the
government launched its plan to revitalise rural Ireland.
Yesterday, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Minister for Arts,
Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs Heather Humphreys, and
Communications Minister Denis Naughten, launched the
plan that would take the economic and social focus away
from Dublin, and invest in 600 rural villages and towns
across Ireland.
There will be a renewed focus [on rural Ireland] within
government departments, Naughten said at the launch.
Not only will I be holding government to account, rural
Ireland will be holding me and the government to account.
But there wont be proper development without the
expansion of rural broadband to these towns and cities, is
the message.

An Irish Farmers Association spokesperson said that

although the plan looked good, it was rural broadband that
was a real killer for farmers looking to expand their
business or start something new on the side.
Seamus Boland, CEO of Irish Rural Link agrees, saying that
what they needed was proper high sped broadband: no
mickey mouse broadband, he insisted.
While Legan, Co Longford comes out the with the slowest
average speed of 1.98Mbps Leitrim, Roscommon,
Monaghan and Mayo are also in the bottom five.
People say why do they need 90Mbps broadband, are they
watching Netflix and that really annoys us because you need
that speed.
When you have a website, you have videos of what youre
selling on the home page. In the old days, TV advertising
would have pictures and a voice over, asking you to buy
something.
It doesnt matter if youre selling sweeping brushes, you
need broadband.
Boland remains optimistic that Naughtens taskforce is
bringing highspeed broadband to rural communities, saying
that the tendering process is well under way.
These are the areas in Ireland with the slowest
and fastest broadband speeds

The governments rural development plan has been wellreceived so far.

Although most of the rural development offices that
TheJournal.ie contacted yesterday hadnt yet heard of the
plan, most of the national groups representing subsections
of communities were cautiously positive.
One rural development office said they hadnt time to look at
the plan yet, but that anything that would help rural Ireland
would be welcomed, and badly needed.
The plan will link up local development centres, businesses
and councils to work together instead of working against
each other to make the area more attractive to live.
This will mean focusing on promoting local commerce,
tourism, and culture, as well as making some infrastructure
and transport improvements.
A lack of government services and access to amenities is
thought to make rural areas less attractive to people looking
to move, but most people leave rural areas in the first place
in search of employment.
The jobs are in the cities, says Boland.
When you get married and have children, you want your
work to be close by, but a lot of people cant afford a house

in Dublin. So those people will seriously look at settling in

the hinterland.
The 60-million plan will aim to achieve two main things:
create jobs in rural areas, and to encourage people to move
out of the Dublin commuter belt, and live in towns.
It plans on doing this for small businesses by reviewing rent
rates in towns, and providing a scheme where derelict shops
and businesses are refurbished and used again.
Its [about] coordinating the whole lot and working
together, Boland says.
Rural Ireland is a lovely place to be theres a lovely
quality of life, its a great place to bring up families, and
given a choice, any family would love to live here.
While there are welcome proposals in the plan, there is still
uncertainty over some issues such as transport services
(especially in light of the recent Bus ireann dispute); and
the competition from big supermarkets that puts pressure
on local suppliers.

New 3,000-home 'town' for Dublin

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Dublin City Council has revealed plans to build a new town

in the capital.
Poolbeg West, south of the Docklands beside Ringsend,
would have space for 3,000 new homes and 8,000
workers.
The 34-hectare site would have a mix of retail and
residential blocks, stretching up to nine storeys high.
The Council hopes it could ease the housing shortage by
providing one- and two-bedroom homes for young
families.
Today's Irish Independent, which has seen the plans,
claims heat and hot water could be powered by the nearby
Poolbeg incinerator.

Ireland and the multinationals

TASC is seeking to recruit a research assistant for a project on Ireland

and the multinationals: implications of a national tax-based industrial
policy for Ireland and the European Union. This one-year project is
carried out in collaboration with the Foundation for European
Progressive Studies (FEPS) and is directed by Professor James
Wickham.
The project examines the role of taxation within Irelands industrial
policy, the quality and quantity of employment generated by foreign
direct investment (FDI) in Ireland, locational competition within the
European Union, as well as European competition and regional policy.
The project will be carried out by a team of Irish and European experts
who will meet in several workshops during the project. The project will
contribute to informed discussion of these contentious issues within the
research and policy-making communities. Accordingly, the project will
also involve a series of public policy discussions and will have a strong
internet presence. TASC is responsible for the overall coordination of
the project and also for the report on Irish FDI employment. A research
assistant is required to help with both tasks.
In terms of project management the research assistant will:
Assist in the overall management of the project and be responsible for
its day-to-day coordination;
Organise and facilitate the workshops, public discussions and other
project-related events;
Manage the content of the project website.
In terms of research, the research assistant will:

C
C

Contribute to the report on Irish employment through literature review,

desk research, and analysis of existing statistics;
Assist in a series of expert interviews.
The successful candidate will have a relevant social science masters
degree with a strong economics component. An interest in economic
sociology and/or regional or industrial policy is an advantage.
The appointment will be for an initial period of twelve months. Salary will
be at an appropriate point on the Irish University Association research
assistant scale up to a maximum of 28,000.
Applications by email (CV, including names and contacts for three
referees, covering letter) to jobs@tasc.ie with the subject line Ireland &
MNCS: Research Assistant. Please note that only those appliants who
are shortlisted for interview will be contacted.
The closing date for receipt of applications is 12 noon Friday, 10
February 2017. Interviews will be held on Monday, 27 February 2017.

EU ethics watchdog Emily OReilly

opens ECB probe
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Francesco Canepa, Frankfurt

The EUs ethics watchdog led by Emily OReilly has opened

an inquiry into the participation of ECB president Mario
Draghi and senior ECB officials in the work of an exclusive
group that includes bankers and fund managers.

The European Ombudsmans probe relates to ties between

ECB officials and the Group of Thirty, a private
organisation where policymakers, economists, bankers,
and fund managers meet behind closed doors to discuss
economic and monetary affairs.
Ties between the ECB and financial sector firms have been
in the spotlight since 2015, when a top official discussed
the banks money-printing plans at a private event with
hedge funds.
The inquiry was triggered by a complaint by activist group
Corporate Europe Observatory, which says proximity
between ECB officials and the G30 is incompatible with
Frankfurts role as the eurozones top banking watchdog.
Members of the G30 include several former and current
central bankers, including Bank of England governor Mark
Carney and Bank of Japans Haruhiko Kuroda, as well as
Nobel prize winner Paul Krugman.
But it also includes the chairmen of several commercial
banks, such as JP Morgans Jacob A Frenkel and UBSs Axel
Weber.
Ombudsman Ms OReilly, who watches for lapses in ethics
or transparency at European institutions and can make
non-binding recommendations, is now asking the ECB to
hand over documents illustrating its ties with the group.
As a first step in my inquiry, I would ask that the ECB
facilitate an inspection of all relevant ECB-held documents

which will help my office gain a fuller understanding of the

extent and range of the ECBs overall involvement with
the G30, she said in a letter to Mr Draghi.
Mr Draghi has been a member of the G30 since 2006,
when he was still the governor of the Bank of Italy.
The treaty requires the ECB to maintain a dialogue with
external stakeholders, an ECB spokesperson said.
We see [the G30] as a relevant forum to engage with,
always remembering that we have a range of rules and
instruments in place to avoid apparent or potential
conflicts of interest.
A similar complaint lodged by the same activist group in
2012 was rejected by then-ombudsman Nikiforos
Diamandouros.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/eu-ethicswatchdog-emily-oreilly-opens-ecb-probe-440179.html
Do you remember this story?
Where members of the ECB met with private financial
hedge funds to give them the inside track on future
decisions made by the ECB?
It was a big deal in 2015 when the secret meeting details
were leaked...
"Back in May, the ECB's Benoit Coeure told a non-public
audience of hedge funds in London that "the central bank
would moderately front-load its purchases in its
quantitative easing program because of the seasonal lack
of market liquidity in the summer."
The reaction was a 50 pips drop in EURUSD.
The problem: this was inside information. It wasnt
released to the trading public until around 8am the next
day (London time) when it resulted in a further 150 pip
plunge."
http://www.zerohedge.com//secret-diaries-show-ecbboard-me
Now the EU Ombudsman is looking into this
"irregularity"...
"The European Ombudsmans probe relates to ties
between ECB officials and the Group of Thirty, a private
organisation where policymakers, economists, bankers,
and fund managers meet behind closed doors to discuss
economic and monetary affairs.
Ties between the ECB and financial sector firms have been

in the spotlight since 2015, when a top official discussed

the banks money-printing plans at a private event with
hedge funds.
The inquiry was triggered by a complaint by activist group
Corporate Europe Observatory, which says proximity
between ECB officials and the G30 is incompatible with
Frankfurts role as the eurozones top banking watchdog. "
What a scam this ECB really is....
Let's see how many officials will be draghied over the
coals for this...
My guess is none...

Minister Simon Coveney pushes

for water charges in every
household exceeding 123 litres

per day

January 5, 2017 10:30 Natalie Bruen Politics

Blue Billywig

Housing Minister Simon Coveney has said that households

should be allowed to use 123 litres of water per day free of
charge before excess costs apply.
He has also called for those who have not paid water charges
to be pursued for the debts.
A special commission last month recommended most homes
get water for free.

Mr Coveney admitted that the Government have yet to receive

confirmation from Brussels as to whether the new water
charges plan was allowable under EU law.
The average usage in Ireland is about 46,000 litres. To be
exact it is about 123 litres per day for an average adult.
We need to be at the national average and probably a little bit
more than that so that people who are using water will have
some flexibility around being a little bit above the average or
below the average, Mr Coveney said.
While we were all busy deciding which side we were on
over Donald Trump and not watching what was happening
in our own county the government actually passed the
eviction bill and are trying to cap our 9.4 domestic water
exemption at 123 liters. The silence from the so called
opposition parties in the Dail is baffling, To date not one
TD has objected to our 9.4 exemption been capped at 123
liters per adult per day. Fis Nua are opposed to any cap on
our exemption. ALL domestic water is exempt and There is
no need for toxic water meters.

Garda misuse of
public money
exposed in audit
John Mooney
January 22 2017, 12:01am,
The Sunday Times

AN AUDIT of the Garda College in Templemore has

uncovered serious financial irregularities, including
gardai spending public money on entertainment,
gifts and presentations to colleagues, and
transferring hundreds of thousands of euros to clubs
and societies.
The report by the Garda Internal Audit Section
(GIAS) also discovered that some bank accounts
with large sums of money were not disclosed to the
exchequer during the financial crisis despite the
government asking all public bodies to surrender
surplus funds. The accounts contained significant
funds at the time.
The 42-page report says the issues involved
present a considerable risk to the force and should
be dealt with in an open and transparent manner.
It was given to Nirn OSullivan, the garda

commissioner, and Frances Fitzgerald, the justice

minister,
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/garda-misuse-of-publicmoney-exposed-in-audit-vdb0t6h9c

Co. Mayo, Ireland

Questionable
Arrests Continue
by ALEX THOMSON, EASTERN APPROACHES |
Wednesday, 25th January 2017

In precisely the same part of Ireland as the

Dochertys faced much of their worst lawless
persecution, a local anti-corruption campaigner
has just been arrested in highly questionable
circumstances.
In the Docherty family's litany of persecution in
Ireland, much of the worst conduct by garda
(police),
https://www.ukcolumn.org/sites/default/files/do
cuments/Docherty.pdf
The Brutal Protection Of Paedophiles 2016
In two short years, the Docherty family have been torn
apart by brutal state interventions in three separate
national jurisdictions. Are these people criminals? Accused
of a major crime? Terrorists? No they are a loving family
who had the courage to report to the authorities an
approach from a predatory paedophile.

https://soundcloud.com/ukcolumn/sets/thebrutal-protection-of
social workers and court figures emanated from
County Mayo in the north-west of the Republic
in 2014-15. In particular, they experienced great
unlawfulness while resident on Achill Island off
the west coast, a remote and partly Irishspeaking island belonging to Co. Mayo.
As it would happen, anticorruption campaigner Stephen Manning of
Integrity Ireland was also a resident of Achill
Island for several years, and in the same
timeframe as the Dochertys experienced
similarly inexplicable persecution by local
authorities. Space does not permit the
rehearsal of his whole case here, which is
written up on the aforementioned website. The
below details are a mere fraction of what Mr
Manning has encountered. They are provided to
give readers a sense of how many of the same
techniques of judicial and public-service
lawlessness inflicted on the Dochertys have
been seen in other local cases when
embarrassment to authorities is at stake.
Mr Manning first encountered difficulties when
he rubbed up some established Co. Mayo

figures the wrong way, namely the Collins

brothers, second cousins to Ireland's Taoiseach
(Prime Minister) Enda Kenny, who happens to
represent Co. Mayo in Dil ireann (the lower
house of the Oireachtas, the Irish Parliament).
After years of frustration and stonewalling by
the statutory authorities, Mr Manning used the
unique provisions of Ireland's legal system to
appear as a lay litigant (i.e. prosecutor who is
not a lawyer), seeking private prosecutions
against those who he alleges have engaged in
criminal conduct against himself and his family.
While all common-law jurisdictions (although
with almost total restrictions in Scotland due to
the power wielded by the Crown Office and
Procurator Fiscal Service) provide for private
prosecutions, the Republic of Ireland's lay
litigant route to lodging court cases is
particularly effective. It arises from the historical
provisions for "common informers" and cannot
be abolished, as the Dublin Supreme Court has
upheld its provisions, but it provides such
means for embarrassment of the Irish
authorities that it seems Mr Manning has been
regularly targeted to prevent him from lodging
cases.
During the protracted harassment he faced on

Achill, Mr Manning was maliciously accused

(among other difficulties he faced) of
impropriety regarding the changing rooms of a
youth football club on the island, and has
cleared his reputation in two court cases on
that matter.
On 2 September 2015, a hearing in a case
involving Mr Manning broke down in disorder,
after which he found himself charged with
disorderly conduct, which he strenuously
denies. That case rumbles on to the present.
Crucial parts of the audio recordings (known in
the Irish court system as DAR) of the disorderly
incident miraculously "went missing", as has
happened in countless British police station and
courtroom cases, but somehow the garda and
Courts Service staff were able later to quote
verbatim in a Mayo courtroom exactly what had
been said, with precise timestamps, during the
crucial "lost" section of the fracas.
For this reason among others, all painstakingly
documented, Integrity Ireland has consistently
maintained that garda, and staff of the Courts
Service and of the Office of the Director of
Public Prosecutions, have perjured themselves.
Integrity Ireland also maintains that judges in
this and other cases have acted contrary to

their oath and to the common law which is so

prized in Ireland (for evidence from this week of
the flagrancy of abuse of court process in
Ireland, in an unrelated case, see Ben Gilroy's
latest video update).
It is Mr Manning's attempts during January 2017
to gain leave to appeal to the Dublin Supreme
Court which appear to have prompted the latest
series of steps against him. His newest court
documents name ODPP staff, a Garda
superintendent and Courts Service staff as
having demonstrably listened to the "lost"
recordings of the fracas in which he found
himself involved in 2015, and his attempts to
have those same officials take receipt of his
documents have been repeatedly thwarted,
with seven judges refusing point blank to
handle them, some even running out of their
chambers when approached by him.
Specifically, Mr Manning had very recently
announced to the Supreme Court his intention
to name Judge McCarthy in an alleged criminal
conspiracy against him which also implicated
officials of all three of the aforementioned
public institutions. His last action with the
Dublin Supreme Court had been an attempt to
have it issue an order to the Courts Service

directing the latter to cooperate with his

lawsuit, which named a registrar of the Courts
Service as having obstructed him unlawfully by
refusing to process his documents.
Having been given a court date of Thursday 26
January for his appearance in Castlebar, Co.
Mayo, on his supposed Section 6 public order
offence relating to the 2015 court episode, Mr
Manning went on a visit to Dublin last weekend.
He was called at 11 am on Monday 23 January
by Castlebar garda, demanding to know why he
had not turned up for his hearing, which they
insisted he had been notified would be held
that day and for which Judge Aeneas McCarthy
was "sitting right now". He insisted that he and
his fellow defendant in the Castlebar case, Colm
Granahan (together with whom he had
summoned a Garda in May 2015 to testify, who
had failed to appear in court for either of their
cases), had been given the date of this Thursday
for their appearance. Later in the day, he
returned to Co. Mayo.
Mr Manning was arrested at 5:04 pm on
Monday by garda at Ballyhaunis Railway
Station, Co. Mayo, on his return from Dublin.
The three policemen who approached him
arrested him for "contempt of court", a charge

which has been wide open to judicial abuse in

the Republic of Ireland for at least a generation
and which, uniquely among common-law
jurisdictions, now has precedents in Ireland for
being invoked when a judge is spoken to
civilly outside court buildings on the street.
The "contempt of court" arrest order, which was
signed by Judge McCarthy as a bench warrant,
related to Mr Manning's alleged failure to
appear at Castlebar Courthouse that same
morning. The warrant contains, as an
assertion of fact, the note that it had previously
been successfully served on Mr Manning and
that he had thus been legally subpoenaed. He
was held overnight at Claremorris Garda
Station. The garda took Judge McCarthy's word
against Mr Manning's that he had been notified
of the court date being 23 January.
"Warrants" and "subpoenas" served on Mr
Manning's fellow litigant Colm Granahan in
related matters have likewise been unlawfully
delivered or not at all. Irregularities with
warrants have reached epidemic proportions in
Ireland (as in all United Kingdom jurisdictions),
and the issuing of improper warrants by local
councils (a separate category of case from Mr
Manning's) has even been condemned by the

Dublin Supreme Court lately.

Mr Manning had recently accused Judge
McCarthy, in a writ for judicial review at the
High Court in Dublin, of the following:
Judge Aeneas McCarthy presiding in the said
case has;
(1) acted in excess and breach of his jurisdiction
as a District Court Judge;
(2) that the Respondent has failed to observe
constitutional and natural justice; and
(3) has likewise failed to act according to his
legal duty inasmuch as the following Articles of
the Irish Constitution and the European
Convention on Human Rights have been
breached, as well as the laws and principles of
common law and natural justice.
Calls to Claremorris Garda Station by journalists
in the Netherlands and Germany
yesterday morning regarding the lawfulness of
Mr Manning's detention were handled politely
but reticently.
Mr Manning appeared in Castlebar Courthouse
at 10 am yesterday (Tuesday 24th January 2017)
and was given a two-month custodial sentence,
suspended by means of making him sign a
recognisance. The conviction proceeded despite
his not having lodged a defence or even

entered a plea, and despite his not having Legal

Aid, which Judge McCarthy had given him one
hour (sic) to try to find. Mr Granahan was
sentenced in absentia at the same time. He
was unable to attend because he was
undergoing heart surgery that very day.
The Irish Examiner reported in 2011 that
Mr McCarthy was previously a
prominent criminal lawyer in Limerick in southwestern Ireland and that, once made a
judge, he was keen to sit in various district court
areas. This phenomenon of hypermobile Irish
district and circuit court judges has been seen
in the Docherty case (as noted in the transcript
at the first link above), as well as becoming
increasingly common in England and Wales in
politically sensitive trials. McCarthy is one of
surprisingly many "movable judges of the
District Court" listed nationally.
The first ever history of the Dublin Supreme
Court by Ireland's leading legal correspondent
Ruadhn MacCormaic, published late last
year, contains several passages describing the
blatantly party-political nature of the horse
trading which is often resorted to when Irish
judge slots are to be filled, such as the
following:

Political patronage was less of a factor the

higher up the courts chain a vacancy arose, but
at the lower courts, in particular the District
Court, lobbying was intense. Local solicitors
would contact their TDs [teachta Dla,
members of parliament], who would call or
write to ministers or their advisers to convey
the message. Candidates election agents would
seek preferment on the basis of their service to
the party. Family members of would-be judges
would turn up at weekend hurling matches,
where they would, supposedly by accident,
bump into a TD or a minister.
The Integrity Ireland project (which is
an Unincorporated Association, registered in
Ireland under Class 45: Provision of information
services pertaining to citizens' rights has
recently been named, along with Mr Manning
personally, as parties to an alleged 'defamation'
in a somewhat bizarre civil lawsuit undertaken
by another District Court Judge, James
Faughnan that has been widely discussed on
social media, in what appears to be a contrived
and technically unlawful attempt to silence
criticism of the Irish judiciary.

http://www.ukcolumn.org/article/comayo-ireland-questionable-arrests-

continue
Just one applicant for position of
district court judge
Tuesday, July 05, 2011

THERE is only one applicant for the position of Limerick

District Court judge, following the promotion of Judge Tom
ODonnell as a circuit court judge, according to legal
sources.
Judge ODonnell earned acclaim for the huge volume of
work he managed to deal with during his term at Limerick
District Court.
Many district court judges, who at present have no
designated district court area and move from area to area,
have declined to put their names forward for the Limerick
position due to the work load involved.
At present Judge Eamonn OBrien is dealing with most
sittings of Limerick District Court.
Judge OBrien lives in Limerick and is being widely tipped
to be appointed to fill the vacant Limerick position.
He is a qualified barrister and solicitor.
Prior to being appointed to the bench, he served as
coroner.
Garda and solicitors believe that Limerick has a sufficient
work load to make it a two-judge district court area.
However, due to cutbacks, it is unlikely that the city will be
assigned a second judge in the district court.
One solicitor said: We understand that the plan now is to
appoint one permanent judge who will keep the list
moving by dealing with non contentious cases.
Contentious cases pose a huge problem as a single case
could go on for hours.
It now seems a back-up judge will be appointed to deal
solely with contentious cases and when these cases are
called they will be put back to a set week every month
where another judge will sit to deal with these cases. This
will allow the main sitting of the district court to deal with
the huge list without having to contend with the
roadblocks presented by contentious cases. It would seem
to be a good idea and would go a long way in alleviating

the huge work load the court has to deal with at any one
time.
Judge Aeneas McCarthy, who was one of the foremost
criminal lawyers at Limerick District Court before his
elevation to the bench, is understood to be eager to
continue working in various district court areas.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/politics/just-one-applicant-forposition-of-district-court-judge-159959.html

Brexit ruling: EU economics

commissioner backs special North but
hints at return of borders
Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Pierre Moscovici: The EU will do everything to preserve the

North's position and the peace.
However, the possibility of borders returning to the North
has emerged after the commissioner said the EU will move
to have customs procedures quickly in place for its
internal market when Britain leaves the EU.
The commissioner, Pierre Moscovici, said he would not
speculate about agreements with Britain until negotiations
started.
However, he stressed that Brussels would represent the
interests of EU citizens. The Norths special position
would be protected once talks begin with Britain, he told
the Oireachtas finance committee.

We will do everything to preserve it and the peace

agreement, he said.
Earlier, asked about whether there an option of a special
agreement on the customs union remaining in place in the
North once Brexit is triggered, the commissioner signalled
that changes might be ahead for the border area.
He said after Brexit that the EU must have a customs
procedure in the internal market.
We will look to solutions to render such acts swift and
efficient, he said.
We will take into account when the time comes the
particular situation of Ireland and in particular Northern
Ireland but what you must understand is that our attitude
is legal nd orderly.
His comments were viewed as a hint that border controls
could return to the North to enforce these customs
procedures.
Mr Moscovici also addressed concerns about EU plans to
harmonise taxes under the common consolidated
corporate tax base (CCCTB) proposals.
Some finance committee members accused the
commissioner of visiting Ireland today on a charm
offensive to try and sell European Union plans for CCTB.
Mr Moscovici maintains that bigger firms will have their
taxes collected more while smaller companies can opt out
of new rules, a system overall which he claims would
benefit Ireland.
He reiterated that the EU fully respected Irelands tax
rates. He said there was no threat of any kind against
Irelands sovereignty and its current 12.5% corporation tax
rate.

Brexit ruling: PM Theresa May cant

bypass MPs and peers to trigger Article
50

There are many questions surrounding the Brexit ruling

and Shaun Connolly has the answers right here.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Shaun Connolly

Britsh prime minister Theresa May in the House of

Commons as her government's defeat in a historic court
battle over Brexit is discussed.
What did the UKs highest court decide?
The court ruled, by a majority of eight to three, that British
prime minister Theresa May cannot lawfully bypass MPs
and House of Lords peers by using the royal prerogative to
trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to start the two-year
process of negotiating the UKs divorce from its EU
partners.
Which justices dismissed the British governments
appeal, and who
Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Kerr, Lord
Clarke, Lord Wilson, Lord Sumption and Lord Hodge
rejected the governments case, while Lord Reed, Lord
Carnwath, and Lord Hughes dissented.
What did UK Supreme Court president Lord
Neuberger announce?
He declared: By a majority of eight to three, the Supreme
Court rules that the Government cannot trigger Article 50
without an Act of Parliament authorising it to do so.
What is Article 50?

It is the formal mechanism which a nation state must

trigger if it wishes to leave the EU.
What does Article 50 say?
A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify
the European Council of its intention. In the light of the
guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union
shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that
State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal,
taking account of the framework for its future relationship
with the Union.
That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with
Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the
Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after
obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.
The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question
from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal
agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification
referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in
agreement with the Member State concerned,
unanimously decides to extend this period.
Why did the British Supreme Court have to rule on
this issue?
Because the British government appealed against a High
Court ruling in November which blocked Ms May using the
royal prerogative to launch Britains exit from the EU
without parliament having a say.
What happens now?
The British parliament will debate and vote on invoking
the measure.
Was the result of the June referendum binding on
the UK parliament?
Article 218
Print Email
1. Without prejudice to the specific provisions laid down in Article
207, agreements between the Union and third countries or
international organisations shall be negotiated and concluded in
accordance with the following procedure.
2. The Council shall authorise the opening of negotiations, adopt
negotiating directives, authorise the signing of agreements and
conclude them.

3. The Commission, or the High Representative of the Union for

Foreign Affairs and Security Policy where the agreement envisaged
relates exclusively or principally to the common foreign and security
policy, shall submit recommendations to the Council, which shall
adopt a decision authorising the opening of negotiations and,
depending on the subject of the agreement envisaged, nominating
the Union negotiator or the head of the Union's negotiating team.
4. The Council may address directives to the negotiator and
designate a special committee in consultation with which the
negotiations must be conducted.
5. The Council, on a proposal by the negotiator, shall adopt a
decision authorising the signing of the agreement and, if necessary,
its provisional application before entry into force.
6. The Council, on a proposal by the negotiator, shall adopt a
decision concluding the agreement.
Except where agreements relate exclusively to the common foreign
and security policy, the Council shall adopt the decision concluding
the agreement:
(a) after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament in the
following cases:
(i) association agreements;
(ii) agreement on Union accession to the European Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
(iii) agreements establishing a specific institutional framework by
organising cooperation procedures;
(iv) agreements with important budgetary implications for the
Union;
(v) agreements covering fields to which either the ordinary
legislative procedure applies, or the special legislative procedure
where consent by the European Parliament is required.
The European Parliament and the Council may, in an urgent
situation, agree upon a time-limit for consent.
(b) after consulting the European Parliament in other cases. The
European Parliament shall deliver its opinion within a time-limit
which the Council may set depending on the urgency of the matter.
In the absence of an opinion within that time-limit, the Council may

act.
7. When concluding an agreement, the Council may, by way of
derogation from paragraphs 5, 6 and 9, authorise the negotiator to
approve on the Union's behalf modifications to the agreement where
it provides for them to be adopted by a simplified procedure or by a
body set up by the agreement. The Council may attach specific
conditions to such authorisation.
8. The Council shall act by a qualified majority throughout the
procedure.
However, it shall act unanimously when the agreement covers a
field for which unanimity is required for the adoption of a Union act
as well as for association agreements and the agreements referred
to in Article 212 with the States which are candidates for accession.
The Council shall also act unanimously for the agreement on
accession of the Union to the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; the
decision concluding this agreement shall enter into force after it has
been approved by the Member States in accordance with their
respective constitutional requirements.
9. The Council, on a proposal from the Commission or the High
Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
shall adopt a decision suspending application of an agreement and
establishing the positions to be adopted on the Union's behalf in a
body set up by an agreement, when that body is called upon to
adopt acts having legal effects, with the exception of acts
supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the
agreement.
10. The European Parliament shall be immediately and fully
informed at all stages of the procedure.
11. A Member State, the European Parliament, the Council or the
Commission may obtain the opinion of the Court of Justice as to
whether an agreement envisaged is compatible with the Treaties.
Where the opinion of the Court is adverse, the agreement envisaged
may not enter into force unless it is amended or the Treaties are
revised.

No. It was a consultative plebiscite, though few people on

either side mentioned that at the time.

The key question for the

political system was to find ways
to ensure the protection of state
agents in conducting counterinsurgency operations by
making, if required, what might
otherwise be illegal, legal

Magical legalism How

the British disguise
their illegality as legal
The 1972 killing of Official IRA leader
Joe McCann and the fightback against
Para prosecutions

 10 August 1971: Joe McCann silhouetted by the flames in the

Markets (inset)

PEADAR WHELAN

The key question for the

political system was to find ways
to ensure the protection of state
agents in conducting counterinsurgency operations by
making, if required, what might
otherwise be illegal, legal
THE REACTION of Tory politicians and their media mouthpieces
to the news of two British paratroopers being charged with the
1972 killing of Official IRA leader Joe McCann has exposed the

colonial mindset of the British Right.

In an extraordinary attack on the Norths Director of Public
Prosecutions, Barra McGrory, Tory MP and former Defence
Minister Sir Gerald Howarth described the DPPs decision to
press charges against the soldiers as an unjust and immoral
decision taken by a man who represented ex-IRA
commanders . . . potentially with blood on their hands [who]
are in government and enjoy immunity from prosecution.
Howarth, who represents the primary British Army garrison of
Aldershot, where the Parachute Regiment has its HQ, made his
comments in a letter to British Prime Minster Theresa May and
published in the Daily Mail. He demanded that these
prosecutions be stopped and that McGrory be removed from
office.
Howarth and fellow Tory MP Sir Henry Bellingham, in
highlighting the fact that McGrory had represented Martin
McGuinness and Gerry Adams while practising as a solicitor,
were clearly finding the senior law officer guilty by
association as they set out to discredit him and his office.

It has emerged that two former British paratroopers (identified

only as Soldier A and Soldier C) were to face charges of
murder over the killing of McCann, who was unarmed when
he was shot repeatedly at close range near the Markets area of
Belfast in April 1972.
Since then, the reaction of the British Right and Northern

unionists has been fierce in its demand for the British

Government to intervene, in the words of DUP MP Ian Paisley
Junior, to prevent a witch-hunt against former soldiers.
As with Howarth and others of a similar mindset, Paisley is
clearly demanding a political intervention from the British
Government that will trump the rule of law.
Ulster Unionist Party MLA Doug Beattie, a former British Army
officer who holds the Military Cross for active service in
Afghanistan, wrote an opinion piece in the Belfast News Letter.
The politician gave a hat-tip to the principle that anyone who
broke the law should face the law but in applying the
Kitsonian view of the law in counter-insurgency situations (see
below) the career soldier went on to write that there is
absolutely no account taken of context or the conditions under
which the security forces were operating.
The reaction of the British Right to the decision to proceed with
charges against the two former paratroopers is linked to the
wider campaign against investigations into the actions of
British troops in Afghanistan and Iraq as well.

UUP MLA Doug Beattie and DUP MP Ian Paisley Jnr

Reflecting this, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told a
Commons Defence Sub-Committee that probes into the actions
of British soldiers in the North of Ireland, Afghanistan and Iraq
conflicts would not be allowed to turn into witch-hunts.
And, in a worrying example of an influential Tory MP playing
fast and loose with the Fresh Start Agreement, Kris Hopkins, a
junior minister in the Northern Ireland Office, speaking at a
debate in Westminster Hall on 13 December, claimed that
historic investigations in the North had focused
disproportionately on the security forces instead of the
terrorists but this would change with the new Historical
Investigations Unit set up under the Fresh Start Agreement.

The one certainty in this is that British and unionist politicians

are determined to ensure that their narrative of the conflict is
the dominant one, with the actions of British armed forces
including the shooting dead of unarmed individuals portrayed
as being within the law as defined by counter-insurgency
mastermind Brigadier Frank Kitson.

The Kitson doctrine

BRIGADIER FRANK KITSON, who served in the North of Ireland

in the early 1970s and commanded the Parachute Regiment
based in Holywood Barracks, County Down, advocated the
distortion of the law and legal system to defeat insurgents.
In his essay Collusion, Counter-insurgency and Colonialism:
The Imperial Roots of Contemporary State Violence, Mark
McGovern of Edge Hill University outlines how this was applied
in the North.
He quotes Kitsons own words in his manual, Low-Intensity
Operations: Subversion, Insurgency & Peacekeeping:
The law should be used as just another weapon in the
Governments arsenal, and in this case it becomes little more
than a propaganda cover for the disposal of unwanted
members of the public.
McGovern explains how this was entirely in keeping with a

peculiarly British way of counter-insurgency and the key

problem was to ensure the civil authorities generated a
juridical order that allowed state agents to do what was
necessary to preserve its interests.
The key question for the political system was to find ways to
ensure the protection of state agents in conducting counterinsurgency operations by making, if required, what might
otherwise be illegal, legal.
McGovern also uses the phrase magical legalism from
Stanley Philip Cohens States of Denial: Knowing About
Atrocities and Suffering as a way of describing how the British
and unionists hold themselves up as committed to the rule of
law yet, when it comes to the crunch (as in the case of the
killing of Joe McCann), they blur if not erase the lines to justify
the shooting dead of an unarmed man.
POLICY, POLITICS, WAR, and MILITARY STRATEGY. by
Christopher ... elements which might otherwise be ...
both conventional and counter-insurgency
http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCDP%2011%20Strategy.pdf

MICHAEL CLIFFORD: How eager is

the commissioner to hear from
whistleblowers?
The Garda commissioner has plenty of questions to
answer, even after a detailed interview on RT Radio
yesterday, writes Michael Clifford.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Garda whistleblower Supt David Taylor, who made

protected disclosures alleging a campaign to discredit
another whistleblower, Sgt Maurice McCabe.
Why are four garda whistleblowers out sick? Why has
Commissioner Noirin OSullivan not contacted any of
them, to reassure them that she is concerned for their
welfare, and wants to acknowledge their courage?
Is the long-term suspension of Supt David Taylor any way
proportionate to an unproven allegation against him?
OSullivan was not asked these questions in her first
detailed broadcast interview yesterday on RT Radio One,
and with good reason. Presenter Sean ORourke put the
commissioner through her paces. His job is to extract
information, and he knows little would be forthcoming
from such questions.
The response from the commissioner would have been
that she cant comment on individual cases. However, the
plight of the whistleblowers including Taylor, who last
September made a protected disclosure is in sharp
contrast to the public utterances of the commissioner.
When the subject was broached by ORourke, the
commissioner gave her standard reply. She spoke of her
first public outing as acting commissioner in 2014 when
she said, it takes great courage to speak up and
challenge the way things are done, and since that day, as
far as shes concerned, constructive dissent is much

better than destructive consent.

Apart from that she emphasised that she had never been
part of or privy to any campaign to discredit Sgt Maurice
McCabe.
ORourke pressed her on the word privy, which she has
used a number of times in this regard, and she clarified
that she had no knowledge of any campaign.
She was also asked about the comment by her
predecessor, Martin Callinan, at a 2014 Public Accounts
Meeting that the actions of McCabe and former garda John
Wilson were disgusting.
The remark, OSullivan said, was taken out of context.
She did not elaborate on how this was so, or what context
should have applied, but it was all a long time ago, and
she is an adept media performer.
What cannot be reconciled is the commissioners public
utterances, like those she made yesterday, and the
experience of the whistleblowers whom she is so eager to
hear from.
Four garda whistleblowers are all out on sick leave. In each
case their current status is associated with their use of the
whistleblower charter in making a protected disclosure. All
are on reduced pay, and living in a form of professional
limbo weighted with stress and worry.
The commissioner has not picked up the phone to any of
them to offer her support for their constructive dissent,
or to inquire how she could set anything in motion that
might see them restored to the workplace.
Doing so might not just bring solace to the members in
question, but would reassure others who might be inclined
to call out malpractice that her soothing words are backed
up by action.
The case of McCabe is particularly illustrative. In May of
last year, it emerged that there may have been an
attempt at the OHiggins Inquiry by counsel acting for the
commissioner to discredit McCabe. The issue was only
resolved when McCabe produced a tape recording of a
disputed meeting which vindicated him.
OSullivan has stated that she was not privy to any
attempt to discredit McCabe. Yet, she did not lift the phone
to say, Maurice, there has been a terrible
misunderstanding. As Ive said so often, Im 100% behind

you. Im mortified that this misunderstanding has arisen.

She did not contact him at all, which is difficult to reconcile
with her eagerness to hear constructive dissent,
particularly as McCabes claims have been shown to be
accurate and that he, according to Judge OHiggins, had
rendered a service to the force and wider society.
The case of Supt David Taylor is more complicated. Taylor
made a protected disclosure last September in which he
alleged that when he was at the Garda press office in 2013
and 2014 he had been part of an attempt to discredit
McCabe.
He claims he was following orders and that the current
commissioner who was then Martin Callinans deputy
was aware of the campaign. That disclosure was examined
in a scoping inquiry by judge Iarlaigh ONeill, and is
currently being examined by the minister for justice. The
commissioner has said she was not aware of any
campaign to discredit McCabe.
Taylors disclosure came after he had been suspended for
more than two years over an allegation that he released
the names of two children to the media in his role as press
officer.
What has perplexed many within the force is the severity
of the sanction imposed on him relative to the allegation.
The criminal investigation over the allegation is being led
by OSullivans husband, chief superintendent Jim
McGowan. Apart from that Taylor has also been the subject
of an internal disciplinary investigation into his career.
Taylor is now among the ranks of the whistleblowers,
highlighting alleged malpractice, and in his case even
implicating himself.
The commissioner has not contacted him to either
commend him on his courage, or inquire as to his welfare.
A report into an alleged "smear campaign" against Garda
whistleblowers has been submitted to the Department of
Justice.
Former High Court Judge Iarfhlaith O'Neill investigated two
protected disclosures made to Tnaiste Frances Fitzgerald.

It is alleged that Commissioner Nirn O'Sullivan was part

of alleged tactics to discredit whistleblowers.
The Tnaiste said that given the sensitive nature of the
report, it has now been passed on to the Attorney General
for her advice on how to proceed.

Frances Fitzgerald
It is not yet known if or when the report will be published.
Garda Commissioner Nirn OSullivan said she has no

knowledge of a so-called smear campaign against a

whistleblower in her force.

Last October, former High Court judge Iarfhlaith ONeill

was appointed by the Government to examine the latest
allegations made by Garda whistleblowers.
The smear campaign allegations were made by the former
head of the Garda press office, Superintendent Dave
Taylor, who is currently suspended from the force.
He claimed that senior garda targeted the whistleblower,
engaging in character assassination on a widespread scale
by passing on false and damaging allegations, including to
journalists and politicians.
Obviously, there is a process underway and youll
appreciate that Im constrained in what I can say, but what
I can say is that Im not aware, nor was I aware, of any
campaign to discredit any individual, said Ms OSullivan.
Of the inquiry, she said: It will reach its findings. Im
satisfied that the process will establish the truth. Certainly,
I had no knowledge of any campaign to undermine any
individual, nor would I take part in any campaign to
undermine any individual.
The Commissioner was speaking to RTs Sean ORourke
on the same day as new ethics rules for officers were
published.
Commenting on whistleblowers in general, Ms OSullivan

said it takes courage for someone to speak up.

I recognise it takes great courage to speak up, she said.
It takes great courage particularly as a member of a
disciplined organisation to speak up, but its a
responsibility and a right that we all have to speak up and
to challenge some of the things we see or even some of
the assumptions about the way things are done around
here.
Constructive dissent is much better than destructive
consent,
Ms OSullivan said a new culture encouraging people to
speak their minds was being fostered.
She also said honest mistakes can be made in the line of
duty.
A blame culture isnt necessarily a healthy culture, but
its an easy culture, she said.
Certainly, my experience is we are creating a culture
encouraging people to speak up, people to speak their
minds and thats a balance that has to be had in what is a
disciplined organisation.
Moving from a blame to a learning culture, where
someone makes an honest mistake, and that they are not
afraid; our members go out every single day and they
have to make critical life-changing decisions in really quick
time and they do that in absolute integrity and with
absolute impartiality and sometimes they do make a
mistake.
She was also asked how bothered she was by the thoughts
and comments of politicians about how she carries out her
role.
She said she had a very important job to do.
Ms OSullivan also addressed other issues within the force,
such as resources, technology, and the closure of stations.
She said a review was underway into the garda stations
that were closed as a result of the recession.
In relation to technology and computers, the
commissioner said investment had been secured.
Some stations are without computer access. Our aim this
year is to have those stations networked, she said
The Garda commissioner has said ethical policing is not a
tick box exercise and committed the organisation to

implementing a code of ethics, published yesterday by the

Policing Authority.

Authority chairwoman Josephine Feehily said public

confidence in institutions of State, such as An Garda
Sochna is really fragile and needs to be minded.
She said the code of ethics is not a list of do this, do that,
and dont do the other, but a set of principles to inspire
and guide members.
The Garda Representative Association, which has more
than 10,000 members, criticised the document, saying it
goes for regulation, not inspiration. General secretary Pat
Ennis said it is disappointing that the code retains all the
hallmarks of authoritarian orders imposed on a
demoralised workforce. He suggested a code of ethics be
nurtured rather than dictated.
The code sets out nine standards of conduct and
commitment: Duty to uphold the law, honesty and
integrity, respect and equality, authority and
responsibility, police powers, information and privacy,
transparency and communication, speaking up and
reporting wrongdoing, and leadership.
The code states that while close cooperation and team
spirit are essential for garda, the primary loyalty must be
to the public.
The code is also expected to underpin processes such as

recruitment, evaluation of performance, assessment for

suitability for promotion, and appointment to specialist
units. It will work in parallel with Garda discipline
regulations.
Garda Commissioner Nirn OSullivan said the code would
enhance the organisation.
Working ethically is not just a tick box exercise, it cannot
be just another job on the list, she said.
Working ethically must be central to all we do. The next
step in this process is to ensure all our people live this
code.
Launching the code, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald
commended the philosophy and the language used in it
and said it would be a beacon to guide ethical
behaviour.
Ms Feehily said public confidence in institutions of the
State is one of her passions.
It is really fragile, she said. It can so easily be dented. It
really needs to be minded, in particular by oversight
bodies.
She pointed out that, over the next five years, 30%-35% of
the force will be coming through the ranks and that the
code of ethics will help pass on values.
The Government will make a mockery of Garda
whistleblowers if it allows Nirn OSullivan to remain in
power while a commission of investigation into claims
senior management attempted to discredit them takes
place.

Garda Commissioner Nirn O'Sullivan has rejected claims

that she knew of an effort to discredit garda whistleblower
Maurice McCabe.
Independents4Change TD Mick Wallace made the claim
during a heated Dil debate in which he called for
Taoiseach Enda Kenny to publish a detailed report into the
controversy, which has dogged Government since early
December.
Last October, retired High Court judge Iarfhlaith ONeill
was asked to investigate claims from Supt David Taylor
that he and others had been told by Garda Commissioner
Nirn OSullivan and senior managers to discredit Garda
whistleblower Maurice McCabe.
The claims, which Ms OSullivan rejected, relate to
repeated leaks about rumours surrounding Sgt McCabes
personal and professional life an issue Supt Taylor said
he was asked to organise as then head of the Garda press
office.
In early December, Mr Justice ONeill provided a report on
the controversy to Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald
which is understood to have recommended a commission
of investigation be set up to examine the matter further.
A spokesperson for Ms Fitzgerald yesterday said the report
will be published in the coming weeks and that the delay
is due to the fact the Justice Minister is discussing its
findings with the Attorney General.
However, speaking during the latest leaders questions

debate, Mr Wallace said an exact date for the reports

publication must be given, adding that if any commission
of investigation is set up Ms OSullivan must be asked to
step aside.
When is the Taoiseach going to publish the report? asked
Mr Wallace. Does the Taoiseach intend to leave the
commissioner in place while the investigation goes on? It
would make a mockery of it if he does.
Responding to the comments, Mr Kenny said he continues
to have full confidence in the Garda Commissioner and
outlined a series of transparency reforms that have taken
place in the force to protect whistleblowers.
He said the Protected Disclosures Act, 2014, prohibits
discrimination against garda seeking to highlight
problems in the system, and that today people cannot be
bullied, sacked, or dismissed.
However, criticising the response, Mr Wallace said the
Taoiseach had failed to answer his questions and raised
fresh concerns about how whistleblowers are being
treated.
Does the Taoiseach intend to leave the commissioner in
place?, he asked. It will be laughable if he does. If all is
so well, as the commissioner likes to tell us, can you
explain to me why so many whistleblowers are out sick.
During the same debate, Mr Wallace made a number of
other allegations, including claims that a witness
statement about an assault was doctored by garda and
that some officers are planting drugs on suspects.
Told by the ceann comhairle, Fianna Fil TD Sean
Fearghail, that he was sailing close to the wind of Dil
privilege, Mr Wallace said: Only close to it.
Corrupt evil David Taylor claiming to be a whistleblowers
after he helped destroy a number of whistleblowers lives
and innocent peoples lives with malicious , vile lies, to the
corrupt media
Four garda whistleblowers are all out on sick leave. In each
case their current status is associated with their use of the
whistleblower charter in making a protected disclosure.
All are on reduced pay, and living in a form of professional
limbo weighted with stress and worry.
Any person who had their name and address leaked to the
media should report this vile man to GSOC as its a criminal

offense
https://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/columnists/micha
el-clifford/how-eager-is-the-commissioner-to-hear-fromwhistleblowers-440437.html

Corruption tribunal
indicts Fianna Fil &
Fine Gael figures
MAHON TRIBUNAL
2 April 2012

Bertie Ahern Liar | Pdraig Flynn Corrupt

STAFF REPORTER

Mahon is an indictment of
politics in the 26 Counties in the
1990s, an era dominated by
Fianna Fil, Fine Gael and Labour
governments
THE MAHON TRIBUNAL into corrupt payments to politicians in
the planning process in Dublin in the 1990s has delivered its
verdict: a number of figures at the highest levels of the

Establishment parties and 11 councillors from Fianna Fil, Fine

Gael and Labour are guilty of corruption, lying or trying to
undermine the investigation set up by the Dil.
The Mahon Tribunal report is an indictment of politics in the 26
Counties in the 1990s, an era dominated by Fianna Fil, Fine
Gael and Labour governments. It said:
Corruption in Irish political life was both endemic and
systemic. It affected every level of government, from some
holders of top ministerial offices to some local councillors, and
its existence was widely known and widely tolerated.
Fianna Fil Cabinet ministers were accused by the Mahon
Tribunal of a sustained and virulent attack from a number of
senior Government ministers on the tribubal and of trying to
collapse it while it was investigating Bertie Ahern. These
ministers include current Fianna Fil leader Mchel Martin,
recently-resigned Fianna Fil deputy leader amon Cuv, and
former Fianna Fil frontbench spokesperson and Defence
Minister Willie ODea.
Sinn Fin President Gerry Adams TD said:
Mchel Martin, who was a senior member of Bertie Aherns
Cabinet, and several of his Dil colleagues have questions to
answer regarding their actions at that time.
Both Gerry Adams and Sinn Fin Justice spokesperson Jonathan
OBrien TD highlighted the widespread social damage caused
to communities by planning corruption.
Political corruption is not a victimless crime, Gerry Adams
said. The principal victims are Irish citizens who have seen our
economy destroyed by the property bubble that resulted from
the corrupt relationship between developers and politicians.
The victims also include whole communities moved into
badly-built housing estates with few facilities as corrupt
planning allowed Dublin City expand in an appallingly illplanned way while property speculators and developers made
big money.
Jonathan OBrien pointed to the high-profile appearance of Fine
Gael/Labour Party Taoiseach Enda Kenny with businessman
Denis OBrien (who was criticised by the Moriarty Tribunal)
when he opened the New York Stock Exchange to mark St
Patricks Day. He also noted that there was a warm welcome
for Bertie Ahern at the recent Fianna Fil ard fheis when many
people were anticipating that the publication of the Mahon
report would find serious shortcomings in their ex-leaders
testimony. The Cork TD said:
Both these very recent incidents beg the question: what has
really changed?

Stephen Donnelly TD on how the Dil

has failed
May 9, 2012
Want more like this? Join our newsletter @
http://newsletter.stephendonnelly.ie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x06xiQnOM3A
Stephen Donnelly TD outlines how the Dil has failed, as part
of his speech on the Electoral (Amendment) Political Funding
Bill 2012. Stephen is an Independent TD for Wicklow and East
Carlow.

ParagraphTitleStart Oireachtas vote down anti

corruption bill proposal. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Bannon,
James
Barry, Tom
Breen, Pat
Bruton,
Richard
Butler, Ray
Buttimer,
Jerry
Byrne,
Catherine
Byrne, Eric
Carey, Joe
Coffey,
Paudie
Collins, ine
Conaghan,
Michael

Motion - Private Members Business

Those who cut the bill to ribbons and introduced their own
ineffectual and emasculated proposal:

Connaughton,
Paul J.
Coonan,
Noel
Corcoran
Kennedy,
Marcella
Daly, Jim
Deenihan,
Jimmy
Deering, Pat
Doherty,
Regina
Dowds,
Robert
Doyle,
Andrew
Durkan,
Bernard J.
Farrell, Alan
Feighan,
Frank
Fitzgerald,
Frances
Fitzpatrick,
Peter
Flanagan,
Charles
Harrington,
Noel
Harris, Simon
Hayes, Tom
Heydon,
Martin
Howlin,
Brendan
Humphreys,
Heather
Humphreys,
Kevin
Keating,
Derek
Kyne, Sen

Lawlor,
Anthony
Lyons, John
McCarthy,
Michael
McEntee,
Helen
McFadden,
Gabrielle
McGinley,
Dinny
McHugh, Joe
McLoughlin,
Tony
Mitchell,
Olivia
Mitchell
O'Connor,
Mary
Mulherin,
Michelle
Murphy, Dara
Murphy,
Eoghan
Neville, Dan
Nolan, Derek
Noonan,
Michael
O'Dowd,
Fergus
O'Reilly, Joe
O'Sullivan,
Jan
Perry, John
Phelan, Ann
Phelan, John
Paul
Rabbitte, Pat
Ring, Michael
Ryan,
Brendan
Shatter, Alan
Spring,

Arthur
Stagg,
Emmet
Stanton,
David
Twomey,
Liam
Varadkar,
Leo
Wall, Jack
Walsh, Brian
White, Alex
Barrett, Sen
Browne,
John
Burton, Joan
Cannon,
Ciarn
Collins, Niall
Conlan, Sen
Conway,
Ciara
Costello, Joe
Coveney,
Simon
Cowen, Barry
Creed,
Michael
Creighton,
Lucinda
Daly, Clare
Deasy, John
Donohoe,
Paschal
Dooley,
Timmy
English,
Damien
Ferris, Anne
Ferris, Martin
Flanagan,
Terence
Gilmore,

Eamon
Griffin,
Brendan
Hannigan,
Dominic
Keaveney,
Colm
Kehoe, Paul
Kelleher, Billy
Kelly, Alan
Kenny, Enda
Kenny, Sen
Kirk, Seamus
Kitt, Michael
P.
Lowry,
Michael
Lynch,
Ciarn
Lynch,
Kathleen
Mac
Lochlainn,
Pdraig
Maloney,
Eamonn
Martin,
Michel
Mathews,
Peter
McGuinness,
John
McNamara,
Michael
Moynihan,
Michael
Nash, Gerald
Naughten,
Denis
O'Donnell,
Kieran
O'Donovan,
Patrick

O'Mahony,
John
Cuv,
amon
Rordin,
Aodhn
Penrose,
Willie
Quinn, Ruair
Reilly, James
Sherlock,
Sean
Timmins,
Billy
Tibn,
Peadar
Tuffy, Joanna
Wallace, Mick
Those who
opposed
shredding the
bill and
supported the
Social
Democrats:
Adams,
Gerry
Aylward,
Bobby
Boyd Barrett,
Richard
Broughan,
Thomas P.
Calleary,
Dara
Collins, Joan
Colreavy,
Michael
Coppinger,
Ruth
Crowe, Sen
Doherty,
Pearse

Donnelly,
Stephen S.
Ellis, Dessie
Fitzmaurice,
Michael
Fleming,
Sean
Fleming, Tom
Grealish,
Noel
Halligan,
John
Healy,
Seamus
Healy-Rae,
Michael
Higgins, Joe
McConalogue
, Charlie
McDonald,
Mary Lou
McGrath,
Finian
McGrath,
Mattie
McGrath,
Michael
McLellan,
Sandra
Murphy,
Catherine
Murphy, Paul
Caolin,
Caoimhghn
Fearghal,
Sen
Snodaigh,
Aengus
O'Brien,
Jonathan
O'Dea, Willie
O'Sullivan,
Maureen

Pringle,
Thomas
Ross, Shane
Shortall,
Risn
Smith,
Brendan
Stanley,
Brian
Troy, Robert
Category:
Forum:
DIL IREANN
Vote number: 243
Date/time:
09/12/2015 20:54:00
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T
70
Nl
40
Othe
56
r
The following motion was moved by Deputy Catherine Murphy on
Tuesday, 8 December 2015:
That Dil ireann:
recognises that corruption in public and commercial life
represents a great threat to the democratic functioning of the
State;
finds that culturally ingrained concepts of patronage,
clientelism and favouritism have pervaded political institutions and
have led to serious failures in corporate governance, particularly
where inappropriate links between business and politics have been
exploited;
concludes that such failings have eroded public confidence
that politics and commerce operate to benefit the many over the
few;

notes that Bunreacht na hireann places in the care of the

Oireachtas a responsibility to ensure that the operation of free
competition shall not be allowed to develop as to result in the
concentration of the ownership or control of essential commodities
in a few individuals to the common detriment; and that the
Oireachtas has failed to adhere to this guidance in recent years;
recognises that the State has no effective means of
preventing, investigating or prosecuting corruption or white-collar
crime as responsible agencies are too disconnected, lack
appropriate powers, or lack necessary resources;
further notes:
that prosecutions arising from cases of proven corruption
have been rare;
the failure of the Government to adequately act on the
findings of the Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and
Payments (Mahon tribunal) nor the Tribunal of Inquiry into
Payments to Politicians and Related Matters (Moriarty tribunal);
that there have been eight tribunals of inquiry in the past
20 years, and where they made findings of impropriety in public or
commercial life, very few consequences, if any, have arisen; and
that five commissions of investigation are currently in
operation, and that in some cases, commissions have sought
additional powers to ensure they can fulfil their terms of reference;
and
recommends, in order to effectively address these matters,
that the Government:
establish a permanent, independent anti-corruption
agency to, initially, assume the functions of the Standards in Public
Office Commission; the Office of the Director of Corporate
Enforcement; the Registrar of Lobbyists and the Competition
Authority, but not confined to these bodies;
mandate the anti-corruption agency to act as a standing
commission of investigation;

 confer the anti-corruption agency with powers of:

investigation;
compellability and testimony-taking;
court-authorised search and seizure, including access
to bank records;
prosecution at District and Circuit Court level only;
and
arrest;
empower the anti-corruption agency to initiate and
conduct investigations and sectoral reviews of its own volition;
consolidate and reform legislation tackling corruption,
official malfeasance and white-collar crime, and place the anticorruption agency at the apex of the States legislative architecture
countering corruption;
confer the anti-corruption agency with a monitoring and
investigative role over public procurement activities, both ongoing
and historic;
mandate an advisory role, initially upon the anticorruption agency in relation to the Garda Sochna Ombudsman
Commission; the Comptroller and Auditor General; the
Ombudsman for the Defence Forces; the Garda Bureau of Fraud
Investigation; professional bodies and any future Electoral
Commission, but not confined to these bodies;
draw on the experience in other jurisdictions in
establishing an anti-corruption agency, in particular the
Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission, IBAC, of
Victoria, Australia, the Serious Fraud Office, SFO, of the United
Kingdom, and the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against
Corruption;
create a new joint Oireachtas oversight committee, to be
called the Public Interest Committee, a majority of whom shall be
Opposition members; and

 establish annual reporting by the anti-corruption agency

to both Houses of the Oireachtas, and ensure reports are debated
in both Dil ireann and Seanad ireann.
Amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after Dil ireann and substitute the
following:
condemns all instances of corruption, anti-competitive
behaviour, breaches of ethics legislation, breaches of the
Companies Acts, and all other forms of white-collar crime;
recognises the need for a robust system of public standards
legislation and enforcement to prevent wrongdoing on the part of
elected and public officials;
notes:
the significant programme of reforms introduced by
the Government to protect whistleblowers, reform lobbying and
increase transparency and oversight, which includes the
Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012, the Protected Disclosures
Act 2014, the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015, and the Freedom
of Information Act 2014;
the major overhaul and reform of companies
legislation introduced by the Companies Act 2014;
and approves of the reform of competition and
consumer protection regulation by the amalgamation of the
Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency into the
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission;
the significant improvement to legislation enabling
investigation and prosecution of white-collar crime occasioned by
the Criminal Justice Act 2011;
the further legislative improvements in regard to the
prevention and prosecution of unethical and corrupt behaviour,
including measures recommended by the Tribunal of Inquiry into

Certain Planning Matters and Payments (Mahon tribunal),

including those to be introduced by the forthcoming public sector
standards Bill and the criminal justice (corruption) Bill; and
the reform of planning legislation undertaken by the
Government to implement the recommendations of the Tribunal of
Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments (Mahon
tribunal) including the forthcoming planning and development
(amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2015 which is to be published shortly;
recognises and strongly supports:
the work of the Garda Sochna and the Criminal
Assets Bureau in tackling and investigating white-collar crime; and
the work of the Office of the Director of Corporate
Enforcement;
acknowledges the close co-operation between the Garda
Sochna and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement
and the significant success in terms of recent convictions for whitecollar offences;
recognises and strongly supports the work of a range of
other specialised bodies who are charged with the investigation of
elected and public officials and commercial activities including the
Standards in Public Office Commission, the Competition and
Consumer Protection Commission, and the Garda Sochna
Ombudsman Commission;
acknowledges the vital independence of the Office of the
Director of Public Prosecutions in bringing prosecutions for
complex white-collar offences;
recognises that the Government is strongly committed to
ensuring that the necessary measures are in place to effectively
combat corruption and recognises the significant investment in
Garda resources through investment in information
communications technology, vehicles, buildings and most
importantly through renewed recruitment which will see 600 new
trainee Garda enter the Garda College in 2016;
further notes:

 that Ireland is a party to a number of inter-governmental

conventions which set international standards in the fight against
bribery and corruption;
that Ireland is subject to ongoing external evaluation of
the effectiveness of its anticorruption measures under a number of
international evaluation mechanisms including the Council of
Europes Group of States Against Corruption, GRECO, the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,
OECD, Working Group on Bribery in International Business
Transactions, the Implementation Review Group of the United
Nations Convention against Corruption and the European Union
Anti-Corruption Report;
the significant work done and currently being undertaken
by various commissions of investigation; and
the engagement by the Taoiseach with Opposition
leaders to seek a consensus on how best to address certain
challenges that have arisen in relation to a commission of
investigation; and
supports the Governments programme of legislation and
reform to improve standards in public office and the private
corporate sector, tackle corruption, anti-competitive behaviour and
all forms of white-collar crime.
http://socialdemocrats.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Corruptiondocument-Web-Friendly1.pdf
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those on the left opposed the bill:

ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 960453306 ParagraphStart 963137219

ParagraphTitleStart Who voted to pick the citizens

pockets before they get their wage cheque.?
So we dont forget, here is who voted for the bill for the money to pay for
the outrageous quango that is "Irish Water" to be taken directly from
wages and pensions:
James Bannon
Joan Burton
Ray Butler
Jerry Buttimer
Catherine Byrne
Ciarn Cannon
Joe Carey
Paudie Coffey
Michael Conaghan
Paul Connaughton
Ciara Conway
Noel Coonan
Marcella Corcoran Kennedy
Joe Costello
Jim Daly
John Deasy
Jimmy Deenihan
Pat Deering
Robert Dowds
Andrew Doyle
Bernard Durkan
Damien English
Frank Feighan
Frances Fitzgerald
Peter Fitzpatrick
Charles Flanagan
Eamon Gilmore
Dominic Hannigan
Noel Harrington
Simon Harris
Tom Hayes
Martin Heydon
Heather Humphreys
Kevin Humphreys
Paul Kehoe
Sen Kenny

Sen Kyne
Anthony Lawlor
Ciarn Lynch
Michael McCarthy
Helen McEntee
Gabrielle McFadden
Dinny McGinley
Joe McHugh
Tony McLoughlin
Michael McNamara
Olivia Mitchell
Michelle Mulherin
Dara Murphy
Eoghan Murphy
Gerald Nash
Dan Neville
Derek Nolan
Aodhn Rordin
Kieran ODonnell
Patrick ODonovan
John OMahony
Joe OReilly
Jan OSullivan
John Perry
Ann Phelan
James Reilly
Michael Ring
Alan Shatter
Emmet Stagg
David Stanton
Joanna Tuffy
Leo Varadkar
Jack Wall
Alex white
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 963137219 ParagraphStart 960373403

ParagraphTitleStart Our Councillors-rotten to the

core. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Editorial:"Villagemagazine"2014.
GerardConvieisawhistleblower,butyouwonthave
heardofhim.OverthelastfewyearsVillagehashelped
anumberofotherwhistleblowerswhosecasesareto
varyingdegreesunassailablebuthavenotbeen
championedbythemediaorpursuedbytheauthorities:
JonathanSugarmanonUnicreditBank,NoelWardickon
theRedCross,PaulClintononTreasuryHoldingsand
DublinCityCouncil,SamusKirkonplanningappeals
withdrawnaftera1mpayoutinLouth,ColmMurphyon
solicitorfraudandLawSocietyskulduggery.
AsFrankMcBrearty,thewhistleblowerwhoseattempted
framingforthemurderofRichieBarronledtothe
instigationoftheMorrisTribunal,toldVillagethisweek:
withoutwhistleblowersyoucantexposecorruption.
Butthelackofofficialinterestinthesebravecitizens,or
actionontheirallegations,bespeaksanoverwhelming
cynicismveiledonlybythecorrelativerushtobe
publiclyperceivedaswelcomingofwhistleblowerssuch
asthegardaiwhorevealedthepenaltypointsscandal.As
onemansfreedomfighterisanothermansterrorist,so
onemanswhistleblowerisanothersdeludedobsessive.
Youonlyreallybecomeawhislebloweronceyour
whistlehasbeenheardbythepoliticalcorrespondents
andthepartyspokespersons.Whenyouareatyourmost
vulnerabletheywontseekyououtorevenansweryour

letters.

ConvieworkedinDonegalCountyCouncilasasenior
plannerfornearly24years.Heclaimsitwaswellknown
inDonegalandbeyondthathewouldnotcapitulateto
thegoingsoninplanningbycertaincouncillorsand
seniorofficialsinCoDonegal.Hetriedtocontrolone
offhousing,producedthefirstdesignguide,andusedto
appealtoAnBordPleanlaonhisownbehalfandathis
ownexpensealldecisionstograntplanningpermission
viatheinfamousS4motions.Thiswascontroversial.He
claimsonecouncilorconstantlyreferredtohimasawee
shitfromtheNorth.
Conviehasclaimed,inanaffidavitopenedincourt,that
duringhistenuretherewasbullyingandintimidation
withinthecouncilofplannerswhosoughttomake
decisionsbasedexclusivelyontheplanningmeritsof
particularapplications.
Intheaffidavit,Convieallegesanotherplanner:
1)recommendedpermissionsthatbreachedtheDonegal
CountyDevelopmentPlantoanextentthatwasalmost
systemic
2)submittedplanningapplicationstoDonegalCounty
Councilonbehalfoffriendsandassociates
3)dealtwithplanningapplicationsfromsubmissionto
decision
4)ignoredtherecommendationsofotherplanners
5)destroyedtherecommendationsofotherplanners
6)submittedfraudulentcorrespondencetotheplanning
department
7)forgedsignatures
8)improperlyinterferedasdescribedinanumberof

planningapplications
9)wasclosetoanumberofleadingarchitectsand
developersinDonegal,includingtheheadofthelargest
architecturalpracticeinDonegal,withwhomhe
holidayedbuttherelationshipwithwhomwas
undeclared.
Hisaffidavitalsoreferstoirregularitiesperpetratedby
namedofficialsatthehighestlevelintheCouncilaswell
asnamedseniorcountycouncilors.TheMinisterand
DonegalCountyCouncilmadenodefenceofany
avermentinConviesAffidavit.
Conviehadalistofmorethan20suspectcasesinthe
County.Asherevertedtoprivatepracticeheclaimed
thattheremustbemanymore,perhapshundreds,a
cesspit.HiscomplaintstovariousMinistersforthe
EnvironmentandtotheStandardsinPublicOffice
Commissionwentnowhere.
AftertheGreensgotintogovernment,Environment
Minister,JohnGormley,announcedplanningreviews
in2010,notofcorruptionbutofbadpracticeinseven
localauthoritiesincludingDonegal.Conviescase
studiescomprisedallthematerialforthereviewin
Donegal.ButwhenthenewFineGaelandLabour
governmenttookovertheyveryquicklydroppedthe
independentinquiries.Alazy2012internalreview
stated:Thedepartmentsrigorousanalysisfindsthatthe
allegationsdonotrelatetosystemiccorruptioninthe
planningsystemNonetheless,theyraiseserious
matters,rangingfrommaladministrationtoinconsistency
inapplicationofplanningpolicyornonadherenceto
forwardplans,suchasdevelopmentplans.Asregards
Donegal,theDepartment,extraordinarilyand

scandalously,decidedaccordingtoMinisterJan
OSullivanintheDil,that:thecomplainant
[Convie]hasfailedatanystagetoproduceevidenceof
wrongdoinginDonegalCouncilsplanning
department.
Conviefeltthislefthiminaninvidiouspositionand,in
theabsenceofanydefenseofhimbyfromanysource,he
successfullysued.IntheHighCourtOrderallthe
conclusionsbytheMinisterwerewithdrawn,including
reportsonthematterspreparedfortheMinisterby
DonegalCountyCouncil.
Thegovernmenthasbeenforcedtoreinstatetheplanning
enquiries.Butitwillbeimportanttoseethe
ramificationsforthecivilservantswhoconcludedthat
Conviescomplaintdidnotconstituteevidence,and
fortheMinisterwhoacceptedtheconclusions.While
someofthecouncilofficialswhoarenamedinthe
irregularitiesinConviesAffidavithaveretired,some
remainintheCouncilsemployandhaveseentheir
careerssoar.
TheConviefilehasbeenreferredtotheAttorney
Generalfordirectionandshehasnowreportedbackto
theMinister.TheDepartmentwillreportitsreview
beforethesummer.Meanwhileatainthangsoverthe
administrationofplanninginDonegal,anda
whistleblowertwistsinthewind.

AsVillagewasgoingtoprint,thingswerefinallyheating
upinDonegalCountyCouncil.TheDirectorofHousing
andCorporateServicestoldVillagetheCouncilwould
berespondingtoConviesreportedallegations,shortly,
andEthicsOfficer,PaulMcGill,saidthematterwas

beingexaminedbymanagement.AsregardsCounty
Councillors,thecurrentmayorofDonegal,independent
IanMcGarvey,whilemakingitclearhedidnotwishto
beinvolvedinanythingscurrilous,saidhewouldrefer
theissuetothecountysecretary.IndependentDonegal
CountyCouncillorFrankMcBreartynoteditwas
difficultforcurrentcouncillorstoascertainthetruthof
suchmattersbecauseofdifficultiesgettingfileseven
lastyearwhenhewasmayor.Whilecomplimentaryof
thecurrentincumbent,McBreartyfeltethicsregistrars
shouldbeindependentoftheCouncil.Hesaidlessons
shouldbelearntfromtheplanningtribunal.Aswiththe
Garda,theseincludethatgovernmentmustensurean
independentinvestigation,providingfornaturaljustice.
HenotesofDonegal,becausetheCountyissoisolated,
allegationsseemtotakelongertobeinvestigated,and
thenarenotinvestigatedindependently.Thepolitical
willisnotthere.
SincetheDepartmentalreviewisabout
maladministration,notimpropriety,itislegitimateand
imperativeforDonegalCountyCounciltoprobethe
allegations,now.Sofarithasrefusedtocarryoutany
investigationintoanyofConviescomplaints.
MeanwhileMinisterOSullivanhasseriousquestionsto
answer.Whilethemediapontificateabout
whistleblowinginthegardai,andintheabstract,in
Donegalthewhistleblowsintoagale.
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ParagraphTitleStart Irish councillors nation widerotten to the core. ParagraphTitleEnd

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http://www.villagemagazine.ie/index.php/2015/12/the-tameinterrupted-and-unpublished-planning-review/ ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart the rot is widespread-but not

investigated. ParagraphTitleEnd
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The Department of the Environment (DoE) has been

investigating or rather reviewing bad planning in a
number of local authorities. In June 2013 the
DepartmentagreedtoaHighCourtorderoverturningits
own findings of no evidenceof wrongdoing in the
planningdepartmentofDonegalCountyCouncilondates
mostly in the 1990s.It apologised to former senior
planner,GerardConvie,whohadmadethoseclaimsand
paid him 25,000 damages, for findings in the
Departments report put before the Dil in June 2012
dismissing allegationsby him of irregular planning
decisionswithintheCouncil.
Itrecently[2015]appointedaseniorcounseltolookinto
theallegationsonanonstatutoryiemakeyuppybasis.
Thereisnocommitmenttopublishthisreport.
ThereviewreachedconclusionsontheotherCountiesas
longagoasJuly2015buttheyhavenotbeenpublished.
Hereswhathappened:
In2009/2010AnTaiscerequestedthattheDoEconduct
investigationsintoplanningpracticesinthreecouncils
County Cork, Dublin City andCounty Galway. Taking
AnTaiscesmaterialtogetherwithothercomplaints,the
then Minister John Gormley sanctioned independent
investigationsintosixcouncilsinearly2011.Inlate2011
theDepartmentactingthroughformerMinisterofState
WilliePenroserejectedtheoptionofproperinvestigation

in favour of a shallow inhouse internal review.The

result was a report with no credibility issued in June
2012. TheDepartment then retained an external
consultant (Mr Henk van der Kamp)in late 2012 to
undertakefurtherstudybutwithnomoreinvestigation
thantheoriginalinternalreview.Andwithjustaslittle
credibilitybehindit,thevanderKampreportmustnow
alsobewithdrawn.InJunetheConviecaseexposedthe
shallownessoftheDepartmentssurfaceinvestigations
and findings. There will now be an outside
investigation.
Hereswhatitwilllookat:
Carlow County CouncilThe allegations concern, to a
very significant degree, Seamus (or Jimmy)OConnor,
thethenCarlowDirectorofPlanning.Inareportintothe
allegations by former Louth County Manager, John
Quinlivan, publishedin Oct 2010, OConnor was
described as having broken the lawfor failing to keep
notesofmeetingswithdevelopers,andforengagingin
theunacceptablepracticeofmeetingsuchdevelopers
alone, unaccompaniedby other Council officials.
However, there has been no realexamination of the
consequencesofOConnorsactions,andinthewakeof
the Quinlivan report, OConnor was merely shifted
sideways withinCarlow County Council, retaining the
sameverycomfortablesalaryasaDirectorofServicesas
before.
CorkCityThemaincomplaintswithregardtoCorkCity
Councilsplanningstemfromtheclosednatureofits
preplanningmeetings.First,manyofthemeetingswere
notclassifiedaspreplanningmeetings.Classificationof
such meetings is highly important because notes of

meetingsbetweenCouncilofficialsanddevelopersmust
be published by the Council inthe event a planning
applicationislatersubmittedaftertheCouncilhasmade
itsdecisionontheproposal.Inorderwords,preplanning
meetingsultimately become part of the public record,
whereasmeetingsdeemednottobepreplanningdont.
Essentially,theDoEfoundthatattemptstoplayfastand
loosewiththeclassificationofmeetingswereoutsidethe
legislation.Inacommontheme,however,noonewas
heldaccountable and the consequences of failing to
categorisemeetingsaspreplanningmeetingswasnever
properlyexamined.
CorkCountyThemaincomplaintswithregardtoCork
CityCouncilsplanningstemfromtheclosednatureof
its preplanning meetings. First, many of themeetings
were not classified as preplanning meetings.
Classification ofsuch meetings is highly important
becausenotesofmeetingsbetweenCouncilofficialsand
developersmustbepublishedbytheCouncilintheevent
aplanningapplicationislatersubmittedaftertheCouncil
hasmade its decision on the proposal. In order words,
preplanning meetingsultimately become part of the
publicrecord,whereasmeetingsdeemednottobepre
planningdont.Essentially,theDoEfoundthatattempts
toplayfastandloosewiththeclassificationofmeetings
wereoutside the legislation. In a common theme,
however, noone was heldaccountable and the
consequences of failing to categorise meetings aspre
planningmeetingswasneverproperlyexamined.
Cork CountyThe allegation is that socalled liaison
officers were appointed as gobetweenson planning
applications, feeding back news of progress or

resistance on individual planning application to

interested councillors.The practice had or has no
statutory basis but it appears Cork CountyCouncil
defended it unreservedly to the DoE. In rather weak
language,
theDoEtoldCorkCountyCounciltodiscontinue.Again,
however, noone wasfound responsible for putting in
placeanunlawfulsystemnorwasthereanyinvestigation
intotheconsequencesofmanyyearsofliaison.
Donegal CountySenior Planner Gerry Convie who
controlledplanninginDonegalfor20yearsclaimedthat
therewasbullyingandintimidationwithinthecouncilof
plannerswhosoughttomakedecisionsbasedexclusively
ontheplanningmeritsofparticularapplications.Convie
was suspended in 1999, allegedly for not following
proceduresinrelationtohisinvolvementinaparcelof
landatMagheroarty,nearBloodyForeland.Conviehasa
listof10suspectcasesinthecountyandsaidtherewas
acesspitinthecountysplanning.Afterhewonhis
HighCourtcaseinJune2013,theDepartmentconceded
thathisallegationswereneverreallyinvestigated,and
coveredallhislegalcostsestimatedatseveralhundred
thousandeuro.
DublinCityTheallegationsconcerncityofficialswho
during the property bubble encouraged developers to
applyforbuildingsfarhigherthanallowedunderthecity
development plan. An Taisce has published a
considerablevolume of material to substantiate the
allegations, but to date officialdomhas been in denial.
Regardingtheyears20052009,DublinCityalsostands
accusedof thesame jiggerypokery inrelationto pre
planningmeetingsasCorkCity.

Meath CountyThe allegations against Meath County

Council relate to rezoning decisionscontrary to the
Councils own development plan. According to An
Taisceand others, the public interest was subverted in
favouroflobbyists,interestedpartiesandthepreferential
treatmentofcertainlandowners.
Galway CountyGalway County Council is accused of
systematic disregard not only for itsown development
plan, but also for environmental impacts on protected
sites, nature reserves, failure to observe
recommendationsfromtheNationalRoadAuthority,and
evenignoringBordPleanladecisions.
Notacorruptioninvestigation,aplanningreviewAfter
all the abortive and revived effort, this is what the
Department of the Environment is pursuing:An
independentplanningreviewtoassesstheapplicationof
planning, legislation, policyand guidance within the
developmentplananddevelopmentmanagementsystems
at locallevel in Republic of Ireland (using as a key
inputissuesinCarlow,Cork,GalwayandMeathCounty
Councils, and Cork and Dublin City Councils). The
planning review is to considerwhat measures may be
requiredtoensureaconsistentapproachtotheseissues
acrossall planning authorities, and to improve the
deliveryofplanningservicesgenerally.
Thefocusisonproceduresandpracticeswithinplanning
authorities rather than individualplanning decisions by
either the authorities themselves or An Bord Pleanla.
JamesNixisaformerPolicyDirectorofAnTaisce.
This is an updated version of an article published in
VillageMagazineinAugust2013
ParagraphBodyEnd

ParagraphEnd 960373752 ParagraphStart 960374326

ParagraphTitleStart Systematic pollution threat in

Ireland from "one off" housing. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Courtesyofthe"VillageMagazine"
In2013,theEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)
establishedtheNationalInspectionPlanforDomestic
WasteWaterTreatmentSystems.TheNational
InspectionPlan(NIP)soughttoencouragethecorrect
managementofdomesticwastewatertreatmentsystems
(DWWTSs)throughoutIrelandbymeansofanannual
allocationofseptictanksysteminspectionsinareas
acutelyvulnerabletocontamination,andanextensive
citizenengagementstrategy.ItwasproposedbytheEPA
thattheplansinstigationwouldhelpminimisethe
potentialforenvironmentalandhealthimpactsstemming
fromdefectiveDWWTSs.
TheNIPhasnowbeeninplaceforovertwoyearsand
recentlyentereditssecondcycle(20152017).However,
theprogressmadebytheplanthusfarisbelievedby
closeobserverstobeinsufficient.Onlyslightlyoverhalf
oftheseptictanksystemsinspectedundertheplaninthe
firstyearachievedapassgradeandthereisevidenceto
suggestthatanywidershiftinattitudesandbehavioural
changeamongDWWTSusershasbeenmarginalatbest.
Althoughtheonusisontherelevantpublictoadhereto
theirresponsibilitiesanddemonstrategoodpractice,their
failuretodoevidencesseveralinherentflawsoftheNIP
thatrequireurgentremediationinparticular,itscitizen
engagementstrategy.
Theramificationsofexposuretountreateddomestic

wastewaterarewelldocumentedespeciallywhere
effluentisallowedtoenterdrinkingwatersupplies(e.g.,
privatewellsandgroupwaterschemes)andpublic
waterways.Theresultingcontaminationofgroundand
surfacewatercanengenderoutcomessuchas
pronouncedenvironmentaldegradation,widespread
odourdisturbanceandproliferationofwaterborne
diseasessuchasVTEC(apathogenicstrainofE.coli)
andcryptosporidium.Theappropriateinstallationand
maintenanceofDWWTSsisthusvital.
GiventhesheernumberandvolumeofDWWTSin
Ireland,theriskofcontaminationishigh.
Therearecurrentlyover500,000DWWTSs
(predominantlyseptictanks)locatedacrossIreland,the
majorityofwhichareconcentratedinruralIrelanddueto
itslargelydispersedpatternofsettlement.
Furthermore,over80%ofIrishhouseholdsinruralareas
treatanddisposeofwastewateronsite(accountingfor
overonethirdofthenationalpopulation)withasimilarly
highpercentagealsoavailinganofonsitegroundwater
sourcefordrinkingwater.Thesefiguresconfirmthat
ruralhouseholdsarepotentiallyaformidablesourceand
receptorofwatercontaminationandunderscorethe
importanceoftheNIPinpotentiallyreducingthisthreat.
However,despitetheNIPsquestionableperformance
andtheensuingrepercussions,theplansimplementation
hasreceivedlimitedmediaattentionandcriticismsince
itsinstigation.Thiscanlargelybeattributedtothe
pervasiveperceptionofDWWTSsasbeingaminor,
ruralonlyissue.However,amountingbodyofevidence
suggeststhatseptictanksarebeginningtoconstitutea
principalcauseofwatercontaminationinruralIreland

andplayasignificantroleintherisingnumberofVTEC
casesdocumentedthroughoutthecountry.
InordertofullyidentifyandaffirmtheNIPs
shortcomings,itisnecessarytorecounttheoriginsand
developmentoftheplan.TheNIPwasfirstputforward
bytheIrishgovernmentin2011inresponsetotheruling
oftheEuropeanCourtofJustice(ECJ)overIrelands
longstandingcircumventionofitsobligation,underthe
1975EUWasteFrameworkDirective,toproperly
regulatedomesticwastewatergeneratedinunsewered
(primarilyrural)areas.Irelandhadpreviouslybeen
rebukedbytheECJforthebreachin2009butthe
governmentsslowpaceininitiatinganappropriate
registrationandinspectionsystemforDWWTSsresulted
inasecond,harsherrulingtowhichtheNIPresponded.
TheinceptionoftheNIPwasevidentlyreactiverather
thanproactive.ThepurposeoftheNIPwasoutlinedin
thegovernments2012WaterServices(Amendment)
Act,whichsatisfiedtheECJscriteria.TheNIPscore
aspectswouldbeinformedbytheguidelinessetoutin
theactandtheEPAwouldbegiventhejobofpreparing
andexpandingtheplan.Inmostcasestheguidelines
werefirmandincisive,yetinotherstheyweremarkedly
lenient,neglectingtomentionanybindingprovisionfor
correctDWWTSdesignandconstructionorconsistent
metricsfortheNIP.Asaresult,thesefacetsweregiven
littleattentioninthefinalizedplan.Thedeliveryofthe
bulkoftheNIPwasassignedtolocalauthorities,with
theEPAactinginaprimarilysupervisoryrole.Local
authoritieswouldbeheldresponsibleforinitiatinga
registerofDWWTS,administeringtheannualseptic
tankinspectionsandoverseeingcitizenengagementat

thelocallevelwhiletheEPAwoulddirectandsupervise
localauthorities,nominateandtraininspectorsandhelp
instigatecitizenengagementatthenationallevel.The
governmentwouldmeanwhileplayasmaller,albeit
significant,partbyprovidingfundingfortheplan,
enforcingpolicyandadministeringagrantschemefor
septictankrepairsforhomeownerschosenforlocal
authorityinspections.ItwasdecidedbytheEPAthata
minimumtargetof1,000septictankinspectionswould
beundertakeneachyear.TheEPAavailedoftheSPR
(SourcePathwayReceptor)modelandGISmapsto
establishtheareasmostvulnerabletoseptictank
contaminationandsubsequentlyapportionedinspections
toeachcountyaccordingly.AstotheNIPsengagement
strategy,followingaperiodofconsultationwitha
numberofrepresentativesfromenvironmental,farming
andruralorganisations,theEPAelectedtocentrecitizen
engagementonapublicinformationcampaignstressing
theimportanceofcleanwater.Tothiseffectavarietyof
engagementmechanismswouldbeusedrangingfrom
informativetelevisionsegmentsonanationalscaleto
radioadvertisementsandschoolvisitsatalocallevel.
TheNIPsengagementstrategywasrolledoutinearly
2013withinspectionsbeginningon1July.Giventhat
theinspectionswouldbesituatedinhighriskareas,the
resultsoffirstfullyearofinspectionswouldactasa
usefulbarometertogaugetheoverallprogressofthe
NIP.Unfortunately,outofthe987inspectionscompleted
between1July2013and30June2014,only511(52%)
ofseptictankspassed.ThefailureonthepartofEPAand
localauthoritiestoencourageasignificantshiftinthe
behaviourofseptictankownerslivingintheareasmost

predisposedtocontaminationrepresentedadisappointing
blowandposedworryingconnotationsastothebroader,
nationallevelofbehaviouralchangeattained.The
inspectionresultscanbeattributedtoseveral
questionablepolicies.Forinstance:thegrantschemefor
systemrepairsonlycateredforseptictankownerswho
hadregisteredasaDWWTSuserbefore1February2013
andconsequentlywouldhavegreatlyreducedthe
inclinationforseptictankownerswhohadnotregistered
bythatdatetoproperlymaintainorremediatetheirseptic
tankontheirowninitiative.However,theNIPscitizen
engagementstrategymustultimatelyshoulderthebulkof
theblameasithaspatentlyfailedtoadequately
communicatethedegreeofriskandprovideadequate
informationregardingseptictankmaintenance.When
formulatingacitizenengagementstrategyandappended
publicinformationcampaign,itisimperativetotake
accountcurrentpublicattitudesandknowledgegaps.By
discerningtheproclivitiesofthetargetpublicabaseline
canbeestablished,providingscopeforhowtherequisite
informationmightormightnotbebestcommunicated.If
thisinformationissubsequentlytransmittedtothe
audienceinamannersympathetictowardsorconscious
oftheirstance,thelikelihoodofcompliancewillbe
maximised.InthecaseoftheNIPsfirstcycle(201314),
thereisscantindicationthattheEPAgaveanyconcerted
thoughttotheexistingknowledgegapsandattitudes
amongordinaryDWWTSusersdespitehavingaccess
torecentlyaccumulateddataonthesubject.Shortly
beforethestartoftheNIPsengagementstrategy,the
EPAbecameawareofanacademicstudyinvolvingthe
circulationofsurveyquestionnairestoDWWTS

homeownerstoascertaintheirviewsregardingall
aspectsofDWWTS.Thesurveyservedasauseful
insightintothecurrentattitudesofDWWTSusersand
pinpointedissuessuchas:alackofconsistency
concerningdesludging,alackofinformationoutlining
systemmaintenanceandabeliefthatrecentDWWTS
legislationwasmotivatedbyEUcomplianceand
governmentrevenueratherthanprotectionofhuman
healthandtheenvironment.Thestudywaspublished
onlinein2013andfundedbytheEPAwhich
commissionedtheauthorstodeviseanddisseminatea
furthersetofsimilarquestionnairesmidwaythroughthe
firstyearoftheNIPsinstigation.Thesecondsetof
questionnaireswouldservetoindicatethedegreeof
changeaccomplishedbytheNIPsengagementstrategy
sofar.However,regrettablyfortheEPA,the
questionnaireresultsregisteredonlyamarginal(6%)
increaseinsupportforDWWTSregulationsanda
similarincreaseintheamountofrespondentswho
claimedthattheyhadreceivedDWWTSmaintenance
information.Theresultsalsoindicatedastasisinattitudes
pertainingtodesludgingwhich,tellingly,wasthemain
reasonforfailureamongseptictankinspections
accordingtotheEPA.FurtherscepticismoftheNIPs
engagementstrategycouldbeaccruedbyreadingthe
EPAsreportsontheprogressoftheplan,whichcontain
apalpablelackofdetailandsuggesttheinconsistentuse
andapplicationofengagementmechanismsbylocal
authorities.TotheEPAscredit,theproposedmeasures
forthesecondcycleoftheNIP(201517)haveplaceda
moreconsideredfocusoncitizenengagement.TheEPA
hasrecentlyestablishedaworkinggroupcomprisinga

numberofrepresentativesfromrelevantorganisations
suchastheHealthServiceExecutive(HSE)andthe
NationalFederationofGroupWaterSchemes(NFGWS)
inattemptstocomposeabetterorganised,holisticcitizen
engagement.TheEPAhasalsointroducedametricthat
determinescompliancebytrackingthecollectionof
DWWTSsludgebywastecollectors.Theserecent
measuresrepresentastepintherightdirectionanda
concertedefforttoimprovetheNIPsefficacy.However,
thesestepsmustbyfollowedbydiscernibleresults.With
theMinisteroftheDepartmentofEnvironmentand
LocalGovernmentsrecentannouncementthattheNIP
willbereviewedatgovernmentlevelinearly2016,itis
clearthattheNIPwillbethrustintothespotlightagain
soonerratherthanlater.
Theriskposedbydomesticwastewatertreatment
systemstohumanhealthinIreland
Theramificationsofexposuretountreateddomestic
wastewaterarewelldocumentedespeciallywhere
effluentisallowedtoenterdrinkingwatersupplies(e.g.,
privatewellsandgroupwaterschemes)andpublic
waterways.Theresultingcontaminationofgroundand
surfacewatercanengenderoutcomessuchas
pronouncedenvironmentaldegradation,widespread
odourdisturbanceandproliferationofwaterborne
diseasessuchasVTEC(apathogenicstrainofE.coli)
andcryptosporidium.Theappropriatemaintenanceand
regulationofdomesticwastewatertreatmentsystems
(DWWTSs)isthusvital.InthecaseofIreland,thereisa
mountingbodyofrecentlyconductedresearchthat
suggeststhatmanyDWWTSsacrossthecountryhave

beenincorrectlyinstalledormaintainedandposeavery
realandwidelyexperiencedthreattohumanhealth.A
2005studyundertakenbyTrinityCollege,Dublinof74
randomlylocatedseptictanksystemsinLeinster
revealedthatonly5%weresituatedinsoilconditions
conducivetoadequatewastewatertreatmentand
indicatedthelikelihoodofsimilarfigureselsewherein
Ireland.Theprevalenceofsuchsystemswasconfirmed
fiveyearslaterbytheEPA,whodiscoveredthat
approximately25,000DWWTSsinIrelandposedarisk
togroundwaterwhileapproximately120,000poseda
risktosurfacewater.AstudycarriedoutbyTrinity
Collegeresearchersbetween2008and2010analysing
thequalityofgroundwaterin262privatewellsdiscerned
thatDWWTSsposedthegreatestcontaminationhazard
forprivatewellsinruralIreland.Thestudyidentified
septictanklocationasasignificantfactortowardsthe
occurrenceofVTECinprivatewells.Thebrisk
exacerbationofthisthreatcouldbeattributedtoa
combinationofalongstandinglackofregulatory
enforcementregardingprivatewellandseptictanksiting
andaglutofpoorlyconstructedoneoffruraldwellings
builtduringthe2000sdecade.Tellingly,ayearafterthe
completionoftheTrinityCollegestudyin2011,the
HealthProtectionSurveillanceCentre(HPSC)reporteda
sharpsurgeinVTECcasesinIreland,with37%linked
toexposuretoaprivatewell.TheoverallnationalVTEC
incidenceraterecordedthesameyearwasalmosteight
timeshigherthantheEUaverageandthenumberof
annualcaseshassincecontinuedtorise.Itislikelythat
theincreasedpromulgationofsuchevidenceoutlining
thecausallinkbetweenthegrowingfrequencyof

episodesofwatercontaminationanddiseaseand
defectiveDWWTSinIreland,wouldresultinamore
rigorousscrutinyandmediacoverageofDWWTS
maintenanceandregulationthroughoutIreland.
Nevertheless,muchofthisdataremainslargely
unpublicised.
Fianna Fail Frankenstein marches again
March 2016
The outcome of the Irish election of 2016 is best
understood through the lens of political developments in
Europe. The savage austerity has seen the collapse of
traditional capitalist parties and institutions and, to an even
greater extent, the collapse of support for traditional
institutions of the working class. Social democratic parties
have implemented the capitalist offensive and been
decimated. Time and again the trade union bureaucracies
have channelled workers opposition into formal and
limited protest before going on to betray them. As workers
frustration increased the left of the bureaucracy and of
social democracy have set up new broad parties. The
socialist movement has played a regressive role. Lacking
any faith in the possibility of revolution, they have attached
themselves to these parties and endorsed reformist and
populist measures that in turn fail (the Syriza/Podemos
model). The old order gains confidence and sections of
the workers turn towards revolution only in Greece is this
situation beginning to mature, with strikes and
demonstrations against Syriza in government.
In Ireland the weakness of social democracy is such that
the possibility of popular political mobilisation leading to a
new party is limited. The components are there a left
bureaucracy, a party posing as a broad left, a socialist
movement wedded to reformism and opportunism but all
are weak and they have not been able to cohere together
or pose a convincing alternative. In that absence Fianna

Fail, a totally corrupt populist party of Irish capitalism, has

strode back onto the stage.
Coalition failure
In the run-up to the election there was a wide expectation
that the Labour Party would be punished. Their supporters
had expected them to soften the blows of the austerity
offensive led by their partners in government, the right
wing Fine Gael party. Instead they led the offensive. In an
echo of their European clones defeated Labour
candidates said: 'We put the country before our party
that is they put capital before labour.
Fine Gael's own base among the well-off supporters of
austerity suggested that they would survive the backlash.
However in the run-up to the election their support fell
sharply and they lost many seats.
Government strategy was to point to economic recovery
as the fruit of responsible management of the economy. To
that end fiscal rules were changed by the Troika to allow
announcements of increased spending. When this proved
not to be enough the new rules were bent out of shape to
allow more promises to be made.
However promises in 2011 to end corruption and
renegotiate the debt were not kept. Capitulation to the
Troika saw the debt burden extended to 2054. Corruption
continued to be a major factor in every area of public life
with the perpetrators benefiting from an absolute impunity.
Rebalancing the economy boiled down to further subsidies
for capital and a plan to reduce corporation tax to 6%.
The vast majority of the workers had seen no recovery
and one in five families feared for their homes in a growing
housing crisis. To a large extent the recovery for business
and sections of the middle classes was based on the
mass transfer of wealth from the working class to the
capitalists, and few were unaware of the storm clouds over
Europe and the global economy that would make the
recovery claims short-lived as the voting ended, the
OECD issued warnings about the unsustainability of the

election budget.
The dominant story of the election was of voters taking
revenge against the government.
Frankenstein: the monster reborn
However the sub-plot was truly shocking. It was the return
of Fianna Fail. A party seen as a byword for corruption and
as the architects of economic collapse were level pegging
with Fine Gael in vote share - they scored lower in seats
because they themselves underestimated the extent of
their recovery.
Even more shocking in its own way was the rebirth of the
Green Party with two TDs. Its role as "left" partner in the
government that bankrupted Ireland was so universally
despised that their electoral representation, even at
council level, had shrank to zero.
Sinn Fein made substantial gains in votes cast and in Dail
seats, but at a lower level than expected or predicted in
the polls.
Behind the vote the picture was one of fragmentation, with
gains for the socialist groupings, social democrats, an
independent grouping, individual socialists and many TDs
elected on a personal or area basis.
The most positive elements of the election were the
elimination of Renua - an anti-abortion party of the
Catholic right, and the pledge by many parties that they
would conciliate the pre-election popular mobilizations by
delaying a scheme for water charging.
Background
To understand the results we have to understand the
background. In the 2011 election Fianna Fail had been
decimated, but the incoming government had proved just
as corrupt and just as merciless.
The election debate was dominated by arguments about
fiscal space. Decoded, it meant that the economic
programme of the 32nd Dail would be constrained by the
ECB, the Troika and the Financial Stability Act. All of the
parties accepted this.

The other major debate was around accusations,

indignantly denied, that Fine Gael would strike a deal with
an independent TD convicted of corruption. This was
however the horse-trading of many elections and few
doubted that the same mechanism would apply in this
one.
Finally the major parties stole the two main weapons in
the armoury of the socialist groups: Fine Gael finance
minister Michael Noonan announced to much hilarity that
he would pay for an expanded budget by taxing the rich!
Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, announced that he
would delay water charges that his party had first
proposed.
The voters got the message. There was no alternative to
austerity being proposed. The best use of their vote was to
look for relief on specific issues such as water charges or
to vote locally for someone to represent their area in the
best tradition of Irish clientelism.
Instability
The outcome was a familiar one, mirroring elections
across Europe. The fragmentation of the vote reflects a
fragmentation of the traditional parties and of capitalist
rule, but a socialist alternative has not been presented. No
party has the support to form a government and there will
be a period of instability while the various options are
considered.
The election result presents difficulties for everyone and
feeds the ongoing instability of Irish capitalism. The
obvious solution is a national government of the two major
parties but, with the tattered corpse of Labour before
them, no-one wants to be the junior partner in the next
government. All the bombast and pre-election promises
will evaporate. The Troika programme will continue.
Resentment and anger will continue to grow. The bad
news has resumed immediately with the eviction of
homeless families from emergency accommodation in
Dublin.

Fine Gael and Labour will lick their wounds. Fianna Fail
will divide between those who want immediate access to
bribes and patronage and those who want to stay to the
"left" of the government until they consolidate their
position.
Sinn Fein has had a good election, but nowhere near as
good as they had hoped. Their central strategy was to
replace Fianna Fail as the major populist and nationalist
party. The revival of that party means that they will not
simply fade away as the SDLP did in the North and calls
the overall Sinn Fein strategy into question.
The Shinners will want to pose as the left opposition, but
they will face some difficulty. The collapse of republican
consciousness, the general belief that the North is no
longer part of Ireland, meant that their presence in an
austerity administration on the other side of the border
never became an issue. As cuts bite deeper in the North
this will become a fiction harder to keep up.
The birth of class politics?
Representatives of the socialist groups claimed that the
fragmentation of the capitalist parties equated to the
advance of socialism. "The birth of class politics" claimed
one.
A total of six Dail seats and four per cent of the vote for an
alliance of front groups of the Socialist Party and Socialist
Workers Party (Anti Austerity Alliance /People Before
Profit) makes this a rather grandiose claim. It becomes
even more absurd when we realize that the alliance is an
administrative fiction, falling light years short of the modest
attempt at socialist unity around the United Left Alliance in
the 2011 election. It becomes ludicrous when we find that
the groups have just emerged from a "Right2Water"
protest movement that mobilised over 100,000 on the
streets.
This is not simply incompetence on the part of the
Socialist groups. Faced with a general political retreat by
the working class they adopted a policy of opportunism,

reformism and electoralism. The left of the trade union

bureaucracy, led by Brendan Ogle, organised to restore
the reputation of their movement by organising
Right2Water protests. From this base they tried to
organise the Irish version of Podemos around a
Right2Change platform of populist demands, firmly
within the confines of capitalism and the austerity
programme imposed by the Troika. The core of the new
political movement would be Sinn Fein. The socialist
groups were welcome on board if they would be bound by
the populist framework. They all accepted the programme
and were then asked to transfer votes to Sinn Fein. One
half of the AAA/PBP alliance temporised, the other half
accepted the programme but refused the transfer
proposal.
All the forces in the water charges movement should have
been brought together in a democratic convention. The
call for a working class programme, a working class party
and a unified intervention in the election in order to build
mass mobilizations following the vote - all this could have
been attempted but was not.
The socialist groups built their own factions evidenced
by their celebration of their own gains to the exclusion of
any concerns about the rebirth of Fianna Fail. Rather than
fight for a democratic national movement. They sidelined
their own reformist policies and allowed the left section of
the trade union bureaucracy to turn the protest movement
into a popular front, innocent of even the mildest socialist
politics and dedicated to supporting Sinn Fein. Their only
real goal was to elect 7 TDs from their alliance and ensure
speaking rights and material resources in the Dail - and
they failed even in that.
A party of the working class
This blindness on the part of the socialists will not go away
after the election count. They may dislike Sinn Fein, but
they must count them as part of the left or admit that no
sizeable socialist challenge is likely without building an

independent movement of the working class.

The capitalists are in disarray, but without a working class
party the workers cannot contest for power.
Such a party must have industrial aspect as well as a
political aspect. The Labour Party has been shattered. On
the eve of the election Jack O'Connor and the executive of
SIPTU, the largest union in the country, called for support
for labour and for the continuation of the austerity
coalition. Labour has fallen. Who will call O'Connor to
account? The left has always averted their eyes. When the
union leaderships endorsed the Fresh Start austerity
proposals in the North there were only the most modest of
complaints from the socialists and they abstained when
UNITE workers protested against the agreement.
O'Connor's failure to save Labour was matched by the
failure of left bureaucrat Brendan Ogle's attempt to
promote Sinn Fein as the new left party. Both sides of the
union bureaucracy will collaborate with any government
their favourite partner is Fianna Fail, but they prefer a left
party as cover. OConnor tried to save the Labour ship
while Ogle tried to build a lifeboat. That Podemos-style
lifeboat had as its framework Sinn Fein not at all a new
party and with so much baggage as to make the project
unsustainable. Rather than a new party we have the
component parts uneasily aligned. Within this bare
framework the central project lobbying the capitalists to
beg for mercy is all too visible.
As the count ended a vicious factional row broke out, with
insults from both sides when Ogle accused the left of
failing to give full-hearted support to Sinn Fein. The
socialist supporters roared and shouted. The leadership
were much more restrained and diplomatic in their
response. Will they break with Ogle? Will they oppose a
popular front with Sinn Fein? Will they counterpose a
socialist programme to the vacuous populism of
"Right2Change"?
Parliamentary idiocy

The fact is that all the pressures on the left continue after
the election. If they will not challenge the union
bureaucracy, if they do not advocate independent
organisation of the working class, if the advance the
parliamentary idiocy that capitalism can be constrained by
the Dail, all that is left is horsetrading and that
horsetrading depends on numbers and a parliamentary
alliance of which Sinn Fein will be the centre. Already the
new socialist TDs are making the point that a majority can
be won to a halt to water charges. Will they vote in a
capitalist government that promises this? Will they vote a
budget that is within the Troika programme and transfers
the water charges to other cuts in services?
There are however forces in the Irish working class that
were not referenced by the contestants in the election.
The legacy of the 1916 revolution was hardly mentioned,
because none of the parties are inheritors of that legacy.
The 1916 revolutionary struggle was fought against an
occupation imposed by the British army and police. Today
Troika rule is enforced without an occupation and the
socialists, rather than protest, lobby them for a better
deal.
Today for the socialist groups the issues were the
improvement of a supposedly independent society. The
unfinished national revolution, British control in the North,
continued Troika inspections and utter abasement to the
needs of the transnationals - all these were absent from
the discussion.
They are not however absent from the consciousness of
many Irish workers. If the socialists can lift their eyes from
the vacuous talking shop of the 32nd Dail and raise the
banner of revolution they will find that there already exists
in the working class and in the communities an antiImperialist sentiment, a memory of a revolutionary past
and a grim determination to resist the tidal wave of poverty
and eviction that is on its way.

Seanad Eireann. Strokers and sinecures for

yesterdays politicians ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart
LIAM FAY

Ivor Callely is living proof that travel doesnt broaden the mind. The
north Dublin senator claims to have clocked up tens of thousands of
billable miles between his holiday home in west Cork and his social club
in Leinster House, but has evidently noticed nothing en route about the
changing national climate. No wonder he has trouble telling his abode
from his bolthole.
If Callely were even subliminally alert to the lay of the land, he would
have realised that public tolerance for the delusional grandiosity of the
political class has expired.
He certainly wouldve thought twice before trying to justify the 81,000
he has pocketed in travel expenses by seeking credit for his
determination to trek from one of the nations furthest reaches to fulfil
what he called his Seanad duties.
Not since Liam Lawlor was appointed chairman of a parliamentary
ethics committee has a juxtaposition of words sounded quite so
comical.
The notion that Callely has duties in the sense that he provides a
service or function is absurd. As one of the taoiseachs appointees, hes
a professional placeman, a chair warmer. Unelected and therefore
unaccountable, he represents nobody but himself and has nothing to
offer but his trademark self-importance.
Having been slung out of his Dail seat in 2007, Callely sought election
to one of the rigged Seanad seats reserved for failed or aspiring
politicians and for which only TDs, councillors and outgoing senators
are permitted to vote. However, he couldnt win sufficient support
among his Fianna Fail colleagues.
Undeterred by the verdict of the electorate and his party, Callely
probably went cap in hand to then taoiseach Bertie Ahern pleading that
he had devoted his working life to Fianna Fail and had failed to receive
an adequate yield on his investment. An understandably sympathetic
Ahern anointed Callely as senator and the rest is geography.
In recent days, Fianna Fail honchos have been vigorously applauding
themselves for the decisiveness with which theyve dealt with Ivor the
Conniver, by announcing plans to relieve him of the party whip until he
refutes the charges of wrongdoing. But, in reality, its easy for Fianna
Failers to cut Callely loose. He has few friends within the party and,
more damagingly, appears to have foes in high places.
By all accounts, Brian Cowen has had little patience with Callely since
an incident on the morning after budget day 2005. Then finance
minister, Cowen arrived at RTEs radio studios for the traditional postbudget interview with Pat Kenny only to find himself bumped down the
running order by Callely whod gone on-air to talk his way out of his
latest personal controversy. Forced to cool his heels in a corridor,

Cowen was not impressed.

While Callely is undoubtedly an extreme case, he vividly embodies
many of the values and attitudes that have become synonymous with
Fianna Fail. Pious efforts by transport minister Noel Dempsey and
others to pretend that the itinerant senator is an aberration wilfully
ignore the partys track record.
Similarly, Callely is more emblematic of the culture of the Seanad than
most senators will admit. After all, the whole expenses system is a joke,
an elaborate cash-dispensing machine that rewards senators for simply
turning up to perform a part-time job of no discernible usefulness for
which they are already overpaid in the first place.
As we are discovering, Callely isnt the only senator to claim travel
expenses from a distant address that is not officially listed as his home.
Anyone who fiddles the system must be brought to book, but even
those who play by its arcane rules should acknowledge that they are
riding a gravy train that serves nobody but themselves.
If the Callely affair proves anything, its the case for the abolition of the
Seanad, a talking shop designed solely for the aggrandisement of a
political elite. One way or another, all senators are just making up the
numbers.

http://www.soldiersofdestiny.or
g/angryplanthirer.htm ParagraphBodyEnd

The unions have Ireland destroyed.They represent-in the mainnobody but the well paid state;or semi-state;-or ex-semi state
employees such as virtually bankrupt, companies like Aer Lingus.
They- in cohorts with Fianna Fail-have formed an unholy alliance
which is now fast unraveling as the country plunges into ruin. All the
Croke park Agreements in the world will not ensure the survival of
David Begg's clientele when Germany and bond markets alike

finally withhold further handouts to pay for obscenely bloated

pensions for these bureaucrats/teachers/ gardai etc during the
approaching years.
Neither Cowan nor Kenny nor Gilmore can get blood out of the
unemployed.!

"The increased in our new tourist flights to

the Canary Islands is like the Normandy
landings since the Spanish government
abolished all landing charges in their airports
to promote economic recovery."
"There will be tumbleweed blowing down the
runaway in Shannon shortly when we cut
back on all our flights due to the high landing
charges"
(Michael |O'Leary Ryanair boss speaking on
the Marian Finucane Show)

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/oleary-apologisesto-pilot-and-donates-836475000-to-local-causes-2172343.html

"The demonstrations of the last few weeks

have been an expression of terrible,
unbelievable anger that is not just aimed at
the government, but against all political
systems and everyone involved. It is no
longer just the radicals that are angry but
ordinary people, and this has turned them
into a furious mob, railing against a political
system that has betrayed everybody.

Dancing on Charlie Haughy's grave part

4
Dec 13, 2009
Fianna Fail has created hundreds of "Quangos" (Quasiautonomous non- government organizations) to ensure a
steady flow of "jobs for the boys" where political cronies can be
hired and favoured, without civil service style restrictions.
Their latest and most monstrous creation is a Frankenstein like
creation called NAMA, ( National Assets Management Agency)
the most misnamed and monstrous quango ever.It will
supervise some 400 billion Euros worth of toxic bank loans/bad
debts/ unfinished property developments (so called "assets"? )

which relate to Fianna Fail's developer/builder sponsors who

are now almost all technically bankrupt.However they will all
be slowly nourished back to solvency/good health again, by the
politicos who gave birth to them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=wXMmgLukDcQ

Does Brian Lenahan own a NAMA holiday

development in the Canary Islands?.
Mar 10, 2010
Does Brian Lenehan; the irish taxpayer; the Irish Toxic Asset
Management Agency; own a little piece of the valley of Puerto
Rico in the tourist resort island of Gran Canaria Spain?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=PdMeHGrRobw

Mark Engler on Global Economics

ug 10, 2008
Analysis of globalization politics given by Mark Engler, a senior
analyst with Foreign Policy In Focus and author of the new book
How to Rule the World: The Coming Battle Over the Global
Economy (Nation Books, 2008). http://www.amazon.com/HowRule-World-...
An archive of Engler's work is available at
DemocracyUprising.com
http://www.democracyuprising.com/inde...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=vMIGrBP1EN4

Whistleblowers - Jonathan Sugarman 15

11 2016
Nov 19, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuAQO-jkjwM

Johnathon Sugarman (Whistleblower)

With Vincent Browne
Dec 6, 2016
This is a must watch & share.
The interview you all have being waiting for. Finally Irish
mainstream interviews Johnathon Sugarman, author of the
book Whistleblower. Johnathon goes into great detail

surrounding the complete lack of lawful behaviour of our

banks, the regulator and of the Irish government.
My apoligies for the quality, sadly I need to upgrade all my
computing tech.
Find Truthful Irish @ https://www.facebook.com/truthful.irish/
Contents used under the Fair Use acts.
Show is edited, all ads and newspaper reviews have been
removed. Watch the full uninterrupted video here.
http://www.tv3.ie/3player/show/41/0/T...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=WUpmZV8QZiw

Vincent Browne Destroys amon Cuv

And Fianna Fail
Feb 13, 2014
Vincent Browne Destroys amon Cuv and Fianna Fail. He
compares them to laurel and hardy. He calls it some fine mess
Fianna Fail caused this country and the people of Ireland would
be mad to re elect them into power,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H_4rEYhJjQ

Nama Handicap Chase_

Feb 20, 2010
The richest race in Europe,the NAMA handicap chase,
discussion and film of this Fianna Fail inspired extravaganza

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=RG1nsK_H1Ro

April 2010)
"IT WILL be old women and children and sick people first, because Captain
Cowen has no intention of going down with his ship. And as he waves them
off in the lifeboats angry, frightened and phoning Joe Duffy for directions
the man who was at the helm when the Anglo iceberg loomed becomes
emotional. Finally, he discovers a pulse.
Afterwards, some said he was close to tears. Hurrah! Passion at last from the
Taoiseach. Look! Hes fighting back. Thats the spirit, Brian.
His clueless crew, who sat on their hands on Tuesday while the full extent of
the tragedy unfolded, decided this was the most appropriate time for
applause.

It wasnt.
Biffos anger was not the anger of the ordinary people outside Leinster House.
His anger wasnt sparked by the beggaring of a country by the swaggering
coterie of idiots he allowed run riot in the first-class cabins. His fury didnt
stem from the knowledge that he supped with these men who knew disaster
was around the next headland, yet never bothered to tell him. Or maybe they
did, and he chose to do nothing.
Capn Cowen wasnt emotional because the ship of State ran aground on his
watch. His spirit wasnt moved by feelings of remorse or regret.
No. Taoiseach Brian Cowen became overwrought in the Dil yesterday
because the leaders of the Opposition insulted his dignity. They sought to
impugn his integrity. They wounded his pride.
Then he fought back. Only then, did he get angry. Clearly, he doesnt do
embarrassment.
For sure, it was an entertaining floorshow from Biffo. But thats all it was.
On Toxic Tuesday, his Government outlined the awfulness of the situation
facing the people of Ireland. While Cowen was minister for finance, he was in
charge of an economy that veered wildly out of control. Now, as a direct result
of what happened under his nose in out-of-control financial institutions, the
country is saddled with a crippling debt.
But he didnt see it coming.
So Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore had every right to come into Dil ireann
yesterday to demand answers. Biffo is a big boy, who has been playing in the
big league for a long time. Enda and Eamon hit hard. Below the belt, even.
But these are crisis times. The Taoiseach has never outlined in any detail
what happened on that night back in September 2008 when he held a crisis
meeting with the bankers, resulting in the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank
and a bank guarantee for five other institutions.
Apart, that is, from stressing how critical the situation was in the light of the
collapse of Lehman Brothers in America.
The cost to the taxpayer of keeping Anglo on life-support now runs at more
than 40 billion. The Opposition leaders wanted to know why it was so vital to
keep Anglo afloat.
Enda spoke darkly of a private dinner the Taoiseach enjoyed with the board of
the bank in April of that year, when the writing was already on the wall. Did
they tell him nothing?
Maybe they did. Maybe they didnt. In the Dil, Biffo chose to take grave
offence at this assault on his integrity.
Eamon Gilmore was ruthless. In the absence of documentation, he could only
conclude that the Taoiseach acted to protect vested interests close to Fianna
Fil. If this was true, Cowen had committed economic treason.
Whereupon Capn Cowen, still standing proudly on the prow of the sinking SS
Ireland, became incandescent with rage.
Im 25 years in politics. I am beholden to nobody, he roared. I will not be
accused of seeking to cause treason to my country. I find that beyond the
Pale.
Diddums.
The Labour leader wanted to see documentation.
An exasperated Cowen explained there was none, particularly concerning
Anglo. We made the decisions that night and the discussions continued until

the early hours of the morning. It was not a question of me getting papers . . .
They acted quickly. And the rest is horrible history.
But heres a thing. Labours Pat Rabbitte wrote a letter to The Irish Times last
year.
He told Madam: In Tuesdays Dil debate I asked the Minister for Finance
about the claim by Morgan Kelly of UCD that on September 29th the
Department of Finance sought to exclude Anglo Irish Bank from the guarantee
but were overruled by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance. Mr
Lenihans response is intriguing: The only decision the Government had to
take was whether we would proceed to guarantee all institutions or whether
we could contemplate the nationalisation of this institution as we are doing
and guarantee the rest of them.
The letter continues: But it appears that the Department of Finance came to
that meeting with a ready-made Bill to take over Anglo Irish Bank. According
to Mr Lenihan: The only legislation before the Taoiseach and I on that
evening was a Bill which, in all material terms, is the same as the Bill before
the House today ie, the Bill to nationalise Anglo Irish Bank.
So there WAS documentation on that night when we are told by the Taoiseach
that he and his minister and civil servants were winging it. It was a Bill to
nationalise Anglo.
Very strange.
And heres what deputy Ned OKeeffe (FF) said about Anglo in the Dil on
Tuesday night: It has been a disgrace to Irish banking, to the Government
and to the Fianna Fil Party . . .
No wonder Brian is upset. Anglo broke the first rule of Fianna Fil never get
caught."

Who will win the spin and get

back in.?

Fine Gael have announced that they are

employing their own rival team of expensive
American P.R. spin doctors to counter
Fianna Fails Purveyors of Press Patronage;
Propaganda Policies;and Plausible Denial
Postings, in the daily papers-all of which form
an important part of the war of words which
will determine who gets to drive a Car with a
Star after the next election,be they Soldiers
of Destiny or Rainbow Warriors?
xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /

The incumbent government are always best

placed to win.Their largesse to their camp
followers is always reciprocated at election
time.They will have the best treasure chest.

Besides retaining the services of a

top American Public Relations
Firm,who specialize in the
managing or massaging of
election campaigns; Fianna Fail
already use taxpayers money to
fund a secret army of Special
Advisers who strategically
disseminate misinformation to
counter bad news, deflect
attention from hard facts or
otherwise distract the electorate
from pondering too much on their
general, political incompetence,
wasteful spending, inefficiency,
corruption, cronyism,or whatever.
A team of benefactors, multi-millionaires,like
the corrupt Bailey Brother Builders,and so
forth replenish the election war chest ,for the
upcoming Fianna Fail, General Election
Campaign.
Gerry Hickey,Una Claffey,Gerry Howlin,Joe
Lennon,Mandy Johnson,are some of the

homegrown bunch of shadowy and influential

figures who inhabit this twilight world-all of
whom command massive salaries and
expenses,while carrying out their covert
campaigns.
One,Monica Leech, is an uncertain entrant
into the packas we go to press.
These people are paid to deceive the public.
Their task is to issue misleading press
releases which contain as little as possible of
the truth.Ministerial cockups, incompetent
administration,and the overt favouritism of
party cronies in awarding contracts and
jobs has to be kept as low profile as possible.
An example of their brief would be FIANNA
FAIL's version of history for the party's 80th
anniversary celebrations. They
have airbrushed every embarrassment and
black sheep from the official record.
In a display of "mature recollection" on a
grand scale, some of the worst episodes in
FF's 55 years in power have disappeared
from the balance sheet.
A single paragraph in the FF history on the
era of Charles J Haughey suggests that he
"improved" the economy as Taoiseach, even
though he pump-primed inflation through
reckless spending and presided over our
worst-ever unemployment crisis.
Neither does this history acknowledge the
ruinous "Economic War" with Britain which
Eamon de Valera pursued during the 1930s,

nor his execution during the years of the

Second World War of IRA prisoners who
formerly shared his thinking.
The 1970 Arms Crisis is not mentioned in the
"approved" history, which Minister Brian
Lenihan will deliver at a celebratory evening
in Dublin's Mansion House next Sunday.
Charles Haughey, Minister for Finance, and
Neil Blaney, Minister for Agriculture and
Fisheries, were sacked by party leader and
Taoiseach Jack Lynch over their suspected
involvement in illegal arms smuggling. A third
minister, Kevin Boland, resigned in protest at
the dismissals.
But the history of the party declares: "The
Lynch era was a time of considerable
challenges. In 1969, the troubles engulfed
Northern Ireland, but Lynch guided the
country through these difficult days and
ensured unity by peaceful means remained
for Fianna Fail the only way forward."
The account of the Haughey era does not
mention the many heaves within the party
against its most divisive leader of all time. It
does not mention the disastrous split, the
resulting formation of the Progressive
Democrats or the humiliation of coalition with
the PDs. The official history says Mr Haughey
in 1979 "inherited a country whose economy
was being badly hampered by the effects of
the oil crisis" - even though the oil crisis
happened six years before.
Moving quickly through shambolic

administrations that saw 21pc inflation, a

65pc tax rate on workers and a quarter of a
million unemployed the history blandly
records electoral outcomes.
There is no trace of the background bad news
to Haughey's first two Governments, the
grubby Gregory deal to secure power, or the
GUBU episodes.
Instead the history brightly glosses over it all.
There are no mentions of the tribunals, nor of
Mr Haughey's lavish receipt of gigantic cash
gifts while in office, nor the fact that he had
to admit telling lies to Mr Justice Brian
McCracken.
Nor is there any reference to Brian Lenihan
snr's calamitous loss of the office of President
in 1990. Similar bungling in the Albert
Reynolds administration that led to the
collapse of his Government with Labour over
the failure to extradite a paedophile priest is
passed over.
(Irish Independent)
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Access Denied.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Freedom of Information - Government failing

to live up to pledges (Article in Examiner
January 2006)
"THE insidious erosion of the publics basic
right to information is one of the more cynical

faces of the current administration. Motivated

by a culture of secrecy that would not be out
of place in the Orwellian world of Big Brother,
this Government ranks as the least
accountable ever to hold sway in Ireland.
The Coalitions blatant disregard for basic
principles of openness and transparency is
reflected in the increasing exclusion of public
bodies from the remit of the Freedom of
Information (FoI) Act.
As revealed in this newspaper yesterday, the
latest example of its shoddy denial of
peoples right to know involves the Health
and Safety Authority (HSA) which until
recently was open to FoI queries.
Inexplicably, the lid has been tightly clamped
on its work, removing its investigative
activities from the public gaze. At a stroke,
workers have been deprived the right of
access to information about their accidents.
This means, for instance, that where
documents relating to HSA investigations of
workplace accidents are concerned, a worker
seeking compensation for injury will in future
be denied easy access to them. Instead, the
injured party faces the daunting prospect of
having to go through a costly legal process in
order to ascertain the relevant information.
Rightly or wrongly, a cynic could be forgiven
for perceiving the hand of powerful elements

with strong political associations behind this

mysterious departure.
Rather than giving people greater access to
what is going on behind the closed doors in
the corridors of power, the shutters are
coming down. Clearly, in the HSA case, the
FoI process has been turned on its head. The
question is, who is being protected?
Undoubtedly, the latest change militates
against the rights of vulnerable individuals.
And, arguably, it is manifestly to the benefit
of powerful factions with deep pockets.
Not before time, an Oireachtas committee
will next month scrutinise the gradual
strangling of the FoI process with a view to
making recommendations to the Government
about how the system should be improved.
But the committee members would be
unwise to hold their breath, judging by the
contemptuous attitude of faceless civil
servants towards Ombudsman Emily OReilly.
When she contacted officials at the
Department of Finance concerning the
surreptitious HSA change, about which she
had been kept in the dark, the Information
Commissioner was told it was up to her to
find out what was going on.
That speaks volumes about this
Governments arrogance towards the public.

Originally, when the FoI Act came into force

in 1997, more than 100 bodies or sensitive
divisions of Government departments were
excluded from its remit. Since then, 50 more
bodies and agencies have been brought into
the exclusion zone. An unflinching champion
of peoples right to information, Emily
OReilly has openly complained about the
exclusion of from public scrutiny. When
greater restrictions and higher charges were
attached to FoI queries, it was widely seen as
a deliberate attempt to make it more difficult
for the average person, and the media, to
access information on decisions which
influence peoples lives. As predicted, there
has since been a significant fall-off in the use
of FoI channels. Not only is the culture of
secrecy still operating, it is flourishing. By
any standard, the cynical denial of the
publics right to information makes a mockery
of Coalition pledges to bring greater
accountability and transparency to
governance. The growing exclusion of public
bodies from the FoI spotlight is a matter of
the gravest concern."
In March 2007 Information Commissioner
Emily O'Reilly released a report which said,
by and large, the FoI system is failing.
Using careful language, Ms O'Reilly described
her report as "mere suggestions designed to
increase the effectiveness of the FoI Act and
further benefit the public's right of access to

officialinformation".
Reading between the lines, though, she
seems to believe that the controversial and
deliberate changes to the 1997 FoI Act, made
by the Government and signed into law in
2003, have damaged our democracy, and
should be rolled back as soon as possible.
Two months ago, this newspaper examined in
detail the impact of those changes to FoI
introduced in 2003.
Ms O'Reilly has proposed that fees for
requests and appeals be either greatly
reduced or abolished, as they are seen to be
one of the main deterrents. She also
proposed that many of the 2003 changes be
rolled back or eliminated, particularly those
"relating to governmental records and the
definition of government".
The Information Commissioner has also said
that a sneaky change in the law in 2005,
which removed many health reports from
underthe scope of FoI, should be eliminated.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Ms
O'Reilly said: "I would suggest that as a
society, we should be seeking to encourage
greater levels of engagement with
'Government' by members of the public. The
figures show that since 2003, such
engagement has declined dramatically.
"Before the fees, a journalist could simply
rattle a request off from his desk, whereas
now the additional red tape of getting the fee
puts many of them off, as is proven in the

drop-off in requests," Ms O'Reilly said.

According to Ms O'Reilly, herself a former
journalist, the message of the amendments
has been that "people's FoI rights have been
severely curtailed; the exercising of those
rights has been made more difficult, and the
Government is now less enthusiastic about
FoI than hitherto".
In addition to the 2003 amendments, there
have been several law changes to exclude
agency reports which have, as a result of FoI,
caused significant embarrassment for the
Government.
But why is Freedom of Information so
important?
According to its advocates, FoI is the ability of
the citizens of a country to be able to
examine closely how their government and
their state agencies are working. Freedom of
Information has helped highlight instances of
abuse, corruption and wrongdoing.
This weekend, the Fianna Fail/Progressive
Democrats Government has said that there
will be no roll-back on FoI before the election.
However, as the people who introduced FoI
and as the people who are benefiting from
the restrictions on it, they would say that.
FoI has already caused this government
considerable embarrassment. Restrictions
introduced on it meant that many of the
Government's decisions from 1997-2002 did
not make it into the public arena. The
Government claimed it did not want

departmental officials being overworked

because of FoI, but in truth, FoI hurt the
Government too many times and it has done
its best to kill it off.
However, both Fine Gael and Labour have
pledged to the Sunday Independent that if
elected, they will roll back on the
controversial amendments to FoI.
Oisin Quinn, a barrister experienced in media
law and a candidate for Labour in the
upcoming election said that his party is fully
committed to rolling back on the 2003
changes in the law.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent, he
said: "It's unusual, and it's not an issue that
is coming up on the doorsteps. But we all are
silent victims of the changes. The Labour
Party ran a big campaign back in 2003
opposing the amendments. We need a robust
system of FoI to ensure government and the
administration of government improvesitself."
Fine Gael's Enda Kenny, leader of the
proposed alternative government, said that
he will roll back the 2003 amendments and
eliminate fees for FoI requests. This is a
significant commitment by Mr Kenny, but
only time will tell if he will stand by his words
if he makes it into government office.
The Department of Finance, which has overall
responsibility for Freedom of Information,
said: "Fees have been a feature of the FoI Act
since its introduction in 1997 and up-front
fees were introduced in 2003 to encourage a

greater appreciation of the work involved in

dealing with an FoI request."
Daniel McConnell(Sunday Independent)
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ParagraphTitleStart Curtains for Judge

Anderson,too? ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart

David Anderson .Incompetence on the bench.

THE MEDIA scored an important victory in the
High Court in February 2006 when Justice
Frank Clarke ruled that District Court Judge
David Anderson had been completely wrong
to make an order preventing the
identification of Church of Ireland rector of St
Cronans in Roscrea, Joseph Condell, who had
been charged with the possession of child
pornography. In the past the same DJ has
been involved in some interesting cases.
Certainly, Justice Clarke found little of merit
in Judge Andersons decision to prevent the
identification of the Roscrea rector. In
October 2003, Anderson had said his ruling
prohibiting publication of the mans identity
was final and could not be varied.
In the High Court challenge to Judge
Andersons gagging order, the media claimed

that the ruling was unconstitutional and

Justice Frank Clarke ruled that Judge
Anderson had been incorrect in each of the
reasons given by him in October 2003 for
refusing to lift the restrictions. Interestingly,
prior to the Condell case,Judge Anderson was
involved in another child porn case where
identifying the defendant was an issue. In
2003 Garda Darach Kennedy was charged
with possession of child pornography but the
president of the District Court, Peter
Smithwick, imposed an order prohibiting the
naming of the accused. The DPP sought to
have that order lifted when the casecame
before Judge Anderson for theserving of the
book of evidence butAnderson refused,
stating that the proper place to hear
submissions was on appeal. As with last
weeks case, objections were duly made by
the media leading to Judge Smithwick lifting
the order.
One of David Andersons more memorable
hearings resulted from the high profile antibin tax protests in
2003. During one such protest at a depot on
Collins Avenue, a Dublin City Council bin lorry
driver ran into one of the protesters, resulting
in a charge of dangerous driving. However, in
Court Judge Anderson had little sympathy for
the injured party Mooney had been carried
30-40 yards by driver John Cleggs lorry after
he climbed on to the front of the vehicle by
holding the windscreen wipers. Judge

Anderson, however, said the protester had

"got his just desserts" and asked if any
damage had been done to the windscreen
wipers on the lorry and if there was a criminal
charge in relation to any such damage. The
ruling resulted in the Dublin Campaign
Against Bin Tax criticising the "overtly
political" statements of the District Court
judge.
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart The dirt on "Freedom of

Information" ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

TEN years ago, Freedom of Information was

introduced to end Ireland's culture of secrecy
and to promote "open government".
However, since then, as a result of sneaky
amendments and last-minute law changes,
the system has been largely sabotaged, to
the point where it's not working.
Launched to much fanfare, and one of the
last achievements of John Bruton's Rainbow
government, the 1997 Freedom of
Information Act sought to "replace the culture
of secrecy within the public service with a
culture ofopenness."
But a Sunday Independent investigation now
shows that the system of Freedom of
Information (FoI) is not only failing but failing
badly. Applying for records under the
Government's much-vaunted commitment to

transparency and accountability has proved

expensive and frustrating, to the point where
fewer and fewer people are applying. It is
now more difficult and more expensive to get
information than ever before.
But why is FoI so important? Well, for
example in the last 12 months alone, FoI has
provided such big stories as the revelation
that health board inspectors recommended
against the registration of Leas Cross nursing
home; the annual breakdown of TDs'
expenses; many of the stories about MRSA;
annual schools league tables, to name but a
few. FoI also allows people access to reports
or documents pertaining to themselves,
which they did not have before.
Since its introduction in 1997, FOI quickly
became popular with journalists and many
members of the public, because it provided
previously unheard-of access to the workings
of government, both central and local, and
many state agencies. Many 'sexy yarns'
began to adorn the front pages of the
newspapers, and time and time again the
Government had to swallow hard as details of
its failings were there for all to see.
But eventually, obviously sick of being forced
by this new law to give out what was often
highly embarrassing and controversial
information, the Fianna Fail and Progressive
Democrat Government set about reeling back
the scope and impact of FoI.
In April 2003, new restrictive amendments

were squeezed by the Government through

Leinster House. Despite heavy criticism and
pressure from opposition parties, the then
finance minister, Charlie McCreevy, said that
the changes were necessary. There was talk
of legal challenges to the amendments at the
time, but it came to nothing.
Crucially, as part of new amendments fees
were introduced for the use of FoI. People
requesting information now had to pay 15 in
advance for non-personal information.
Internal and external appeals of a decision on
such a request cost 75 and 150.Medical
card holders are given discounted rates.
Also introduced in the 2003 amendments was
a series of non-disclosure clauses, which
allowed huge tracts of information to be kept
from entering the public domain. Among
these was Section 53 of the 1998 Education
Act, which prevents the release of
information that would facilitate the
compilation of league tables on schools'
performance. A five-year moratorium is also
imposed on draft strategy statements and
ministerial directions emanating from
Government departments. The immunity
from disclosure of these decisions has been
vigorously opposed by the Ombudsman and
Information Commissioner, Emily O'Reilly. She
said that her recommendations on the
provisions had been broadly accepted by the
Dail committee, which then did an apparent
U-turn and supported ministers. Commenting

on the changes in the FoI legislation, a

spokeswoman for the Department of Finance
said: "In general, the fees were designed to
encourage a greater appreciation of the cost
of administering the FoI Act by public bodies.
The average cost of processing a single FoI
request has been estimated at 420. The
fees were not considered to be a deterrent to
responsible use of the act."
However, it is now widely acknowledged that
the introduction of fees has caused the
number of applications to plummet. In 2002,
the last full year without fees, 7,936 requests
were made, compared to just over 3,000 in
2005.
The Information Commissioner has said that
the most worrying aspect of this is the fall-off
in requests from journalists. Ms O'Reilly told a
conference before Christmas that in 2002,
before fees were introduced there were 2,103
requests from journalists, compared to 963 in
2005.
O'Reilly said: "I would suggest that as a
society we should be seeking to encourage
greater levels of engagement with
'government' by members of the public. The
figures show that since 2003 such
engagement has declined dramatically.
"Before the fees, a journalist could simply
rattle a request off from his desk, whereas
now the additional red tape of getting the fee
puts many of them off, as is proven in the
drop-off in requests," Ms O'Reilly told the

Sunday Independent this weekend.

According to O'Reilly, herself a former
journalist, the message of the amendments
has been that "people's FoI rights have been
severely curtailed; the exercising of those
rights has been made more difficult, and the
Government is now less enthusiasticabout FoI
than hitherto". In addition to the 2003
amendments, there have been several law
changes to exclude agency reports which
have, as a result of FoI, caused significant
embarrassment for the Government.
One example of this came in the summer of
2005 when the dilapidated state of school
buildings in some parts of the country was a
hot political topic. The Health and Safety
Authority (HSA) sent in inspectors to a
number of schools to make sure that they
were safe workplaces for teachers. Their
findings - which the Sunday Independent
obtained under the Freedom of Information
Act - made headline news and embarrassed
the Department of Education. Not long
afterwards, in September 2005, the
Government quietly passed legislation which
ensured that those reports would never be
published again.
When in 2006 we again applied for the HSA's
inspection reports on schools, we were told
we couldn't have them. The legislation
resulted in the HSA's "investigative functions"
no longer falling within the remit of the FoI
Act. It put inspection reports on hospitals,

nursing homes and other public buildings out

of reach of the FoI too.
An email from the Department of Finance
(which has overall responsibility for FoI
matters) to the Sunday Independent said:
"The HSA was subject to FoI in full, but in
legislation passed last June . . . the Minister
for ET&E [Enterprise, Trade and Employment]
removed from FoI coverage the investigative
functions of the HSA - ie, inspection reports
on industrial etc, accidents/incidents . . .
previously available under FoI are now
excluded."
A Government spokeswoman said: "It is
understood that most of the FoI requests
received by the authority [HSA] prior to the
exemption related to incidents investigated
by the authority, a proportion of which were
stillunder investigation or proceeding to
prosecution at the time of the request. The
potential for such information to come into
the public domain at such a delicate time and
prior to possible prosecutions was likely to be
prejudicial to court proceedings."
However, while the reasons for removing the
reports from FoI may have some validity,
there is no doubt that the absence of such
reports is to the advantage of a Government
keen to limit the damage which such reports
cause it.
There are numerous other anomalies in how
the act is applied. The Health Service
Executive (HSE) recently decided, on foot of a

recommendation by the Ombudsman, to

publish inspection reports on nursing homes.
The Sunday Independent used the act to
apply for the reports on four nursing homes
that were at the centre of controversy late
last year. The homes had been told not to
admit any more patients. We wanted to get
the reports to find out why.
Our requests were forwarded by the HSE to
relevant area managers, who refused our
request but for different reasons.
The east coast area of the HSE said we
couldn't have the inspection reports because
there were "broader community interests" at
stake and releasing them could lead to "illinformed conjecture". Other areas said we
could not have the information because the
inspection process was still in train.
On another occasion, the Sunday
Independent sought inspection reports on
hostels for asylum seekers from the
Department of Justice. The department at
first refused to release the reports because
they were "commercially sensitive". Even
after the Information Commissioner granted
our appeal, the department initially refused;
this time because it was simply too much
work.
Emily O'Reilly has called for a full analysis to
gauge the impact of the amendments. She
said: "I think it is high time for the application
of FoI to be looked at. It's clear it is not
working as well as it should be . . . The

changes have been so negative that many of

them must now be reviewed, most of all the
issue of fees." O'Reilly has also called for An
Garda Siochana to be subject to FoI. In her
strongest attack on the Government's stance
on FoI, she said that of 26 Council of Europe
states, including former eastern bloc
countries such as war-torn Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Moldova, Ireland is the only
country to exclude police-related information
from being made public.
"It may be argued that An Garda Siochana is
currently undergoing major transformation
and this is not the right time to make it
amenable to the act. I would argue the
opposite: FoI, along with the Garda
Inspectorate and Garda Ombudsman
Commission, should be seen as contributing
to this overall transformation process."
The Government has said there is to be no
roll-back on FoI before the election.
Daniel McConnell (Irish Independent)
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Ahern caught strokingFreedom of information act under threat

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

March 2007
DEATH is the ultimate price a journalist can
pay in the line of duty. Persecution comes a
close second, and prosecution completes the
anti-media troika.

What connects all three is silence.

Or more specifically, such heavy-handed
measures are aimed at silencing any critical
media coverage, usually of national
governments with secrets to protect.
Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist
who reported fearlessly about official
corruption, paid the ultimate price.
Investigations
Renowned for her opposition to the Chechen
conflict and the Putin administration, she was
shot dead in the elevator of her apartment
building last October.
Politkovskaya's murder sparked international
outrage. So, too, did the imprisonment of
former New York Times investigative reporter
Judith Miller.
Two years ago Miller was jailed for contempt
of court after refusing to testify before a
grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA
operative's name.
Miller, who was part of a team that won a
Pulitzer Prize for writing about the dangers of
al-Qa'ida prior to the September 11 attacks
in America, was sentenced to jail because
she refused to identify a source.
She served 85 days in a federal jail, the
longest term served by a reporter in the
world's greatest democracy.
Now it is the turn of Irish journalists to join
the roll call of reporters who may be forced to
pay the price for reporting candidly on
governmental affairs.

The prospect of imprisonment (for refusing to

reveal their sources) awaits no less than
three journalists in a country that held the
coveted title of number one for press
freedom for four years.
Who knows how far Ireland's ranking will
plummet when the annual Reporters Without
Borders Worldwide Press Freedom Index is
next published?
It will be another few weeks before Geraldine
Kennedy, the editor of the Irish Times and
Colm Keena, its Public Affairs Correspondent,
discover what sanctions - including a possible
two-year prison term and fines of up to
300,000 - the High Court will hand down in
the duo's wrangle with the planning tribunal.
The journalists published confidential details
last year which revealed that Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern received payments from friends
and businessmen when he was Minister for
Finance in the early 1990s.
They refused to disclose their source and said
the documents they had received relating to
the story had been destroyed.
A clearly embarrassed Ahern fumed about
the "dirty and dishonest" nature of the leak.
Apparently, we were meant to forget about
the payments, but it's ok, as the justice
minister would say - we got the gist.
The Mahon Tribunal has itself received a
stunning High Court rebuke over its attempts
to enforce "a species of confidentiality it had
created unilaterally" when it sought to gag

Sunday Business Post reporter Barry O'Kelly

from publishing material it deemed
confidential.
It was accused by one judge of taking a
"blunderbuss" as its weapon of choice.
Blunderbuss is an appropriate phrase to
describe the recent arrest of Mick McCaffrey.
The former Evening Herald crime
correspondent is also facing a possible jail
term.
McCaffrey was arrested last week for
publishing extracts from a draft report into
the investigation of the garda handling of the
Dean Lyons case.
No individual or group in society is above the
law or entitled to immunity from prosecution.
Richard Nixon found this out during the
Watergate affair, and journalists and their
sources are no different.
But the arrest and imprisonment of
journalists is a vital barometer for the
political health of a nation.
Attacks on the press are instigated when
reporters seek to publish stories that are not
only in the public interest but are likely to
cause political discomfort through the candid
exposure of state corruption or ineptitude.
POLITICAL opposition to media conduct in
Ireland has been brewing for some time.
It reached a zenith following the coverage of
the death of former Fianna Fail TD Liam
Lawlor and a series of media reports that
scrutinised a panoply of government bungles.

When journalists reported stories gleaned

from details they had received as a result of
the Freedom of Information Act, the
Government filleted the legislation. When it
got uncomfortable about scrutiny of a range
of state scandals, the Government, which is
fighting a rearguard against decades of
corruption, sought to introduce a privacy bill.
The bill, an appalling piece of legislation, will
- if passed - sound the death knell for
investigative journalism.
It is a sad irony that the bravery of
investigative journalists, whose work on
corruption led to the establishment of
tribunals, has given birth to a privacy
monster.
Because it is corrupt politicians, their
business bankrollers and others with deep
pockets and dodgy pasts who stand to
benefit most its implementation.

Liam left nothing behind in the jurisdiction-except a

life insurance policy.!He cheated them all-in the
end-except the Grim Reaper. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 592877845 ParagraphStart 63608526

ParagraphTitleStart Liam Lawlor sprouts

wings.Defamation case abandoned.
ParagraphTitleEnd
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alt="http://webzoom.freewebs.com/removefiannafail/bornfree.mid"
width="85" height="30" InsertMediaEnd

Angels and me. By Liam Lawlor.

Angels have always been one of my favorite topics, as they
represent the good and true things in life.
Consider a few thoughts:
Angels are always among us.
A world without Angels would be a world without grace and
beauty. Angels have existed since the dawn of creation, in
every culture myth and tradition.
Angels are the guardians of our well being and serve as
inspiration to that which we should aspire to, in order to live a
life that is happy harmonious and fulfilling.
Angels have been expressed in art and written about through
the ages. Angel pictures has been a favorite for artists for
ages. The appearance of wings in many of the depiction's of
Angels, is merely to portray their flight between heaven and
earth... call it artistic license, but it serves as a reminder that
they are not of this earth plane.
. Angels maybe considered superior to humans, because they
know that their true essence is LOVE, where as humans have
forgotten that their divine hereditary is LOVE.
It is said there are nine choirs of Angels, the first being the
nearest to God and the last nearest to man: Seraphim,
Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities,
& Archangels and Angels the ones that work closest to
humans, most Angels have el in their name meaning of God.
The four most recognized of the Archangels are Michael,
Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel, each representing a season,
direction and element. Although there are differing opinions as
to their rank, names and station.Other prominent
angels,are:Bertie Ahern,Ray Burke,Martin Cullen,Frank
Dunlop.Jim Kennedy ,Larry Goodman,and so on.
Angels will always be necessary in the lives of men, as long as
people are of closed mind and hardness of heart, lacking
compassion, understanding, forgiveness, faith, love, and trust
to name but a few of the virtues that Angels have. I know this
to be true.I am now an angel.

Yours in cherubic fellowship,Liam Lawlor.

ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Rogues at the gates of paradise.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

I am reminded of a joke, about a bunch of knackers who died

suddenly (in a car crash as it happened) and went to join the
heavenly queue,hoping to gain admission. When they got to
the top of the long winding queue,and reached the Pearly
Gates, St Peter did not like the look of them at all, so he asked
them to wait there while he went inside and consulted with the
Man himself...
Ten minutes later,he returned,to allow them in, but the
knackers had scarpered.! ?" St Peter the Archangel,and
guardian of the gates of Paradise asked the person in the front
of the queue."Where did that gang of gypsies who were at the
head of the queue, go to.?
"They left,they have gone !" he replied."
"What do you mean they have gone" St Peter said."Gone
where"?. "Just as I said" the man replied, "They left about ten
minutes ago- as you can see,they took everything- the
gates..everything, is gone.!"
Following Liam's unexpected arrival there, expect the whole
place shortly rezoned for housing estates, shopping malls and
high rise apartment blocks.!

"Liam slipped in the Pearly gates,an hour before I got

word he had come over..."(God)
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ParagraphTitleStart Liams translator makes a

packet in irish courts. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

THE 'Sunday World' newspaper failed in feb 2007, in its bid to

have Ukrainian woman Julia Kushnir, who is suing the
newspaper for libel, lodge a sum of 30,000 in court as
security towards costs if her case fails.
Ms Kushnir survived the car crash in Moscow in which former
Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor died in October 2005.
A translator, Ms Kushnir has sued a number of newspapers as a
result of the reporting of the crash. The first case, alleging libel

against the 'Sunday World', will begin in the High Court on

February 21.
Ms Kushnir has claimed that she was libelled when it was
wrongly suggested that Mr Lawlor was in the company of a
teenage prostitute at the time of the accident. (But her name
was not even mentioned.?
)
She is to travel to Ireland for the hearing, along with character
witnesses from Tel Aviv, New York and Moscow.
Turning down the newspaper's application yesterday, Mr Justice
Michael Hanna said it was breathtaking that the 'Sunday World'
should wait until now to make the application.(Do they need
better lawyers..
)
He said it could have been made months ago.
Earier, counsel for the 'Sunday World', John Gordon, in applying
to secure costs against Ms Kushnir, said she had brought
proceedings relating to an article which appeared in the Dublin
edition of the newspaper on the tragic death of Liam Lawlor.
The article did not name Ms Kushnir and the story did not
appear in all editions of the 'Sunday World', he said. The
newspaper's solicitors had written to Ms Kushnir's side on
January 18 last, seeking security in the event she did not
succeed in her action.
The result, he said, was an extraordinary letter in which Ms
Kushnir's side asked if they had been spying after they made
the statement in a letter to the Kushnir side that the translator
had no assets within the EU.
Counsel said that the full costs of the Kushnir case would be in
the region of 90,000, allowing for a three-day trial. Ms
Kushnir, he said, was not an EU citizen despite living in Prague
for the last 15 years.
The mere fact of her being a resident of Prague did not exempt
her from providing security. For reasons of her own Ms Kushnir,
counsel said, chose not to give the court information that
might be helpful. Counsel for Ms Kushnir, Paul O'Higgins, said
Mr Gordon had cast the case as if Ms Kushnir in some arrogant
fashion had failed to answer questions.
Mr O'Higgins said a question was never asked about assets and
this application had been made when all the costs in the case
had been incurred. He contended it would be inappropriate to
grant the order.
The newspapers are fair game for every chancer in the world
-even the Ukranian translators it seems..
Ann O'Loughlin(Irish Independent)
ParagraphBodyEnd

ParagraphEnd 102416950 ParagraphStart 63935146

ParagraphTitleStart No State honours for a real

hero.! ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Why did the Taoiseach,Bart Ahern send

his aide-de-camp to Liam Lawlor's funeral
instead of James Gogarty's. ? Which of the
two men "did the State some service" ?
(An Taoiseach,s representation was made much of during the
ceremony, in fact it was announced from the pulpit, is if to
suggest ,that here was no villain..but a V.I.P., an honorable
man" etc). It would have been understandable, if Bertie Ahern
had wished to go to the funeral in a private capacity. They
were colleagues for many years. Lawlor was a personable
individual and his death was a personal tragedy for his family.
But it should not be forgotten that he betrayed the trust of the
country and demeaned politics.
He was jailed three times for frustrating the work the Flood and
Mahon tribunals. Such contemptible behaviour has been
costing the State a fortune, and it is an outrage that the
Taoiseach would degrade his office by sending an official
representative to the funeral.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 63935146 ParagraphStart 247754822

ParagraphTitleStart The original plan outlined..but

Liam was too smart for the posse.. and then God
intervened.. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
Lawlor's millions face seizure in major CAB probe
STEPHEN COLLINS POLITICAL EDITOR
Liam Lawlor is the first political figure to come under scrutiny of
CAB, which has the power to seize illegally acquired assets
THE Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has begun an investigation into
the source of Liam Lawlor's wealth, The Sunday Tribune has learned.
Lawlor is the first political figure to come under scrutiny by CAB
which has the power to seize illegally acquired assets.

Senior CAB officers attended the planning tribunal during the week
after the disclosure that Lawlor was involved in money laundering.
The tribunal heard how a money laundering investigation by Ulster
Bank led to the tribunal discovering the existence of Lawlor's
offshore bank account in Liechtenstein.
Tribunal lawyers revealed that the operation came to light when
Ulster Bank spotted a fake transaction organised by Lawlor which
involved a 50,000 foreign lodgement to the account of a local taxi
driver.
Tribunal lawyers also expressed their belief that Lawlor holds
millions of euro in offshore accounts.
Following the revelations, the head of CAB, chief superintendent
Felix McKenna, sent some of his officers to the tribunal to begin
collecting evidence for an investigation into the former Fianna Fil
TD's wealth.
CAB, which last year seized assets worth more than 30m, conducted
a successful operation against another key planning tribunal
witness, former assistant Dublin city manager, George Redmond.
He was detained at Dublin airport on his return from the Isle of Man
with a suitcase containing over 150,000.
CAB would have difficulty seizing any funds held by Lawlor in
offshore accounts, but he still owns a valuable property on almost
20 acres of land at Somerton House near Lucan.
This property is believed to be worth between 15m and 20m.
The planning tribunal and Lawlor's own lawyers have already sought
to recoup fees from Lawlor by seeking judgements against
Somerton. Justice Feargus Flood initiated three separate sets of
proceedings to recover money from the property beginning back in
October 2000.
The tribunal case to force the sale of land at Somerton to realise
430,000 owed to it in legal fees came before the Master of the High
Court last Friday.
A decision was adjourned until October. The taxing master has
already made a judgement against Lawlor for 630,000 in an action
taken against him for non-payment of fees by his own lawyers.
The former TD claims he has no money to pay his various debts but
the tribunal does not believe him. The Revenue Commissioners are

also interested in Lawlor. Tax officials were among the throng who
attended the hearings in Dublin Castle last week to listen to the
latest revelations.
Lawlor has done three stints in jail for failing to cooperate with the
tribunal and is likely to face another term as the tribunal chairman,
Judge Alan Mahon has accused him of telling lies in the course of his
evidence.
The CAB investigation is the most serious threat to Lawlor's future at
this stage. The bureau had its most successful year in 2002, seizing
more assets than it had done in the previous five years of its
existence.
CAB was established as one of the central planks of the drive to
crack down on organised crime in the wake of Veronica Guerin's
murder. Ironically, Lawlor, as a TD at the time, voted in the Dil in
favour of establishing the bureau.
Lawlor's associates, solicitor John Caldwell and gaming arcade
owner, Jim Kennedy, have fled the country since the planning
tribunal began its investigations and while there has been repeated
speculation that Lawlor would do the same, he has stood his ground
to date.
July 20, 2003
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 247754822 ParagraphStart 71389980

ParagraphTitleStart Small time angels and liars or

just greedy pigs with wings.? ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Cyril Gallagher, another crooked Fianna

Fil councillor, denied that he had an account with An Post
when interviewed by the tribunal in 1999. He also denied any
knowledge of corrupt payments on the council.
Lobbyist Frank Dunlop has claimed he paid Mr Gallagher
1,000 for his vote on the rezoning of lands at Ballycullen in
south Dublin in October 1992.
After Mr Gallagher died in March 2000, it emerged that he did

indeed have an An Post account, containing 60,603.

Emma Dalton, barrister, for the Mahon tribunal,(february
2006) said that there was no explanation for eight lodgements
to the account between September a

Regeneration-Fianna Fail style.! ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart
By Fergus Finlay
I WANT to tell you about drive-by poverty. Its a new solution to the
problem of poverty, a way of hiding it away so it doesnt become
visible. That way, you see, we dont have to worry about it.
But first I want to tell you about Brian. He was an accident. When
he was born, the fourth in his family, the youngest of his older
brothers was 16. And already, that older brother was in trouble with
the law. Brians father was a real tough guy who is serving time right
now. His mother dealt with depression by drinking and she became
more and more distant from Brian as he grew up.
In fact, he has only one memory of his mother. He found her dead in
her bed, with deep cuts in her wrists and blood everywhere. It was
Brian who had to call for help, but not before he had shouted and
cursed at his mother in an attempt to wake her up.
Brian was four then. Hes 11 now. Hes been in and out of care a few
times and lived sometimes with an aunt who has six children of her
own, children she has a lot of difficulty coping with.
At the age of 11, Brian has been expelled from two schools and
there is no denying his behaviour is very difficult. He uses foul
language, he hits out easily and he has been known to bite other
kids. To this day he believes his mothers death was his fault. He has
sometimes wondered aloud what he did wrong to make her kill
herself.
At other times he wonders if he could, even at the end, have saved
her if he had done something apart from trying to wake her up by
shouting at her.
The memory of those slashes on her wrist, slashes that he believes
he helped to put there, has never left him. And often he hates his
mother for leaving him. The anger at being left alone may be part of
the reason he lashes out so much.
Brians story is entirely true, although Ive changed his name for
obvious reasons. He is one of thousands of children in Ireland whose
lives have been shaped by the circumstances in which they were
born and raised. All these circumstances have one thing in common
poverty.

Poverty never necessarily involves the loss of love and care, or even
the support of a family or neighbours. Indeed the poverty many of
us remember represented little more than hard times, the absence
of certain comforts.
Thousands and thousands of children grow through poverty like that
to become well-adjusted adults and to make their way in the world.
There is another kind of poverty. When a child has little or nothing,
when he or she is knocked around by life, that can be pretty bad.
When poverty has also inflicted other stresses and strains on his or
her family, thats worse. And when that family is part of a
community that is itself marginalised and alienated, thats when
poverty acts like a wasting disease, destroying lives little by little.
I could reel you off a list of placenames and youd recognise them
immediately as the communities Im talking about.
When you visit them (and not a lot of people do) you realise that
those communities nearly all have a couple of things in common.
First, in many cases disadvantage is built into them. They lack many
of the basic amenities the rest of us take for granted a safe place
to play, for instance, or decently heated and dry houses.
I was in a community in Dublin the other day that was built more
than 30 years ago several thousand houses, in row after row, and
not one single solitary tree.
Secondly, all those communities carry a certain stigma, so that to
reveal that you come from one of them is itself a serious obstacle to
being accepted in a better job or even a better school.
And thirdly, many of them now are ringed by fine roads, dual
carriageways and even motorways. Weve almost invented this new
concept in Ireland drive-by poverty.
Several of the most disadvantaged communities in Ireland are
visible from the M50, or easily accessible from it. But its now
possible to turn a blind eye to the places where poverty is most
embedded, especially in urban Ireland, at 60km/h to 80 km/h an
hour, without the risk of incurring penalty points.
And thats what we do. Thats why, when a number of regeneration
schemes in Dublin appeared to collapse last week, there was no
national outcry, no instant demand for solutions. The communities
affected may be in terrible pain, but theyre invisible.
Im not interested in assigning blame for the collapse of the

regeneration projects. They were set up on the basis of public/

private partnerships (PPPs) and its a central requirement of all such
arrangements that there must be reward as well as risk for the
private element of the partnership.
If the financial risk appears to outweigh the reward, no private
sector investment is capable of being sustained.
Were not going to do anyone a favour by driving a developer into a
financial disaster. But if the PPP question had been about, say,
completing the M50 or the new childrens hospital, or the building of
a new port for Dublin, and it had been abandoned halfway through
any of those projects, there would have been an enormous amount
of pressure on the Government to come up with a solution.
In the case of these invisible communities, who cares? Dublin City
Council wants to go ahead with regeneration, but it has been
categorically told that unless it can raise the money themselves, the
public purse is closed to it.
In those communities, and others around Ireland where social and
economic investment is desperately needed, children put up with
hunger, bullying, violence and anxiety as part of their daily routine.
THEY live in substandard houses and are exposed to the dangers of
drug and alcohol abuse. They have a variety of overlapping needs,
ranging from the environment in which they live to difficult family
relationships, poverty and poor health. The disadvantage that
surrounds them in their neighbourhoods is the main trigger that
hinders their development and virtually guarantees a repeat of
the cycle.
There is an answer to all this and it lies in the investment that can
contribute to early childhood development, better support for
families and a renewed sense of neighbourhood. Those answers will
never be delivered to invisible communities.
Brian, by the way, is getting a lot of support right now. Those who
are working with him, who see him as a bright, sparky, troubled
child, dont believe the damage done to him is irretrievable.
Itll be a long road, but there is every reason to believe Brian will
make it. Hes working, and achieving, in school and he is building
tentative friendships with kids who used to be afraid of him.
No one can be certain hell be all right though because help arrived
late in the day. Thats another of the consequences of invisible
poverty, the drive-by kind
ParagraphBodyEnd

ParagraphEnd 204718412 ParagraphStart 286852597

ParagraphTitleStart Wanton waste makes woeful

want. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

The Celtic tiger years were characterised by huge sums of money

being poured down a black hole on wasteful and misbegotten
projects. Here are ten of the best
Sunday, November 23, 2008 By Jennifer OConnell
Ireland has had an exceptional few years.We have enjoyed over a
decade of rapid economic growth, social progress, infrastructural
development and an improved standard of living.What makes this
all the more exceptional is that it was achieved without the help of
brilliant leadership or particularly innovative policies.Ryanair boss
Michael OLeary said last week that history would prove Bertie
Ahern to have been a useless wastrel who squandered the
wealth of a generation. You could be forgiven for dismissing this as
just more populist rhetoric by the maverick multi-billionaire airline
boss. But you may want to take a look at the evidence first.
In normal circumstances, the rule is: no top ten lists before the first
weekend in December. But since the fairy lights on the Christmas
tree on OConnell Street have been ratcheting up the city councils
electricity bill for several weeks already, I find myself in an
unusually festive mood. So here is my own personal Christmas top
ten: the Lost Billions hitlist.
It could have been longer, but its still early days to quantify things
like the eventual cost of the lack of planning of the Dublin commuter
belt, the cost/ convictions ratio that will ultimately be delivered by
the tribunals, and the long-term impact of the governments
continued support for the collapsing building industry. Other things,
like the integrated ticketing system for Dublin transport, which is
running four years and 20 million over budget, didnt make the cut
either. Maybe next year.
(This list is best enjoyed with a glass of mulled wine as you hum
Where did you go to, my lolly? to the tune of the old Peter
Sarstedt ballad. Actually, make mine a brandy.)
1. National Aquatic Centre
With a price tag of 62 million, its a drop in the deep end beside the
proposed IR550 million Bertie Bowl - and it did at least get built.
But its labyrinthine catalogue of difficulties has made it a more

fitting monument to Celtic tiger Ireland than its creators might ever
have imagined. Seven months after it opened its doors, its roof blew
off. But that was only the beginning of its troubles. It has been the
subject of several prolonged court battles involving disputes over its
lease, outstanding Vat payments, management issues and even its
ownership.
Now back in the news again because the former operator, Dublin
Waterworld, is to sue the builder, Bam Contractors, for loss of
earnings. Still keeping up? No? Well, youre not alone - with the
exception of Labours Joan Burton, neither is any of the Opposition,
which is probably why the government hasnt been called to
account for such spectacular mismanagement of public money.
2. Electronic voting
The useless e-voting machines cost 51.3 million to develop equivalent to a cervical cancer vaccine for every 12-year-old girl in
the country for at least the next five years. And they are the gift that
keeps on giving, at least for those paid to store them for the last
four years. The average annual expenditure on storage from 2004 to
2007 was 637,000. However, now that they are safely ensconced
in the army barracks (a move which resulted in a transportation bill
of over 300,000), the cost should drop to a more palatable
260,000.
3. Decentralisation
Fine Gaels Richard Bruton estimates that 27.5 million has so far
been wasted on the scheme to relocate 11,000 civil servants, which
has now been deferred for another three years. So its not just a
waste of taxpayers money - its also a major headache for the
several hundred civil servants who have already relocated as part of
advance parties in the expectation that the rest of their office
would follow, and will now probably have to turn around and head
back to Dublin. How much is that going to cost in compensation?
4. PPARS payroll system
The electronic payments system for the HSE cost 150 million and
was so revolutionary that only four people knew how to use it.
5. Bertie Aherns new Molesworth Street office
The bill for the three-week cleaning, furnishing and general tarting
up of the ex-taoiseachs office this summer was 220,000,or around
10,000 per day. No mean achievement for a man who prides
himself on his appreciation of the simple things in life.
6. Helicoptergate
Of course, 18.7 million is peanuts compared to some of the more
spectacular examples of squandering taxpayers money, but the
sale of four Irish defence force helicopters to a US company for just

300,000, after which they were repaired and sold onto the Chilean
navy for nearly 19 million, must rank among the most
gobsmackingly stupid wastes of public finances.
The government claims that it made more economic sense to sell on
rather than repair the helicopters, which were totally unsuitable for
troop transport, but military analysts question why they were
bought at all if they really are little more than airborne limousines.
Still, at least they made more for the state than the retired Nissan
army jeeps - which were sold for 1 cent each.
7. Pulse
The 61 million Pulse computer system was launched on
unsuspecting gardai in 1999. Six years later, many members of the
force had become so frustrated with constant breakdowns in the
system that theyd resorted to using pencil and paper.
8. Luas
The shiny, thrusting, testosterone-fuelled symbol of an Ireland in the
throes of a midlife crisis was originally projected to cost 288
million, but the final budget came in at closer to 800 million. Work
only started in earnest around the date it was supposed to open,
and in the end, the small matter of bringing the green line across
the Liffey to meet the red line never happened.
9. Residential Institutions Redress Board
An expensive deal struck behind closed doors between the state
and the religious orders in 2002 decided that we, the taxpayers,
would pay all but 128millionof compensation claims by victims of
clerical abuse. The government claimed it believed those claims
would not be more than 250 million.
They now seem set to top 1.1 billion. You might think the Church
had got off lightly, but it was revealed earlier this year that it has
been slow to deliver on its part of the deal - it still owes us almost
36million in property, the value of which is falling by the day.
10. Ballymun Regeneration Project
Its a worthwhile project for an area in dire need of regeneration, but
at 942 million - around 500 million over budget - and at least six
years behind schedule, someone wasnt doing their sums.
As you contemplate the roughly 3.2 billion sized hole these
projects have left us in our public finances and what they delivered a disjointed rail system in Dublin, a leaking swimming pool in Dublin,
the partial regeneration of Ballymun in Dublin, and quite a few
expensive computer programmes - ask yourself this: who has been
held accountable?

Who has been fired? Then remember who gave these people their
jobs in the first place, and who can take them away.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 286852597 ParagraphStart 272940535

ParagraphTitleStart Now a profile of how rich

Fianna Fail have made one pay-no-tax property
speculator. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
Mr McNamaraMcNamara

updates banks on his financial position

Sunday, October 26, 2008 By Ian Kehoe Property developer
Bernard McNamara has written to a number of his lender banks
in light of the ongoing downturn in the property market.The
letters, known in the banking industry as framework documents,
provide an update on the developers financial position.The
letters, sent late last week by McNamaras finance director, are
being seen as a statement of McNamaras commitment to work
through the difficult trading environment, and are expected to
lead to discussions with banks about his borrowings.McNamara
has banking relationships with several lenders, including AIB,
Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank and Bank of Scotland
(Ireland). While the exact extent of his total borrowings is not
known, it stretches into the hundreds of millions of euro.?
xml:namespace prefix = o /
McNamara has been involved in several of the biggest
development site purchases of the property boom, and
has also won several major construction contracts. The
letters may trigger discussions between the Clare
businessman and his banks about future funding.
Banking sources said framework documents were
becoming increasingly commonplace in the current
climate.
McNamara acquired the Burlington Hotel in Dublin 2006
for 288 million Euro development as part of a joint
venture with Bank of Scotland (Ireland). He also bought
the nearby Allianz building for more than 100 million

Euros. In May, he received planning permission for a 1

billion Euro development on the site.(Sunday Business
Post)
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 272940535 ParagraphStart 204978483

ParagraphTitleStart Public scam-Private Profit,

schemes. ParagraphTitleEnd

If the Fianna Fail connected coterie of

developers-like Mr McNamara -who have been constructing
jerry built apartments for the past decade, feel badly done
by when they are obliged by the Green Party to build decent
sized habitations, properly insulated etc. it stretches the
boundary of credulity that the reformed plans will make
them unviable.
The so-called PPS schemes (public private partnership) deals,
to which Fianna Fail are so addicted, because they postpone
(for ever) their having to use the peoples taxes to provide
services and infrastructure-will- in the years to come- prove
the greatest disaster that they ever inflicted on the irish
people.
Essentially the speculators will now own the nations family
silver. They will rent back to us taxpayers, our schools
,our toll roads, our public buildings, our private health
service, ad infinitum. Meanwhile Fianna Fail will enrich
themselves, their farmers and their obscenely wealthy
developers,with the current tax take, and generations
unborn will still be picking up the tab.
Even opportunistic Australian banks are queuing up to get in
on the scam.
Unbelievable. I will not be around when all the postponed
shit hits the fan-index linked pensions etc, but God help my
childrens children-unless of course they own a farm or have
a secure public service job.!
Ireland has effectively been pawn-brooked by that little
trickster Ahern, and no doubt his successor will continue his
rotten work. ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

ParagraphEnd 204978483 ParagraphStart 208726632

ParagraphTitleStart Goodbye Sniveller.!

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
By Eamonn Sweeney
Sunday Independent April 27 2008

I could never warm to Bertie Ahern. Or maybe it would be

more correct to say that I simply didn't get him. The
Taoiseach's appeal, like that of the novels of Michael
Ondaatje and the films of Arnold Schwarzenegger, seemed
absolutely mysterious. The charisma, warmth and intelligence
of the man, so obvious to the nation's political journalists, just
weren't apparent to me. I had come to wonder if this was a
fault in myself and if perhaps our emperor really was decked
out in a resplendent suit of new clothes.
Today, I don't feel so alone. Because, over the past year or so,
a great many people's feelings about Bertie Ahern have
progressed from affection through ambivalence to outright
antipathy. This is something Bertie brought upon himself. It
resulted not from what the Mahon tribunal revealed about the
Taoiseach but from what the man revealed about himself in
response.
It took just a little bit of pressure for the mask to come off and
reveal a Bertie very unlike the easy-going media cliche of yore.
When the heat came on, the Taoiseach resorted to three main
modes of address: the sneer, the snivel and the snarl.
The sneer has never been far from Bertie Ahern's lips, but this
tendency became more and more pronounced. His outrageous
statement likening those who complained about the state of
the Irish economy to the suicidally depressed was one
example; another was his dismissal ("pub talk") of the
possibility of an amnesty for Irish illegal immigrants in the
States. I wondered why the man had to be so mean. If he
didn't agree with Niall O'Dowdand his cohorts, fair enough, but
was there any need to rub their noses in it? Apparently, there
was.
The snarl got its big outing on the night of the general election
count when he stormed into the RTE studios and decided to
lambast the media for reporting on the financial irregularities
revealed by the tribunal. A bigger man might have regarded
the hour of victory as a time to be gracious, but Bertie
behaved as though the electorate had not just voted him back
into office but had voted the judiciary and the journalists out
of their jobs. Looking at it, you couldn't help feeling that there
must be worse to come in the tribunals if the Taoiseach still

felt the need to be scoring points. Who knows what would

have happened had he been contrite instead of
confrontational? It was a moment when he could have come
clean and survived. Instead, he behaved like a man spoiling
for a fight when that was the very last thing he wanted.
However, it was neither the sneer nor the snarl that defined
Bertie's final months in office, but the snivel, something at
which he proved himself a virtuoso, rendering himself pathetic
in a manner never approached by any previous Taoiseach.
The snivelling began with the infamous Brian
Dobson interview. Bertie might have opted to tackle this in the
manner of Roy Keane being quizzed by Tommy Gorman.
Instead, he opted for the Princess-Diana- meets-Martin-Bashir
approach. Generations yet unborn will cringe at the sight of a
grown man attempting to give the impression that he's on the
verge of tears. The Taoiseach did everything except put his
hand up to his eyes to check for moisture. This was how he
was going to play it.
There was a precedent for this kind of ignoble tomfoolery.
When Ray Burke first came under serious scrutiny for the way
he did business, the Dublin North man turned on the
waterworks in the Dail, bringing his dead father into it and
bravely rebutting allegations nobody had ever made against
him. The initial response from the political correspondents was
that Burke had saved his political life with a masterly
performance. They changed their minds when it became clear
that the public reaction to this oratorical tour de force was that
it would have made a dog laugh. The oul' gra mo chroi shite
didn't save Ray Burke.
It didn't save Bertie Ahern either. But the Dobson debacle set a
pattern for the way in which the Taoiseach would defend
himself against every allegation. He would, to be blunt about
it, hide behind women. It wasn't a particularly manly thing to
do and it committed Bertie to the snivel rather than the sneer
or the snarl, but presumably someone thought it was a tactical
masterstroke.
Initially, the Taoiseach sheltered behind his wife and
daughters. References to his marital difficulties almost seemed
designed to give the impression that he had been going round
with the begging bowl because his wife had skinned him in the
separation settlement. Perhaps it was an entirely accidental
outcome, but this was the excuse hinted at by many of the
Taoiseach's backers in the media when it looked as though our
hero might still spring free with one mighty bound.

It certainly won Bertie a lot of sympathy from the kind of selfpitying men obsessed with the cupidity of women who insist on
getting a few quid to look after themselves and their children.
One of the characteristics of these sorry souls is their
persistent demand for gratitude from the recipients of their
largesse. This could be called Look How Good I Am To You
Syndrome. He mightn't have meant it, but it was Bertie who
made his separation the stuff of public gossip.
There were more women to hide behind. He made the
suggestion that some of the money being called into question
had been left to him by his dead mother. When it emerged
thatCelia Larkin had been given 30,000 of what were
supposedly party funds to buy a house, Celia's elderly aunts
were deployed as human shields, with the suggestions that all
these inquiries were making life unbearable for the old
dears. Grainne Carruth was not the only person to be placed
between Bertie and trouble as he acted like a B-movie burglar
warning the coppers that if they come any close they would
end up shooting the innocent woman in front of him.
The problem was that Grainne Carruth moved out of the firing
line and, in doing so, gave the lawmen a clear shot at Big Bad
Bert. This was not how that encounter was supposed to play
out. I'd have a wild guess that Bertie may even have thought
that the questioning of his former secretary would be to the
tribunal's detriment. Look at what they did, his supporters
could say. They made a woman cry: finally, the tribunals have
gone too far. Let's wind them up and not ask any more
awkward questions.
Unfortunately, people tend to grow impatient with the Sniveller
and his perpetual cry of, "Look what they're after doing to
me." It wasn't the tribunal people blamed for Grainne
Carruth's tears, but Bertie. Our hero had sheltered behind one
woman too many.
There was a fascinating insight into how Bertie felt the
scenario should have played out in an excellent interview
by Aengus Fanning in this paper a few weeks back. You might
have thought that divesting the burdens of office would have
left Bertie free to move out of Sniveller mode. Not a bit of it.
He caterwauled on about the fact that Ms Carruth is a mother
of three, though why this information was in any way
germane, nobody knows. And he declared the questioning to
have been particularly unforgivable because it took place on
Holy Thursday . . .
It's not the first time Bertie has brought religion into an

argument, something which should give pause to those

deluded liberals who believed that the fact of the Taoiseach
being shacked up with his former secretary was some kind of
bold gesture against the hegemony of the Catholic Church
rather than a purely personal decision. Whether it was
sanctioning a deal that allowed the Church to escape paying its
fair share to the victims of institutional abuse or droning on
about his connections to All Hallows, Bertie was never slow to
wrap the papal flag around himself.
The most revealing part of the interview came when, after
Bertie had banged on about how sorry he felt for Grainne
Carruth, he was asked if he'd seen her since the ordeal. No, he
said, I haven't had the time. No? Really? Quelle surprise.
It's interesting how few people have sought to portray the
Taoiseach's downfall in a tragic light. (Except for himself. Do
you think all his ministers really did cry when they heard he
was resigning? It sounds to me like someone's been reading
too many of his daughter's books. Next, he'll be telling us he
cheered them up by bringing them shopping, cracking open a
few bottles of lambrusco and singing I Will Survive while
dancing around Mary Harney's handbag.) It wasn't tragedy but
farce: the whole caper was far too cheap to be tragedy.
That cheapness was most evident in Bertie's inability to depart
the scene with any modicum of dignity. Even Charlie
Haughey was able to summon up some form of gravitas when
he had to fall on his sword. By contrast, Bertie snivelled as he
went. You had the description of the tribunal as indulging in
"low life stuff." Better again, you had the unconscious comedy
of the Taoiseach wittering on about the fact that Grainne
Carruth was paid very little money. Well, old son, you were her
boss. Perhaps if you hadn't given Celia that thirty grand there
might have been a few bob to pay Grainne Carruth. It's just a
thought.
There was more. He affected to find great significance in the
fact that the act governing the conduct of tribunals was
actually "a British law". You almost expected him to
suggest MI5had put it on the statute books in the hope of
snaring an as yet unborn Taoiseach. This kind of childish
anglophobia was bad enough coming from Bertie's old mentor
CJH, but coming from a man who probably owed his reelection to the big deal his followers made out of his House of
Commons speech it was downright ungrateful.
The "British law", he explained, came from a time when the
little man couldn't get justice in this country. Good old Bertie,

leader of the country and still thinking of himself as a little

man. Because when you're a Sniveller, you'll always see
yourself as the underdog. And you'll reach for anything that
might protect you from your pursuers. It's not just that
famous suit that was yellow.
There were also complaints that Enda Kenny had been
insufficiently gracious in wishing Bertie all the best in the
future. Ungracious? Hang on a second and I'll give you
ungracious. Bertie only became leader of Fianna
Fail because Albert Reynolds resigned after inadvertently
misleading the Dail. In the light of his successor's behaviour,
it's questionable whether Albert should have resigned at all.
The Longford man had the unusual distinction for a Fianna Fail
leader of having perhaps been too scrupulous.
Soon afterwards, Albert sought the Fianna Fail presidential
nomination. Had he got it, he would have been elected to the
office and given a just reward for a decent, if truncated, time
as Taoiseach. Instead, Bertie and his allies shafted him and
gave the nomination toMary McAleese. Not a lot of grace
there, and not a lot of gratitude. Bertie will hope he is treated
a bit better by his own successor. He probably will be, because
there's no sign so far that Brian Cowen subscribes to the
particular Dublin Fianna Fail model of politics whose most
notable contemporary practitioners were Ray Burke in the
North, the late Liam Lawlor in the West and Bertie Ahern in the
centre. They were more than Charlie Haughey's supporters,
they were his disciples.
One positive aspect of the downfall is that we won't be
burdened further by the repetition of that Haughey quote
about his factotum being "the most cunning and the most
devious of them all". It was always a stupid quote anyway,
used as though it was to Bertie's credit when the abiding
lesson of the CJ era should have been that cunning and
deviousness are qualities Irish politics has been disfigured by
for too long.
In the end, it turned out not to be true. Confronted by the
tribunal, Bertie was neither cunning nor devious enough.
Instead, he looked sleazy, slippery, slimy and completely
incompetent. Day after day, the news told us that the
Taoiseach had endured a bad day at the tribunal as new
inconsistencies emerged in evidence. It was all a bit like
Whack A Mole, the game where the more you strike the titular
animals on the head with a mallet, the quicker others pop up
on different parts of the board. You almost wished Bertie would

have just one good day, one day when a witness turned up to
confirm that he had at least been telling the unvarnished truth
about something.
Even those of us who were sceptical about the Manchester digout story couldn't have imagined the bad turns the tribunal
would take for the Taoiseach. Anyone who'd suggested back
then that Bertie had probably sanctioned the handing over of
party money so his girlfriend could buy a house would have
been derided as the crudest kind of conspiracy theorist. When
all this started out, no-one could have imagined that Bertie
operated a private account in his constituency, imagined the
amounts of money involved or how blatantly ridiculous some
of his explanations would prove to be. And, let's face it, there's
probably worse to come.
It was striking how, as time went by, the Taoiseach didn't even
bother giving explanations for the money that was being
uncovered. Haughey, you felt sure, would have ducked and
dived a bit better. He'd certainly have shown a bit more fight.
Then again, for all his faults, Bertie's old mentor was not a
Sniveller.
The problem with Snivelling is that it puts you on the
defensive. The "look at what these terrible people are doing to
me" gambit only works as long as people feel sorry for you.
When the sympathy wears out, as it invariably does, noble
suffering begins to look like self pity.
The worst thing for Bertie is that his behaviour is going to look
a lot worse as we enter a recession. Because when everyone
was riding high on the hog it was easier to blink an eye at
politicians who put the paw out to developers and
businessmen. It will be different when recession bites.
One of the articles of faith of the right-wing economic creed
espoused by Bertie and his government is that people have to
look after themselves and not expect others to bail them out.
It is a noble thing, this code of sturdy self-reliance, and we
were assured after the last election that members of "the
Coping Classes" had kept Fianna Fail in power.
Which is an irony, because if there's one thing Bertie is not, it's
a member of the Coping Classes. Whatever story you believe,
one thing is indisputable. When Bertie ran into a few financial
problems he put the paw out and accepted donations left, right
and centre. Some of these people were allegedly his friends
and some of them were businessmen who simply liked giving
their money away for no reason. Bertie took it all. Even when
he had a great deal of money in the bank, he was still

collecting the loot.

This runs counter to everything modern Ireland is supposed to
be about. Because the Coping Classes are not a myth. They
exist and their core belief is that you pay your own way and
don't look for favours. They deserve better than to be
represented by politicians who have taken the exact opposite
attitude for most of their careers, people who don't pay their
way if they can get someone else to do it. To this class Bertie
belongs, to the political class that fastened their fangs into the
necks of their victims and sucked for dear life. It was a
miserable existence for a miserable bunch of bastards.
In reality, the taking of that money is itself a form of
corruption. For all the talk of Bertie's great empathy with the
plain people of Ireland, he wasn't one of them. Because if
property prices keep going down and unemployment continues
to rise, the plain people of Ireland will be on their own. There
will be no one handing us big sums of cash. That's how we live
our lives. That it's not how our Taoiseach lived his was his
shame and his downfall. He couldn't fool us forever. The plain
people of Ireland are not plain stupid.
As Bertie snivelled his way into imminent obscurity, he
declared that his great regret was not to have built a national
stadium. No, you heard him right. He's not losing any sleep
over the state of the health service, public transport or
education, he's miffed that he didn't get to build a white
elephant no one asked for and no one's felt the lack of since.
It's not surprising we don't have a contemporary equivalent of
Scrap Saturday. Bertie made satire redundant.
Goodbye Sniveller. And good riddance.

Curtains for judge Curtin? ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart

CURTAINS FOR JUDGE CURTIN?

Holy Ireland fell out with one of the legal

Profession also in 2004.

There was consternation in Leinster House.
While all of Berties ex-pals were learning to
be Barristers in Dublin Castle, (LIAM LAWLOR
etc)and joshing away entertaining the oldage pensioners who had time to spend at the
Corruption Tribunal in Dublin Castle-Bertie
and his boys he got very agitated about poor
old Judge Curtin,from Kerry, whose only crime
appeared to be that he was a Silver Surfer,
(as oldie internet addicts are described)-and
furthermore he liked his Pin-ups on the
young and pretty side.
Its not as if he had turned into a serial rapist
or anything. Heaven forbid! .He had been in a
relationship with a young girl friend by all
accounts. So was Frank Sinatra.
Ladies have their Toy-Boys nowadays
too.The world is a more liberal place. Girls in
gym slips are a common enough sexual
fantasy in the male psyche..Some punters
pay money to be whipped and punished by a
Dominatrix for some long forgotten
childhood mischief. Others even like to be
urinated upon! Or dress up in womens
clothes !.(Whatever you fancy yourself,as the
woman said when she kissed the cow)!
Maybe its time that Revenue opened up a
few legal and well supervised bordellos in
Leeson Street,with lap dancing and all
ancillary servicesWhy should shady Mafiosi
types make fortunes,when our taxes could be
reduced by a new and highly profitable semi-

state quango; perhaps titled An Bord

Bodiesor just plain Berties Bordello
Board.The police waste too much time
pursuing innocent entreprneurs. If selling sex
is legal in Amsterdam and tolerated in
Spain,England,Gran Canaria etc. etc. why not
in Ireland?.
Judge Curtain, appeared to have been tipped
off about the pending police raid.It would
seem that he used his professional wiles and
guiles to evade arraignment before his own
colleagues,and disgrace.There was
consternation in the Soldiers political camp.
Sheep shagging and land re-zoning,and
cheating the taxman are three of the most
popular pastimes in the Kerry Mountains,but
drooling over photographs of naked young
girls on the internet is a taboo taken very
seriously in a county where daily mass goers
are the norm rather than the exception.
Some farming folk who were interviewed by
the press gave their opinion as to what
should be done,and it appears that this
sinner will not be welcome at dinner parties,
in the environs of Kerry, Pedophilia is frowned
upon. Tough for the Judge.But at least he got
off on that wonderful little stratagem which
makes good barristers very wealthy,-its
called A Technicality. Bertie will no doubt
give him a few million and a big pension to
go away...maybe he will even resurface in
Bangcock or some other exotic holiday
destination for Frank Sinatras in judicial wigs.

Kerry mothers,you dont have to lock up your

daughters just yet-in my learned judgement.!

Shannon Airport; Fianna Fail help poison more

than the irish environment

Depleted uranium: A crime against humanity

and the environment .President Bush has let
us know how important it is for him to
maintain his physical fitness. During his
nearly five-week vacation - minus several
trips to shore up support for the war in Iraq he was determined to keep up his fitness
regimen on his 1,600-acre ranch outside
Crawford, Texas. And who better to assist the
president with his workout schedule than
Lance Armstrong, the recently retired seventime winner of the Tour de France, who went
on a 15- mile bicycle ride with Bush near

Crawford.
Bush is no doubt one of the most physically
fit presidents in history. However, cogitative
fitness ought to be an even higher priority
than physical conditioning for a president
who put the lives of U.S. servicemen and
women in harm's way when he decided to
invade Iraq. Nearly 1,900 U.S. troops have
died, thousands more have been horribly
wounded, tens of thousands of Iraqis have
been killed and nearly $300 billion spent as a
direct result of Bush's illfated decision to
invade Iraq. We expect the person who
occupies the office of the president of the
United States to be a cut above average as
far as his mental ability to make decisions, to
solve problems, to make policy, and to draw
logical inferences that make sense to us.
Without intending to be humorous, Bush once
said that his ''job is to think beyond the
immediate.'' That's pretty important for a
commander in chief. After all, the
responsibilities of leadership and
commandrequire not just the ability to think,
but to think deeply, and to act in terms of
long-range strategic consequences.

Speaking of ''thinking beyond the

immediate,'' I wonder how much time Bush

spends thinking about the issue of depleted

uranium, a substance that has a radioactive
half-life of some 2.5 billion years. The United
States has been using this terrible material in
its munitions since the first Gulf War, and
there is evidence that it has harmed and will
continue to harm the lives of U.S.
troops,radiation levels in downtown Baghdad
that are 1,000 to 1,900 times higher than
normal background radiation
levels.''According to a recent column by
Thomas Jefferson School of Law professor
Marjorie Cohn (''Bush and the Bomb,''
Truthout.org, Aug. 10), ''although less
spectacular and obvious than a mushroom
cloud, the United States has used nuclear
weapons - depleted uranium warheads - in
Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq. According
to Cohn, ''The United States is committing
ongoing crimes against humanity by its use
of depleted uranium.'' From an indigenous
perspective, the potential of depleted
uranium to make entire regions of the globe,
such as Iraq, virtually uninhabitable - along
with the fact that depleted uranium
contaminates the air, earth and water upon
which we all depend - means that the use of
depleted uranium by the United States
constitutes a crime not just against
humanity, but against the global
environment. In October 2003, Bush himself
stated: ''See, free nations are peaceful
nations. Free nations don't attack each other.

Free nations don't develop weapons of mass

destruction.''

Given the
United States' attack upon and invasion of
Iraq, and given the fact that the United
States has developed and used of weapons of
mass destruction such as depleted uranium based on Bush's own criteria, the United
States is far from a ''free nation.'' The United
States has expended some 1,000 tons of
depleted uranium in Afghanistan and some
3,000 tons of depleted uranium in Iraq during
this war. Radiation specialist and whistleblower Leuren Moret has said that ''since
1991, the U.S. has released the radioactive
equivalent of at least 400,000 Nagasaki
bombs into the global atmosphere.'' This
spewing of depleted uranium into the
environment cannot possibly make the
United States or any other part of the world
''free.'' Rather, it places the entire world in
the grip of a toxic, radioactive force that is
wreaking havoc on our beautiful planet.
Take, for example, Iraq. The radioactive
sands in Iraq blow across the landscape. U.S.
and other troops, and the Iraqi people,
breathe radioactive dust into their nasal
passages and lungs. Depleted uranium
thereby enters their bodies and attacks at a
molecular and genetic level. The result is a

greater likelihood of various forms of cancer,

organ disease and birth defects. Depleted
uranium is also sexually transmitted and, as
a result, depleted uranium attacks the
woman's reproductive system and the fetus
in the womb.Depleted uranium will continue
to create shock waves of health maladies for
generations to come. Just to give some idea
of the scale of the problem, in some studies,
of those U.S. troops who had healthy babies
before the first Gulf War, some 67 percent
had babies with birth defects after being in
the war. Every mother and father, and every
potential mother and father, ought to be
outraged over this wanton and senseless
destruction of life on Mother Earth. Yet where
is the outrage?
Speaking of mothers, Cindy Sheehan and
many other mothers and fathers of fallen U.S.
soldiers traveled to Crawford, Texas to
protest the war. Sheehan demanded a faceto-face meeting with Bush to ask him, ''For
what noble cause did my son Casey die?''
Bush refused to see her, claiming that an
earlier meeting with her would have to
suffice.
Steven Newcomb
Indian Country Today
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ParagraphTitleStart Iraq witnesses testifying at trial

of Shannon protestors speak to "Village" magazine.

ParagraphTitleEnd
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'Shoot first, ask questions later'

by William hederman
Thursday, November 10, 2005

Two of the international witnesses who testified for the

defence in the Ploughshares trial spoke to Village about US
activity in Iraq

"It was a gross error of judgement on the part

of the Irish Government to allow the
Americans to use Shannon, particularly in
regard to this act of aggression against the
people of Iraq at the beginning of 2003. This
invasion was never approved by the UN
security council.
"For the Irish Government, which has such a
good reputation in the UN, to support an
activity that is in violation of international law
is catastrophic for our standing in the world
community.
"Ireland speaks with a voice much larger than
its size. Our reputation in peacekeeping is
outstanding, and justifiably so. So our
Government is damaging all that, and they're
also imposing on us, the Irish people,
recognition that we have become
collaborators with Mr Bush and his regime of
war criminals. The Irish people don't want
that, they don't deserve that. Our
Government owes the people an apology, I
think they should resign en masse."
"Anybody who sat through the trial and heard
the testimony of the defendants could not fail

to understand their sincerity. In Nazi

Germany, if enough Germans had stood up
and taken on Hitler, while they might not
have won, they would be heroes. Well, these
five constitute heroes. They had the courage
to stand up and take on their Government.
"The next government will need to pay more
attention to the realities of life and not
expose the Irish to the responsibility for war
crimes and being collaborators.
"Shock and awe is no better, no worse than
suicide bombing in resistance, although you
could argue that resistance is legitimate
under the UN Charter (article 51), whereas
invasion of sovereign states is not legitimate.
So Mr Bush is a terrorist-plus.
"The Americans have destroyed Iraq, they've
shredded its society, its cultural wealth. The
child mortality rate has increased. That is a
remarkable indictment. If we'd left the Iraqi
people alone and had not imposed sanctions,
they would have overthrown Saddam Hussein
themselves. Sanctions helped to keep him in
power."
"Basically the US military's intelligence
reports painted the Iraqi citizen as a potential
terrorist, so we were given carte blanche to
shoot first and ask questions later, which
resulted in over 30 civilian deaths, over a
three-month time period, caused by my
platoon (a platoon is 45 marines; I was the

second-in-command). During the same

period we killed maybe four enemy
combatants.
"There was one particular incident near the
Baghdad Stadium. A red Kia car came into
our checkpoint, we gave the hand-and-arm
signal, telling the vehicle to stop; we fired a
warning shot. The vehicle did not stop. We
ended up discharging our weapons into the
vehicle. There were four passengers: three
were hit and were expiring rapidly. That
means dying. We ran over and started pulling
the bodies out and searching the vehicle for
weapons.
"The driver was miraculously unscathed and
he began to question my marines why we
had shot, because they weren't terrorists.
They were dressed in western clothes. They
weren't run-of-the-mill. They spoke good
English. One of the passengers was the
driver's brother. The driver approached me
and said, 'why did you kill my brother? We're
not terrorists.' At that point I had to make a
conscious decision whether what we were
doing was right or wrong. I felt that what we
were doing was a violation of the Geneva
Convention, that killing innocent civilians was
not what I went into Iraq to do. I felt like a
mercenary."
I honestly believed that Saddam had
weapons of mass destruction. I heard 11-anda-half years of propaganda about his

potential for making nuclear weapons while I

was in the military. But after I got into Iraq
and saw what the people and country were
like, I began to change my mind regarding
what we were doing there. Our primary
mission when we went in was to secure oil
fields. It wasn't a humanitarian mission or
helping to establish a democracy or anything
like that.
The first city I went into, Safwan, I expected
to see a Third World country. That's not what
I was met with. I was met with people
treating us as liberators, bringing us food and
tea. It reminded me of the old World War Two
movies of soldiers going into France."
"When you go through marine boot camp,
part of the process is to desensitise you to
violence. I have no qualms about meeting the
enemy on the battlefield and destroying him,
but when there's no enemy, what are you
doing there? What we were doing did not
have a noble cause. Ultimately I felt there
was very little resistance in Iraq and the
killing of these civilians at these checkpoints
only escalated the violence, because there
were witnesses. I knew that in the Muslim
culture, if you kill one of them, then they kill
100 of you. I was very critical of these civilian
deaths."
"What the Catholic Worker Five did was a
bold statement and a noble cause. Their

actions have helped to bring Ireland into the

spotlight in the rest of the world. Now Ireland
has to make a decision: are they pro-war or
anti-war? And ultimately Ireland's decision
might affect a terrorist campaign.
"I testified in court today that I killed innocent
civilians in Iraq, and I'm walking free from the
court, while those five people tried to stop us
and they face prison."
Jimmy Massey's book, Kill! Kill! Kill! has been
published in French by ditions Panama and
is available on amazon.com. No American
publisher has agreed to publish it. With the
proceeds, Massey is starting a post-traumatic
stress disorder fund for returning veterans
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ParagraphTitleStart "The soldiers are not dying for

the people-the people are dying for the soldiers"!
ParagraphTitleEnd
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According to Mark Herold, an American

professor who chronicled the death toll in
Afghanistan in the period from October 2001
to March 2002 - the time during which the US
bombed Afghanistan - there were over 3,000
civilian deaths as a result of the bombings
alone. Obviously, there have been thousands
of more deaths as a result of the ensuing war.
According to an organisation that keeps toll
of the mass murder in Iraq
(www.iraqbodycount.org), the number of
civilian fatalities there since George W Bush

announced on May 1, 2003 that major

combat operations have ended have been
30,260 up to March 1, 2006. The number of
civilian fatalities since then has been in the
region of 500, giving a total of almost 31,000.
The Lancet has estimated that a far higher
number of people, 100,000, have lost their
lives in Iraq because of the invasion, not all
directly because of the violence.Aside from
that, there has been mass murder on an
unimaginable scale going on in
Israel/Palestine year-on-year, now coupled
with mass murder in Lebanon. According to
the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the
number of people killed in Palestine/Israel in
the last six years is 4,157.If the killing of
2,000 is mass murder on an unimaginable
scale, what is the killing of over 4,000 in
Palestine/Israel, the killing of 31,000 or
100,000 in Iraq and the killing of 3,000
civilians in a few months in Afghanistan, as a
result of terror bombing by the US?In what
respect are these comparisons invalid? Do
Afghan, Palestinian, Lebanese and Iraqi lives
matter less than the lives of those likely to be
passengers on flights from London to
America? Is there something more morally
reprehensible in terrorists blowing
themselves and innocent people to bits on an
airliner, than in pilots at the controls of
secure aircraft unleashing bombs on innocent
people on the ground and blowing them to
bits? Or is the cause of America, Britain and

Israel just in a way that the cause of those

who are combating them is not?America,
Britain and Israel are engaged in a war, they
say, against terror and, in so engaging,
deploy far more terror than those against
whom they fight, or rather, against the
civilians in those countries that America,
Britain and Israel target. Is that just?America,
Britain and Israel are engaged in the
protection and maintenance of Israel, whose
very origins are soaked in injustice. Israel was
founded on the terrorising of the indigent
Arab population of Palestine, the banishment
of this population from their lands and their
expulsion to refugee camps around the
Middle East.This was instigated by Britain
and aided and abetted by the Americans.
This historic and monstrous injustice is at the
heart of all that is happening today in the
conflict between the West and, increasingly,
much of the Islamic world. Were it possible to
undo that injustice now in its entirety, that is
what should happen, but the passing of time
has made that impossible - or at least
impractical.But, at the very least, the historic
injustice should and must impel a settlement
that leans in the interests of the Palestinians:
that guarantees them a viable sovereign
state; that guarantees the right of the
refugees to return to their lands, or at least
fair and adequate compensation for the loss
of their lands; that frees Jerusalem with
Israeli control, perhaps replaced by some

kind of international suzerainty; that removes

all Israeli settlements from the West Bank;
that removes the iniquitous wall; that frees
all Palestinian prisoners; and that affords a
generous aid package from the international
community for the regeneration of Palestinian
territories.This, in return for an acceptance of
the Israeli state and an acquiescence in the
occupation of that part of Palestine that
formed the Israeli state prior to 1967.On its
own, that would defuse not just the ArabIsraeli problem, but would take some of the
heat out of the anger of Muslims throughout
the Middle East and Far East.Since
September 11, the US has made little effort
to understand the anger that caused that
atrocity in the first place, and, as a result,
done nothing to defuse that anger.Instead, it
has stoked that anger further by the lying
pretext on which it invaded a largely Islamic
state, Iraq.Then there was the brutal
bombing and (partial) subjugation of
Afghanistan, and now the support for Israeli
mass murder in Gaza and Lebanon.Even if,
for now, airplanes are not to be blown from
the skies and mass murder on an
unimaginable scale perpetrated, this will
happen sooner or later.The seeds of anger
have been sown amid the hundreds of
millions of Muslims around the world, from
whose communities there must be hundreds
of thousands of willing volunteers ready and
able to take the war to the new crusaders.

And for those who think we face a uniquely

evil phenomenon inspired by an implacable
warrior religion, let us remember that we
draw from the same religious source: the
Bible.sbpost@iol.ie
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ParagraphTitleStart www.DemocracyUprising.com
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Remembering Romero
With a White House that uses El Salvador as
a model for Iraq, we still have much to learn
from the assassination of Archbishop Romero
twenty-five years ago.
By Mark Engler
Published on March 18, 2005
Twenty-five years ago, on March 24, 1980,
Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot down
while celebrating Mass in San Salvador. In the
years before his murder, Romero had
emerged as an outspoken defender of the
Salvadoran poor, making him one of the bestknown embodiments of the liberation

theology that was infusing new life into the

Catholic Church in Latin America in the '70s
and '80s.
Today we would do well to remember Romero
as an example of moral courage in a time of
war. But his story is also significant because
El Salvador has repeatedly been used by the
current Bush administration as a parallel for
the situation in Iraq.
During El Salvador's long conflict, which
stretched from the late 1970s to 1992, the
country's government and its paramilitary
death squads murdered some 75,000
citizens. A 1993 U.N.-sponsored Truth
Commission confirmed that these forces
made a special point of attacking political
dissidents, trade unionists, religious
ministers, and human rights workers.
Romero was resolute in his response to this
situation. He insisted on the need to
"denounce the social structures that give rise
to and perpetuate the misery" of the people.
When his priests were targeted as part of the
official repression, Romero unflinchingly
stated, "I am glad that they have murdered
priests in this country, because it would be
very sad if in a country where they are
murdering the people so horrifically, there
were no priests among the victims.
The day before he was killed, Romero made a
"special appeal" in his Sunday sermon, in
which he called upon soldiers to "[obey] your
consciences rather than a sinful order." In

words broadcast by radio across the country,

he said, "I implore you, I beg you, I order you
in the name of God: Stop the repression."
Romero's pleas were directed not only at the
Salvadoran army, but also at the United
States.
Regrettably, the U.S. had a significant role in
supporting the government responsible for
rampant human rights abuses. Six weeks
before his death, Romero wrote to President
Jimmy Carter, warning that increased military
aid would "undoubtedly sharpen the injustice
and the repression inflicted on the organized
people, whose struggle has often been for
their most basic human rights." Carter, wary
of being tagged with "another Nicaragua,"
ignored the plea.
Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush
later sent hundreds of millions of dollars
worth of armaments, aid, and advisers. When
the Salvadoran regime put this support to
murderous use, officials like Elliott Abrams
built their careers by denying, obscuring, or
minimizing the harrowing abuses. (Today,
Abrams is the newly appointed deputy
national security adviser to the current
President Bush, responsible for coordinating
the administration's efforts to "advance
democracy" abroad.)
All this might be relegated to the annals of
Cold War history, except that, in past months,
officials including Vice President Dick Cheney
and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

have held up El Salvador as a model of

successful U.S. intervention, relevant to Iraq
and Afghanistan. They cite the early 1980s
Salvadoran elections the U.S. helped stage -neglecting to mention that these were farces
in which voting was mandatory and
opposition party members were targets for
repression. Moreover, the atrocity-laden
conflict continued for a decade afterward
before peace accords were adopted. That's
hardly a desirable route when mapped onto
the situation in Iraq.
More troubling still is what these references
reveal about the understanding of the Cold
War that now prevails in Washington and
beyond. Romero's martyrdom has done little
to alter conservatives' view that the Latin
American "dirty wars" were a matter, in the
words of The Weekly Standard, of
"totalitarianism vs. democracy -- the Soviet
bloc vs. the Free World." Hawks lambaste
anyone, from Romero to John Kerry, who
dared link uprisings in Central America with
"socioeconomic factors such as poverty."
As the Cold War itself is resurrected as a
model for the "war on terror," El Salvador's
guerillas become "terrorists," and U.S.
support for military governments is blanketed
over with Bush's rhetorical assertion that
"from the day of our founding" America has
pursued the "great objective of ending
tyranny."
In remembering Romero, our challenge is to

promote a new narrative of the Cold War that

provides a realistic assessment of America's
past actions and asserts that a true
commitment to freedom demands selfexamination. Until our country comes to
terms with its role in the history of El
Salvador's conflict, we will be condemned to
accept a vision of U.S. infallibility that neither
allows us to appreciate Archbishop Romero's
moral example, nor to ensure that events like
those that led to his murder will never be
repeated.
One of the web,s best sites..believe it.
www.DemocracyUprising.com
If it,s courage you respect check out;
http://www.freetalifahima.org/eng.php?
lang=en
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ParagraphTitleStart Jesuits in "El Salvador"...

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Remembering James McPolin SJ

Michael O'Sullivan's homily at the funeral of

James McPolin SJ (2005) R.I.P.by Michael

O'Sullivan SJ
About two years ago Jimmy said to me that
he felt most alive and of most use during the
years he was in El Salvador (1989-96)
despite the awful suffering among the people
and the deadly danger that shadowed his
own life. He went there straight after his
term as President of Milltown Institute (198389). He did so because of his commitment to
and companionship with the God whose love
makes the promotion of justice an absolute
requirement.
Jimmy had hardly arrived in the country
when six Jesuits, a woman (Elba Julia) and
her daughter (Celina), were murdered by an
army death squad at the Jesuit residence on
the grounds of the University of San
Salvador. The Jesuits were murdered because
of their commitment to the faith that does
justice; the women, who had taken refuge
with the Jesuits after their home had been
damaged by gunfire, were killed so as to
leave no witnesses. Jimmy could have been
among the dead that night, 16 November
1989, given that he had deferred accepting
an invitation to stay with the Jesuit
community at the University until he had
spent more time among the ordinary people.
(2) Afterwards his concern to see justice
done in the case of his dead Jesuit

companions and the two women was viewed

by him as a way also of promoting justice for
the people of the country. In a letter to
members of his family in Ireland in 1990 he
wrote: "The future of justice is obfuscated by
the fact that the trial of the soldiers for the
killings is being impeded by false evidence of
the military and by the collusion of the
American Embassy and Government."
You may be aware of the memorial bell on
the Milltown avenue in front of the Irish
School of Ecumenics building. It was put up
in honour of those who were killed that night.
One of the dead Jesuits, Amando Lopez, had
studied theology at Milltown, and was
ordained to the priesthood in this chapel. You
can see him in the 1965 ordination photo on
the corridor outside this chapel. Another of
the dead Jesuits, Ignacio Ellacuria, had done
part of his Jesuit formation in Dublin as an
ordained priest. The memorial bell will also
always be a reminder of the third president
of the Institute and the values that took him
to El Salvador at that time. Jimmy also
narrowly escaped death at a subsequent date
when he found himself under the table while
army bullets were sprayed around the room.
He was the pastor of San Antonio Abad
parish, where a predecessor, and several
young people on retreat, had been slain by
the army in 1979.
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ParagraphEnd 70902158 ParagraphStart 85786780

ParagraphTitleStart Bush-lost without Bertie.!

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Wednesday, 7th June, 2006

The Fianna Fail Government colluded in illegal
detention and alleged torture by failing to
investigate claims that Shannon Airport was
used for so-called rendition flights, an
international inquiry has found.
The Council of Europe's Parliamentary
Assembly headed by Swiss politician Dick
Marty found that Ireland was complicit by
accepting diplomatic assurances from the US
that Shannon was not used by covert CIA
planes for transferring the prisoners.
The report found that prisoners were illegally
captured and flown around North Africa and
Europe to centres of detention and
sometimes tortured.
Mr Marty said that an unspecified number of
people, "deemed to be members or
accomplices of terrorist movements, were
arbitrarily and unlawfully arrested and/or
detained and transported under the
supervision of services acting in the name, or
on behalf, of the American authorities".
"These incidents took place in airports and in
European airspace, and were made possible
either by seriously negligent monitoring or by

the more or less active participation of one or

more states".
"There has clearly been a critical deviation
away from notions of justice in the rendition
programme ... The absence of human rights
guarantees and the introduction of 'enhanced
interrogation techniques' have led ... to
detainees being subjected to torture."
Ireland colluded in this by invoking the
"principle of trust" when pushed to
investigate claims that US planes were using
Shannon to facilitate the transfer of
prisoners, the report found.
Today's report incorporated a Council of
Europe legal opinion which found that under
the Chicago Convention, states have were
obliged under international law to search
planes suspected of being involved in the
violation of human rights.
In the report's explanatory memorandum Mr
Marty says states "could be held responsible
for collusion - active or passive (in the sense
of having tolerated or having been negligent
in fulfilling the duty to supervise) - involving
secret detention and unlawful inter-state
transfers".
Mr Marty named 14 European countries,
including Ireland, which colluded in a "global
spider's web" of secret CIA prisons and
renditions.
Shannon is identified as a "stop-over point"
for flights on routes from Washington to
Rabat in Morocco, Egyptian capital, Cairo and

Larnaca in Cyprus.
Stop-overs were defined as: "points at which
aircraft land to refuel, mostly on the way
home [from rendition operations]".
Larnaca was categorised as a staging point
"where operations are often launched".
Rabat and Cairo were identified as a
"detainee transfer / drop-off point". These
were defined as" "places visited often, where
flights tend to stop for just short periods,
mostly far off the obvious route - either their
location is close to a site of a known
detention facility or a prima facie case can be
made to indicate a detention facility in their
vicinity)".
Amnesty International has alleged that
between September 2001 and September
2005, Shannon was used on 50 occasions by
CIA planes disguised as commercial airlines.
Washington has acknowledged the existence
of rendition flights but Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice issued public assurances
that Ireland was not involved.
The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the Minister
for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern accepted
these, saying there was therefore no need to
inspect suspect flights.
Mr Marty said the extent of public suspicions
"not only justify, but require that member
States finally decide to open serious inquiries
on the extent to which they were directly or
indirectly implicated."

The Return of Daniel Ortega

Despite Ortega's many flaws, the return of the Sandinistas to power
creates the possibility that his challenge to the "savage capitalism"
of the previous regime can genuinely benefit Nicaragua's poor.
By Mark Engler
If you listen to right-wing pundits and Republican officials, the return
to power of former revolutionary Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua is not
evidence of democracy in action but rather an invitation to
Communist tyranny, terrorism and even nuclear holocaust. It
appears that on November 5 Nicaraguans went to the polls and
committed the sin of selecting a leader not in favor with the White
House. With more than 60 percent of the votes now counted, Ortega
has won 39 percent, while his nearest rival, right-wing banker
Eduardo Montealegre of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance, holds only
31 percent. In the five-way race for the presidency, this margin is
enough to hand a victory to Ortega's Sandinista-led coalition, giving
the political party control of the executive for the first time since
1990.
A statistical sample of polling places suggests that Ortega's lead
will hold, and this likelihood has prodded US conservatives into
some fits of fantastically overblown rhetoric. At the National Review,
former Reagan and George H.W. Bush speechwriter Mark Klugmann
writes, "a Nicaragua that opens its arms to murderous radicalism
poses a threat for America and the world.... A nuclear North Korea
and a nuclear Iran could be in position, with an ally so close to our
porous frontier, to wreak the havoc we once thought only the Soviet
Union could ever bring home."
Of course, the fantasy that a small, poor and geopolitically marginal
Central American nation could be a major threat to US national
security is a throwback to cold war-era propaganda films like Red
Dawn. It reflects the current foreign policy mindset of Washington
conservatives but does not resemble anything like reality.
The return of Daniel Ortega to Nicaragua's presidency hardly
portends a menacing new danger for the US heartland. It does,
however, mark two important developments in the rise of an
increasingly independent Latin America. First, given concerted
efforts on the part of the Bush Administration to influence the
outcome of the election, it signals that US threats of retaliation may
no longer be sufficient to keep Central American citizens from voting
for leaders willing to buck Washington's economic program. Second,
in spite of Ortega's standing as a deeply compromised political

figure, his election provides a modest opening for hope that a new
Nicaraguan administration might do a better job of addressing the
country's endemic poverty than have the past sixteen years of
neoliberal rule.
The scare stories spun by conservative pundits like Klugmann echo
the only somewhat more subtle alarmism voiced by Republican
lawmakers in the lead-up to the Nicaraguan elections. In recent
years, the White House has chosen to remain silent during many
electoral contests in Latin America. This does not reflect a newfound
respect for democratic self-determination; it is pragmatic.
Washington learned the hard way that its admonitions can backfire
when delivered to Latin America voters fed up with having economic
policy dictated from the North--as was the case in Bolivia in 2002,
when US attacks on Evo Morales helped him gain the stature that
would ultimately propel him to the presidency this year. However,
the United States has maintained an overt involvement in some
elections, especially in cold-war hot spots Nicaragua and El
Salvador.
Bush Administration efforts over the past year to prevent the
Nicaraguan electorate from choosing Ortega were particularly
heavy-handed. Violating diplomatic protocol, US Ambassador Paul
Trivelli expressed an open preference for Ortega's opponents, and
he made repeated efforts to unite the Nicaraguan right around a
single candidate. (He failed, and the divide among Nicaraguan
conservatives helped pave the way for the Sandinistas' victory.)
Adding to Trivelli's meddling, US Secretary of Commerce Carlos
Gutierrez suggested that more than $220 million in aid and
hundreds of millions more in investments could be jeopardized if
voters picked the wrong candidate.
In the last week of the campaign, several Republican members of
Congress stepped up the threats. Most radically, they proposed to
block the stream of money sent from Nicaraguan immigrants in the
United States to impoverished family members back home in
Central America. In an October 30 letter to Nicaraguan Ambassador
Salvador Stadthagen, Representative Tom Tancredo wrote, "if the
FSLN takes control of the government in Nicaragua, it may be
necessary for the United States authorities to examine closely and
possibly apply special controls to the flow of $850 million in
remittances from the United States to Nicaragua--unfortunately to
the detriment of many people living in Nicaragua." In a public letter
addressed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Representatives
Ed Royce and Peter Hoekstra added, "We share US Ambassador to
Nicaragua Paul Trivelli's assessment that an Ortega victory would
force the United States to fully 're-evaluate' relations with
Nicaragua."

With the memory of the United States' debilitating economic

embargo of the 1980s still fresh, Nicaraguan voters do not take
suggestions of retaliation from Washington lightly. In 1990 the
United States made clear that its embargo, as well as funding for
terrorist contra forces, would continue if Ortega were re-elected.
This blackmail played a decisive role in pushing the Sandinistas from
office.
Ironically, even as the White House portrays Ortega as a committed
and unrepentant leftist, the real concern is whether he has fully
compromised the progressive ideals he once espoused as a leader
in the movement that overthrew Nicaragua's longstanding Somoza
dictatorship. Ortega has been criticized by former partisans for
keeping a tight hold on the leadership of the Sandinistas, quashing
efforts to democratize the party and expelling members like former
Managua Mayor Herty Lewites, who announced intentions to
challenge Ortega's power. In the 1990s, many of the most
prominent cultural and intellectual figures in the Sandinista
movement, including liberation theologian and poet Ernesto
Cardenal, poet and novelist Gioconda Belli and Ortega's former Vice
President Sergio Ramirez, broke ranks to form a dissident party, the
Sandinista Renovation Movement. In the first half of this year,
Lewites made a strong showing as that party's presidential
candidate, but he suffered a massive heart attack and died in July,
crippling the Renovation Movement's efforts for the election cycle.
Beyond internal strife within the Sandinistas, Ortega's record has
been marred by public scandals. In 1998 a grown stepdaughter,
Zoilamerica Narvaez, accused Ortega of sexually abusing her for
years, starting when she was an adolescent. The following year,
Ortega brokered a pact with then-president Arnoldo Aleman, who
was facing charges of corruption. El pacto, as the shady deal is
ominously known in Nicaragua, allowed both men to avoid
prosecution by granting them parliamentary immunity. It also made
Ortega into one of the country's most weighty power brokers by
giving him control over many governmental appointments. While el
pacto remains in place, Aleman was later stripped of his immunity
and is now under house arrest, having been convicted of embezzling
some $100 million from the government.
Despite Ortega's many flaws, the return of the Sandinistas to power
creates the possibility of change that can genuinely benefit
Nicaragua's poor. Ortega campaigned on a platform criticizing the
"savage capitalism" implemented by the successive conservative
governments that have ruled the country over the past sixteen
years. In the decade and a half since the end of the contra war,
neoliberal economic policies like privatizing public industries and
creating "free trade" zones have failed to launch an economic
recovery. Today Nicaragua ranks with Haiti and Bolivia among the

poorest nations in the hemisphere.

It remains to be seen what Ortega's political program will look like
during his new term as president: whether he can be held
accountable to the impoverished populations he claims to represent
and whether his party can reverse trends of deepening hardship and
desperation. But this is no reason not to applaud Nicaraguan voters
who stood up to Republican threats, rejected a continuation of
neoliberalism and demanded better of their government.
--Mark Engler, a writer based in New York City, is an analyst with
Foreign Policy In Focus. He can be reached via the web site
http://www.DemocracyUprising.com. Research assistance for this
article provided by Fernando Braga.

If you have arrived at this page you must click on the following
interview between morning Ireland ( Radio Eireann) and an Israeli
spokesperson for the war crimes perpetrated on Lebanon.
http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/2169182.smil

JONAH is a non-profit international

organization dedicated to educating the
world-wide Jewish community about the
prevention, intervention, and healing of the
underlying issues causing same-sex
attractions. If you are confused by same-sex
attractions or know someone who is and
desire help, please contact us for resources
and professional confidential assistance. If on
the other hand you are confused about your
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ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 89841679 ParagraphStart 90629144

ParagraphTitleStart ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
Tom McGurk in the Sunday business Post.

Fully equipped with the latest weapons

(including a nuclear facility) from the US, and
trained by the Americans, the IDF has
enjoyed military supremacy for generations.
That fact has been a defining element in
Israeli foreign policy, not least with regard to
the Palestinian crisis.The military has become
so powerful in Israel that one leading political
commentator wrote from Tel Aviv: One
wonders whether we have a state with an
accompanying army or just an army with an
accompanying state?During the first
Palestinian intifada some years ago, Haaretz,
one of Israels leading daily papers,
editorialised: The IDF, which brought up

generations of soldiers on the myth of the

purity of arms and educated its commanders
with the idea of the moral, deliberating
soldier, who takes tough decisions, while
thinking of humane considerations, is turning
into a killing machine whose efficiency is
awe-inspiring, yet shocking.As the United
Nations-sponsored ceasefire in Lebanon
began last Monday morning, the scale of the
failure of the IDF to smash Hezbollah began
to emerge. The IDFs casualty figures far
exceeded expectations and Hezbollah had
been able to launch its highest-ever number
of rockets in a single day into Israel on the
last day of the war. The implications of these
facts could not be hidden by the political
rhetoric from Tel Aviv.Taking perhaps the Viet
Cong as its logistical and strategic mentor,
Hezbollah, with an elaborate series of
underground tunnels and secret launching
sites hidden in the rocky terrain, managed to
confound ground and air attacks.With its new
Iranian-supplied guided anti-tank missiles,
IDF armour was neutralised and IDF troops
were regularly ambushed on the ground in
territory that Hezbollah was familiar with.
Perhaps most disturbingly of all for the
morale of the IDF, it was fighting an enemy
that was actively seeking martyrdom.This is
largely an unknown phenomenon for western
armies and has created a whole series of
battlefield logistics that have never been
anticipated or trained against. Fighting

heavily-armed guerillas on a terrain carefully

chosen is difficult enough, but fighting
heavily-armed suicide bombers in their
chosen terrain is a whole new concept of war.
Among the ranks of the IDF, the crisis this
created in morale was visible, despite armyimposed censorship of television coverage.
There were even complaints from senior
officers that the army didnt fight like the IDF
of old.This is due to the fact that, in recent
years, the IDF had begun to reflect Israels
worldwide Jewish immigrant policies and
hence is now made up of conscripts who are
recent citizens of the state.Apart from the
military crisis, there can be little political
satisfaction for Israel in the possible longerterm implications of its Lebanese adventure.
First, the IDF had forgotten that this was not
the West Bank or Gaza, and that the world
press was on hand to report the cruelty with
which Israel conducted the war against
Lebanese civilians and infrastructure.
Prosecuting any war in the age of 24-hour
news coverage has created a host of new
problems, but the IDF seemed to forget thiat
the aftermath of almost everything it did was
on the evening television news bulletins
before the smoke had cleared.Initially,
Washington had been deliberately stalling a
ceasefire resolution at the UN in the hope
that the IDF could finish the job in time, but
there is no doubt that, in the end, even
Washington had to take account of mounting

world opinion against the war and call a halt.

Remarkably, for once even the US state
department seemed to sense that the Israeli
action was damaging wider US interests.
Secondly, there is now considerable evidence
that the long history of Israeli actions in
Lebanon has caused a long-term strategic
disaster.The invasion of Lebanon more than
20 years ago was apparently about
destroying the PLO. Whatever about the
destruction of the PLO, which was a largely
secular nationalist movement, the longerterm effect was to replace Israels bitter
enemy, the PLO, with Hezbollah, a jihadic
Islamist army and an even more extreme
movement.Now, members of Hezbollah have
become heroes for Lebanese society, giving it
a unity of national purpose never known
before.Pictures of the Lebanese army being
greeted this week like conquering heroes by
the residents of Hezbollah-dominated villages
in southern Lebanon must have at least given
Israel pause for thought.The prospect that
the Lebanese army will want to, or even be
able to, disarm Hezbollah is pure Tel Aviv
fantasy.It is small wonder that the UN is
finding it so difficult to persuade the
international community to send its soldiers
in as UN peacekeepers or a disarming force.
How long the current ceasefire will last is
anyones guess, but this weekend you can be
sure that Israeli political and military
strategists have many unanswered questions

to contemplate.Not only that, but the US

must be contemplating the wider implications
for its unquestioning client state
relationship with Israel.Hezbollah has turned
some sort of corner but just where it is now is
still difficult to read.

23 December 2006 (Examiner)Anger over

Aherns cold homeless remarksBy Noel
Baker GOVERNMENT minister Noel Ahern has
been roundly criticised after "explaining" to a
group of homeless people that the reason
Sweden had such a successful homeless
policy was because it was "too cold" to sleep
outside there. Mr Ahern, who is a Minister of
State at the Department of the Environment
and Local Government with special
responsibility for Housing and Urban
Renewal, made the comment at a recent
public meeting attended by some homeless
people and charity groups working in the
sector. Responding to a question from the
audience about the success of countries,
such as Sweden, in tackling homelessness,
the minister replied that part of the reason
why such countries had greater success in
tackling the problem was that it was too cold
there to sleep out. Its understood many in
the audience of 300 people expressed their

surprise at the faux pas, made at the Make

Room Public Meeting held at Trinity College
on December 13. Others felt he had meant to
say that anyone forced to sleep outside
would suffer more because of the colder
weather. Noeleen Hartigan, national
campaigns manager with the Simon
Communities of Ireland, said that the
organisation felt the comments were
"extremely disappointing". She stressed that
the Simon Community and the other
agencies working to combat homelessness
were keen to focus on the positive comments
made by Mr Ahern at the meeting, where he
committed his party to the goal of ending
homelessness by 2010. But she said some
were concerned at the ministers comment,
which he did not clarify. "It is a failure of
politics that we have homelessness in Ireland
it is not a question of personal choice," she
said. Earlier this year Mr Ahern
compassionately announced funding of 50
million for accommodation and related
services for homeless people. ..(Well, it is
election year ) God bless Fianna Fail and
general elections
The leader of Fine Gael strikes fear into the
government and delivers his strongest ever tongue
lashing in the Dail.Bertie reacts angrily;
"Dear Taoiseach,members of the house,ladies and
gentlemen
;As my kind and gentle demeanour precludes me

from calling all of you in the Fianna Fail party a

bunch of hoodlums-rotten to the core-riddled with
cronyism,corruption,nepotism,arrogance and blatant
vote harvesting with the national treasury- I have
come to this house today to say that your party,s
reign in power has been marked by a few pecadillos
from time to time,and I am less than pleased about
this-to put it strongly- I am downright disappointed .
I reiterate Taoiseach that you have let down the
Irish people on occasions too numerous to
mention,and I am going to ask you if you would
accept this and further if you would be so kind as to
consider resigning en-block and allowing us,the
custodians of the true faith, to have our long
overdue " car with the star";our turn for " jollies"
abroad; jobs for our own people; and of course
access to the brimful, national coffers...
Our patience in this matter is not inexhaustible as
you continue to give us so many opportunities to
criticise your -dare I say- botched,handling of the
affairs of state.
Be advised I shall have even stronger words to say
before next election day. We are hiring a big
American P.R. "counter-spin"election consultancy
outfit-just as expensive as the one you have
retained for years,confusing the electorate with
untruths and cleverly crafted press releases.!"
Your loyal opponent, in the spirit of good
fellowship,and friendly rivalry.
Enda Kenny
(Bertie strikes back;)

Dear Enda,
"Thank you for those well deserved words of

rebuke,although I must reiterate that we in fianna

Fail are now engaged in a programme for reelection and have implemented numerous
stratagems to ensure that whatever you may say
about us , we can,and we will, make the people
smile-and be happy for a while ...
We have lots of dosh to dispense- the biggest slush
fund in history-in fact,and the electorate can pay us
back when its over -no hurry....So enjoy!,the good
times are rolling for everybody.
All you finn Gaelers are doing well enough too. We
have looked after the big farmers even better than
the small ones.! Why would you need this job
anyway,what with the hassle I sometimes have to
put up with, from the media, etc.
Nobody with an ego smaller than mine, would want
it for diamonds.! So on your tractor Enda " go back
and plough your fields. This is no job for gentlemen
farmers.!"
Huge state bill for 'smuggled' rubbish
THE Government is going to have to pay the lion's share of a 200
million bill to repatriate almost 800,000 tonnes of waste originating
from the south, but dumped in the north.
The illegally deposited material, a mixture of commercial and
domestic waste, has been discovered in 78 sites, mainly in the
border areas but to an extent in every county.
The average size of the dumps is 10,000 tonnes and it is estimated
it will cost between 200 - 250 a tonne to remove.
According to the north's Environment and Heritage Service:
"Officials from both jurisdictions have been discussing repatriation of
illegal waste for some time.
"After a long period of negotiation agreement has been reached that
the Republic will repatriate waste from two illegal sites - Slattinagh,
Co Fermanagh and Trillick, Co Tyrone.
"The mechanics of these operations, and the associated cost
liabilities, have yet to be agreed."
The high price of waste disposal in the Republic is being cited as the
main reason rubbish is being smuggled into the north from here.
Waste from as far away as Cork has made it across the border.
To date, there have been three cases where farmers in the north

have been jailed for allowing their lands to be used as dumping

sites.
In the most recent case in January, a farmer was jailed for four
months for allowing 1,900 tonnes of municipal rubbish, including
surgical gloves, incontinence pads and metal to be deposited on his
land. Upon analysis it was found that the waste had come from
Dublin, Wexford and Cork.
The Environment and Heritage Service calculated that if the waste
had been dumped legally in the Republic it would have cost
420,000 whereas if it had been dumped legally in the north it
would have cost 88,000 (117,792).
The farmer responsible, Philip Johnston from Killadeas, Enniskillen,
was given a 10,000 (12,800) fine, as well as the prison term, after
the judge in the case said the defendant had made a deal with a
person from the Republic for "a substantial payment".
The service said there were another three cases pending from 2007.
It intends to work with our Environmental Protection Agency to try to
trace the identity of the dumpers responsible for all 78 dumps.
There has already been co-operation between the Northern
authorities and local authorities in the south to take responsibility
for the cost of the waste while culprits are sought.
Last night the Environmental Protection Agency issued a statement
in which it said: "The EPA has been informed of 20 Northern sites
that are suspected of containing illegally deposited waste from the
Republic of Ireland. This waste would appear to be historical."
Stephen Rogers
Irish Examiner 19.03.08
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 177194726 ParagraphStart 58373759

ParagraphTitleStart Between the Devil and the

Rainbow coalition.... ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

'Four walls do not a prison make,nor iron bars

a cage'
David Begg I.C.T.U. general secretary;Another
traitor for old Ireland- another hero for Bertie
Ahern.?

The Trade Unions

"The General Secretary of the I.C.T.U., David Begg, has accused the
campaigners of 'leading ordinary working people into a cul-de-sac of
imprisonment in pursuit of a political objective'" (Irish Times,
18.10.2003).

Only one in 4 of todays workforce are

unionized-and most of those that are are civil
servants.
David Begg and those he really represents
have done well from benchmarking. Reality
is,his 'union' is now simply another lobby
group, in Bertie's pocket,no different to the
Irish Farmers Association.
In a stirring speech in 2005 Mr Begg decried
the 'american dream' and embraced the
Scandanavian model of high taxes and social
inclusion. Frankly I doubt that privatisation of
essential services and imposing escalating
bin taxes on old age pensioners is the
beginning of a wonderful new Irish Utopia. He
declared in his moving speech ;
" My own preference is firmly located in
Europe. A country where 40 million people
have no health insurance and 25% are
illiterate has no attractions for me. What the
proponents of the American model fail to

realise is that the country has changed

radically in the last thirty years. It is a very
divided nation but the locus of political
opinion has moved steadily to the right
where a combination of Chicago School
economics and protestant fundamentalism
makes it unattractive to anyone with any
disposition to social justice."
Might it be possible that Mr Beggs has lost
touch with the aspirations of his union's
founding fathers...?

The role of the Unions has been

even worse than that of the Labour Party.
SIPTU, the biggest union in the country, has
an official policy against the Bin Tax, yet will
not support those bin workers who are willing
to put this policy into effect. I have stood on
blockades on the depots and spoke to shop
stewards who were looking for instruction
from the union only to find that absolutely no
support was forthcoming. Without the
support of the bin workers, there would be no
way that the campaign could have brought
waste collection in Dublin to a stand still. The

bin workers understand that the hidden

agenda of the Bin Tax advocates is the push
for privatization and the negative impact this
will have on their terms and conditions of
employment. While rank and file trade
unionists are totally opposed to this tax, the
leadership of the unions are so entwined with
the Government since the Social Partnerships
began that they are willing to back the
Government position and actually put
pressure on the bin workers to break the
pickets on the depots. The support of the bin
workers for the campaign is such that if the
unions were supportive, the bin tax would be
history. At a crucial stage in the battle
against this tax, the jailing of Higgins and
Daly, David Beggs came out with a statement
attacking the campaign.
Only the most naive would believe that he
hadnt got a call from his partners in
Government insisting that he twist the knife
in the back of the campaign.
Jailed T.D. Joe Higgins expressed his
frustration at being gagged,when he was
imprisoned, but told a Socialist Party
Colleague Mick Barry who visited him in
Mountjoy that he was "infuriated" over the
attack that Mr Begg's statement was a
"deliberate stab in the back to the hundreds
of thousands of working people and their
families in the Greater Dublin area who are
demanding the immediate suspension of the
non-collection
of
refuse
bins
from

householders boycotting the bin tax and the

abolition of the tax in favour of proper
funding of local authority services from the
taxes workers pay Government."
"Who is Mr. Begg representing?" Joe Higgins
asked. "The big majority of the trade union
membership affiliated to I.C.T.U. have
through their National Conferences adopted a
clear policy of opposition to double taxation
in the form of local taxes. So Mr. Begg's
attack is expressing his view and not that of
the membership he is supposed to
represent."
Joe Higgins said it was "an incredible
situation that not only is the Anti Bin Tax
Campaign
under
attack
from
the
Government, and from leading members of
the so called Opposition in the Dil but now
the leadership of the trade union movement,
flying in the face of its membership is
prepared to be a mudguard for the Fianna
Fil/Progressive Democrats Government."
Joe Higgins told his visitor "Is it any wonder
that with the leadership of the Irish Congress
of Trade Union in its pockets, this
Government can feel free to give massive tax
breaks to big business while piling on a
plethora of stealth taxes on ordinary working
people; can abolish the first time house
buyers grants while allowing obscene
profiteering in the housing market create
endless misery for the scores of thousands
now priced out of a home".

Joe Higgins said that Mr. Begg tried to raise

the issue of proper funding for local
authorities but his attack on those fighting
the bin tax means the Government has no
problem carrying on hitting the usual
suspects for taxation.
Joe Higgins accused Mr. Begg of "gross
dishonesty" in alleging that the Anti Bin Tax
Campaign might cause privatisation of the
bin collection services in Dublin. "The reality
is that the dozens of local authorities which
have privatised domestic refuse collection did
so after they had forced a bin tax regime and
browbeat households into compliance."
"In any case Mr. Begg has no moral authority
to speak as an anti privatisation champion
having been himself a willing tool in the
preparation of Telecom Eireann "a vital
national asset" for privatisation a scheme
which burned thousands of small people
conned into purchasing shares.
Joe Higgins accused Mr. Begg of feebly
attempting to justify the bin tax in
environmental grounds. "Mr. Begg falls for
the line that the bin tax is a serious
environmental policy", in fact it is a
substitute for a policy and in reality a crude
revenue raising measure.
Finally, Joe Higgins asked, "after 16 years of
so called partnership between trade union
representatives, government and employers,
it would seem that Mr. Begg doesn't
remember who he is supposed to defend or

represent. If he couldn't bring himself to

articulate the feeling of the majority of trade
union membership in opposition to the bin
tax, he should have chosen a shamed silence
over open treachery".
Bertie Ahern is cosy with an unusual mix of
trade unionists, though not exactly of the Jim
Larkin or James Connolly mould(except in
their determination to bear arms). One of
those whom he keeps closest to him is Phil
Flynn (he shares an office next door to
Bertie).Phil is a former banker and trade
union leader-but also a staunch republican,
(ex president of Sinn Fein) now ensconced in
the midst of another staunch 'Republican
Party'. He is currently under investigation as
part of the Garda enquiry into I.R.A. money
laundering of 30 million from the Northern
Bank etc. (Aug.2005). He is still drawing
consultancy fees from the government for his
role as a powerful 'facilitator'(whatever that
is) in the on going tensions between the
Health Services Executive and the powerful
public service trade union 'Impact' His fees
are estimated at 2000 Euros daily.
'Benchmarking 'civil servants is,it seems, an
expensive process in more ways than one.
Retiring them on full wages is it seems
equally difficult.Mr Flynn does not put a gun
to anyones head during his stewardship of
these delicate negotiations .(Throwing money
at Public service Unions was a role at which
Bertie himself excelled when he was Minister

for Labour). However the discovery of a gun

in Mr Flynn,s office recently has caused some
alarm.Perhaps he was not aware that the
I.R.A. decomissioning applied...south of the
border.? Strange friends indeed.
PHIL Flynn, the former President of the Irish
Congress of Trade Unions, in February
2005 denied knowledge of any persons
meeting with arms dealers in Bulgaria.

Mr Flynn, a nonexecutive director of Chesterton Finance Ltd,

the firm at the heart of Garda investigations
into alleged subversive money-laundering,
said he had no idea where the allegation
came from.
"I didn't meet anyone selling arms in
Bulgaria. It is absolute nonsense. I don't think
it is anything to do with me personally," he
said.
Garda sources have been anonymously
quoted to the effect that a man detained in
connection with the cash raids had come to
their attention because of meetings with
arms dealers in the former Soviet satellite.
Mr Flynn said he travelled with other

directors of Chesterton to Bulgaria recently to

assess potential investments.
"We did all the business in Sofia. We spent
five days there and had 30 meetings and
looked at a rake of options. I had been to
Bulgaria in the past."
Mr Flynn, who said the company did not take
up any of the options examined in the 30
meetings, said: "What we were doing was
going to 'suss it out'. We met lawyers,
accountants, bankers and developers. I didn't
meet anyone selling arms." He was not ready
to jump to conclusions about Chesterton,
adding: "I don't know what's going on. I'm
going to wait and see.
"I'm absolutely satisfied that Chesterton is
OK. There's no-one saying yet that there's
anything wrong with Chesterton." He first
checked into the firm nine or 10 months ago
when asked to join the board, he said. He
was "quite satisfied" with what he found.
Editors note; ( Bulgaria is acknowledged to
be the most corrupt nation in the queue for
membership of the E.E.U. and has little
likelihood of success.)
Mr Begg is an unusual animal.
The Report of the Democracy Commission
entitled 'Engaging Ctizens' The Case for
Democratic Renewal in Ireland, was launched
in the National Library of Ireland on October
26th.2005 (www.tascnet.ie)Speaking at the
launch, the chair of the Commission, David
Begg said, "From the early days of the work

of the commission,it quickly became clear to

us that people, although disillusioned and
disenchanted, were not disengaged. This
raised a number of issues with us. Firstly we
were concerned that if the disillusionment
and disenchantment were not addressed
then people would become disengaged.
Secondly we were aware that there were
many who were already disengaged by virtue
of a lack of information, a lack of experience
and a lack of opportunity to participate in
issues that affected them. Thirdly we heard
from those who had tried to engage but
faced obstacles in doing so. Finally in our
discussions with those at the helm of Irish
democracy, the political representatives, we
realised that they too were often disillusioned
and disenchanted
Hecontinues
"Astatesmanisaneasyman,hetellshisliesbyrote;
Ajournalistmakesuphisliesandtakesyoubythe
throat;
Sostayathomeanddrinkyourbeerandletthe
neighboursvote"
Thesewordswerewritteneightyyearsagobythe
disenchantedsceptic,W.B.Yeats.Thepassageoftime
doesnotnecessarilychangethehumanconditionallthat
much.Soitisnottobeexpectedthatanyreviewofthe
stateofourdemocracywouldgiveitanabsolutelyclean
billofhealth.Thequestionisratherifitcanbeimproved
tomakeitmoreresponsivetotheneedsofthepopulation
andthecommongood.Weconcludethatitcanand

shouldandthisreportcontainsanumberof
recommendationswhichwill,wethink,allowforamore
engagedandactivecitizenrywhichshouldinturnleadto
agreaterempowermentofpeople.Ourhopeisthatsome
oralloftheseideaswillbedebatedandultimately
adoptedbypractitionersofpoliticsandthepublicat
large.Itisthisobjectiveofpoliticalfacilitationwhichhas
dominatedtheworkoftheDemocracyCommission.
Onlyyesterdayacolleague,onseeingthereport,
remarkedthatitwasoneofthemostimportant
initiativesundertakenbyanyorganisationinIrelandfora
longtime.Indeed,thesettingupoftheDemocracy
CommissionbythetwothinktanksTASCand
DemocraticDialogue,wasinresponsetowidespread
concernsaboutthecapacityofdemocracyinIrelandto
beinclusive,participatoryandegalitarian.
The following is an extract from Bertie Ahern: Taoiseach &
Peacemaker by Whelan and Masterson (Blackwater Press, 1998).
Following a successful legal action against the Sunday Independent
and Willie O'Dea, TD, the authors claimed Ahern had approved the
entire manuscript. In 1977
"A swing to Fianna Fail was still needed. And the quickest way
known to politicians anywhere to finesse a swing is to bribe the
electorate. When Fianna Fail published its 1977 election manifesto
they brought good, old-fashioned political bribery of the electorate
to new heights. Few in Fianna Fail would deny as much today.
Domestic household rates and car taxes were to be abolished and
social welfare rates across all sectors were to rise. That was just for
starters. It was said of the manifesto that if the electorate wanted
the moon, Fianna Fail would have written a promise to buy Cape
Canaveral, so desperate was their need to return to Government.
The manifesto was the brainchild of Trinity College Economics
Professor, Martin O'Donoghue, and seemed solely predicted on the
notion that if the Government put money into the economy, the
economy, of itself, would grow.
"The electorate were slow to bite on the Fianna Fail giveaway with
the polls showing no immediate shift of allegiance. The policies
themselves were being rubbished by independent economic
commentators as 'spending our way out of a boom'indeed,

political commentary in the media was generally hostile to the party.

Gradually, however, the middle classes, who were set to benefit
most, began looking at their personal bank balances and started
moving their votes to Fianna Fail."
AHERN:"Abolishing Rates Was Totally Wrong"
"In retrospect, Ahern believes that the 1977 Manifesto was
economic make-believe. Other economic commentators are not as
kind in their analysis, claiming the manifesto led to a huge national
debt that dominated economic and political life for the following
decade and took a further decade to get under control.
"The car tax thing was a nonsense and abolishing rates was totally
wrong. All we needed was a waiver scheme. I remember at the time
there were a lot of old peopleGarda widows and retired teachers
who had huge houses but no money and they were being screwed
for rates. All we needed to do was bring in a good waiver scheme for
the people who hadn't got the bread. Instead, we abolished rates
and here we are, 20 years on, and Dublin Corporation have to do
everything on a shoe-string because they can't have a local charge."

AHERN:
"It Has To Be Indirect Taxation Now"
"'I agreed with local charges but you'll not get rates back again. The
game is over on that one. It has to be indirect taxation now,' he
says." (p24)
"The tragedy is that he was disappointed and defeated as much by
those he helped as those he opposed. His words 'if the Irish have a
weakness next to drink, it is moral cowardice' ring as true today as
they did at the end of the last century." MICHAEL D. HIGGINS, T.D. in
a tribute to Michael Davitt (1846-1906), founder of the Land League.
JOE HIGGINS, T.D. WOULD BE REGARDED BY THE DUBLIN
ESTABLISHMENT AS A BIT OF A POLITICAL HEADBANGER BUT IN HIS
WILDEST POLITICAL MOMENTS, JOE COULD NEVER SURPASS THE
OUTRIGHT RECKLESSNESS AND FINANCIAL IRRESPONSIBILITY OF
THE 'UNCANONISED' JACK LYNCH, WHEN HE ABOLISHED DOMESTIC
RATES IN 1978.
Two other heroes adulated by the Dublin Four set, the former
founder and leader of the Progressive Democrats, Des O'Malley, and
the current Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan, were Lynch's
backroom boys in the 1977 General Election which foresaw the

removal of Domestic Rates on private dwelling houses from 1st April

1978, and the cast-iron election promise that local authorities would
in future be guaranteed 100 per cent of the income they lost in
Domestic Rates.
No single political action ever dealt such a damaging blow to the
independence and authority of the concept of Local Government in
Ireland.
In the debate that has followed the jailing of Joe Higgins, TD and his
Socialist Party colleague, Councillor Claire Daly, Lynch's irresponsible
and anti-democratic measure in his abolition of Domestic Rates in
1978 has barely received a mention.
Had the 'profligate' Charles Haughey implemented such a decision,
he would have carried the cross for life. Not, however, the 'real'
Taoiseach!
The present writer, would also contend that Lynch's political bequest
is today a major source of the immoral and outrageous cost of
housing in the republic. The lack of an equitable, progressive and
democratic rates system in no small way has fuelled the staggering
cost of present-day housing.
The construction of enormous developments of four and fivebedroom housing would quickly be eliminated if a proper rating
system existed. In its place, the intrinsic need to build modest
houses would be paramount and vital resources would be freed for
such a purpose. Housing would become a social requirement, not
predominately a speculative exercise. Six out of all units are
purchased by people who will never reside in these new dwellings.
That's a national shame!
Writing a hagiography on "the man with a will of steel", Bruce
Arnold, OBE, could only defend Lynch on the following basis in his
"Jack Lynch: Hero In Crisis" (Merlin, 2001):
"Fianna Fail has often been blamed for 'buying' the 1977 general
election; notable among the commitments used in evidence is the
abolition of rates, which had been proposed by Fianna Fail before
the previous election and dismissed as eve-of-poll insanity at the
time. Yet the Coalition proposed the same thing in its 1977
programme: the abolition of the rates"

ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 58373759 ParagraphStart 106153281

ParagraphTitleStart The real truth about the "Bin

tax rebellion": ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

A load of rubbish: 25pc of us are dumping all

our waste
A QUARTER of Irish households are disposing
of their rubbish illegally, an official report
reveals today.
More than 24pc of Irish households have
either no access to collection services or
don't use them, according to the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
National Waste Report for 2005.
This means that 202,940 tonnes of household
waste are being secretly disposed of - either
burnt or handed over to illegal fly-tippers. It
is against the law to burn household waste or
give it to unlicensed collectors.
And despite an expensive high-profile
government recycling campaign, Irish
households are sending an astonishing 77pc
of rubbish to already overflowing landfills.
This was a small drop of 1.7pc on 2004
figures.
Environmental law review ruled out despite
derisory EPA fines:
The Department of the Environment has
ruled out a review of environmental
protection law, even though the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
obtained just 162,700 in fines from

prosecutions last year.

This total was unusually high due to the
110,000 in fines imposed on the Shannonbased multinational, Schwarz Pharma, last
February for 11 charges, including the
emission of suspected carcinogens into the
air.
When the Schwarz Pharma verdict is stripped
out, the EPA obtained 52,700 in fines last
year - an average of about 2,770 per
prosecution.
The cost of bringing environmental
prosecutions regularly exceeds the penalties
imposed.
According to EPA figures, the agency was
awarded costs of 209,911 by the courts last
year.
An EPA spokeswoman admitted that the fines
the agency could obtain were limited
because it could only prosecute offenders in
the District Court, where penalties are lowest.
The maximum penalty for environmental
offences in these courts is 3,000 per charge
and a years imprisonment.
Although cases can be taken in higher courts
by the Director of Public Prosecutions, this
rarely occurs. Just three cases were heard in
higher courts last year.
In each case, the EPA had attempted to bring
a District Court prosecution, but the judges
refused to accept jurisdiction due to the
serious nature of the charges. These included

the Schwarz Pharma case.

The EPA spokeswoman declined to answer
questions about whether the EPA regarded
these penalties as a sufficient deterrent. She
said, however, that the EPAs prosecutions
had led to improved environmental standards
in Irish businesses.
Legal actions taken by the EPA have led to
significant investment in improvements to
site infrastructure and clean-ups," she said.
This investment was estimated to be in the
region of 19 million in 2005."
However, Fine Gaels environment
spokesman, Fergus ODowd, said the fines
being imposed were derisory for significant
environmental breaches.
The EPA is doing a very good job in policing
the environment, but it needs to be
supported with tougher fines," he said.
What is the point of bringing people to court
if the fines are so small?"
ODowd said that maximum fines should be
at a level where companies will remember
them.
However, a spokesman for the department
said fines were a matter for the courts to
decide within the limits set by legislation.
He said that the department had no plans to
review the legislation governing fines, which
were last increased in 2003.
Ken Griffin
Irish Times
AN Irish pharmaceutical giant appeared in

court in January 2007 following a three-year

criminal investigation into waste
management practices which sparked a
major food scare in Europe.
Wyeth Medica Ireland is facing multiple
charges over the disposal of contraceptive
waste from their factory in Newbridge, Co
Kildare, which ended up in pig feed in Europe,
causing the animals to become infertile.
With a civil claim also pending, US
multinational Wyeth has set aside almost
69m to cover the cost of legal actions
against its Irish unit in the matter.
AHP Manufacturing BV, trading as Wyeth
Medica Ireland, was served with a Book of
Evidence in relation to 18 offences under the
Waste Management (Trans Frontier
Shipments) Act, 1996, at Naas District Court
yesterday.
Cara Environmental Technology Ltd, which
managed disposal of Wyeth's waste at the
time of the alleged offences, was jointly
served with the same Book of Evidence in
relation to 13 charges under the same law.
Judge Murrough Conellan referred the case
forward for trial at the Circuit Criminal Court
in Naas on February 13, 2007.
He said he took it there was no question of
legal aid being needed in the case.
David Noonan, a Wyeth director, was
designated as the company's representative
in the matter and on that basis was
remanded on a bond of 500.

Mark Woodcock, Cara's solicitor, was

designated its representative and on that
basis was similarly remanded.
Judge Conellan said issues of disclosure
raised by counsel for Cara were a matter for
the Circuit Court.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has
brought the case following a three-year
investigation by the Environmental Protection
Agency and the Garda National Bureau of
Criminal Investigations.
The outcome could be of crucial importance
for Wyeth, which is facing a multi-million euro
civil law suit from disgruntled pig farmers in
Europe who claim to have suffered massive
losses as a result.
The case centres around disposal of a waste
stream containing the contraceptive and
hormone replacement therapy drug, Medroxy
Progesterone Acetate (MPA), manufactured
by Wyeth in Newbridge.
It is believed that the sugarcoated casing of
the drug was incorrectly labelled, resulting in
it being exported to Belgium where the nowbankrupt company Bioland processed it into
treacle, which was then used in pigfeed.
The contaminated syrup containing MPA was
also used in soft drinks, which had to be
recalled from the market to stop humans
consuming the drug.
The case first came to light when thousands
of continental farmers reported their sows
were no longer producing piglets.

Wyeth is one of the biggest American

multinationals currently operating in Ireland
and employs around 1,400 employees at its
one million square foot Newbridge factory.
It also employs 1,200 people at its BioPharma
campus in Dublin and has plants in Askeaton,
Co Limerick and Sligo, manufacturing a range
of drugs and over-the-counter preparations,
including 'Advil' and infant formula milk.
The company said it will defend the
proceedings.
Aideen Sheehan
Irish Independent
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 106153281 ParagraphStart 66101521

ParagraphTitleStart The bin taxes pay for the taxes

that land speculators avoid having to pay.
ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Thirty years ago, the issue of land prices and

property speculation was examined by a committee chaired by one
of the great judges of Ireland, Mr Justice Kenny.
The majority of the committee (including Kenny) recommended that
the High Court be given jurisdiction to designate areas in which, in
the opinion of that court, the lands would probably be used during
the following ten years to provide sites for houses and factories.
Local authorities would be empowered to acquire such lands for
their existing-use value, plus 25 per cent.
The committee considered whether this scheme would be consistent
with the private property provisions of the Constitution.

It observed that what was being proposed was not the abolition of
the right to private property, but the regulation of that right in
accordance with the principles of social justice, as provided by the
Constitution.

When the report came before the Fine Gael-Labour

cabinet in 1974, Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave and Minister for Finance
Richie Ryan said they were against. Nobody spoke up in favour of
the recommendations of the report - not Garret FitzGerald, not
Brendan Corish, not Conor Cruise O'Brien, not Justin Keating.
Since then, nothing whatsoever has been done - except to set up
another committee to examine the issue.
There seems to be an acceptance that the accumulation of massive
fortunes at a time of distress for others is, if not laudable, then at
least inevitable. It's the way the system works and, manifestly, the
system is OK - and, anyway, it is the only system.
The budget this week will do nothing to disturb that system, and
perhaps only Joe Higgins will complain.
The great triumph of capitalism is to persuade its victims they are
its beneficiaries and to convince everyone there is no alternative.
Except bin taxes on the poor and the pensioners
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 66101521 ParagraphStart 100157409

ParagraphTitleStart Bin taxes and Billionaires.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Fianna Fail's so called "Public-Private

Partnership" philosophy is best exemplified in
their policy with regard to caring for the old,
the sick,and the handicapped.
Heretefore this has consisted of providing
huge tax breaks for businessmen to open
retirement homes, and charge massive

resident fees, while exercising no supervision

whatsoever over their activities, hence Leas
Cross (etc.!)
Oddly, the charges in urban areas, are
sometimes twice the going rate in the
countryside.!
I have read reports that some of Ireland's
wealthiest and best known billionaire stallion
breeders/entrepreneurs (from the Charles
Haughey era) who already own large facilities
for caring for the wealthy elderly in the U.K.,
are moving into this lucrative activity in
Ireland, at the present time.
Perhaps this is to be welcomed if it brings
some professionalism to what has heretefore
been a part-time plaything of smaller well
connected businessmen.
No other nation in Europe allocates so little of
its tax revenue, to providing adequate care
for it's elderly citizens who have suffered
penal taxation for all of their working lives.
No other nation in Europe extracts from its
people, such a plethora of direct, indirect,
and stealth taxation, and misuses those
funds in the purchase of voter loyalty from
sectional interests.
No other nation in Europe provides so much
opportunity for non-resident profiteers to
benefit, time and time again, from catering
for the needs of the ordinary working people
and the weak and the needy, all this
ultimately at the expense of the tax payer,
through the Exchequer.)

Next on the government's privitization

agenda are the new private hospitals, the
investor list of which includes some of the
greatest rogues to emerge unscathed from
tribunals of enquiries in recent decades.
Ireland has to be unique in so many ways,
but when it comes to Health and Welfare
policy, it surely has no equal in waste,
incompetence, and "pork barrel politics".
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 100157409 ParagraphStart 177193877

ParagraphTitleStart More history lessons..

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Ireland: The Battle of the Bins

Colm Breathnach is a member of the Irish

Socialist Network and Finglas Anti Bin Tax
Campaign. He spent two weeks in prison in
October 2003, along with eight other activists
from the Finglas campaign, for refusing to
give a commitment that they would not
engage in further blockades of bin trucks. In
this article he looks at this struggle and
examines where the Irish left goes from here.
THE ORIGINS OF THE BIN TAX
The Abolition of Rates
In 1977 the largest party in the Republic, the right-populist Fianna
Fail (which means the rather fascistic sounding "Soldiers of Destiny")
won a landslide victory in a general election. They had campaigned
on a give-away manifesto which amongst other things promised the
abolition of the local rates levied on houses. Once in power FF
proceeded to carry out their election commitment, abolishing the
house rates. To replace the income lost to local authorities the new
government increased central subvention to local councils and to
fund this major increase in spending workers income tax (PAYE)
grew substantially.

Within a few years the Irish economy, in line with international

trends, faltered badly. Unemployment soared, thousands emigrated
and the national debt spiralled out of control. A succession of
minority and coalition governments, dominated by Fianna Fails
corrupt leader, Charles Haughey, tried to stabilise Irish capitalism in
the face of the crisis and a growing radicalisation of the working
class manifested in the rise of the Workers Party, a section of the
Republican movement that had shifted to the left during the 1970s.
This combined with the H Block crisis in the North demanded some
extraordinary measures to ensure the continued ability of the Irish
capitalist class to survive and continue the process of accumulation.
A dual strategy emerged of ferocious cutbacks in public services
(though not privatisation) and the corporatist social partnership
process which co-opted the leadership of the trade union movement
to control and divert working class militancy.
The reintroduction of Service Charges
It was in the midst of this crisis, as the central state continued to
reduce the grants to local authorities and funding of the fairly
minimal range of services provided dried up, that a sleight of hand
was pulled by a Labour/Fine Gael coalition government (Fine Gael is
Irelands version of continental Christian Democratic parties). In
1985, the Minister for the Environment, Labour Party leader Dick
Spring, introduced water charges. These had no real relationship to
the provision or consumption of water but were simply a local tax to
replace the reduced central funding. There was an immediate
backlash as working class taxpayers saw this for what it was: double
taxation. Workers already paying for their local services through
income tax were being hit a second time with the water charge bill.
Although there was a waiver system which excluded the very poor,
the vast majority of workers ended up being liable and this caused
deep resentment.
A campaign of opposition and non-payment quickly took off, initially
led by the Workers Party. The immediate effect was a disastrous
local election result for the Labour Party, with the Workers Party
making gains in urban areas at Labours expense. While the Workers
Party led struggle took a militant turn in some areas such as Cork
and Waterford, as skilled activists teams voluntarily reconnecting
those disconnected for non-payment, there were problems with the
campaign. Both the stalinist and social democratic wings of the
Workers Party leadership were adverse to any involvement of other
political forces and although ostensibly advising non-payment, in
practice the campaign increasingly focused on electoral solutions.
The defeat of Water Charges
The implosion of the Workers Party in 1992, caused by a complex
interaction of internal contradictions, the balance of class forces and
the fall of the communist block, did not derail the campaign. It took
on a new lease of life with fresh political elements, primarily the
recently formed Socialist Party (formerly the Militant Tendency, Irish
section of the Committee for a Workers International, which had

been expelled from the Labour Party) playing a leading role

especially in Dublin. This led to a revival of the earlier militant
tactics despite or perhaps because of the increasing use of the
courts by local councils to force defaulters to pay arrears. The mass
non-payment campaign gained strength in urban working class
areas. The final nail in the coffin was the inclusion of the social
democratic wing of the Workers Party (now known as Democratic
Left) in a coalition government with Labour and Fine Gael in 1994.
The pressure on this parliamentary rump to take action on the issue
on which they had built their careers was immense and after a
decent interval the water charges were abolished. Ironically this did
not save Democratic Left who faced the inevitable fate of parties
that abandon working class independence and within a short period
they were absorbed into the Irish Labour Party.
The water charges victory showed that, while an unusual political
conjuncture had dealt the final blow, a mass campaign of civil
disobedience could bring about real change in peoples lives. A battle
had been won but the war was by no means over. The water
charges were abolished but the local authorities were still entitled to
level services charges. Gradually rural local authorities began to
introduce charges for various services including sewerage etc.
However the dominate right-wing political forces were reluctant to
re-engage in battle with working class forces in Dublin, so there was
a lull before the next flare up.
The introduction of the Bin Tax
Beginning in rural areas such as Sligo, where ironically they were
the child of an opportunistic Sinn Fein-Fianna Fail alliance, refuse
charges were gradually introduced throughout the country. Though
cleverly linked to the growing waste crisis by the right, with the
assistance of the Green Party, the charges popularly know as the bin
tax were a means by which working people could be made to pay
for a problem which was caused by the massive growth of waste, a
by-product of the economic boom of the 1990s. In fact only 15% of
waste in Ireland originates from domestic sources, the vast bulk
arising from agriculture and industry. The failure of the retail sector
to reduce packaging or produce more recyclable packaging also
accounts for a large percentage of domestic waste. Yet in a barrage
of propaganda characterising working class people as ignorant
environmental reactionaries, amply backed by the liberal media and
the more bourgeois sections of the environmental movement, the
government tried to shift the responsibility for the waste crisis firmly
onto the backs of ordinary people.
But there was another, more sinister, object to this new local tax:
the planned privatisation of local services. Driven by the twin
engines of the super-Thatcherite Progressive Democrats, the junior,
though ideologically dominant, partner in a coalition government
with Fianna Fail and the imposition of liberalisation from above by
the European Union, the privatisation of public services had really
taken off. The pattern was established early in rural councils: first

impose domestic refuse charges then transfer the newly profitable

service to private concerns.
THE BIN TAX STRUGGLE
Prelude to conflict
Fearful of a severe backlash the mainstream politicians resisted the
imposition of the tax in Dublin for a while, though eventually they
approved the tax. Initially the fiercest battle occurred in Cork city
where a strong campaign was eventually defeated with the
imprisonment of a handful of activists. The campaign in Dublin was
strongest in the Fingal County Council area, which covers the
western suburbs and satellite towns north of the city. Here the
campaign was almost exclusively led by the Socialist Party, both of
whose public representatives, Joe Higgins T.D. (MP) and Cllr. Clare
Daly, represented parts of the county. The Fingal campaign
managed to maintain a very high level of non-payment and scored a
significant victory in the courts when it was deemed that councils
were obliged to collect all bins, even those of non-payers. The
campaigns in Dublins other three local authorities were more
political diverse and somewhat weaker in terms of organisation.
Despite this non-payment of the tax was high in working class areas
throughout the city. Another key difference was that the tax was
imposed in the form of a yearly bill but the Fingal Council changed it
to a weekly tag system which proved much more difficult to oppose.
The battle of the bins
The struggle entered a decisive stage in the autumn of 2003. To
counter the court victory, the Minister for the Environment, a former
Progressive Democrat who had defected to Fianna Fail but
maintained his hard right stance, pushed legislation through the Dail
(Irish Parliament) to allow councils to stop collecting the bins of nonpayers. This precipitated a battle royal in Dublin. After securing a
deal with SIPTU, the union representing bin workers in the area, by
promising not to privatise the service, the management of Fingal
County Council stopped collecting untagged bins. This ensured
compliance in most middle class districts but provoked determined
resistance in working class suburbs such as Blanchardstown. Groups
of residents blockaded almost the entire refuse truck fleet in their
estates and a stand-off ensued. The Council then got an injunction
in the High Court allowing them to prosecute the blockaders defying
the court order. This led to the imprisonment of Joe Higgins and
Clare Daly. Facing all the power of the police and legal system the
blockades gradually ended and the Fingal campaign levelled out into
a phase of political propaganda.
Meanwhile the battle shifted ground to the Dublin City Council area
(covering the city centre and inners suburbs). Expecting a short,
sharp conflict the City Manager declared in September that he
would emulate the Fingal management and begin a policy of noncollection. Predictably this precipitated an immediate response, with
activists in working class areas carrying out temporary blockades of
bin trucks. This led once again to the courts and an injunction was

granted banning the temporary blockades. Once more people were

dragged through the courts and jailed. In Finglas, a northern suburb
of the city, where a very strong campaign was led by Socialist Party,
Irish Socialist Network and grassroots Sinn Fein activists, twenty two
people were brought to court and nine jailed. The same pattern was
repeated in South Dublin County. It proved impossible to implement
non-collection in much of the City area and the year ended in a
stalemate. Because of the widespread popular resistance the
collection of all bins continued in most working class areas outside
of Fingal County. The result was a city divided between almost
totally compliant middle class areas and great swathes of working
class suburbs where the majority continued to refuse to pay.
Tactical differences
It is often said that the real nature of political groups are revealed in
the heat of struggle. The bin tax campaign has highlighted the
organisational and ideological strengths and weaknesses of the
various far left groupings. Perhaps more importantly it has indicated
more clearly their relationship with the working class. At the height
of autumns struggle most far left organisations and individuals were
engaged to some extent in the campaign and a clear difference of
perspective emerged. On the one hand the Socialist Workers Party,
backed by Sinn Fein, argued for a campaign based on mass
meetings and demonstrations with blockading and other forms of
direct action being seen as measures of last resort. The basis for this
view was that the decisive battle would be the local elections of
summer 2004 where anti-bin tax candidates could make a
breakthrough based on the work done over the years in the different
localities. This position was somewhat undermined by the fact that
in certain areas where the Socialist Workers Party claimed to be
organising the campaign, only shadow campaigns, lacking a popular
base, existed. The perception was that they had adopted this
position because they were unable to deliver the goods when it
came to mass direct action. There was a degree of truth to this
perception because the majority of Socialist Workers Party activists
are of middle class origin, many of them students who had no real
connection with working class communities, though individual
members, such as the jailed activist Brid Smith, had played an
important role in limited number of areas. Sinn Fein on the other
hand had failed to play any significant role outside of Finglas and
seemed to view the campaign as an adjunct to their target of
making a major breakthrough in the local elections.
On the other hand the Socialist Party and three smaller left groups
active in the campaign on the north side of the city (Working Class
Action, the Workers Solidarity Movement and the Irish Socialist
Network) advocated mass direct action, especially after the jailing of
the activists. In areas dominated by these forces frequent blockades
of trucks and depots occurred. The areas where these groups were
dominant tended to be the best organised and the most deeply
rooted in the community. Public meetings attracted hundreds while

dozens of people engaged in blockading action. There was little

patience from this wing of the campaign for the more cautious,
election orientated strategy. There was, however, a certain degree
of suspicion amongst the smaller groupings that the Socialist Party
saw the campaign as their property, to be led from above and
switched on and off as it suited.
The union response
Union bosses were posed with a huge dilemma by this battle. There
was a strong pressure from the rank and file to back the bin tax
campaign, especially after the jailing of Joe, Clare and the other
activists. It was hard to oppose this pressure given that it was the
official policy of most unions to oppose all service charges. This was
compounded by a strong desire by the bin men themselves to show
solidarity with their friends and neighbours. On the other hand the
bureaucrats were wedded to social partnership and wanted to avoid
conflict with the authorities at all costs. They also saw the danger to
the Labour Party of popular mobilisation led by the far left.
The only leading trade unionist backing the bin tax campaign was
Mick O Reilly of the ATGWU who, although a member of the Labour
Party, is a widely respected leftist. The other source of support was
the traditionally radical Dublin Council of Trade Unions which
organised a mass demonstration to oppose the imprisonment of the
activists.
While mouthing platitudes favourable to the campaign, the leaders
of the main unions organising bin workers, SIPTU and IMPACT,
worked hard behind the scenes with management to ensure the
success of the non-collection against the wishes of the workers
themselves. At some stages these tensions bubbled to the surface,
with truck drivers refusing to drive out of depots blockaded by
activists despite shop stewards and union officials pressurising them
to do so. By far the worst intervention was that of David Begg, the
leader of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. While the Socialist
Party politicians languished in jail, he publicly attacked the
campaign and its leaders. Of course this received maximum
publicity in the media with every attempt made to portray the antibin tax campaign as crafty loony left ploy to dupe the gullible
working class.
What next?
Both sides are now holding their fire, preparing for the next round.
The establishment politicians want to avoid a rerun of the bitter
conflict of last autumn at least until after the summer elections.
They know that another round of blockades and arrests would
galvanise working class communities and boost support for Sinn
Fein and far left candidates. Undoubtedly they are leaning on local
authority managers to hold back until the elections are over. This
may not be enough to rein in the bureaucrats. The Dublin City
Manager secured a 23% increase in the bin tax in December with
the support of the right wing parties and the Greens on the City
Council. There are plans in the offing to introduce the tag system to

replace the yearly bill in the City Council and South Dublin Council
areas as a prelude to enforcing non-collection. The possibility exists
that the campaign may enter a decisive phase before the elections.
With most political forces involved in the campaign concentrating to
a greater or lesser degree on electoral work there is a danger that
the campaign may degenerate. Activists may put all their energy
into canvassing and leafleting, neglecting to continue the grassroots
organising needed to sustain the struggle against the bin tax. The
more cautious elements in the alliance may use the run up to the
elections to argue against direct action on the basis that any sort of
illegal action will damage the electoral prospects of candidates. The
predominant tendency at the moment seems to have swung
towards an over-concentration on the importance of the local
elections.

jailing the wrong man? ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart

On thursday 11th October 2007,in Limerick

Circuit Court,after 35 minutes of deliberation,
a jury found Roy Behan (28) of Cherrydale
Park, Dublin Road, Limerick was found guilty
of perjury during Liam Keane's murder trial in
2003.
Keane was charged with the murder of Eric
Leamy (19) who died in 2001.
After a number of witnesses developed what
was described as collective amnesia resulting
in the collapse of the trial, Keane walked free
with his constitutional presumption of
innocence intact and gave an infamous two

fingered salute to waiting photographers.

Roy Behan was present and witnessed Leamy
being stabbed. He accompanied his best
friend to the hospital and -unfortunately for
him- told gardai that Liam Keane stabbed
Leamy and signed a memo to that effect. He
also gave a statement later that day.
Following a two-day trial this week, it took
the jury 35 minutes to find Behan guilty of
lying under oath during the murder trial.
The jury also heard claims that two leading
members of the Keane gang called to Roy
Behan's home and offered him IR30,000 as
an inducement not to testify in Liam Keane's
trial.
Brother of Eric Leamy, John Paul, said he
spoke to Roy Behan who told him that Kieran
Keane (Liam's uncle) warned him if he made
a statement: "I will kill you; I will take you
away in the boot of a car."
Roy Behan also told John Paul that Kieran
Keane had a handgun in his right hand during
the brief conversation.
On October 31, 2003, while on his way to
Dublin for the court case, when asked what
he was going to do by Geraldine Leamy, Roy
Behan replied: "What can I do? I have to
protect my girlfriend, my kid and my family. I
can't give evidence."
The prosecution of a frightened witness who
fears the local crimonal gangs more than 5
years in jail may well prove a pyrrhic victory
for the Gardai.Roy Behan fears for his life and

that of his family more than the threat of 5

years in jail.That is the only message that
this debacle gives out.
Witnesses of serious crime or murders by the
ruthless criminal gangs who operate freely in
the state, will give pause in the future before
making statements to the police.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 129271148 ParagraphStart 130130408

ParagraphTitleStart Dont phone 999-if you value

your life! ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

ONE of the main witnesses in the case of a

man who stabbed his friend to death after a
drunken New Year's Eve party had to flee the
country after threats to his life.
Mark Doyle left Ireland after being warned he
would be killed if he gave evidence in the
trial of Karl Breen, 27, who was convicted
yesterday of the manslaughter of Martin
McLaughlin at Jury's Inn, Croke Park on 1
January 2006.
Breen admitted stabbing the 21-year-old
three times but denied murder. He was found
guilty of manslaughter and will be back in
court on Wednesday to receive a date for the
McLaughlin family's victim impact statement.
The victim's father, Martin senior, said after
yesterday's verdict: "Martin was a quiet
fellow who had just turned 21.
We're not coping very well at the minute;
we're doing the best we can." He added that
the family would have to accept the court's

decision. "That's the law and that's what has

to be done."
As one of the state's key witnesses, Mark
Doyle endured 18 months of threats and
intimidation aimed at preventing him from
testifying. His home in Clondalkin, Dublin,
was shot at twice and he was warned he
would be murdered if he gave evidence in
court. There is no suggestion that Breen was
involved in any incident.
The last shooting incident happened just two
days before the case began and Doyle
received regular phone calls and text
messages from unknown people warning him
to leave the country. Graffiti appeared on
walls in Clondalkin mentioning Doyle. The
innocent Doyle was in fear of his life and has
now left the country; he is thought to be in
Spain.
Doyle and Karl Breen were friends and Breen
sent Doyle a text message while Martin
McLaughlin was in hospital fighting for his
life. Breen labelled McLaughlin's girlfriend
Elaine Fagan a "rat" and blamed her for
starting the fight.
The court heard that a large amount of
alcohol had been consumed on the night of
the killing. Breen and McLaughlin were
captured on a CCTV camera hugging shortly
before the fatal fight broke out.
The written statement given by Doyle to
gardai was read into evidence during the
case.

He described receiving phone calls from

Breen but said: "I told him to f*** off, I didn't
want to talk to him".
Gardai investigated several incidents of
witness intimidation in the McLaughlin
murder case and several witnesses' cars
were burnt out in the weeks before the trial
got under way at the Central Criminal Court.
Gardai took the intimidation so seriously that
armed officers regularly patrolled outside the
homes of some of those who were due to
give evidence.
It took the jury five-and-ahalf hours to reach
their verdict, having stayed overnight in a
hotel on Friday, and they returned to Judge
Kevin O'Higgins several times with questions
about the case . . .including a request to
review the footage of Breen and McLaughlin
hugging just minutes before the stabbing.
When the verdict was announced, Breen's
girlfriend, who is pregnant, clasped her hands
to her face. Breen looked at the jury and
nodded slowly several times. No-one from
Breen's family attended the trial and they
were not present for the judgement.
Karl Breen has 92 previous convictions for
minor offences such as public order offences
and road traffic incidents, and is well-known
to gardai across west Dublin.
He was once described by a judge as "brutal,
mean and nasty" after he was convicted of
being one of the key organisers in a dogfighting ring. He was arrested after gardai

raided a barn at Robertstown, Co Kildare, in

October 2003. Gardai found two pitbull
terriers that were badly injured and
emaciated. Eleven people who attended the
fight were arrested. A special ring had been
built and carpets put down to give the
animals a better grip while fighting.
A judge told Breen that his presence at the
dog fight "was not an act of innocence but by
arrangement. It was not a minor offence in
my view. It is a mean and nasty offence
where innocent animals are used for a
purpose never designed for them".
The jury in the case found him guilty of two
acts of animal cruelty and he was given a
nine-month prison sentence, which was
suspended on condition that he pay 5,000 to
the ISPCA.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 130130408 ParagraphStart 138355822

ParagraphTitleStart 36 thousand convicted

gangsters still roaming the country.!! Surreal.
ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
By Michael Brennan Political CorrespondentThursday December 06 2007
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has admitted that action needs to be taken
to deal with the situation in which some 36,000 people are said to
be evading bench warrants for their arrest.
The scandal was highlighted in a number of recent serious crimes,
including the house party shooting of Donna Cleary, whose
suspected killer was the subject of a bench warrant.
During leader's questions in the Dail yesterday, Mr Ahern accepted
that the system needed to be tightened up.
However, he said he found it hard to imagine that there were 36,000
outstanding bench warrants, which are issued by judges when a

defendant or witness fails to turn up in court.

"While I do not know the total figure for people who have evaded
the system, I imagine it is small," he said.
Labour party leader Eamon Gilmore said the figure of 36,000 had
been obtained from the garda computer system on November 25.
He added that there were 111,453 outstanding warrants in total,
which was "equivalent to the population of a large five seat
constituency".
This included 4,000 committal warrants issued by judges to allow
gardai arrest convicted offenders who should be in prison, he said.
"I would like an explanation as to why these people are not being
arrested."
Mr Ahern rejected the suggestion that a significant number of
people never turned up in court on foot of bench warrants.
"Some of the cases would relate to people for whom a warrant was
issued and they either forgot about it or were sick," he said.
In many cases, those with outstanding bench warrants are arrested
for another offence or their offence related to the failure to pay a
court fine, he added.
He also rejected a suggestion by the Labour party that social welfare
offices notify gardai when a person with an outstanding bench
warrant turns up to collect a payment.
He said debt collectors were being used to retrieve court fines under
a pilot project, and that the Fines Bill -- before the Dail -- would
further reduce pressure on the system by allowing people to pay
fines in instalments.

Eddie was not The one. ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart

"A friend of Bertie is at the door, and wants to

see you Eddie!"

Eddie Hobbs appeared (albeit briefly)

amongst us in recent times, like a latter day
Jesus Christ preaching the home truths that

we all suspected,but none had the courage or

wisdom to enunciate; that only the high
priests,lawyers, and speculators in our
society are reaping a harvest beyond the
dreams of avarice,while life continues as a
daily struggle for the vast majority of
ordinary people.He was however,not the
redeemer the people longed for,being
persecuted and slandered by the Soldiers of
Destiny, he abdicated his Messianic role as
"he who would save his people from their
politicians".
" Woe to ye politicians who load the people
down with heavy burdens,but lift not a finger
to help them bear their load" (St Eddie)
Many of his followers and disciples ( former
bricklayers etc) now languish in prison cells
struggling to save their jobs and wage
standards in the so called " New Jerusalem"
heralded by King Bertram the Great. (are
these the new martyrs.?)
Meanwhile some 25% of the population (the
kings personal retinue and tax gatherers) are
awaiting a second distribution of "loyalty
money" (30 pieces of silver) despite their
rebelliousness,and refusal to disperse to far
provinces,in compliance with King Berties
relocation stroke-er-wishes.
"How sharper than a serpents tooth, to have
thankless Civil Servants amongst us" (St
Bertram,bench-mark 2)
David Went, CEO of Irish Life & Permanent,
recently stated that to obtain a salary-

indexed pension (like our public servants

have) in the private sector would require
contributions of 45% of a person's salary
throughout their working life!; that public
servants pay around 6% of salary for their
pensions ; that when consequent pension
costs are included, the true cost of the last
benchmarking deal was 20 billion and not
1.1 billion as is often stated.
"Blessed are ye who will suffer the road tolls;
the refuse charges;the stealth taxes; and
every other burden they will lay upon you,
after the next election
-But your reward will be great (in Heaven.)!"
(Eddie Hobbs wrote in the Sunday Business Post)

04 September 2005 'It is reasonable to

suggest that Rip Off Republic has elevated
value for money into a major public debate.
The issue couldn't be more serious.Business
leaders particularly those in the small
business sector and consumers are correct to
be worried. Regardless of one's philosophy,
the success of our free market economy
comes down to our ability to compete
aggressively, not just abroad, but also at
home. It is for this reason that I have kept the
sharpest criticism for sectors that are
protected whether by past traditions or
legislation from free and open competition.
Competition isn't the panacea to all ills,
especially where there is overwhelming
argument that unrestricted competition in a
sector is damaging to society. But the

argument against it must be overwhelming in

cases where it's not allowed. This is the front
line in the battle to remove restrictive
practices. Lobby groups have traditionally
fought behind the scenes, using the NIMBY
(Not In My Back Yard') argument, while
consumers in general have had no power.
During the week, for example, an Ibec
circular confirmed that many TDs requested
further lobbying in support of the Groceries
Order not be delivered in writing where,
presumably, it would be subject to enquiry
under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI).
The FOI, has in any case, been diluted by a
change in government policy, resulting in a
drop in its use. The Ibec excuse that the TDs
made the requests for phone calls or
meetings because they'd already received
documents in writing appears rice-paper thin.
This debate about the Groceries Order has
generated the most heat. I'm totally against
predatory pricing. When it happens, though, I
think that it is a matter for civil action by the
Competition Authority under competition law,
and not for archaic legislation such as the
Groceries Order. The order hits consumers by
making it illegal to pass on invoice discounts.
Bulk purchase discounts of up to 20 per cent
are pretty typical for large shops. Imagine
this: the Groceries Order 1987 so beloved of
Ibec and RG Data makes it illegal for these
savings to be passed to you on about three
quarters of your grocery basket.The effect of

the Groceries Order varies depending on

which analysis you read and who
commissioned it. The pro-order lobby report
tiny differences in the actual market. Both
the Competition Authority and the Consumer
Strategy Group use estimates on what could
happen if it were removed. The acid test for
most consumers, despite academic debates,
will continue to be their shopping experience
throughout European countries, which
invariably appears to indicate higher prices
at home. But the best comparison in terms of
similar shopping patterns appears to be
Northern Ireland, which has no Groceries
Order. Despite strong currency differences,
we don't see our Northern neighbours
flocking over the border to shop here for
good reason: it's more expensive here.
Consumers, particularly those on modest
incomes, are close to the tipping-point into
further debt as they try to make ends meet.
Those concerned about the economy and the
apparent massive wastage in public spending
are right to be worried about how quickly
Ireland will drift down the league of
competitiveness. We're pricing ourselves out
of the game. This isn't just guessing. Even
large businesses especially those most
exposed to global competition in the
manufacturing sector have genuine concerns
about holding on to existing jobs as workers
demand ever-higher incomes, to counteract
higher costs.That's one of the reasons the

opening programme focused on the viral

effect of development land costs and the
other costs associated with owning and
running a home. For the record, I am not a
member of any political party, nor do I hold
close to my heart the doctrine of any party. I
have a lot of respect for certain politicians
across different parties. It doesn't matter to
me which of the political forces currently
aligning themselves for the next general
election win, provided the leaders emerge
with the right solutions.That's why, when the
dust and emotion settle following tomorrow
night's programme of Rip Off Republic, the
debate should move on to the complex
solutions needed to address these very real
problems debate by informed experts, with
better minds than mine. But it seems tome
that significant barriers to entering that
phase remain. One of these is the
understandable, but unhealthy, closeness
created over the past ten years between big
government, big business and the public
sector unions. The idea that Rip Off Republic
created an artificial mood is not just faulty
thinking it is offensive to many people.In fact,
the series gave vent to what a lot of people
feel. Tactics such as changing assumptions or
introducing contrary reports will not change
how people feel when faced with their own
experiences. So-called killer facts such as
Ireland's total tax take as a percentage of
GNP are a case in point. They fail to address

the issue of the relative value we get for

every euro spent in public money.Just look at
the hospitals. If it has taken a short run of a
four-part polemic to push these experiences
to centre stage, then RTE as the national
broadcaster has done its job, helped in no
small way by many writers in the media who
have been banging on about this issue for
years. Additionally, attacking the messenger
while an understandable human reaction is
not just merely counter-productive, it is poor
strategy. Focusing on the techniques used by
the show to give information while engaging
the audience is a bit like trying to smash the
bottle after the genie has left.Yet, I'm
optimistic that there are good leaders across
the political spectrum well capable of
emerging to take the debate forward. It
seems to me, though, that we must first
move away from abdicating responsibility to
media managers, and return to straight
talking. People react not to what they see
and hear but to what they see and hear/and
believe. Rip Off Republic did not have the
objective of putting forward the intricate
solutions needed or the capacity to do so. But
it offers a rough start that could be usefully
used in shopping among the policy agendas
in the run-up to the next general election.
How will we abandon our old ways of
concealed string pulling between big
business and government? What about the
introduction of a register of lobbyists, and the

requirement for all meetings between big

business and those in administration to be
minuted and available on government
websites for public scrutiny?If business has
good arguments in favour of retaining
existing ways or introducing new legislation
that benefits society, then it shouldn't be
frightened by open publication. Where are
the timeframes and identifiable value-formoney targets to be set against future
increases in public sector pay, over and
above normal inflation-proofing? It is simply
unacceptable that the benchmarking process
does not come with a long list of specifics
such as what we will get in increases in
productivity and further value for society in
return for the premium hikes negotiated by
public sector unions with government.The
issue is not whether such pay increases are
deserved, but whether we are getting value
for money for them just as in infrastructural
projects, where the overruns have been quite
extraordinary. The billions extra paid out
without receiving value for money is
inevitably recouped in further taxes, buried in
indirect taxation and other levies over the
years to come. Why have we hugely
underinvested in promoting competition in
the domestic economy for 10 years by underresourcing agencies such as the Competition
Authority? Why has it been left to
independent agencies such as the
Consumers' Association of Ireland to openly

confront the government in suits and sandals

with a paltry annual subvention of 63,500?
This is no error, since agencies including the
newly founded National Consumer Agency
need greater resources if they are to have
any hope of countering the massive power of
the traditions that have been established,
and that have left Ireland to be run,
effectively, by producer groups. For example,
at an annual subvention of 5 million, the
Competition Authority cannot even begin to
examine the cement industry to give it a
clean bill of health despite the facts that the
EU has officially identified the existence of a
pan-European cement cartel, and the
German competition authority recently fined
its own industry hundreds of millions of euro.
We need to address the laws of evidence that
will allow the swift processing of any actions
undertaken by the Competition Authority, a
matter which will also be addressed in
tomorrow night's episode of Rip Off Republic,
as the series concludes. While Rip Off
Republic will have helped in garnering public
support for real competition and
understanding of how it works, what more
needs to be done to engender a competition
culture throughout the domestic economy?
The government must act swiftly on the
recommendations of the Competition
Authority, following its studies into markets
such as the legal profession, banking and
insurance, and even simple things like

compelling dentists to publish their prices.

Ideally, we need to move to a point where
even schoolkids understand the damage
caused when we allow business and
professional groups to continue to retain
protectionist measures such as those that
exist for pharmacists and publicans. How will
the historic link between big property
interests and politics and the cost of
development land be tackled? While social
and affordable housing looks neat in the front
window, too many are still left with the
burden of jumbo mortgages that absorb up to
half their monthly income.This problem
needs careful study by informed, risk-taking
economists and academics. Such a study
might include looking at levying an annual
development land tax to pressurise those
hoarding large development land banks to
release them swiftly onto the market.
Resources must also be poured into speeding
up the planning process. We need to
embrace the removal of unfair practices, and
recognise unrestricted competition as being
good for the health and fitness of Ireland as
we continue to compete internationally.
Competition is not just good for consumers in
introducing price pressures and greater
choice, but as can be seen time and again it
is good for innovators in business and for
business volume. Some economists argue
that the economic engine-room is now
moving from construction to the services

sector as a consumer boom propels us

forward. If that's the case, we are at risk
unless fair trade is introduced across the
board. Careful balance will be needed to
narrow the growing gulf between those who
have plenty and the large number in middle
Ireland who are barely coping. We must
address the urgent social need behind the
fact that one in every ten of our citizens is at
risk of poverty, based on the most recent
ESRI data.If the criticism in Rip Off Republic
and its presentation style has managed to
focus minds on the complex solutions needed
to address these problems, the programme
has done its job.' (ends)

Ireland will re-run the same treaty with no

legal changes
By Jens-Peter Bonde
12 December 2008
The EU Summit in Brussels finished on time. The Irish government
formally betrayed its people by accepting to have a new referendum
on exactly the same text which was rejected 12 June by 53,4 % of
the Irish voters.
They also accepted a decision to bring the Lisbon treaty into force
from 1 January 2010 even if it has been rejected. Thereby they have
already concluded that a second referendum will be a yes.
The Irish voters can chose between Yes and Yes please - the
Lisbon Treaty will be put in force no matter their preference.
The government has obtained only one real concession. There must
be a commissioner from each Member State. But it will be up to the
majority of EU leaders to decide who shall be representing each
Member State.
There will be nothing changed in the Treaty concerning this matter.

There is also talk of so-called legal guarantees for sensitive issues

from the Irish debate. But legal guarantees have to be ratified to
become truly legal by the other Member States. There is however
no further discussion on a re-vote on the Lisbon Treaty by other
countries.
Then they have aired a possibility for making such guarantees
legally binding in the next treaty. Well, this is only possible if they
insert these promises in the existing treaties.
The reality is that the Irish government simply plans to make
declarations against some possible interpretations of the Treaty.
They could state, for example, that nothing in the Lisbon Treaty will
include provisions for conscription to an European army.
I heard this argument only one time during my many meetings in
Ireland. It was the foreign minister who brought it on television as a
No argument! I never heard it from No persons.
Such declarations will in fact change nothing. The Irish voters will
therefore be asked to vote on the same treaty twice while voters in
other countries are not allowed to vote for it once.
This is very bad for the feeling of belonging to a democracy. The
EUDemocrats will urge the governments to bring the Lisbon Treaty
to a referendum in all Member States instead of asking the Irish to
vote twice on the same issue. And, why not, have it all together with
the European Parliament Elections between 4-7 June next year.
Or even better: let us establish a short and readable treaty which
can be read by prime ministers before they sign it. The Lisbon Treaty
has not been read by any of the Prime Ministers when they signed it
and we dont think it likely that they have looked upon it

since.

Cullen is the liar but Ahern pulls the strings .

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

In Autumn 2006, Dublin Chamber of

Commerce which correctly asserted that "the
establishment of a Dublin Transport Authority
(DTA) is vital to ensure a coherent and
consistent approach to transport in the
greater Dublin area". However, the particular

model proposed by Transport Minister Martin

Cullen would be laughable if the implications
were not so serious. Maybe it will never
happen. Mr Cullen has announced many such
schemes before and surely will do so again.
The real problem will be if, for once, he
delivers. The bringing together of the
management of some of the agencies
involved in transport in Dublin does not make
an authority it doesnt even include the
greater number of bodies involved in
traffic/transport delivery in the region.
It is a pathetic fudge.It is just another P.R.
stunt. Refusing to include a realistic,
accountable land use remit reduces further
any hope that the authority can deliver. The
proposed DTA will have no meaningful
authority and no legitimate right to
determine any land and transportation
policies. (Upset the Developers and
landowners lobby?-not likely)
Under the proposals, there is no structured
role for the garda and no worthwhile role for
the local authorities. There are no real
proposals for the integration of the work of
the various public transport providers.
Incredibly, there is no accountability by, or a
transfer of powers from, any of the far too
many Government departments which have
an interfering, yet seldom helpful, role in the
delivery of our transport services. The
proposed DTA is nothing short of a cowardly
way for Martin Cullen to engage in a sly

attack on public transport: a neat way of

transferring the power to license private bus
routes without having the courage to do it
himself.
Dubliners and C.I.E. workers deserves better.
The city needs a real and powerful transport
authority. It needs it to be an integrated land
use and transport agency, and it needs it
now. The suggestion that the new authority
will be modelled on Transport for London is
perhaps the most hypocritical element of
these proposals. Transport for London is led
by the citys mayor and is encompassed in
the overall work of the Greater London
Assembly. Ironically, the proposal to have a
directly elected mayor of Dublin was
abandoned by none other than Mr Cullen.
This was the same minister who requested
Dublin City Council to delete an aspiration for
a land and transportation authority from its
development plan. Now we know why. Cullen
claims his plans follow a period of
consultation with the relevant bodies. That
statement is a lie. The Dublin city manager
on November 6 2006 indicated that "no
consultation had taken place between the
Department (of Transport) and Dublin City
Council on the establishment of the
transportation authority". That was three
days before Mr Cullen (re)announced his
plans. Given the key role that the Office of
Director of Traffic must have in any Dublin
Transport Authority, it is clear that Mr

Cullens announcements are nothing more

than the kneejerk reactions of a minister with
no plan, no vision and no commitment to
integrated transport for Dublin. The call for a
Dublin Transport Authority should be
supported by anyone with a commitment to
Dublin and a comprehensive public transport
system. Unfortunately, the proposals from
Minister Cullen amount to nothing more than
a failed attempt at covering up the inactivity
of the past 10 years. Real reform would see a
Dublin regional assembly led by a directly
elected mayor with the authority, mandate
and resources promptly to deliver public
services and that includes a
comprehensive transport service.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 98800236 ParagraphStart 63902272

ParagraphTitleStart "Irish Times" say Cullen is a

liar.! ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

A "smoking gun " found in Martin's

files..? More media manipulation uncovered.
. Cullen is caught out by a note from his staff
!!
TRANSPORT Minister Martin Cullen was at the
centre of a cock-up in October 2005,that led
to an embarrassing clash with his civil
servants.

The row is over delays in providing

information to opposition parties.
A spokesman for the Minister has rejected
claims that the release of information was
being deliberately delayed by the
department to put opposition parties on the
back foot.
Mr Cullen himself had denied, in a written
response to Fine Gael, that he had instructed
civil servants to delay the provision of media
releases to opposition spokespeople.
He said they should be issued "as soon as
reasonably practical".
But there will be red faces over the fact that
Mr Cullen's written reply to Fine Gael also
inadvertently contained a "Note for the
information of the minister" that contradicted
his own answer on the matter.
The note in question said that Mr Cullen's
department was of the view that "the press
releases should not be issued to opposition
spokespersons at the same time as they are
released to the media".
It adds that the press releases are put up on
the department's website "within a few hours
of being issued to the media".
Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton and
transport spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell tabled
questions to Mr Cullen after they noted that
the party was being kept "out of the loop" for
several hours on important media releases.
The Fine Gael front bench suspected that
they were being deliberately kept in the dark

over issues for several hours to prevent them

from responding to announcements.
REPLY
Ms Mitchell said: "The minister's reply
claimed that he had no problem with issuing
his press releases to me at the same time as
they are issued to the press, but the note
from his officials on the matter completely
contradicts his assertions on the releases.
"For a minister that has no problem issuing
the same press release three times or more
on the same topic, one would have thought
that he could put his fears aside and give his
fellow politicians in the opposition the same
facility that is afforded the members of the
press," she said.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 63902272 ParagraphStart 93767067

ParagraphTitleStart Cullens shadowy donors

unearthed by Revenue. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Revenue vultures lighten

the pockets of Cullen's crooked donors.
Max Morris of Piltown,Co Kilkenny
generously donated Euros 2000 Euros to
Martin Cullen's re election campaign co
ordinated by the lovely Monica

Leechhttp://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/monica
lewinsky.htm
In 2006 his generousity surpassed this figure
when the wretched Revenue received a
contribution of 970,000 Euros from Max.max
runs a lucrative oil distribution firm
called "Morris Oil"
He inadvertently under declared his income,
to the taxman,and had lodged extensive
cash assets "offshore" while retaining other
funds in a bogus "non resident" account.etc.
Morris was appointed to the board of
Waterford Port Company in 1999.
Another of Martins " circle of friends of PDs"
in the region is Noel Frisby.Noel coughed up
1300 euros, in a Bertie Ahern style
whiparound which totalled 35000 euros, for
the impoverished Martin in 2002.
In September 2001 Noel also fell foul of
Revenue who benefitted to the tune of 2.5
million euros in one of the largest
settlements ever recorded at the time.
However Frisby had 36 million in
accumulated profits in the bank last year.He
recently paid one of the highest prices for
unzoned land just outside Waterford City. 87
acres cost him 34 million euros.!
Expect the good councillors of Waterford to
be busy with their rezoning schedule during
the coming months..
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 93767067 ParagraphStart 100739270

ParagraphTitleStart The "Race against Waste" in

Cullen country. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Waterford councils fined for landfill offences

Local authorities in Waterford were yesterday
fined for breaching conditions of waste
management licences granted to them by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Waterford City Council was fined 6,000
while Waterford County Council was ordered
to pay 4,000 for offences under Section 39
of the Waste Management Act, 1996-2003 at
the Circuit Court in Waterford.
The authorities faced charges including the
unlawful disposal of waste and failing to
install infrastructure for the collection and
flaring of landfill gas at the Kilbarry and
Tramore landfills, in the city and county
respectively. Both landfills are now closed.
The Tramore landfill facility was granted a
waste licence in September 2001, while
Kilbarry received its licence in October of the
same year.
Breege Rooney, an inspector with the Office
of Environmental Enforcement, said in
evidence that the flaring of explosive
methane and explosive carbon dioxide gases
had not taken place at the landfill in Kilbarry.
A leachate management rainfall system,
required under the licence conditions, had
not been installed.
More than 100 tonnes had been placed on
the site before the licensing period. The site

was operational for approximately 30 years.

Director of services, planning and the
environment with Waterford City Council,
Michael Walsh, said that while 4.6 million
had been spent on the Kilbarry site, "another
5-6 million" was required.
The local authority sought funding from the
Government, while the Department of the
Environment had confirmed the allocation
was "a priority".
The landfill, which has "between 16 and 20
people employed on-site", was confined due
to space. "A tendering process for flaring is
under way," added Mr Walsh, who hoped to
have a contractor in place by August.
Read the article and more on the new
EUDemocrats Website:

EMU fiasco. ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart
Will Germany deliver on the Faustian bargain that created monetary union?

If Der Spiegel is correct, the German finance ministry is drafting

rescue plans to prevent default on the edges of the eurozone
leading to a full-blown collapse of Europes monetary system.
This is an entirely appropriate policy in economic terms. One dreads
to think what would happen if the worlds twin reserve currency
were to disintegrate at this stage.
But what about the solemn pledge to voters by Germanys political

elites - promiscuously given over the years - that monetary union

would never leave them on the hook for the debts of half Europe?
The vast imbalances that have been allowed to build up under the
seductive protection of EMU leave German taxpayers facing bail-out
liabilities that exceed the cost of reparations after the First World
War in proportional terms.
The political ground has not been prepared for this. EMU was foisted
on the German people without a referendum, in the face of deep
public scepticism and scathing criticisms by the professoriate. This
failure to secure a mandate for such a revolutionary undertaking is
coming back to haunt them.
Berlin is at last having to deliver on the Faustian bargain made by
Germanys political class when it swapped the D-Mark for French
acquiescence in reunification. It must either go the whole way
towards EMU fiscal union and take responsibility for Italys public
debt (111pc of GDP by next year), Austrias loans to Eastern Europe
(70pc of GDP), the adventures of Irelands Canary Dwarf (400bn
euros or so in liabilities), and Spains housing collapse (1m unsold
homes), or jeopardize its half-century investment in the political
order of post-war Europe. Letting EMU fail at this stage would have
far higher costs than never having launched the project in the first
place.
Finance minister Peer Steinbruck - erstwhile Scrooge - has become
the unlikely champion of open-ended help for all. "We have a
number of countries in the eurozone that are clearly getting into
trouble ... Ireland is in a very difficult situation ... The euro-region
treaties dont foresee any help for insolvent states, but in reality the
others would have to rescue those running into difficulty," he said.
For now, the bail-out talk has cowed speculators. The euro has
rallied after weeks of sharp descent against the dollar. Credit default
swaps (CDS) on Irish debt have fallen back below the red alert level
of 400 basis points. But it has not been lost on the markets that
Germanys own CDS spreads have risen to a record 86. Are traders
starting to ask whether Berlin is in a fit state to rescue anybody?
Time will judge whether Mr Steinbrucks bail-out rhetoric is hollow. I
wonder whether any German government can in fact deliver on his
pledge. He is unlikely to be finance minister after the elections in
September. The Social Democrats are heading for the most crushing
defeat in a free election since July 1932 - and for the same reasons because they are associated with a deflationary collapse of
Germanys core industry. Their Left flank is peeling away to the neoMarxist Die Linke party, just as it peeled away to the Communists in
1932.
Today, the political reality is that 700,000 Germans are going to lose
their jobs this year as unemployment rises to 4.3m (IFO Institute).
Voters are not going to look kindly on any party seen to divert
German savings to Ireland or Club Med.
Architects of EMU were well aware that a one-size-fits-all monetary
policy for vastly disparate nations would create serious tensions

over time. They gambled that this would work to their advantage.
The EU would be forced to create new machinery to safeguard its
investment in the euro. It would be a "beneficial crisis", bringing
about the great leap forward to full union.

Fianna Fails greatest ever scam in the long history

of the corrupt political party. ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/hotfromcitywest.htm
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/acoachandfour.htm
http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie
http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_1014898.shtml

"A political system from the era of the donkey

and cart where the buck stops nowhere and
produces second-rate politicians from the
teachers, small town solicitors and
auctioneers, who have the time to develop a
local profile or use a family connection, has
blown the best opportunity ever, for
sustained Irish economic development."
// authors

The government's decision to unconditionally

guarantee Irish bank deposits and inter-bank
loans exposes the taxpayer to potentially
huge risks. With property prices still falling, it
is likely that the government's deposit

guarantee will be called upon sooner rather

than later.
Between them, the Irish banks owe their
depositors, other banks and bondholders
almost 400bn. That's more than twice the
value of our total annual economic output
and 10 times the total national debt.
Guarantee
Presenting the guarantee scheme to the Dail
yesterday, Taoiseach Brian Cowen portrayed
it as a commercial arrangement, with the
banks paying a market-determined fee to
guarantee deposits and wholesale funding.
It is, of course, nothing of the sort. Before the
government's dramatic move yesterday, Irish
banks were paying between 2.5pc and 5.5pc
over Euroibor for wholesale funding. If the
guarantee scheme were to reflect market
reality, then the banks should be paying
somewhere between 2.5pc and 5.5pc of the
amount guaranteed, from 10bn to 22bn a
year, to the government.
Will the government charge the banks
anywhere near this amount for the
guarantee? Will it what?
Even a 10bn premium would more than
wipe out the profits of the Irish banking
system. This isn't an arms-length commercial
transaction, but the first stage in what is
likely to be a protracted bailout of the banks,
whose balance sheets have been stretched to
breaking point and beyond by the collapse in

Irish property prices.

Total property-related lending by the Irish
banks now stands at a towering 240bn.
Even a 10pc writedown in the value of this
lending would wipe out more than half the
reserves of the Irish banks.
The biggest risk posed by Lenehans bail-out
guarantee is what bankers call "moral
hazard". With the government's unconditional
guarantee of all deposits and inter-bank
funding having eliminated the danger of a
"run" on a bank by nervous depositors, what
is there to stop financial institutions lending
irresponsibly in the knowledge that the state
will pick up the tab?
To take a hypothetical example, Bank A has
been approached by Developer B ("The
Dunner" for example? ) to lend him money
to fund a property development scheme. Up
to yesterday, Bank A, experiencing difficulty
attracting money from depositors and other
banks, and sceptical about the merits of the
scheme, was reluctant to lend Developer B
the money.
Now, with the government having
unconditionally guaranteed all deposits and
inter-bank funding with Irish-owned banks,
Bank A is awash with funds once again.
So will Bank A now lend Developer B, with
whom it has a long relationship, the money
he is seeking, rather than stick with its earlier
reservations?

Extreme
While this is no doubt an extreme example, it
will be almost impossible for the government
to avoid being dragged further and further
into the day-to-day running of the banks as it
seeks to prevent them from abusing the
guarantee.
The guarantee scheme will almost certainly
turn into the financial equivalent of a tar
baby: the more desperately the government
seeks to escape from its clutches, the more
enmeshed it will become.
With more than one of the banks covered by
the guarantee likely to experience problems
in the near future as the true state of
property loan books emerges, it will be
difficult, if not impossible, for the government
to maintain the fiction that this guarantee is
no more than a temporary little arrangement.
Far more likely is that it will be the start of a
long drawn-out process that will last for many
years and cost the taxpayer tens of billions of
euro.
- Taken from an article by Bernard
Waters(Irish Independent)
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 272948572 ParagraphStart 271529571

ParagraphTitleStart Ireland to adopt Chapter 11

style legislation-if the Republic becomes insolvent.
ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart

Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States

Bankruptcy Code, which permits
reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of
the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is
available to any business, whether organized
as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to
individuals, although it is most prominently
used by corporate entities.
Mr Brian Lenehan has announced that the
government is to rush through emergency
legislation to deal with the unprecedented
insolvency situation in the Republic of
Ireland.
It will be the first time this type of legislation
has been adopted to facilitate the dissolution
of a sovereign state rather than a corporate
entity.
Neither Labour or Fine Gael are prepared to
enter emergency coalition given the hopeless
situation, and the government may appoint a
team of professional liquidators to administer
the country.
All TDs will see their wages cut by 50% and
their pensions similarly affected.
It is expected that all farmers "single
payment scheme"(in reality a pensions-forlife exercise for the under 65s!) and all civil

servants wages and index-linked pensions

will be re-negotiated by the liquidator who
will attempt to maintain vital services.
All state employees will take an immediate
reduction of 25% in their wages.and "Big
Pharm" (American drug companies) will be
facing a re-negotiation in the amount of
money they receive from the Health
Executive.Widespread redundancies with
modest pensions will be enforced here as in
other areas of the bloated and inefficient Civil
Service.
It is acknowledged that most drugs sold in
Ireland cost up to 100% more than the prices
that the Spanish government for example,
permits these products to be marketed.
Meanwhile huge disruption is expected as the
ESB unions cut supplies in protest.
The Irish Army have no expertise in this area
and a specialist team of engineers are being
recruited in the USA to help maintain
supplies.Ronald Regan sacked all striking Air
Traffic Controllers in the USA some years ago
when they threatened strike action, and
similar solutions may be necessary in Ireland
to bring stability to the nation.
Exclusive to the Soldiers of Destiny web site:
The Chinese government have promise to
support the government if Ireland enters a
deep recession:
Details are in our prescient video which was
made long before the current crisis:

Ard Fheis speech by An Taoiseach (Bertie Ahern?)

2021

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Taoiseach Bertie Ahern addresses the Ard Fheis,

2021

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ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 271529571 ParagraphStart 271174078

ParagraphTitleStart The Boomerang Party.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

The Government had given 250m last year

to renovate Glasnevin Cemetery adding:
"They think more of the dead than they do of
the living."
( Pensioner at medical card removal protest

meeting in Dublin)
"This is rapidly turning out to be a Boomerang Budget -- every time
the Government try to throw a bit of it away, it instantly rebounds. "
(Newspaper columnist)
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=K3f34MdaKFw
http://www.culturequest.us/aboriginal_tools/boomerang.htm

Noel Dempsey wasting more money:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM2wdp1ccy0
Farmers are beginning their own "boomerang" campaign
agriculture cuts announced in last week's Budget.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/boringfarmersstuff.htm
ParagraphBodyEnd

against

ParagraphEnd 271174078 ParagraphStart 270095677

ParagraphTitleStart Do they ever learn.?

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

"In 2001, ex-Fianna Fil finance minister Charlie McCreevy doled out
universal medical cards, a ploy designed to capture the grey vote
and it worked. At the time, not one ministerial voice, including Brian
Cowens, was raised against the decision to give so-called gold
cards to retired ministers, judges, consultants, not to mention rich
property developers. ""It seems that the Department of the
Environment is now interested in new tax reliefs -- much more
targeted of course -- for key developments, especially those in areas
designated under the National Spatial Strategy.
As the saga of the declining property market unfolds, and the
reassessment of credit and risk adds a whole new twist to the
valuing of assets, the clamour for more relief for property buyers is
sure to grow as the situation worsens in 2009.
It is impossible to say for how long, or by how much, property prices
will fall -- certainly in real terms -- from their peak in the spring of
2007. Just about the only thing everyone agrees upon is that, when
the dust settles (or, as Warren Buffet would have it, when the tide
goes out) the attitude to lending and risk will be quite different from
that of the past six years or more.
But it is hard to escape the conclusion that those tax- breaks, like
that cheap credit, will make the fall in prices worse. Lots of people

profited mightily from them, but their effects are a threat to the
market."
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/propertybargains.htm
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart The Financial Regulator.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

He would probably pass for Santa Claus if you gave him a red cape
and hood and a false beard.Tell that to the multitude of bank
shareholders and private pension fund retirees who have lost almost
everything.I actually passed this old guy in the street two weeks
ago.I was in Ireland for a week and cycling down the Luas line near
Capel street . I spotted him shuffling by on the pavement.I did not
have the presence of mind to ask him for his autograph. he doesnt
have a "presence" either. He looked like he could have been on his
way to the Morning Star hostel for the night.
He probably would have been highly embarrassed if I had
approached him.Reclusive. Typical civil servant.Hes a harmless old
divil by the look of him in real life-as well as in his picture here.Not
that the harm he has allowed to happen is not groundbreaking in it
s enormity. He is what the Scottish call a "Gillie" or a "Dupe". He
was selected for his role. Selected carefully by his masters. This guy
rocks no boats. He would not even rock the cradle of a crying infant.
A fall guy for Fianna Fail whose numerous and costly quangomasters have multiplied to the point that no new administration
dares to begin the process of unraveling them. " lie entrancedThick
as autumnal leaves that strow the brooksIn Vallombrosa "As
numerous as the Quangos are, that the Soldiers have created to
distance themselves from the mayhem; the waste; the
incompetence; which is the hallmark of their reign- the characters/
party followers/gillies that they have charged with overseeing them,
are an equally fascinating lot.Create a new Quango; Give it fanciful
name; Look for some harmless old guy who is a staunch supporter
of the party, and give him a nice well paid, pensionable job.!
Give him little power-or lots of power depending on the need (Of
Fianna Fail). If it means unlimited monies flowing to their supporters,
its the powerful NRA (National Roads Authority). They are charged
with negotiating the purchase of land , with taxpayers money,for the

road building programme.

They wouldnt have the ability negotiate a deal to sell water to a
bunch of half crazed travellers emerging from a trek through the
Sahara desert. So they throw fortunes at every farmer lucky enough
to be in the way of the new road building programme. Half the
money allocated to build the roads goes into the pockets of the
farmers.
However, If it means not disturbing bankers or
the rapacious developers as they grow obscenely rich at the
expense of the nations citizens:-Mr OLeary as the "Financial
Regulator"
is a "shoe-in"
Reguator of what.?To do what.? To do Jack Shit.! Thats what.
Regulator of sitting back to watch the economy fall into fuc*ing ruin
-thats what.!
villain!.

To sit back , and smile and smile-and still to be a

Meanwhile the entire country goes down the tubes.

ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 268915833 ParagraphStart 268728324

ParagraphTitleStart Recession proof jobs abound

for Fianna Fail cronies. ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart
Buying 470,000 votes for the
Soldiers of Destiny-A La Mr Mugabe.
To put the figures in context, the public sector has had the luxury of
increasing jobs by 5,000 in the six months to June 2008, while there
were 16,500 jobs lost in the private sector through redundancy in
the same period, said the ISME chief executive Mark Fielding.
Public servants are paid on average 49,000 per annum in
comparison to 41,500 in the private sector, well in excess of the
average industrial wage, currently 34,000.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/couchpotato.htm
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/davidbeggbetrayal.htm
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/jobsfortheboys.htm
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/healthreform.htm
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/nopensionforyou.htm

ParagraphBodyStart

ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 268531447 ParagraphStart 267495052

ParagraphTitleStart A little about me, where I live

,and my favourite people: ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Our home in Gran Canaria.

Our place of happy exile

"Gran Canaria" my home, is about 100 kilometres offshore from the

African Continent.

Our cat pretending to be a dead Celtic Tiger.

"Is that a mouse I see before me?"

A photograph of my favourite irish politicians. Lto R. Mary Coughlan;

Brian Cowan: Lower left to right: Dermot Ahern, Martin Cullen &
Brian Lenehan.

An Irish voter mulling over past mistakes.

My favourite Quangoista.

My favourite Exposista

My favourite Taxdodgeista.

Our sordid secret

The inadequate and reckless treatment of sewage in Ireland is
slowly but surely destroying our waterways and coast.
Ireland is renowned for its stunning seascapes but, even by our
standards, Lough Swilly in north Donegal is exceptionally beautiful.
From its gentle beginnings at Letterkenny to its dramatic mouth
flanked by Fanad and Dunaff Heads, the Swilly unwinds over 30
miles into the open Atlantic.
However, as occupants contemplate Lough Swilly's moods from their
picture windows - its name means the Lake of Shadows - few will
ponder whether the water is as wholesome as it looks. Practically
none will conjure the revolting image of their own bodily waste
swilling around among all that natural beauty.
Such concepts do not compute in the Ireland of chilled chardonnay,
luxury health spas and New York shopping trips. For, surely, the
second-richest OECD nation doesn't pump raw excrement into the
sea?
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/environdestructagency.htm
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart
"The tax cuts (of Fianna Fail) didn't cause the boom, they were the

result of it. Far from generating revenue, they squandered it.

Nevertheless, deluded by its own crude ideology, at one with free
market extremism, the Ahern government threw caution to the
wind.
The banks and the builders were like two dogs locked in a carnal act,
threshing and inseparable. They needed water thrown over them.
Instead, the government joined in, making this a unique and bizarre
menage a trois.
Revenue from the property bubble allowed much-needed increases
in public spending, but still we underfunded hospitals and schools.
The proverbial "Top People" lapped it up. Thirty-three thousand
millionaires (not counting the value of their homes) muscled their
way to the top. Ministers and TDs entered the big money leagues.
Bankers and HSE executives were on big bonuses. The banks are
now in hock to the builders to the tune of 110bn. And the builders
are awash with unsold properties. They don't want to lower prices,
so they can't sell, so they can't pay their debts. Tax revenue
collapses.
The politicians are busy passing on the blame. To us. (Gene
Kerrigan)
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/genekerrigan.htm
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 266407132 ParagraphStart 265616050

ParagraphTitleStart Understanding the

chaos.Where your money has gone.
ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x684wa_the-last-laugh-georgeparr-subprime_fun ParagraphBodyEnd

ParagraphEnd 265616050 ParagraphStart 264510829

ParagraphTitleStart A bonus for Bono.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Irish minstrel and anti-poverty campaigner Bono joined the band of

celebrity tax dodgers (which includes the Rolling Stones) in 2006,
when it was revealed that U2 had moved its royalty income from
Ireland to the Netherlands. For many years Ireland had famously
and much to the benefit of U2 not taxed the income of artists.
Then the Government decided to set a cap of $200,000 a year a
fortune for most artists, but not for U2. Ireland is itself a corporate
tax haven and Bono would have done well enough had he decided
to stay put. But the Netherlands offered a more competitive deal,
partly through its link with the Antilles. Another band member, The
Edge, pleaded: Who doesnt want to be tax efficient?
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Fianna Fail "gravy train " to

Mountjoy jail facing the axe.? ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart
Perhaps the most cynical and outrageous "rewards for the boys"
activities in the whole gamut of Fianna Fails schemes and quangos
for enriching party supporters and minor functionaries in
government, is facing cutbacks.I refer to their "Prison Visiting
Committees.One would think they would pay some organization like
Amnesty International to carry out this task-but no-they actually pay
generous allowances and fees to select crony councilors
countrywide, for turning up in Mountjoy Jail or Limerick prison, to
watch the misery of those wretches imprisoned in Victorian " slopout" cells.
Some years ago,one of the Limerick Prison Visiting Committee,
Fianna Fail councillor Michael "Stroke" Fahy, ironically found himself
an unexpected guest in the prison ( Limerick prison) that he had
often called in to visit on a fee paying basis !!
.No doubt he
found himself in good company with the Moyross Mob.
At least the Irish judiciary are not on the Fianna Fail payroll
(yet).Unhappily it is a rare event to see one of the "soldiers of
Destiny" brought to account for his criminality.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/socialjustice.htm
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Will the Dunner come undone

and undo the irish taxpayer.? ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

"A bridge too far"-and A tower too tall ,in

Dublin 4.?
"Cowen and Lenihan et al have perhaps demonstrated foolishness,
dutch courage more like. Other countries are guaranteeing all
deposits (to prevent runs!), but none have guaranteed the banks
loans. So we have given a state guarantee with potential huge cost
to Ireland Teo ,yet we have got zippo for it apart from some jobs
saved - for now."
(www.davidmcwilliams.ie)
"There are rumours that the worst effected developers are already
moving their assets outside the jurisdiction of irish courts so that in
the likely event of the collapse of their current projects/limited
companies the taxpayers of Ireland will take the hit"
(Pat Kenny, speaking on RTE, the Pat
Kenny programme )
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Ireland's new "Haunted

houses" ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Sunday October 05 2008

// authors
Ireland's ill-planned decentralisation debacle may have come to the
same shuddering halt as the economy.
But the bills for Charlie Mc Creevy's last folly are set to continue
rolling in for another 20 years -- with millions being paid for empty
offices.
The rental costs on offices hired to house phantom civil servants
in over 30 rural locations -- from Tubbercurry, Co Sligo to Furbo, Co
Galway and further afield -- will cost the taxpayer over 67.3m.

"The decision to spend 67m renting office

buildings that the State will never own in
places no-one has ever heard of and which
will house nothing more than imaginary civil
servants is the perfect monument to the
economic incompetence of this
administration," said a Labour party source.
In Kilrush, which is described in tourist guides as being one of
Clare's "best kept secrets", the taxpayer will be paying rent to
private business interests for property "the State will never own for
more than 25 years".
The costliest schemes are Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, where
the Department of Social and Family Affairs has leased offices at a
total cost of 16m, and in Navan, Co Meath, where the Revenue, the
property regulator and the Department of Justice have leased offices
for 8.8m and 11.5m.
In Carlow, the Department of Enterprise's 20-year lease will cost the

taxpayer more than 7.3m whilst in Roscrea, Co Tipperary the

Equality Authority Offices will cost the taxpayers over 2m.
Though some office space has been occupied, the current status of
the decentralisation project -- where less than 20 per cent of the
public sector has moved -- means there are huge swathes of offices
across the country that are populated by nothing more tangible than
desks and the odd chair.
The figures were given to Labour finance spokesperson Joan Burton
in reply to a Dail question.
- JOHN DRENNAN

ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Via the M50 to Galway.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Fianna Fail-wiping the bankers

and builders asses -with your money.
ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

The Loo in St Luke's.

Fianna Fail's "Get out of jail free guarantee card for the bankers and
developers was a compellingly attractive response by the government
to a potential Chernobyl event.
Politicians have pledged the deeds of Ireland Inc ,so that the
profligate directors of ruined Irish banks get fresh chips to stay on
playing at the roulette table.
The first downside of this decision is that the bad loans can now be
left on the books for years to come.No doubt the developers will be
loaned more of the government guaranteed deposits to help them
continue their interest payments indefinitely.
The half built ;the empty housing estates; in Dublin and elsewhere,
can now be locked up, by the developers, and left to the weeds and
the wild flowers that will grow in the cracks and crannies of the
pathways of their unfinished sites-rather than sell their apartments at
recession prices.
Granted, the banks may lose patience with the smaller buy-to-let,
speculators, who bought a half a dozen properties in recent years, and
now find that tenants are a threatened species.
Foreclosing on these lesser victims, may give us an indication of
realistic prices as the banks become property owners and proceed to
offload their illiquid assets.
The banks may of course choose to leave them empty, and try and ride
out the recession,hoping for an eventual upturn- rather than set a

chain reaction in motion, whereby there is public clamor for a similar

treatment for their bigger customers.!
Unfortunately the governments bail-out, has opened up too many
comfortable options for banks like Anglo Irish, which -of all of the 6
happy survivors-was more deserving of a leaden weight than a
lifebuoy.
At least some of our more prominent billionaires are happy men this
week.

ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 262561816 ParagraphStart 262194618

ParagraphTitleStart Mark Engler.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart Here is a link to an interesting discussion of

the American financial meltdown, the wider international crisis of

market fundamentalism, and the hope for alternatives to emerge
from the crisis. You can listen here.(Copy and paste):
http://kboo.fm/node/9680
A link to a well-done essay on the root issues of the crisis by
Alternet editor Joshua Holland. In its discussion, the article covers
a new book, How to Rule the World: The Coming Battle Over the
Global Economy. Joshua's essay is available here:
http://www.alternet.org/story/99703/
Mark Engler's book is available on-line via Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Rule-World-MarkEngler/dp/1568583656

CONFRONTATION comes easily to Michael O'Leary, chief

executive of Ryanair. He does not care whom he offends and
does not bother with normal business conventions: if he has
something to say, he will say it. It is not because he likes the
sound of his own voice, or because he craves attention. He
attacks because he has a company to defend and a point to
make.
The European Commission, which has blocked his proposed
takeover of Aer Lingus has investigated a number of regional
airports because of the deals they have struck with Ryanair.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/airlinethieves.htm

ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart 113 million euro contract to

collect toll bridge fees. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

http://www.ertico.com/en/news_and_events/ertico_newsroom/cs_win
s_free_flow_toll_system_contract_for_dublin_ring.htm
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/tollbridgeripoff.htm
These are the guys who have bet the country on bailing out their
crony developers via the 3 million-a-year-salaried, bank bosses,
whose jobs (and pensions) are intact.!
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/over-40-homes-but-fahey
http://www.mediabite.org/article_The-Media-and-the-BankingBailout_679566551.html
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart The Great Stardust Cover-up

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Behind closed doors they perished in a converted warehouse/so

called nightclub.A drinking licence was issued.The licence to print
money for Fianna Fail politicians and their cronies.The operation
prospered in a working class suburb of Dublin bereft of sports &
recreation facilities. Emergency exits locked and barred
.Nobody was made accountable for the untimely deaths of these
young people .Nobody was brought to justice.The family responsible

prosper today, and grow wealthier by the year. Friends of Fianna

Fail...The way of the world.!
"It is the blight man was born for-it is your children you mourn for"

http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/thestardustc
overup.htm
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Closing the stable door when

the horses has bolted.Hooray-the Green Party has
arrived! ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Fianna Fail pandered to Jerry-built homes with little or no insulation.

BROADCASTER Duncan Stewart has said he is "shocked" at
current low standards in Irish building regulations, saying the
Government has not prepared the public for the grave energy
crisis we are facing.
Speaking at a sustainable energy conference, the awardwinning architect and presenter of RTE's About the House
warned that energy prices are going to go through the roof in
the next five years.
"We'll look back and be amazed at how cheap energy was in
2006," he said.
In October 2006, gas prices have risen by a whopping 34 per
cent, and electricity is set to rise another 20 per cent in
January. A quarter of us will be unable to afford to heat our
homes properly this winter, and it's only going to get worse, he
said.
Ireland, which imports 90 per cent of its energy, is going to be
hit hard by shrinking world oil and gas reserves. As demand
outstrips supply, the cost of heating and energy here will be
crippling.
Declan Meally of Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), revealed
how 30-35 per cent of heat energy is lost through the roof of a
house, and 25-30 per cent through the walls. We are letting all
this expensive energy flow out like money down the drain, as
well as contributing considerably to global warming, he said.
And speaking to a crowded hall in Newbridge, Mr Stewart
slammed the Government for not subsidising proper insulation

of existing houses, and for not making sure houses being built
are up to scratch.
"Standards are irresponsibly low," he said. "Too low for the
challenges we are facing. The Government is pandering to
vested interests, like developers and builders, at the expense
of ordinary householders."
Ireland has experienced an unprecedented building boom in
the past decade; this year alone has seen almost 90,000
houses built(2007). Yet there has been no pressure on builders
to insulate properly or install sustainable energy systems in
new homes. Thus homeowners face a choice between
escalating fuel prices, and the cost of upgrading their homes to
save on energy.
"To insulate a house at the building stage costs a tenth of what
it costs to upgrade later," said Mr Stewart. "It's an appalling
situation, a sellers' market, and builders can do what they
like."
Leading economist Jim Power also stepped up pressure on the
Government, saying he did not believe they were serious about
developing sustainable energy.
"We're not aware of the gravity of the situation we're in
globally," he warned. "In Ireland, we're way behind in pushing
the environmental agenda."
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/affordablehousescam.htm
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Bush lashes out at an "

unaccountable Parliament" ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

The White House today admitted that funds had been channeled
through the C.I.A to support Mr Declan Ganley and his beleaguered
Libertas organization, which campaigned for a No vote in the
irish Lisbon referendum. Politicians of all hues and parties
throughout Europe, are currently engaging in a smear campaign
against Mr Ganley.?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemasmicrosoft-com:office:office" /

President Bush held a special press conference to express his deep

concern at the lack of democracy in the new Super-European
parliamentary institutions.
Many decisions are taken behind closed doors, he commented,
and the people have been denied a free vote on the enlargement
of unelected officials in an undemocratic parliament. The smear
campaign is worse than anything we would tolerate here in the
United States-even in a Presidential election!" He added.
We have established that there is massive fraud, waste and
duplication of resources such as two headquarters for the sitting
members; much of the huge budget is allocated to powerful lobby
groups; agricultural support and farm subsidies throughout the
region threaten to destabilize world markets, and the bulk of the
huge annual budget allocation goes to an oligarchy of wealthy
businessmen and landowners. Many of the citizens of Europe can no
longer afford the cost of basic foodstuffs and we are concerned that
the steady impoverishment of its peoples will create social
unrest and eventually bring anarchy to the region. We want a strong
European partner, but also a functioning democracy."

"Civil servants and parliamentarians alike, defraud the

system by claiming expenses for first class airline tickets
and hotel expenses while travelling on budget airlines
and lodging with friends in Brussels and Strasbourg.
Added Mr Bush
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 257571960 ParagraphStart 256771312

ParagraphTitleStart ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

The War of the Words, (with apologies to

Orson Welles,)?xml:namespace prefix = o ns
= "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /
The run on the banks fiasco.
The ability to confuse audiences en masse may have first become
obvious as a result of one of the most infamous mistakes in history.
It happened in September 2008, when millions of irish citizens tuned
in to a popular radio program that featured real life drama.
The mischief maker/famous broadcasting celebrity, Joe Duffy took
calls from panicky customers of the irish banks who had seen their
shares plummet almost below the horizon ,due to their rapacious
exploitation of the property bubble phenomenon by greedy bankers.
As the stock market collapse, instigated a run on the banks,which
threatens to destroy the economic fabric of the nation-Joe was
stoking the fires and listening to Grannies worried about all the cash
they had hidden under wardrobes mattresses etc.
As the show unfolded, politicians and bankers panicked and the
Minister for Hardship ,Brian Lenehan,danced on the table in
government buildings (as his padre was known to do before him)
only this time, it was not entertainment-it was anger.!
.As the show progressed, people hurriedly donned their coats and
rushed to their local bank branch ,withdrew their life savings and hid
it wherever they could find a spot which robbers might not easily
locate.
News of the panic (which was conveyed via genuine news
reports) quickly generated a national scandal. There were calls,
which never went anywhere, for government regulations to ensure
that the banks would never be permitted to lend 350 million euros
to Joe Ballsbridge and his Fianna Fail cronies countrywide-nor give
100% loans to the mugs who were hooked on property cocaine-nor
cause such chaos again
In a prescient column, only one commentator David McWilliams
foresaw that the dreadful fiasco revealed the way politicians,
auctioneers, and property developers could use the power of mass
communications to create illusions, & manipulate the public into
borrowing sums of moneyfar in excess of what they could afford to
repay.!.
"All unwittingly, Joe Duffy and RTE have made one of the most
fascinating and important demonstrations of all time," one
commentator wrote. "They have highlighted how a property
speculator, financed administration, can mishandle an economic
boom, can convince masses of people of a totally unreasonable,
completely fantastic proposition(they must buy at any cost as prices
are rising and rising..) as to create a nation-wide panic.
Joe has demonstrated more potently than any argument,
demonstrated beyond a question of a doubt, the appalling dangers

and enormous effectiveness of popular-almost theatricaldemagoguery....

Mr. Duffy was able to scare thousands into demoralization with
nothing at all except interviews with real people and potential
victims of-not just negative equity-but judging by the collapse in
confidence in our banking system-the real possibility of losing their
life savings as well.
One might say that War of the Words between the government and
RTE ( the Joe Duffy show) was the aftermath of the age of
simulation and dissimulation Allowing for a little poetic
overstatement, it can be said that we now live in an age of
simulation and political spin intended to create confusion, and
bury the truth. Our tendency to mistake fakes for what they imitate
particularly in the world of politics-has become one of the
characteristic problems of the age.
More to the point, we live in a time in which the ability to create
deceptive simulations, especially for television, has become
essential to the exercise of power. And the inability to see through
these deceptions has become a form of powerlessness. Those who
let themselves be taken in by the multiple deceptions of politics,
news, advertising and public relations, are doomed, like the more
gullible members of the radio audience of The War of The Worlds
in 1938, to play a role in other people's dramas, while mistakenly
believing that they are reacting to something genuine.
ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Letters to the Editor-our

monthly prize winner.! ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Hard times: FF can shoulder the blame, not low-paid workers

and Lisbon opponents "The only surprise is that it took Fianna

Fil and their IBEC friends three months to blame the majority
of the Irish people who opposed the Lisbon Treaty, civil
servants and those on the minimum wage for the crash.
Perhaps they were trying to pretend the recession wasnt

happening? Anyway, it wasnt no voters and the low-paid

who:?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoftcom:office:office" /
1. Failed to broaden our tax base to include fair taxation of
the huge windfall profits. 2. Fuelled the damaging
property bubble by stupid, shortsighted tax breaks for
property speculators. 3. Failed to invest in broadband,
education and retraining, thus leaving us in a weak
position to recover from the Government-induced
downturn. 4. Privatised Telecom ireann, resulting in a
ruthless sweating of the public assets of one of the
leading telecoms systems in Europe, reducing it to one
of the slowest and most expensive; 5. Handed over up
to 13 billion gas reserves to Shell with no royalties for
the Irish people.
6. Handed over the building of a
25m bridge to a well-connected company, resulting is
a cost of 1,200m to motorists and taxpayers, not to
mention hours and hours of delays on the M50. No,
Brian Cowen might find the causes of the recession
much closer to home, specifically in Fianna Fils
adoption of the greed is good culture which has
allowed the PDs to pass on the baton and retire."
(Letter to the Examiner)
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/bestletterssection.htm
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ParagraphTitleStart The second Lisbon referendum.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

You voted in the best liars-no harm in that-happens all the time in
politics
, but here is a link to
stuff you ought to know before swallowing the smear campaign by
all the major political parties, against Declan Ganley, in the run up
to the local elections 2009 and the second Lisbon referendum.
www.eudemocrats.org

ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart The Garda "Golden Mile"

(Overtime) in Mayo. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Protesters
"lock in" to prevent police
manhandling in Mayo
Garda overtime allocation to control a few
dozen protesters in Mayo equals entire
overtime budget for tackling criminal drug
gangs countrywide.!! The cops are laughing
all the way to the bank. "Thanks Fianna
Fail.!"
Garda gets Interpol aid on Corrib protesters
Naval Service ship at Corrib gas project
(British nuclear
submarine rumoured to be standing by off the coast to render
assistance.!)
GARDA POLICING the protest about Shell's Corrib gas project have
enlisted the help of Interpol following an influx of eco-protesters into
Mayo from the UK and continental Europe.
Interpol, the international police intelligence co-operation agency, is
helping to identify some of the foreign national eco-protesters,
whose number has significantly increased in recent weeks,
according to Garda sources.
The increase in the number of protesters has also prompted senior
Garda management in the area to request reinforcements of
personnel from surrounding Garda districts

The move to add personnel to the policing operation comes at a

time when the overall cost to the Garda of policing the protest is
well over 10 million. The security operation around the
controversial project is now the single biggest ongoing policing
operation in the country.
The cost of the Garda's operation looks set to exceed 15 million by
the end of the year. This compares with the 20 million available for
Garda overtime under Operation Anvil, which targets organised
crime gangs across the country.
Garda in Mayo have also requested the presence of a naval vessel
to assist in the security operation. The LE Orla moved into
Broadhaven Bay on Friday lunchtime and remained there over the
weekend.

Dont you wish these very determined and

energetic guys would put their energy
into forming a new political party?
More at: www.indymedia.ie
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 256441839 ParagraphStart 255733370

ParagraphTitleStart Property developers crash

landing in Bettystown. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/bertiearmsta
liban.htm
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/section140al

qaeda.htm
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 255733370 ParagraphStart 254483883

ParagraphTitleStart Is it any wonder.?

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

David Begg is General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade

Unions.He is a Director of state (or former) institutions such as Aer
lingus and the Central bank. We have Trade Unionists managing
capitalist companies, and publicans (for the main part) governing the
country.The main qualification to be elected to the Dail, and govern
Ireland is pedigree-your father was there before you.! Your only
qualification in life may that you played hurling for kilkenny, or were a
successful auctioneer, or did a brief accountancy course in Rathmines
College.
(When Aer Lingus goes bankrupt -as it surely will in time- a "workers
buyout" of the equity they dont already own, will probably turn the
airline into a very successful enterprise.Read my lips.Remember
Eircom.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/bintaxhistory.htm
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 254483883 ParagraphStart 253512291

ParagraphTitleStart Budget shock looming:-Irish

builders:Mc May and Mc Mac bailed out by Biffo.
ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart

ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 253512291 ParagraphStart 253079930

ParagraphTitleStart Bord Pleanala boss slams

Fianna Fails gombeen councillors countrywide.!
ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/thenewbarbarians.htm

The new Ballsbridge- "Infernal Towers"or a potential "Towering

Inferno" target for the "Dunners" foes (like "Kaiser" Dermot
Desmond.?
)
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 253079930 ParagraphStart 249882204

ParagraphTitleStart The recession team:(Fianna

Fail) ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Left: to right: Brian Lenehan,(Godfather-in Waiting) & Minister for

Hardship;Mary Coughlan Vice-Taoiseach, Brian "Biffo" Cowan
( fresh from "weight watchers"?),and Martin "Lewinsky"Cullen,
former Minister for Computers and Cronyism, with special
responsability for Exotic Jollies(Bangkock,Bejing etc.etc.), and
guarding the Waterford Pork Barrel factory.

What will the budget bring for the Fianna Fail speculators and their
banking buddies.?

The latter is a sure bet!!

All the dirt on the Soldiers of destiny is here:

http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/wasters.htm
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 249882204 ParagraphStart 253990104

ParagraphTitleStart Your average Fianna Fail TDs

Curriculum Vitae.? ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

By Senan Molony Deputy Political Editor(Irish Independent)

Wednesday June 25 2008
// authors
DOH! Justice Minister Dermot Ahern was compared to Homer
Simpson in the Dail last night.
In a vicious political attack, a contrary politician labelled Mr Ahern "a
politician with no honour or decency"
. He said Mr Ahern was
"unfit for office".
He claimed the minister had "a preference for gombeen politics",
following Department of Justice claims last week that a Fine Gael
victims' rights bill had been copied "word for word" from New
Zealand legislation.

Mr Ahern's good faith was brought into question, he was described

as "arrogance", and it was claimed his political sight was "afflicted
by cataracts of selfish political back-alley pettiness"
.
This had an effect on the minister's ability to see what the public
good required, his critic continued, claiming Mr Ahern had
announced new victim rights legislation last week to spike a Fine
Gael private members' motion this week.
He had contaminated the political landscape with his accusation of
plagiarism against Fine Gael, it was said.
"He has exhibited the intellectual capacity for which Homer Simpson
has become famous."
The critic concluded: "The minister in recent days has exposed
himself as a politician with no genuine sense of honour or decency,
a person lacking insight and integrity. The truth is he has shown
himself unfit for the important office that he holds."
Tell us whats new.?
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 253990104 ParagraphStart 251092066

ParagraphTitleStart Stumbled upon..

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
American satire is..well..its just so AMERICAN-you have to love it or
hate it.! Copy and paste-if you will!
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/al_qaeda_also_fed_up_with_
ground
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/bush_tours_america_to_surv
ey
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 251092066 ParagraphStart 249898093

ParagraphTitleStart Ethnic cleansing in an industry

employing 20,000 people. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

The shameful legacy of Bertie Ahern

<divclass="playerunavailable"><h1class="message">Anerroroccurred.</h1><div
class="submessage"><ahref="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boqYEMI8kMw"
target="_blank">Trywatchingthisvideoonwww.youtube.com</a>,orenable
JavaScriptifitisdisabledinyourbrowser.</div></div>
"Who gives a sh*t about 20,000 taxi drivers-and their families? Fu*k
them.!"
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 249898093 ParagraphStart 251369347

ParagraphTitleStart Irish Independent-funniest

letter of the month. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Heading north of
the border- for the shopping!
"The news that private bus companies are running buses from
Dublin, and as far as Athlone, to the Asda stores in the North
should be proof positive that prices here are far too high.
Why would anyone travel as far as 300 kilometres on a bus to
do their weekly shop, unless there was a huge difference in
prices?
This year, 40pc of the shoppers in the Asda store in Strabane
are from the Republic, as opposed to 27pc last year.
This is a national disgrace.
Mary Coughlan has commissioned yet another report as to why
prices are so much higher here than up North. She had better
get the report on her desk without delay or she could find
herself out of a job faster than she thinks.
People are fed up being ripped off in this republic and morale
is sinking fast.
If the Government can't sort out the problems we're all facing
then it's time to get a new one, or else Dick Roche will be

having another referendum -- not on the Lisbon Treaty -- but

on whether or not we go back into the United Kingdom.
RORY OMEARA"
DUBLIN 8
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/celialarkin.htm
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 251369347 ParagraphStart 252158646

ParagraphTitleStart Some cunning concessions to

swing the balance? ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
Vote no to the second Lisbon referendum. Heres why:
http://www.fpri.org/enotes/20030311.europe.ganley.europedirection.
html

It would appear that the heads in Europe have come up with a

"Bertie Ahern style" compromise to resolve the "No vote" headache.
Its a "pork barrel" solution with just enough goodies to appease just
enough of the malcontents, to push the "yes" vote over the magic
50%!
The "Daily Telegraph" speculate that the second referendum(to
"correct" the first one) on the Lisbon Treaty will be in the Autumn of
2009
. They claim to have access to an internal EU briefing paper, entitled
"The Solution to the Irish Problem"
The document has been written by an influential group of French
officials, called Le Amis du Traite de Lisbonne or Friends of the
Lisbon Treaty.
According to the briefing, a second Irish vote will follow a guarantee
that Ireland will not lose its European Commissioner and
declarations on neutrality, abortion and taxation - all issues that
dominated the Irish campaign.

Irelands referendum rejection on June 12 means that the Lisbon

Treaty can not enter into force until all the EUs 27 countries have
ratified it.
Bertie himself would have been proud of the new plan.!
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 252158646 ParagraphStart 252159544

ParagraphTitleStart "What a difference a year

makes!" ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
Sunday June 17 2007
FOR the moment, let us play along with the prevailing spin. This is a
renewed and refreshed government, a rainbow coalition that comes
to the job with a spring in its step and hope in its heart.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/alanruddock.htm
// authors
Anglo Irish Bank has a lot of dirty little secrets. Let's look in some
detail at one of them, a thing called, "subordinate debt". Never
heard of it? Well, it's about time you did. You and your kids (and
their kids) will be paying for the antics of the banking fat cats long
after scheming bastards like Sean FitzPatrick are just a bad memory.
First, a caveat. Economists and academics speak a language all their
own. However, we're picking up the tab, so we're entitled to try to
figure out what's happening. That means poking through the
undergrowth of economic jargon -- in our layperson's ignorance -trying not to jump to conclusions.
On the morning of Wednesday October 8, "subordinate debt" was
mentioned in the Dail. This was just over a week after the
Government gave its blanket guarantee to the banks, leaving us
exposed to the extent of 440 billion euros, should anything go
wrong.
Why, asked Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, was "subordinate debt"
included in the bank guarantee?
Subordinate debt is money effectively loaned to the bank by
extremely rich people. This is high-risk money, billions of euros.
These loans are unlikely to be repaid in the event of a liquidation -and therefore they attract very high interest rates.
And, just to make things more complicated, there appear to be two
kinds of subordinate debt -- the dated kind and the undated kind.
In the Dail on October 8, Eamon Gilmore said that Germany,
Denmark and the UK don't provide "a guarantee or cover for dated
subordinated debt. Why was this form of debt included in the Irish
scheme? Approximately how much of this debt exists?"

Gilmore suggested that in the weeks prior to the Government

guarantee, as Anglo floundered, there was frantic trading in
subordinate debt, as rich people sought to offload the risk.
Brian Cowen didn't answer the specific questions. He said only that
the blanket guarantee to banks was given "on the basis of the
advice from those who are competent to so advise the
Government".
The Government wallowed in self praise about its blanket
guarantee. It refuted suggestions that the banks were undercapitalised.
Meanwhile, what exactly was the score with "subordinate debt"? It
seems that "dated subordinate debt" was covered by the blanket
guarantee, but "undated subordinate debt", wasn't.
Such niceties were swamped by the Sean FitzPatrick scandal, which
erupted on 18 December.
As the conniving little gouger's schemes were revealed, the
Government reversed course and moved to recapitalise the banks,
setting aside 1.5bn for Anglo.
On December 23, Morgan Kelly, professor of economics at UCD,
published a scathing piece in the Irish Times: "the bailout of Anglo
Irish follows a compelling political logic. Anglo Irish funds
developers, and developers fund Fianna Fail. By any other criterion,
a bailout of Anglo Irish is senseless."
The bank should have been allowed to fail.
"Institutions such as AIB and Bank of Ireland fulfil an economically
vital role of clearing payments and lending to households and
businesses. Anglo Irish and Irish Nationwide were purely conduits for
property speculation." Professor Kelly concluded: "For all it will
achieve, the money might as well be piled up in St Stephen's Green
and incinerated."
That evening, Dr Alan Ahearne, of the Department of Economics in
NUI Galway, went on RTE's Drivetime, where he questioned why
Anglo was being saved. "The market is saying that Anglo Irish Bank
is bust, it cannot be resurrected . . . why is the Government insisting
on putting more and more money into it?"
Presenter Mary Wilson asked if he could understand why.
If you look at Anglo's accounts, Ahearne said, "there is some stuff
there, some subordinated debt, about 2.8bn worth, that's not
covered by the guarantee . . . if Anglo Irish is liquidated, then the
people who own that 2.8bn will probably get nothing back . . . but
if the Government puts the 1.5bn in, and if it puts it in junior to
these loans . . . and the statement the other day says that it does
rank below that . . . if that's the case, then those people will not lose
that 2.8bn because they'll get the 1.5 billion that the Government
is pumping in. So, either I'm misreading the statement, there's some
problem with the statement -- or, there's something not right about
the way this bank is being recapitalised."
That was two days before Christmas, at which point we all
overdosed on turkey and forgot about boring bank stuff.

Last week, at UCD, a conference of economists discussed the

financial crisis. In a paper prepared for that conference, Dr Patrick
Honohan of TCD, former advisor to the World Bank, mentioned
subordinate debt. His language was flat and measured.
"Sizable unguaranteed subordinated debt -- amounting to several
billion euros -- remains in the balance sheets of the banks. If loan
losses are larger than are now being projected by the banks,
unguaranteed subordinated debt holders would, under the present
financial structure, be exposed to losses; but an injection of capital
junior to these liabilities would transfer the burden of those losses to
the taxpayer." (Our emphasis.)
Dr Honohan, in what might be termed an understatement, added:
"This important point has not received sufficient public attention."
Two days later, the Government announced it wouldn't put 1.5bn
into Anglo. It would instead nationalise the bank, at even greater
potential cost to the taxpayer.
Why? Because Anglo is the country's "third-biggest bank". Well, it's
not.
Yes, in money terms it's huge. But Anglo isn't a high street bank. It's
a casino within which rich people -- speculators, developers, builders
-- gambled on the property bubble.
Yes, it's huge in money terms, but not because it's embedded in the
Irish economy -- only because it borrowed and loaned to reckless
extremes, for gambling purposes.
And the alleged "reputational" loss, because of Sean FitzPatrick's
activities, is puzzling.
Everyone knew about the behaviour of that avaricious swine since
December 18, and have learned little of substance since.
The subordinate debt puzzle is just one of the mysteries surrounding
the handling of the Anglo crisis.
What's happening?
Buggered if I know, but it's very, very worrying. Fianna Fail has a
history with developers and speculators, which rightly raises
suspicions.
However, there may be nothing sinister going on, it might merely be
incompetence. Or foolishness.
Transparency is paramount in these matters, and a government
should say, "Here's what's happened, here's what we intend doing,
and here's why". It should answer every question fully and openly -"commercial sensitivity" doesn't apply in a lifeboat.
Instead, we've had fumbling, stumbling reversals, with inadequate
and sometimes risible explanations. Perhaps there's a reason the
Cowen/Gormley regime is unforthcoming.
On Tuesday, the Dail sits to consider these matters. On previous
performance, the Government will stonewall, the opposition will
bluster.
But this is too important. Already, the country's credit rating has
been downgraded, which means it will pay billions more for the
loans it needs to stay afloat.

If this goes wrong -- and it's going that way now -- the country will
go bankrupt, the State won't be able to borrow or pay dole or
pensions or wages for nurses or teachers.
The potential consequences are enormous.
If necessary, on Tuesday the opposition should nail shut the doors of
the Dail chamber and refuse to allow Cowen and Lenihan out until
clear, precise, credible explanations are given about the subordinate
debt matter and the other banking mysteries that threaten us.
This is far more important than protocol, manners or party political
advantage.
Never has the Dail had more need of Joe Higgins and Tony Gregory.
- Gene Kerrigan
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 388094317 ParagraphStart 377162900

ParagraphTitleStart Making it up as they go along.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
By Gene Kerrigan
Sunday May 03 2009
// authors
How come, no matter what the Government does, things keep
getting worse? Unemployment rising relentlessly, credit frozen solid,
the only things growing are the food queues, the debt and the public
sense of anger.
Why? Answer that or we're sunk.
Over the past seven months, Mr Cowen and his unfortunate crew
have had two extreme Budgets, they've given a 440bn guarantee
to the banks, they've recapitalised two banks and reluctantly taken
over another to keep it alive. And now they're going to shell out tens
of billions in their new Nama scheme, aimed at unfreezing bank
credit.
They're cutting services and taxing everything that moves. And, no
matter what they do, credit remains locked, and the economy
continues to tank.
Why?
We can offer an answer. And we can suggest an alternative. And we
can state with total confidence that the failed policies will continue
to receive the obstinate backing of the same clownish politicians,
hapless advisors and media cheerleaders who got us into this mess.
These people -- Cowen, Harney, Lenihan and the rest -- have a
strong set of semi-religious economic beliefs. It doesn't matter that
these beliefs have proven hopelessly nonsensical (the efficiency of
the uninhibited market, the "new economic paradigm", the
necessity for light regulation).
Capitalism is broken, but they think they can fix it.
It doesn't matter that these people don't understand their own

capitalistic beliefs. (Competitiveness, for instance, is about a whole

lot of things -- research, innovation, workplace morale, management
efficiency, pricing, forward planning, infrastructure etc. To them it
means one thing -- cut labour costs.) The crudeness of their
understanding of their own economic creed is breathtaking.
In the name of "competition", another core semi-religious belief,
they insisted for years that the ESB must hold electricity prices at an
artificially high level. The consequent guarantee of big profits would,
they believed, entice competitors into the energy business. (And
this high price policy was justified because competition, believe it or
not, would then drive down prices. A policy truly made in
Killinaskully.)
The result -- of course -- was years of high electricity prices crippling
productive business. In the name of competition.
The same set of semi-religious beliefs is being applied to the
collapse of the economy. We will note just two. The first is the
centrality of "stabilising the public finances", as a response to
economic chaos. Second, the utter abhorrence of nationalisation as
a tool to attack the banking crisis.
Anyone is entitled to such beliefs. But when a government
stubbornly insists on failed policies, against the evidence, for semireligious or ideological reasons, we face not a few years of relative
poverty but a generation of economic obliteration.
When they finally acknowledged there was a crisis -- after 20 whole
months of sloth (February 2007 to September 2008), they
immediately reached for the policies their economic religion
decrees.
Just last week, Brian Cowen stubbornly insisted yet again that the
fiscal books must be balanced before the Government could think of
defending jobs or attacking unemployment. "The prerequisite for
economic recovery is to get the public finances in order".
Now, there's nothing wrong with balanced books. But this is
madness. In the midst of a recession comparable with the 1930s,
the first priority has to be protecting and creating jobs -- the
cornerstone of any economy.
Instead, the Government clings to its semi-religious convictions.
Wage and job cuts -- the orthodox response -- depress demand,
leading to further job cuts, which further depress demand, leading
to -- etc etc etc. And the economy spirals downwards.
And the books don't get balanced -- because letting unemployment
rip drives up the cost of social welfare, which unbalances the books
even further.
In addition, in attempts to cut costs, the Government stoked up the
ever-useful anti-public service feeling. Private sector workers, and
the unemployed, were encouraged to demand that public sector
workers "share the pain". Of course, if you reduce public service pay
and jobs -- which, despite the propaganda is what is happening -you reduce demand. You also frighten those with jobs into
suppressing their spending.

In short, cutting the public sector reduces demand for private sector
goods and services, leading to further private sector job losses.
And, yes, taxes were too low, in line with the semi-religious beliefs
of Ahern, Harney and Cowen -- but pushing them up abruptly in the
midst of a recession further deflates the economy. But, of course, his
assault on the public finance impresses foreign investors, says Mr
Cowen.
A dead economy, with perhaps 600,000 on the dole. I'm sure foreign
investors will be very impressed.
When private capital flatlines, as it has done, only state action can
keep the economy functioning. Except when articles of faith prevent
it doing so -- which is what has happened. Which is why things keep
getting worse. We can come up with as many billions as the zombie
banks require, but not one or two billion for job protection and
creation -- until we balance the blessed books.
How to unfreeze bank credit? The sensible thing, as we noted last
November, would be to set up a state bank. Of course, the semireligious creed says that only the private sector can do banking
properly (no kidding), so anything of that sort was a non-runner.
From Nobel laureate Professor Paul Krugman to UCD Professor Karl
Whelan of UCD, rational, urgent arguments have been made by
mainstream economists for bank nationalisation. It's the cheapest,
fastest, most efficient means to unfreeze credit (short of setting up
a state bank).
It's blasphemous, apparently. Government advisor Peter Bacon
effectively confirmed on Prime Time last week that nationalisation
wasn't among the two options put on the agenda for him to
consider. By the way, Dr Bacon's argument against nationalisation
was shockingly unimpressive.
So, Mr Cowen blunders go on. Just as he blundered into this mess,
as Minister for Finance, following a semi-religious creed. In July 2007
Bertie Ahern recommended suicide for those who warned of
dangers. Two months later he denounced "politically motivated
attempts to talk down the economy". In March 2008 he did the
same. As late as September 15, 2008, Brian Lenihan claimed that,
"our banks uniquely have weathered the storm". Two weeks later he
began bailing them out.
It wasn't just incompetence that caused so many of the
establishment to get so much so wrong for so long -- it was a semireligious belief in a set of economic commandments, as firm as the
Pope's belief in winged angels.
And, in the absence of any job protection or creation policies, the
Government (and most of the opposition) await a global recovery,
which will lift us all to heaven. How's that going? Well, in the USA
they've just realised that come September there's going to be a
wave of commercial mortgages -- worth hundreds of billions of
dollars -- going belly-up, just like residential mortgages began doing
in spring 2007. Some reckon that two-thirds of such mortgages
won't be able to get the refinancing they need. The next phase

begins.
Capitalism is broken. Where we go from here is anyone's guess -but we could do without the current mindless determination to pull
the old levers and expect the old results. We need fresh thinking.
What we have is semi-religious dogmatism.
How will this play out? Two predictions.
One -- the current policies will continue. Two -- as a consequence,
we flirt with national bankruptcy, with loss of sovereignty, IMF rule,
followed by catastrophic social unrest.
It's an anarchist's wet dream -- brought to us by a shabby cabal of
right-wing incompetents who never saw the catastrophe coming and
have yet to wake up to the reality of our plight.
- Gene Kerrigan
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 377162900 ParagraphStart 361211466

ParagraphTitleStart Cowan's dangerous game

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
By Gene Kerrigan
Sunday March 15 2009
// authors
It's not that they're stupid or uncaring, but Brian Cowen and his
ministers don't get it. Nor do the bankers or the builders, or the
pillars of society proudly announcing their voluntary pay cuts and
urging everyone to "share the pain". They don't get it, and as a
consequence they're playing with fire.
On Friday, a State outfit called Ciroc issued a report. It should be
kept in a museum, as an example of how out of touch the
establishment is with recession Ireland.
Here's what they don't get. We weren't in the game. But we get to
pay the bill.
This is dangerous. It's so fundamentally unfair, and clearly
understood to be unfair, that it risks disaffection and alienation on a
scale never before seen in this country.
What's the game and who's playing it? What's Ciroc and why should
it stick its report where the sun don't shine?
Here's the game. The bankers made fortunes borrowing billions
abroad, to lend to builders. The builders made fortunes selling
houses to people anxious not to be excluded forever from the
property ladder. The banks made another fortune inflating loans to
sell to the anxious house-buyers. The builders and estate agents
inflated house prices and increased their fortunes.
The politicians encouraged all this, with reckless tax policies and
deliberately lax regulation.
This on its own would be bad enough, but the game got wilder. An
enormous service industry grew up around the property boom --

architects, lawyers, insurers, lobbyists, PR and image maintenance.

The pay of senior bankers and top executives throughout the
business world rocketed in sympathy. Soon, in those circles, a salary
of half a million was the sign of a loser. A wage for the job wasn't
enough, there had to be bonuses. And massive pensions.
This was all separate from the financial partying of bankers like dear
old Seanie Fitz, busily getting creative with figures.
An enormous culture of entitlement grew up around this nonsense.
To rise into the top layers of many businesses was not to get a job,
with appropriate pay -- it was to be handed a winning lottery ticket.
You were set for life.
This culture of entitlement -- in truth, a culture of looting -- spread
through the professions, through private and public sectors, into the
top layers of the civil service. Politicians joined in. Executive and
professional pay began to relate not to the earnings of those at the
coal-front, but to the inflated salaries, bonuses
and pensions of the absurdly overpaid top layers. Money breeds
money -- and the elite speculated on property here and abroad,
running up huge profits while it lasted.
The great money game was played by a thin layer at the top. Lower
level civil servants, for instance, got an ordinary wage. Below the
top layers of barristers, lawyers often do useful, necessary work for
a surprisingly small fee.
Pop -- the bubble burst. Now, says the Government, who're we going
to get to clean up this mess?
We weren't in the game. But we get to pay the bill.
Simultaneously, similar games in the USA created a spreading
recession, so Irish exports collapsed and before the end of the year
there'll be half a million unemployed, and counting. Fear and
depression spread. Some won't ever work again. No holidays, no
Christmas, education plans for kids on hold. How many of our kids
will emigrate when the global economy picks up?
The Government is afraid to borrow more to try to stimulate growth,
because it's already borrowing billions to recapitalise the banks.
Those in work have wages cut, taxes are going up. Hospital services
shrink; now they're going to cut social welfare. At every corner,
there's some well-fed gobshite urging us to "share the pain".
Enter Ciroc -- the Covered Institutions Remuneration Oversight
Committee. And it recommends that the pay of the heads of AIB and
Bank of Ireland be capped at 690,000. Guess how much the head
of AIB thinks he's worth now -- 696,300. So, Ciroc recommend a
pay cut of 6,300. A whopping cut of 0.9 per cent.
Even Brian Lenihan is embarrassed. He "suggests" 500,000 is
enough. Half a million, for bankers with a proven record of
incompetence.
In a country where people will die on hospital waiting lists. Lenihan
thinks this is "appropriate". Fine Gael says 250,000, itself an
absurd overpayment.
It's outrageous that this is even an issue.

Of course, the argument goes, we have to pay these people big

bucks or they'll leave. Really? Good riddance. Besides, where will
they go? To the USA, where upwards of 200,000 bankers are on the
dole? And they'll be asked for a CV. "I ran an Irish bank," they'll say
proudly. When the interview panel stops laughing they'll ask these
lads why they left. "Well, they wouldn't pay me enough money."
This is farce. The elite are being protected from their own folly to an
astonishing extent -- and we, who weren't in the game, get to pay
the bill.
Look at the ministerial pensions. Paid to people with well-paid jobs.
The latest State Finance Accounts has Charlie McCreevy, who gets a
whopping salary from the EU, down for a State pension of 70,710.
John Bruton, also in a high-paying EU job -- a 94,627 pension.
Sitting TDs are listed for pensions. Eamon Gilmore -- 5,812. Ruairi
Quinn -- 44,171. Mary O'Rourke -- 53,622, Richard Bruton -14,041. And so on and so on.
Peter Sutherland, who recently lectured us all on the need to tighten
belts, is an enormously successful and rich lawyer and banker. He's
listed for a State pension of 49,791 -- this, presumably, comes from
his two years and eight months as attorney general back in the
early 1980s.
Then there are the crazy expenses for ministers, the helicopters, the
jets, the premium air fares, the State cars and full-time drivers, the
nixers, the committee jobs for the boys. The culture of entitlement is
endless.
At the top of every hierarchy, whether in the public or private
sector, there's a layer of overpaid people who are untouchable.
There are policies -- such as the hundred million annual subsidy to
exclusionary schools, the carefully constructed tax avoidance
laws -- that are untouchable.
Many in that top layer seem to think that a deep, long recession is
"a challenge". No, it's deadening, hopeless, dangerous.
Applying "across the board" cuts isn't the point. A cut of 10 or 20
per cent makes no difference to this layer. When they "share the
pain" it means instead of a 63 bottle of wine with dinner they'll
endure a bottle of 48 plonk.
They'll sail unhurt through this. And people who weren't in the game
-- many even unaware that the game was going on -- see their
families destroyed.
Here's where that's dangerous.
Remember O'Connell Street, February 2006, a Saturday afternoon, a
handful of Continuity IRA sympathisers, plus a few hundred
disaffected inner city youths hanging around to see what would
happen? The Dublin riots were a sudden, unexpected explosion of
violence, then it all went quiet. They haven't gone away, you know.
In the 1980s there was an illusion that we were all in it together -the truth of the widespread tax fraud wasn't understood. Today, the
unfairness of what's happening is blatant.
The existence of huge wealth can't be denied. Also, we have

expectations now that we didn't have then. And there are

headbangers mooching around disaffected, resentful youths, with a
view to recruiting cannon fodder for their war against pizza delivery
people.
The Government could have started at the top and cut savagely -particularly among those prominent in the great money game.
Instead, it takes the usual route -- social welfare, education, health.
It's a gamble. Another game. And even more dangerous.
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ParagraphEnd 361211466 ParagraphStart 335963233

ParagraphTitleStart Getting Sean Q off the hook-at

Joe taxpayers expense.. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
By Gene Kerrigan
Sunday February 22 2009
// authors
They're hiding a lot, but they couldn't keep some of the dirt from
spilling out. By the small hours of yesterday morning, as we picked
clean the bones of the two reports on Anglo Irish Bank, the simple,
devastating unfairness of what's happening was unmistakable.
Let's start with Sean Quinn, the richest man in Ireland. Some time
ago, Mr Quinn decided he'd like to own a share of a bank. Perhaps it
made good business sense, perhaps he was seduced by grandiose
thoughts. Whatever -- he began assembling a stake in Anglo Irish
Bank.
Mr Quinn used a device called "contracts for difference" (CFDs),
which had advantages over buying shares directly. One advantage
was that CFDs multiplied your gains, which was great fun. And,
thanks to Brian Cowen, you didn't have to pay tax on CFDs
(Revenue wanted to impose a tax a few years back, but Brian
overruled them).
By and by, this one man, Mr Quinn, had CFDs for 25 per cent of
Anglo. One man owned a quarter of a bank.
Unhappily, some other gamblers began messing with Mr Quinn.
They saw a chance to make money and they gambled against him
and upset his plans. And while CFDs multiply your gains, they also
multiply your losses -- and Mr Quinn was losing big. And, since Mr
Quinn had such a huge slice of the bank, Anglo was in trouble. Mr
Quinn needed to quickly "unwind" the CFDs and buy Anglo shares
instead.
Anglo is a tight outfit, bankers to a small group of immensely
wealthy people. And they did what has become traditional in certain
circles -- they arranged a "dig out".
Anglo loaned 451m to 10 insiders, who together bought 10 per
cent of Anglo shares. Mr Quinn bought 15 per cent. And he thus
shed the albatross of CFDs hanging around his neck. His little

adventure had cost him 1bn.

By mid-summer, the panic was over.
Unfortunately, another crisis loomed.
The global credit bubble was about to pop. And the Irish property
bubble had already burst. Anglo had loaned enormous amounts of
money to a small number of very rich customers, heavily into land
and property that suddenly no one wanted to buy.
Fifteen rich people were into Anglo for more than half a billion each.
Word got out that Anglo was in trouble. Depositors rushed to get
their money out. Around 10bn was withdrawn. In the space of one
week in late September, the bank lost 5.4bn in deposits.
5.4bn. In one week. There's a lot of big money out there.
Mind you, amid the gloom, some people did alright. The chief
executive of Anglo got over 2m in salary last year. The directors
got 9.5m between them. A retiring director was sent on his way
with a nifty 3.9m cheerio. Directors' loans were notoriously
generous -- a total of 255m last year. And just 115m was repaid.
The collateral for some loans is made up of Anglo shares, which are
now worthless.
Guess who picks up the tab?
The bank's head honcho, Sean FitzPatrick -- good old Seanie -- was
doing his annual trick of shifting tens of millions from Nationwide
into Anglo and back to conceal his loans.
Arrangements with other clever dicks in Irish Life and Permanent
saw billions shuffled around to help conceal Anglo's problems.
You or I knew nothing of these problems -- it was the people with big
money, the insiders, who got the word about Anglo's troubles and
who moved their cash out.
The other banks were worried. If Anglo went under, people might
worry that Nationwide or even Bank of Ireland was next. They told
Mr Cowen and Mr Lenihan what they needed and a panicked
government gave the banks a blanket guarantee -- effectively, the
taxpayer would assume responsibility for all losses.
Overnight, the bankers' problems became ours.
Anglo's big shots -- Sean FitzPatrick and David Drumm -- had already
been telling us we needed our belts tightened.
Mr FitzPatrick demanded that the medical card be taken away from
pensioners -- and the government brought forward the budget and
did just that.
Remember the 451m that Anglo loaned the golden circle of 10
insiders? Just 83m was paid back. The "dig out" was so structured
that the golden circle don't have to pay back most of the money
they borrowed -- we now pick up the tab for that, too.
As billions of euros vanished into carefully constructed hidey-holes,
the call went up for a return to patriotic values. Suddenly, the
problem was defined as "a hole in the public finances". (The very
real hole in the public finances was, of course, a consequence of the
property bubble bursting, and the fall in tax revenue -- it wasn't a
cause of the economic slump).

Private sector workers were encouraged to see the public sector as

the problem. We were all encouraged to "put on the green jersey".
Pull in every shekel you could get your grubby hands on and you
were a national institution and the taxpayer picked up your debts.
But buy your Christmas drink in Newry and you were unpatriotic.
At a time when jobs are disappearing and investment is needed, the
country's financial structure has been paralysed, sabotaged by the
greed of a small number of extremely wealthy people.
The government's response to this has been turgid, timid and
deferential. They believe what the bankers tell them. They get
advice from the bankers.
There's no reason to accept Fine Gael innuendo about Brian Cowen
-- there's no corruption on his part. He has for years, however,
socialised with the builders and the bankers -- he is steeped in that
culture.
There was never a possibility, for instance, that his government
would even consider an alternative to propping up the banks with
taxpayers' money. Setting up a clean state bank that could facilitate
commercial activity -- that could attract investment and compete
the hell out of the corrupt, compromised banks -- was a reasonable
option.
Such a move would be alien to Mr Cowen's very nature.
Instead, the government and their banker and builder friends huddle
close and shift the burden to the old, the schoolkids, the sick, the
unemployed. Lives are being destroyed.
At the other end of the scale, the cuts are minimal. The high-flyers
wouldn't even notice a 10 per cent cut.
For instance, Mr Drumm, of Anglo, demanded last year that we have
our belts tightened. We pointed out that Mr Drumm could take a cut
of 95 per cent on his 2007 pay (3.2m) and still be on a very snug
160,000 salary.
To squeeze the wealthy would, we're told, risk a "flight of capital".
Instead, the government risks a flight of stability.
The government seems unaware of fierce, fierce anger that exists,
as people are expected to calmly watch their family's future
disappear -- people who played no role in creating the crisis.
In the absence of even a pretence at fairness, the marches and the
strikes are inevitable.
The state has chosen the route of class conflict and social upheaval.
And this isn't a short-term thing. We face years of this, and the
possibility of something awful happening is very real. We're one
swing of a garda baton, one cracked head, away from chaos.
We're told the army is ready to step in. Good move -- the
government has set private against public, now we might see
guards on strike and the army doing their work, with all the social
cohesion that will bring.
You might imagine that this Government has no sense of history. You
might think they have no notion of historical process. And you'd be
right.

ParagraphBodyEnd
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ParagraphTitleStart Cunning vote buyers-at any

cost to the Nation. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
By Gene Kerrigan
Sunday January 25 2009
// authors
Once upon a long time ago, in a gloomy pub toilet, I had the
pleasure of having a pee alongside the late and legendary Oliver J
Flanagan TD. It occasioned a useful lesson for a young reporter -my only regret being that I couldn't take contemporaneous notes,
my hands being otherwise engaged.
In the jacks that afternoon, Oliver continued a conversation with a
flunky who stood in the background. It was in the middle of an
election campaign and the great TD had identified an area of the
constituency that had faltered in its loyalty to him. He rattled off
numbers -- how many people lived in the enclave, how many voted
and who they traditionally voted for. And he identified specific
election boxes where his votes came up short last time. Those
people had to be worked on.
Until then, I hadn't realised the skill, talent and unwavering
dedication that went into being a successful TD. It involves long
hours gathering and interpreting electoral information, and long
years massaging constituents. Subsequently, other TDs revealed the
true value of such practices as repeat canvasses and detailed
tallies.
You might dismiss the likes of Oliver as a small-timer of no
significance. You'd be wrong. A TD for four decades, Oliver was in
the first ranks of the Dail. For 11 years he represented us in the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and he became a
minister in the Fine Gael/Labour "government of all the talents".
(The joke of the time was that when asked to be minister for
defence, Oliver solemnly promised he would indeed look after "de
fence" to the best of his ability.)
Bertie Ahern, Enda Kenny and Brian Cowen are Oliver Flanagan
without the anti-Semitism. In a few words, nods and handshakes,
Bertie can empathise with a whole roomful of voters. The empathy
may be entirely bogus, but it's an amazing talent -- and one that
voters reward.
We have a parliament dominated by dedicated and skilled vote
hunters. Unfortunately, other necessary skills are lacking. With all
the information they had, neither Ahern nor Cowen realised the
depth of the pit of unsustainable debt they helped dig, along with
their builder friends. They simply believed it to be true when estate
agents said our land and property was now worth multiples of what

it used to. And they thought it appropriate that builders and bankers
should use that "truth" to "leverage" their way into such debt as to
destabilise the banking system.
As Anglo Irish Bank rushed towards collapse, poor, pitiable Brian
Lenihan struggled to avoid a blunder, and walked the rest of us into
a catastrophe.
He had to give a blanket guarantee -- of a potential 440bn -- to
save Anglo and thereby protect the banks. Because he'd been told
Anglo was a systemic part of Irish banking. The latest steps expose
us to risks of tens of billions we don't have.
Economists such as Morgan Kelly and Alan Ahearne tell us Anglo
never was the kind of bank that had to be defended at all costs. I'm
not qualified to take part in such arguments, but I can open a phone
book. You'll find a whole page of numbers for AIB and another for
Bank of Ireland. Even NIB has half a page -- showing branches
spread throughout the community, systemically embedded lines of
commerce and credit.
Anglo has three numbers, head office, personal savings and private
banking for the elite. Anglo was little more than a specialist
gambling house. Albeit a gambling house with an amiable chap in
charge, a gambling house patronised by rich builders with links to
Fianna Fail. Whether such links influenced policy, even subliminally,
we can't know.
If politicians lack detailed knowledge of matters such as banking,
they can substitute an over-all vision of society, of where it is and
the direction in which they want it to go. Such vision is almost
entirely absent from Irish politics. It's all short-term stuff, career
curves and constituency profiles -- latterly oiled with promises of tax
breaks. No vision, no political programme beyond the catch-all and
disposable "policy document" produced to wave around at election
time.
Brian Lenihan, and Brian Cowen are prisoners of their political
history. Their skills are in vote-hunting. Both are entirely honourable
in personal financial matters. However, the party in which they rose
to power is steeped in a doubtful environment -- in which the best
interests of builders and developers are identified with the best
interests of the nation.
The media likes to label people -- and Cowen has been labelled a
sensitive, intelligent soul. But he was a minister in six departments,
and -- in the timeless phrase -- he rose without trace. His
performance in recent months is not a dramatic fall from top form.
This appears to be his top form.
Lenihan told the BBC the economy is "thriving" -- perhaps he thinks
this will impress foreign investors. But anyone seriously considering
investment will already have done their research. They look at him
on TV and see a minister for finance who's out of his depth. And
pass on.
This was Lenihan's John McCain moment -- "the fundamentals of the
American economy are sound", McCain repeatedly chirped, and

voters who knew better turned away in embarrassment.

The line between the likes of Oliver J Flanagan and Brian Cowen is
obvious -- but how do we account for the likes of John Gormley,
whose party sustains this current government?
Many of us see the likes of Gormley as somewhat different to the
usual run of TD -- motivated by issues. However, when asked by
Vincent Browne, on TV3 Nightly News, why he made a deal with
Fianna Fail, Gormley said that the prospect of five more years in
opposition was "soul destroying".
He seemed consumed by the need to be relevant at whatever price
-- the same bug that bit old Oliver.
So, Mr Gormley saved his soul. And if that meant he had to support
the mugging of pensioners, so be it. And slashing public transport -that too. And continuing the inefficient, dangerous free-market
experiment with the health system -- Mr Gormley could stomach
that.
He could allow increases in primary and secondary class sizes.
When Batt O'Keeffe brings in his third-level education tax, in the
form of fees, Mr Gormley will salute.
On the bright side, he can tell himself that, thanks to his efforts,
faltering hospitals and schools will not be illuminated by the
wasteful type of lightbulb.
Politically, we've long been careless in our choices, easily swayed by
local loyalties, habit and a weakness for charming non-entities.
And many of these people really are entertaining and truly likeable.
But gormless. In the years to come, we may pay a price of Icelandic
proportions.
John Gormley's understanding of why there are rumblings of
dissatisfaction with the Greens is as follows: "People are not aware
of all the achievements of the Green Party in government. That is a
worry because we have to get that message across."
He thinks we're disappointed and angry because we don't know
what he's doing. No, John, your problem is that we know all too well.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 318980110 ParagraphStart 314585711

ParagraphTitleStart why is Sean Fitzpatrick not in

gaol.? ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
By Gene Kerrigan
Sunday January 18 2009
// authors
Anglo Irish Bank has a lot of dirty little secrets. Let's look in some
detail at one of them, a thing called, "subordinate debt". Never
heard of it? Well, it's about time you did. You and your kids (and
their kids) will be paying for the antics of the banking fat cats long
after scheming bastards like Sean FitzPatrick are just a bad memory.

First, a caveat. Economists and academics speak a language all their

own. However, we're picking up the tab, so we're entitled to try to
figure out what's happening. That means poking through the
undergrowth of economic jargon -- in our layperson's ignorance -trying not to jump to conclusions.
On the morning of Wednesday October 8, "subordinate debt" was
mentioned in the Dail. This was just over a week after the
Government gave its blanket guarantee to the banks, leaving us
exposed to the extent of 440 billion euros, should anything go
wrong.
Why, asked Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, was "subordinate debt"
included in the bank guarantee?
Subordinate debt is money effectively loaned to the bank by
extremely rich people. This is high-risk money, billions of euros.
These loans are unlikely to be repaid in the event of a liquidation -and therefore they attract very high interest rates.
And, just to make things more complicated, there appear to be two
kinds of subordinate debt -- the dated kind and the undated kind.
In the Dail on October 8, Eamon Gilmore said that Germany,
Denmark and the UK don't provide "a guarantee or cover for dated
subordinated debt. Why was this form of debt included in the Irish
scheme? Approximately how much of this debt exists?"
Gilmore suggested that in the weeks prior to the Government
guarantee, as Anglo floundered, there was frantic trading in
subordinate debt, as rich people sought to offload the risk.
Brian Cowen didn't answer the specific questions. He said only that
the blanket guarantee to banks was given "on the basis of the
advice from those who are competent to so advise the
Government".
The Government wallowed in self praise about its blanket
guarantee. It refuted suggestions that the banks were undercapitalised.
Meanwhile, what exactly was the score with "subordinate debt"? It
seems that "dated subordinate debt" was covered by the blanket
guarantee, but "undated subordinate debt", wasn't.
Such niceties were swamped by the Sean FitzPatrick scandal, which
erupted on 18 December.
As the conniving little gouger's schemes were revealed, the
Government reversed course and moved to recapitalise the banks,
setting aside 1.5bn for Anglo.
On December 23, Morgan Kelly, professor of economics at UCD,
published a scathing piece in the Irish Times: "the bailout of Anglo
Irish follows a compelling political logic. Anglo Irish funds
developers, and developers fund Fianna Fail. By any other criterion,
a bailout of Anglo Irish is senseless."
The bank should have been allowed to fail.
"Institutions such as AIB and Bank of Ireland fulfil an economically
vital role of clearing payments and lending to households and
businesses. Anglo Irish and Irish Nationwide were purely conduits for

property speculation." Professor Kelly concluded: "For all it will

achieve, the money might as well be piled up in St Stephen's Green
and incinerated."
That evening, Dr Alan Ahearne, of the Department of Economics in
NUI Galway, went on RTE's Drivetime, where he questioned why
Anglo was being saved. "The market is saying that Anglo Irish Bank
is bust, it cannot be resurrected . . . why is the Government insisting
on putting more and more money into it?"
Presenter Mary Wilson asked if he could understand why.
If you look at Anglo's accounts, Ahearne said, "there is some stuff
there, some subordinated debt, about 2.8bn worth, that's not
covered by the guarantee . . . if Anglo Irish is liquidated, then the
people who own that 2.8bn will probably get nothing back . . . but
if the Government puts the 1.5bn in, and if it puts it in junior to
these loans . . . and the statement the other day says that it does
rank below that . . . if that's the case, then those people will not lose
that 2.8bn because they'll get the 1.5 billion that the Government
is pumping in. So, either I'm misreading the statement, there's some
problem with the statement -- or, there's something not right about
the way this bank is being recapitalised."
That was two days before Christmas, at which point we all
overdosed on turkey and forgot about boring bank stuff.
Last week, at UCD, a conference of economists discussed the
financial crisis. In a paper prepared for that conference, Dr Patrick
Honohan of TCD, former advisor to the World Bank, mentioned
subordinate debt. His language was flat and measured.
"Sizable unguaranteed subordinated debt -- amounting to several
billion euros -- remains in the balance sheets of the banks. If loan
losses are larger than are now being projected by the banks,
unguaranteed subordinated debt holders would, under the present
financial structure, be exposed to losses; but an injection of capital
junior to these liabilities would transfer the burden of those losses to
the taxpayer." (Our emphasis.)
Dr Honohan, in what might be termed an understatement, added:
"This important point has not received sufficient public attention."
Two days later, the Government announced it wouldn't put 1.5bn
into Anglo. It would instead nationalise the bank, at even greater
potential cost to the taxpayer.
Why? Because Anglo is the country's "third-biggest bank". Well, it's
not.
Yes, in money terms it's huge. But Anglo isn't a high street bank. It's
a casino within which rich people -- speculators, developers, builders
-- gambled on the property bubble.
Yes, it's huge in money terms, but not because it's embedded in the
Irish economy -- only because it borrowed and loaned to reckless
extremes, for gambling purposes.
And the alleged "reputational" loss, because of Sean FitzPatrick's
activities, is puzzling.
Everyone knew about the behaviour of that avaricious swine since

December 18, and have learned little of substance since.

The subordinate debt puzzle is just one of the mysteries surrounding
the handling of the Anglo crisis.
What's happening?
Buggered if I know, but it's very, very worrying. Fianna Fail has a
history with developers and speculators, which rightly raises
suspicions.
However, there may be nothing sinister going on, it might merely be
incompetence. Or foolishness.
Transparency is paramount in these matters, and a government
should say, "Here's what's happened, here's what we intend doing,
and here's why". It should answer every question fully and openly -"commercial sensitivity" doesn't apply in a lifeboat.
Instead, we've had fumbling, stumbling reversals, with inadequate
and sometimes risible explanations. Perhaps there's a reason the
Cowen/Gormley regime is unforthcoming.
On Tuesday, the Dail sits to consider these matters. On previous
performance, the Government will stonewall, the opposition will
bluster.
But this is too important. Already, the country's credit rating has
been downgraded, which means it will pay billions more for the
loans it needs to stay afloat.
If this goes wrong -- and it's going that way now -- the country will
go bankrupt, the State won't be able to borrow or pay dole or
pensions or wages for nurses or teachers.
The potential consequences are enormous.
If necessary, on Tuesday the opposition should nail shut the doors of
the Dail chamber and refuse to allow Cowen and Lenihan out until
clear, precise, credible explanations are given about the subordinate
debt matter and the other banking mysteries that threaten us.
This is far more important than protocol, manners or party political
advantage.
Never has the Dail had more need of Joe Higgins and Tony Gregory.
- Gene Kerrigan
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ParagraphTitleStart tweedil-di- dum, tweedil-didee, pensions for you- pensions for me.
ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
By Gene Kerrigan
Sunday December 07 2008
// authors
Here are three things we need to worry about: (1) what the rest of
the world is doing about the global economic meltdown, (2) what
our government is doing about our own collapse, and (3) whether

we'll be able to protect John Bruton's pension.

You young folk may wonder, who the hell is John Bruton? I remember
him well. John was Taoiseach for a little while between the end of
the Haughey era and the rise of Sir Bertie of the Sterling Lodgment.
John came and went without much bother.
We could have chosen any number of esteemed elders as an
example, but John Bruton's pension will do as a symbol. It
represents the eternal question that's part of every economic
meltdown -- who gets the gravy and who gets poked in the eye with
a sharp stick?
As for the global economic crisis, everyone knows there are two
problems -- frozen credit and a slump in the real economy. So,
billions are pumped into the banks yet credit remains frozen. And
interest rates are brought down, but unemployment grows at a
startling rate. The usual tricks don't work.
There's an argument -- to which Barack Obama seems open -- that a
massive public works stimulus is needed, the good old fashioned
Keynesian solution. But it's been too long in coming, and anything
suggested so far seems derisory (the French think 26bn will do it).
Prospects? Given that the dimmest layperson's guess is as good as
the average economist's -- perhaps two or three years of real pain,
followed by several years of slow recovery. And that's the upside. It's
also possible there will be at least a dozen years of economic
Armageddon before there's any international relief -- if ever.
Given that we can't count on the international cavalry riding to our
rescue, what's our own government doing about our economic
collapse? Eh, well, it's waiting for the international cavalry to ride to
our rescue.
It seems we're a "small open economy" and we can't do anything.
Forget all that tiger nonsense about entrepreneurial spirit -- we have
to do what the banks want, guarantee their loans so they don't
collapse. And wait for the EU or the Yanks or the Chinese to pull off a
miracle.
The only ones offering a note of dissent are the trade unions -- on
Friday, Siptu issued a stimulus plan. Nothing terribly radical, just bog
standard emergency capitalism. And if the past is any guide, it will
be ignored.
With nothing positive to offer, our politicians and their pet
economists enjoy cutting public services, numbers and pay. It won't
help the problem -- in fact, it will make it worse -- but it makes them
feel good and they get good media. For some reason, it's popular to
attack guards, nurses, soldiers, lab technicians and train drivers
(Michael O'Leary on Friday's 'Late Late Show' made a gratuitous
swipe at doctors and nurses and got a big laugh and a round of
applause).
Suppose the international cavalry doesn't come? Instead of
stimulating the economy, using the public sector as a tool for
infrastructural investment, this government will have done the
opposite.

Which is where John Bruton's pension comes in.

Things are so bad that last week we brought in legislation to whip
away the medical card from thousands of pensioners. Not rich
pensioners, just those not on the breadline. We've taken a cancer
vaccine away from young girls. We've enlarged class sizes, we've
cut social programmes that kept kids in school. Hospital beds will be
cut, fewer vermin-ridden prefab classrooms will be replaced. In a
thousand sneaky little ways, we're making life more difficult for
those who have little to cut back.
All this, of course, is "absolutely necessary". These "tough
decisions" have to be made to save the economy.
So, I'm reading some government statistics, 'Finance Accounts
2006', trying in my dim layperson way to make sense of how we got
into this mess. And I spot a familiar name. John Bruton. Pension. And
the figure 89,777. That's some pension, for a man who's currently
working as EU ambassador to the USA, a job that I bet pays a nice
salary. And, I'll warrant, a job that meets most of your
accommodation, transport and food needs. The man is years from
retirement, and his pension is twice the average industrial wage,
says I.
And all around him, names familiar and otherwise. You wouldn't
believe the amounts of money they're getting, as pensions -- and
many of them still in gainful employment. At least two of these
chaps have criminal convictions. There are politicians you've never
heard of. Others you wish you'd never heard of. There are a number
of lawyers, among the highest paid in the land, entitled to State
pensions of 40 or 50 grand a year.
Last May, two junior ministers got the bum's rush (nothing wrong
with them, but Brian Cowen needed to give someone else a go in
their Mercs).
They got golden handshakes of 106,000 between them, even
though they still draw TD wages of around a 100 grand a year.
In the week that we withdrew the cancer vaccine from the young
girls, RTE News told us there was a small fire in Bertie Ahern's State
car. Think of it. Lord Sterling of Lodgment still has a state car. Two of
them, actually, so that there'll always be one available in case he
has to rush to a bank to lodge or withdraw a suitcase full of cash.
They spent 220,000 fitting out his new office, and gave him a
golden handshake of 68,000. And until the day he dies, he'll have
leather seats under his arse, with highly trained gardai ferrying him
wherever he needs to go.
Remember Mary Robinson? Pension of 136,000. The current
occupant of the Aras, Mary McAleese, is on 277,000 a year. Ah,
says you, she's got a lot of expenses. Lots of people visit, and she
has to put out little dishes full of Pringles. No, that kind of thing
comes out of the extra 317,000 in "allowances".
Now, Mary McAleese is a nice person. She's thrilled to be president. I
know she isn't in it for the money. I bet she'd do it for the 77,000,
so we could save 200,000.

Obviously, this wouldn't save the economy. Not even if we took all
the cars away from all the ministers and made them travel to work
like the rest of us. Not even if we insisted that no one gets a pension
until they retire, same as the rest of us. Not even if we stopped
subsidising private secondary education to the tune of 90m a year.
Not even if we stopped spending tens of millions subsidising the
private health sector. Not even if we used tax measures to cap the
salaries of the private sector incompetents who got us into this
mess.
None of this would stimulate the economy. But that's not going to
happen anyway, until the international cavalry get their act
together. In the meantime, all the State is doing is attempting to
trim costs, to keep things ticking over at the expense of those who
can least afford sacrifice. The fact that the State squanders so much
money on gratuitous luxuries for "top people", while simultaneously
calling for patriotic sacrifice, tells us what this is about.
It's about maintaining the quality of the wine at the Dublin 4 dinner
party, at the cost of the future of the kids who fail in overcrowded
classes. It's a highly class conscious effort to ensure the recession
has minimal effect on those who matter.
- Gene Kerrighan
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ParagraphTitleStart Sneaky bastards& conniving

creeps in control of the nations banks.!
ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
By Gene Kerrigan
Sunday December 21 2008

Sean FitzPatrick is a sneaky little bastard, but let's not get

hung up on the banker's "inappropriate" behaviour. The
problems we face are much, much bigger than the greedy
manoeuvres of the devious gobshite who captained Anglo Irish
Bank to its current dire straits.
The fact that the Government still fawns over the bankers is a
problem for the rest of us -- but not as big a problem as the
Government's incompetence in the face of economic collapse.
Whole sections of society -- not least the political class -- seem
to be in denial about the gravity of the problem.
We'll come back to the banks in a moment -- and to Sean
FitzPatrick, the manipulative little tosser. First, the bigger
picture.
No one knows how this global emergency will work out, but
things will happen quickly, unexpectedly. Internationally, we'll

see increased instability in poor countries. When people

become desperate and options are few, internal wars or wars
with neighbours are more likely, increasing regional instability
and global uncertainty. Even in the US, as unemployment
soars, states like Indiana and Michigan are already running out
of money to pay unemployment benefits.
The New York Times says, "California, New York, Ohio,Rhode
Island and other states are inching toward insolvency as well."
In the short term, they can borrow from the federal
government. Our economy is hardly healthier than New York's,
and we don't have the feds to fall back on. When
unemployment benefits and pensions run out, that's when
riots start. We're not there yet, but it's about time we began
seeing the potential severity of the problem.
The political responses to the crisis break down -- very roughly
-- into the "Austrian school" versus the Keynesians. The
Austrian school of thought says that such massive recessions
are a way of clearing deadwood from the system, with the
markets eventually emerging stronger. Do nothing, except
maybe reduce interest rates -- let the market do what it will.
The Keynesian school says the state must stimulate the
economy, borrowing massively if necessary, as Roosevelt did in
the 1930s. The row between Germany's Merkel government
(Austrian school) and Britain's Gordon Brown (weakly
Keynesian) reflects these differences. In a petty way, the
recent row between market ideologue Charlie McCreevy and
some vaguely left-wing MEPs reflects the same political
difference.
(Our Government instinctively leans towards the Austrian
school, but not really. Cowen, Lenihan and Coughlan are more
from a deer-caught-in-the-headlights school of inaction. Last
week's economic "plan" was a lengthy note sent up the
chimney in the hope that a man with a white beard would
deliver the goodies.)
Barack Obama intends to follow the Keynesian remedy, but
already there are real fears that he's thinking too small (a halfa-trillion stimulus when he needs to commit four times that).
And, with the interconnected nature of the global economy, the
response has to be coordinated. Given the German attitude,
that's unlikely. The omens are not good.
Here, masses of people face the dole, huge numbers of our
sons and daughters will emigrate. People who worked hard for
decades see their pensions shredded and face old age in
poverty. Honest people who built businesses offering goods

and services, who employed others and made a contribution to

our collective welfare, will see those businesses smashed,
through no fault of their own.
Our already inadequate schools and hospitals face savage cuts.
The teachers who prepare the next generation, the nurses who
mend us when we're broken, all the train drivers and clerks
and road sweepers who make society work -- people earning
modest wages for hard, necessary labour -- have been
routinely and casually traduced as some kind of "public sector
parasites".
Given the scale of what's happening, this is no time for holding
in awe the fools and knaves who brought us to this brink.
Which brings us back to the banks. And Mr Conniving Little
Creep.
In September 2005, Sean FitzPatrick was praised for a
"challenging and thoughtful" speech at the Irish
Times Property Advertising Awards. In truth, it was a
mediocre, self-serving speech about how wonderful he and his
type were. "We had ideas, and we had balls. . . we worked the
scene and maximised the moment, the world watched in
astonishment." The world of capital "came to marvel at what
we were doing and achieving".
He droned on about "an economy that has thrived on intuition
and a spirit of adventure". He patted himself on the back: "We
have done very well by Ireland.''
What the bankers, builders and the Ahern/ Harney regime
were doing was encouraging borrowing and lending at
unsustainable levels, creating a property bubble -- catching
the global mood of reckless capitalist adventurism. What the
conniving little creep was doing, at exactly the time of his
"thoughtful" speech, was temporarily moving his secret 87m
loan out of Anglo, to conceal it from the auditors for the fifth
or sixth year in a row.
For years, politicians and the media cheerleaders bought this
mystical nonsense about "maximising the entrepreneurial
moment". When Richard Curran made a TV programme in April
2007, warning of the coming debacle, he was
denounced. George Lee was parodied as some kind of Moaning
Minnie. Bertie Ahern, sitting atop his accumulated sterling
deposits, suggested that people like Curran and Lee should
"commit suicide".
The Cowen Government is cut from the same servile cloth.
When the bankers demanded a total state guarantee of their
financial adventures, Cowen and Lenihan immediately

complied. This put the entire State in hock to the tune of 440
billion. The very financial existence of the State was put at
risk.
Last October, when Sean FitzPatrick demanded that the
Government kill the "sacred cow" of over-70s entitlement to
medical cards, that's precisely what Cowen and Lenihan did.
Now, this government proposes to put three billion of our
money into Anglo Irish, a bank valued on Friday at 266m
(and declining). Banks are utilities. Just like transport and
power companies. A modern state needs lines of credit and the
means of facilitating commercial and personal transactions.
Suppose the bankers controlled roads, electricity or water.
Suppose they subverted the State by freezing those utilities
and giving priority to their own interests, threatening social
collapse. What would a sensible, socially responsible state do?
It would take them over. If necessary, at the point of a
seasoned army platoon.
Tanaiste Mary Coughlan: "What we must do is ensure the
capitalisation of the banks is now progressed as quickly as
possible."
Why?
At no stage has the Government spelled out exactly how it is
in our interests to put vast amounts of our money into a failing
bank. There are other, less politically correct, ways of ensuring
that we, in our commercial and personal activities, have access
to financial utilities necessary to clear cheques, transact
payments and advance collateralised lines of credit.
Take state control of the banks, fire the bosses. There's lots of
banking talent at the lower echelons. Then, with that
distraction fixed, confront the real economic problems.
By the way, where are the police?
I don't want to hear how an obnoxious little creep like Sean
FitzPatrick categorises his activities. I don't know if what he
did was illegal or "inappropriate". I don't care what the
Financial Regulator (known far and wide as Goofy) thinks. Or
Cowen, or Lenihan, or any other star-struck ass-kisser. I want
to know what the police think of what FitzPatrick did. I want
the Criminal Assets Bureau to have a look into Anglo Irish. And
the other banks, while they're at it.
It would be comforting to imagine there were adults in charge.
- Gene Kerrigan
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ParagraphTitleStart Gene at his best.

ParagraphTitleEnd
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By Gene Kerrigan
Sunday November 23 2008
// authors
What were you doing the night that Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan
saved the Irish banks? It was in the wee hours of Tuesday
September 30. The Two Brians held long meetings with quivering
bankers and emerged to declare that the Government had put
something like 400bn on the line, to guarantee all bank borrowing.
Whatever you were doing that night, it had as much effect on the
collapsing economy as anything the Two Brians did.
This is a democratic recession -- whether you're a Taoiseach or a tea
lady, your proposed remedies are equally ineffective. It helps,
though, to try to understand the depth of the trouble we're in.
True story.
Eleven days before the Two Brians guaranteed bank borrowings with
money we don't have, US treasury secretary Hank Paulson was
desperate to get his Wall Street rescue package through Congress.
He wanted $700bn dollars to buy up all the "toxic debt" in the US
banks -- and the politicians were reluctant to "bail out Wall Street".
President Bush tried to twist arms, and Paulson made urgent
telephone conference calls to key senators and congressmen.
This was more serious than the Great Depression, Paulson said. If he
didn't get his bailout money there would be chaos. The president, he
said, would have to invoke martial law. Paulson meant congressional
martial law, which enables the instant passage of legislation,
without effective oversight. But the politicians gasped, foresaw riots
and troops on the streets.
Paulson got his money, and what happened? Nothing much.
Paulson suddenly decided he shouldn't buy the toxic debt (the word
is he panicked after he read a New York Times article by Professor
Paul Krugman, who said Paulson was being silly). Paulson decided he
should instead use about half the money to prop up foundering
businesses. The other $350 billion he -- as far as anyone knows -hid in his sock drawer.
Few people on the planet know more about the mechanics of 21st
Century capitalism than Hank Paulson, a former banker who
personally made hundreds of millions out of the debt bubble. And
last May, four months before seeking his $700bn bailout, this genius
announced: "The worst is likely to be behind us". The same chap still
has no idea what to do with his $700bn bailout money. That's how
out of control this thing is.
The fashionable thing to say, in Ireland these days, is that the banks
need to be "re-capitalised". They won't lend money to viable
businesses, because they don't have enough cash. The Government,

or private investors, should inject big money and get things moving.
All around us, on TV, in the newspapers, politicians and journalists
and other geniuses repeat this like they know what they're talking
about. It might even be half-true. But they're all guessing.
The banks said they've got enough money. A Governmentcommissioned report said they've got enough money. The real
problem is the banks are over-loaned, over-exposed, too much
money loaned (to property developers) in proportion to the amount
received on deposit. Until that's fixed -- a simple cash injection won't
do it -- the credit freeze will continue.
If I was one of the Brians, I'd buy a premises in each county, and 26
safes and 26 laptops and I'd open my own State bank. Call it the
Provisional AIB. Or the Continuity Bank of Ireland. Get credit moving.
Why bother giving money to the banks in the hope they'll lend it on
to businesses that need it? Cut out the middle-man. We know the
banks are failed financial entities, run incompetently by overpaid
gobshites. I wouldn't give them a cent. As a good 21st-Century
capitalist, I'd go into competition with them and drive them out of
business.
But that's just me, and I've always admitted that in matters financial
I'm an ignoramus. Unlike the Two Brians, who saved the Irish banks
on September 30. (Go back and read the glowing comments by all
the smart people who knew that soon the rest of the world would
follow the lead set by our Two Brians.)
This is one of those periods that it's better to read about in history
books than it is to live through. Our pensions are in trouble, our jobs
are on the line -- the chilling thought of transport systems closing
down, schools and hospitals run by volunteers because the money
has run out, is no longer a notion fit only for old Mel Gibson movies.
What's disturbing is the lack of any fresh thinking at all. And the
reason for that isn't just because everyone thinks Brian Lenihan's in
the wrong job (including, probably, Brian Lenihan).
There's one upside. In previous crises, in the 1930s, 1970s or 1980s,
no one knew what was happening -- it was years later before people
could begin to knowledgeably discuss what they had experienced.
Today, the internet gives us news and instant analysis from all over
the globe (and some of it isn't totally screwy).
There's a big debate going on out there. OK, it's hampered by the
fact that no one knows anything for certain.
There's a lot of guesswork and "What if" involved. Mostly it
surrounds whether or not a Keynesian solution -- State stimulation of
the economy, to more or less spend our way out of recession -- is
still viable.
There's lots of kneejerk stuff -- every right-winger constantly
mouthing the "cut interest rates" mantra, even as interest rates
approach zero and the cuts don't work.
Here? In this benighted land? No real debate.
Instead, the Government and the Opposition and the media and
every talking head in the land instinctively grabbed the old reliable

-- public sector pay and spending cuts.

Go ahead. See how that turns out. Reduce the spending power of
almost 400,000 people, put them under threat, frighten them into
hoarding money.
Good work. Now, watch the effect on the private sector.
The quality of leadership -- of alertness -- in this country is dire.
Brian Cowen has a touch of the John McCain vibe about him.
"Watch me solve the problem -- eh, well, um." Then he barks out a
beside-the-point clich about public sector cuts. Mary Coughlan,
God love her -- she'd be right at home as mayor of a small Alaskan
town.
Look at the Cabinet -- imagine you own a sweet shop and you're
going away for a couple of weeks. Which of them would you put in
charge?
I know, me neither. And the Opposition -- Enda Kenny is hopeless,
but far from the worst.
Among Fine Gael's young strivers are some very loud, dynamic
duds, irretrievably wedded to the kind of thinking that caused the
problem. And it's not just politicians. The media has been behind the
curve as this unfolded, too often repeating the mantra of the day
(how the Two Brians saved the banks etc).
Business sees only its own problems, too much of academia has
been compromised by the debt pimps, having spent too long
cheerleading the property bubble.
On the global stage, despite the panic and the lack of ideas, there's
an understanding that something has changed -- that prudence is
dangerous. There's an understanding that the kneejerk solutions -"cut interest rates", "cut public spending", "cut pay" -- is a sure sign
of obsolete thinking.
Not here.
So, the Two Brians, urged on by the cheerleaders in the media and
IBEC, raise high the banner of patriotism -- and attack the
pensioners, students, teachers, nurses, office workers and factory
hands. Not because it'll work, not because it will mend the broken
economy, but because that's pretty much all they can think of.
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ParagraphTitleStart Telling it AS IT IS.

ParagraphTitleEnd
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By Gene Kerrigan
SUNDAY NDEPENDENT:October 05 2008
// authors
Two meetings -- one in Washington, the other in Dublin -- both with
agendas set by bankers. Look at what happened at those meetings
and we'll know a lot about how we got into this banking mess, and

what's likely to happen next.

The first meeting was in a basement room at the offices of the US
Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, on April 28,
2004. The heads of the five big US investment banks had long
besieged the SEC with demands for the scrapping of what was
known as the "net capital" rule.
Under this rule, banks had to keep a cushion of billions of dollars, to
guard against losses. Scrap the rule, demanded the banks. Release
this money, so we can gloriously expand into the exotic world of
"mortgaged backed assets" and "derivatives". Of course, in order to
be prudent, only the biggest of the banks, with assets above five
billion, should be allowed to take the risk.
For over 20 years, following the Thatcher/Reagan "revolution", the
mantra was deregulate, free the market, down with the nanny state.
Politicians bowed, regulators simpered, the media cheered. For a
quarter of a century, the world was shaped in the image of the
freebooting capitalist.
This wasn't business. It was gambling.
In an audio on the New York Times website last week, you could
hear the SEC commissioners in 2004, giggling as they bowed
unanimously to the bankers' demands.
"If anything goes wrong, it's going to be an awfully big mess," said
commissioner Harvey Goldschmid. "I keep my fingers crossed for
the future,'' said commissioner Roel Campos, as he rolled the dice.
In no time, one of the banks, Bear Stearns, was lending $33 for
every dollar it had in capital. The other investment banks did
likewise.
Aware of how complicated these new-fangled financial instruments
were, the SEC allowed the banks to monitor their own activities.
And the debt spiralled and the bankers were paid glorious bonuses
as they drove their own banks and the global banking system to the
edge of a precipice.
Last week, there was a meeting in Dublin.
By now, the global banking system is chock-a-block with bad debt,
deliberately hidden within complex "mortgaged backed assets".
Banks are afraid to lend to one another, as all collateral is suspect.
So, business freezes, jobs are shed, shares plunge, pensions
dwindle.
And the Bush solution (buy the bad debt from the banks at top
dollar) had been initially rejected by Congress. It was a banker's
solution. Designed by Bush's treasury secretary, Henry Paulson. And
Henry, then head of Goldman Sachs, was one of the bankers who in
2004 demanded and got the "net capital" rule scrapped.
"Help us", the Irish banks told the Government last weekend, as
their shares collapsed. It wasn't a request, it was a demand. For
weeks, the Government and the bankers had fretted as the global
meltdown continued. In public, Brian Lenihan was assuring us that
we weren't in trouble, not like those silly Yanks. "Our banking system
has shown resilience in the face of such banking trends," he said in

Galway on September 15.

"Our banks uniquely have weathered the storm to date despite
many more venerable institutions being unable to do that."
When Liveline listeners expressed their fears, Lenihan personally
contacted the head of RTE, blackguarded Joe Duffy and arranged to
have the people shut the hell up.
We don't have an audio recording of last week's meeting between
Lenihan, Cowen and the bankers. But we know what happened. As
requested by the bankers, the State will guarantee all bank deposits
and loans. Here's Cowen: "On the advice of the relevant people who
have the competent authority in this area, I had to make that
decision." Mr Cowen's advisers are locked into the banking culture.
The banks got precisely what they wanted. Their shares soared.
From 1994 to 2000, surfing on the global boom, the Irish economy
thrived, GDP growth was 10.7 in 1997, the year
Ahern/Harney/Cowen came to office. By the time the McCreevy tax
cuts came into effect, in 1999, the boom was ending. From 2000 to
2007 the government gloried in its property bubble.
The tax cuts didn't cause the boom, they were the result of it. Far
from generating revenue, they squandered it. Nevertheless, deluded
by its own crude ideology, at one with free market extremism, the
Ahern government threw caution to the wind. The banks and the
builders were like two dogs locked in a carnal act, threshing and
inseparable. They needed water thrown over them. Instead, the
government joined in, making this a unique and bizarre menage a
trois.
Revenue from the property bubble allowed much-needed increases
in public spending, but still we underfunded hospitals and schools.
The proverbial "Top People" lapped it up. Thirty-three thousand
millionaires (not counting the value of their homes) muscled their
way to the top. Ministers and TDs entered the big money leagues.
Bankers and HSE executives were on big bonuses. The banks are
now in hock to the builders to the tune of 110bn. And the builders
are awash with unsold properties. They don't want to lower prices,
so they can't sell, so they can't pay their debts. Tax revenue
collapses.
The politicians are busy passing on the blame. To us.
Here's Lenihan, washing the Government's hands: "We decided as a
people, collectively, to have this property boom . . . That was a
collective decision we took as a people." Here's his junior minister,
Martin Mansergh: "I think there's maybe been some imprudence,
with the benefit of hindsight, on the part of us all.''
On RTE, asked about making demands of the bankers, in return for
the State guarantee, Mansergh's deference to the bankers was
remarkable. He breathed the words "private companies", as though
it was a holy phrase.
Let's remember that the banks have a criminal history -- their
engagement in complex tax frauds in the Eighties cost this country
dear. They did what they did to maintain market share, because the

criminality was, they said, "industry wide". When it comes to trust,

the banks are way overdrawn.
For the past eight years, in a blatant circle-jerk, the bankers,
builders, speculators, estate agents and politicians behaved as
though they believed the insane property bubble would inflate
endlessly.
Any doubters they denounced as treasonous, even when prices got
so ludicrous that you could buy a chateau in France for half the price
of a dowdy 3-bedroom flophouse in Dundrum.
People continue to do what they know. Even when it doesn't work.
This government hasn't had an idea in eight years. It believes in
construction. So do the bankers. And the builders believe in cheap
credit and high prices. So, the game continues.
Our money guarantees the bankers, who can get easier credit, so
they can take it easy on the builders, who can maintain their prices
so they can pay their debts to the banks. Oh, here comes a budget
-- let's stick it to the poor and the sick, so we can give the property
bubble a few reviving puffs.
A phrase you hear everywhere these days is, "We are where we
are". Don't look back. Don't ask how we got here. Don't play the
Blame Game. As the hapless Sarah Palin put it, "There's just too
much finger-pointing backwards".
Instead, shut the hell up, keep your opinions to yourself, leave it to
Daddy Cowen. And the bankers and the builders. Stay quiet, don't
resist, we know what we're doing.
Or, in a world where the Daddy figures now clearly haven't a clue,
where they prepare to pile pain on the vulnerable, perhaps it's time
to look back. To play the blame game. To be loud in our resistance.
The Government has set up so many state agencies that it "can't
event count them, let alone tell us how much they cost", according
to Fine Gael's new Enterprise spokesperson Leo Varadkar.
That was the only conclusion he could come to after many
government departments failed to answer a parliamentary question
he put down about the number of 'quangos' they have established
and funded.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/3pillarsofcorruption.htm
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/jobsfortheboys.htm

THE 3 PILLARS OF IRELANDS

CORRUPTION
Democracy and Public Happiness is the name and theme of a
new book by Edmond Grace SJ, launched by Minister for
Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan
on Thursday, June 28th, 2007 at 6pm in the Rotunda Hall, City
Hall, Dame St., Dublin 2.
Edmond Grace SJ worked in the Dublin inner-city parish of
Gardiner St. and was a founder member of the Dublin Citywide
Drugs Crisis Campaign. His work there brought him into

contact with politicians and public servants and his book has
its roots in this experience where he began to see the value
and power of good public service. Subsequently he set up a
network of 20 people, comprised of politicians, senior public
servants and voluntary community workers to whom he
submitted a series of papers on different aspects of
democracy: citizenship and the notion of the people; the role
of the opposition; the elected representative; the public
servant; and the global perspective. They discussed and
critiqued the papers, which became the core of the book.
According to Edmond Grace this process worked so well that it
was rolled out around the country in ten local authorities, from
Donegal to Waterford, from Kerry to Louth. We asked a simple
question, What makes people mad with public administration
in Ireland today? Among the top answers were a lack of
information, lack of accountability and electronic answering
machines!
In the preface to the book the five political party leaders state
that, The elaborate bureaucracy of the modern state has
become a barrier between elected leaders and ordinary
citizens, yet within the perceived barrier lies the means of
restoring popular trust in public life. The author says that
throughout the western world theres growing cynicism about
public life, and political leaders know this. He believes they
want do something about it. This process both the writing of
the book and the workshop is very much in tune with the
concerns of many political leaders and public servants.
The book is published by the IPA (Institute of Public
Administration), and according to the author it is for everyone
in Ireland who wants to ensure their voice is heard, their views
respected and their opinions considered by those who govern.
The book demonstrates that there can be no democratic
government without political leadership and only when
political leaders are able to command the free attention of
ordinary people and convince them that they are seen, heard
and respected by those in power, can we speak of government
by the people.
Dermot Mc Carthy, Secretary General at the Department of the
Taoiseach will also speak at the launch.
For Further Information or to arrange an interview with the
author contact:

Ms Pat Coyle,
Jesuit Communications Manager.
01 6768408/ 086 819 0029.
Democracy and Public Happiness is published by the Institute of Public
Administration. The book is available in paperback at 20. Copies
available in major bookshops or from the Institutes Sales Division, Tel:
2403768 and sales@ipa.ie. It is also available on click pay at
www.ipa.ie.
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ParagraphTitleStart A vacuum in the body politic.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
NOW the recession is here, it's time to stop partying. Right? Wrong.
Now is exactly the time to start partying. Political partying, I mean.
Now that PD stands for Permanently Decapitated, middle Ireland is
politically orphaned. Fianna Fail listens only to academics and civil
servants. Fine Gael listens only to medics and farmers. The vast
swathes of us working in the private sector in urban Ireland are
being ignored.
In one way, this shouldn't be surprising. Decent though they are,
Brian Cowen and Enda Kenny both inherited their Dail seats from
their fathers. And, as rural leaders of largely rural parties, they
cannot understand first hand the urban struggle of buying
properties in Europe's most expensive urban housing market, paying
exorbitant stamp duty, and putting up with crime and traffic
congestion. Still tied to the parish pump, where the publican, the
doctor and the biggest farmers hold the handle, they are drifting
further and further from the new country emerging all around them
Being in government, the damage this has done to FF is most
apparent. It's once-proud republican ethos has been imprisoned by
vested interests. Instead of tackling a ridiculously archaic and costly
system of public sector pay and pensions, it inflicted the cost of
fiscal adjustment on the old and young. Instead of making local
authorities more cost-effective by consolidation and reform, it forces
property owners to pay even more money to them. Instead of
economising on billions of euro at research and development in
universities -- much of which is needless -- money is saved by
raising class sizes in primary schools. There are stamp duty breaks
for farmers and commercial developers, but nothing is done to help
families trading up. Even worse, those families have their mortgage
interest relief cut to bolster a first-time buyer market that already
has the upper hand.
An effective opposition wouldn't let it happen. But all civil war
parties are the same in the dark. FG's stance on the medical card

issue is a disingenuous and self-contradictory insult to the public's

intelligence. Its health spokesman, Dr James Reilly, was the man
who pushed then Health Minister Michael Martin into agreeing
outlandish payments of 640 per person for the over-70s medical
card scheme.
Decisions such as this are behind the alarming rise in the tax burden
-- from 36 per cent of GNP in 2004, to 45 per cent by the end of
2009. This could put the last nail in Ireland's economic coffin, and
any good party of opposition would put make sure its policy
proposals all added up to getting this level back down. But FG takes
positions on individual policy issues as if there were no such thing as
budgetary restraint. A public letter written by another doctor and FG
TD, Leo Varadkar, appeared to tell us that Dr Reilly's actions seven
years ago were all right because he wasn't the minister for health. In
fact Leo goes further and says, "It is a great shame that Dr Reilly
was not minister for health and Micheal Martin the president of the
IMO."
In the same week, Leo's colleague Michael Ring wrote against
publishing details on farm subsidy payments on the grounds that
this might result in farmers getting robbed. I share his concern for
farmers' welfare. But, as the relentless rise in the tax take as a share
of the economy shows, it's the taxpayers who are getting robbed. So
much for FG as the champion of transparency and consumer rights.
Neither has FG any high ground on the state of the economy. In a
stunningly incompetent move, it took its pre-election forecasts from
the Government -- when commentators like myself, the Central
Bank, Davy stockbrokers and the Economic and Social Research
Institute were warning that they were too optimistic. Instead of
opposing Government forecasts or policies with better ones, FG
agreed with them! This is why FG has lost every election since
November 1982: it didn't have the courage to fight based on reality
and conviction.
Although smaller issues, FG's stance on the Groceries Order, pub
licence reform and drift net salmon fishing proves that it hasn't got
the backbone to stand up to vested interests. Richard Bruton has
nobly given the party some credible stance on public sector reform.
But FG failed to insist on Bruton being finance minister in the event
of the party winning the last election. This was incompetence of the
highest order -- Bruton was and remains the trump card in FG's hand
-- and shows that the party won't back him on reform if it gets into
government. If it's a choice between this and Brian Cowen's
blunderbuss, give me the Biffo any day of the week.
Final judgement on whether FF really is the party of the public
sector awaits the publication of its plans for public service reform.
Even if it is, FG now looks like the party of farmers and medics.
Caught in the crossfire between these two civil war armies, middle
Ireland is getting shot to pieces.
The real problem is that, more than eight decades after it ended, the
civil war still casts a shadow over our politics. In politically sane

countries, there is a strong party on the centre-right and a strong

party on the centre-left. In most countries, politics is ideological.
Although ideologies are imperfect, they do guard against parties
being excessively controlled by vested interests. Thanks to a now
irrational civil war split between two parties that aren't that
different, vested interests have a field day playing one side off
against the other, using moral blackmail to fleece the taxpayer.
But now things are changing. Expectations for prosperity have
grown. So has the population of a large and questioning young
electorate. Tolerance for incompetence is vanishing. FF and FG could
give the country strong leadership by forming a government of
national unity. If they put their increasingly irrelevant differences
behind them, a government strong enough to rule for the people
rather than for interest groups could emerge. If they don't, we may
witness instead the creation of a Frankenstein: a new party
exploiting the recession to express anti-European and antiimmigrant sentiment.
There is a similar, but less gruesome, alternative: John Bruton had
little brains, but he had guts and a conscience. Richard Bruton is
lacking in guts , but has a conscience and brains to burn. Perhaps
both should be placed side-by-side on an operating theatre so we
can create the perfect opposition leader. God knows, there are
enough doctors in FG to do the job.
Failing that, we'll have to start partying. Find a party that is closest
to your own outlook on life, join it and use it to let politicians know
how you feel. And if they don't let you, then take inspiration from
your elders and betters. Last week, they showed us how it's done. To
modify the old saying, "If you can't join 'em, beat 'em."
Marc Coleman is Economics Editor of Newstalk 106 to108FM
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 279089324 ParagraphStart 252161740

ParagraphTitleStart Quangos to isolate the State

from accountability to the citizen.
ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
Sunday October 07 2007
The Government has set up so many state agencies that it "can't
event count them, let alone tell us how much they cost", according
to Fine Gael's new Enterprise spokesperson Leo Varadkar.
That was the only conclusion he could come to after many
government departments failed to answer a parliamentary question
he put down about the number of 'quangos' they have established
and funded.
Varadkar claimed this failure was all the more surprising since some
Departments like that of the Taoiseach, Justice and Enterprise were
easily able to come up with the figures.

The Fine Gael deputy noted that when it came to the rest the only
conclusion he could come to was that the ministers in question "do
not know the structures of their own Departments if they do not
know what bodies actually exist there". He also believed that the
sole purpose of many government quangos is to "mollify
troublesome interest groups and trade unionists."
He said he was appaled that tax-payers money was being spent
"providing the finest of offices and state subsidised jobs which are
so unimportant that the Minister didn't even know the person in
question existed."
The Fine Gael spokesperson claimed that what we are seeing is the
creation of "an edifice that resembles a Stalinist state or the Peoples
Republic of Gaddafi" where bodies "whose work is questionable and
whose appointments are made in a non transparent way" are used
to head off trouble for the Government.
Unsurprisingly, when it came to Departments who didn't have a clue
who they employ, Health headed the list. The HSE may have nine
national directors and 61 assistant national directors -- but they
were utterly unable to come up with a figure.
Martin Cullen in Social and Family Affairs and Noel Dempsey
(Transport) were also unable to provide an answer whilst both of the
Green Ministers in Environment and Communications and Natural
resources were equally clueless about quango's operating and
funded by their ministries.
One of the more remarkable responses came from Education, where
Mary Hanafin claimed "the information requested by the Deputy is
not readily available in my Department and it would require an
inordinate amount of administrative time to compile."
The FG's new spokesperson on Enterprise and Employment also
expressed some surprise at the inability of Eamonn O Cuiv to
answer his question.
"Last week, O Cuiv was complaining about how when it came to
getting information from the HSE it was an impossible organisation
to deal with and he couldn't make head or tail of it."
However, when it came to his own Department, O Cuiv also claimed
it "was not practical within the time available to provide the
information sought", while Brian Cowen in Finance was also unable
to provide a reply.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 252161740 ParagraphStart 55402247

ParagraphTitleStart three pillars of corruption in

Irish society. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Exerpt from the Mahon Tribunal, June 2006:

FORMER lobbyist Frank Dunlop was accused of "making things
up as he went along" at the Mahon Tribunal today..

The claim was made by counsel for Monarch Properties, Mark

Sanfey. Mr Dunlop was described as the "heaviest gun
available" when he was hired by the firm hoping to get land
rezoned. Monarch wanted to develop their valuable site in
Cherrywood south Co Dublin.
Mr Dunlop was the top lobbyist in local politics and had a
reputation for getting things done, the tribunal heard.
But Monarch executives had no idea that he was paying
councillors for votes to increase the building density on their

236-acre site, said Mr Sanfey.

Exer
pt
Three corrupt pillars of irish society.
ParagraphBodyStart John Cooney (writing in "The Tablet"newspaper.U.K.)
The Irish have become cynical about their public institutions following scan
involving the police, Government and the Church
LORD ACTONS famous dictum about the corrupting effect of power might have b
to describe the institutional malaise that has infiltrated the three pillars of society i
Republic the political system, the police force, An Garda Siochana, and the Cat
Of these three pillars, the difficulties faced by the Irish Church have been given th
prominence as a result of the revelations of Bishop Eamonn Caseys love affair w
divorcee Annie Murphy, followed by the even more shocking cases of child abuse
As is now acknowledged by the bishops, these scandals were made even more d
because they were covered up for so long and were only brought to light by a cru
with the assistance of courageous victims.
Today, as the Church leadership, hesitant and bewildered, adjusts to the loss of w
sociologist has described as the moral monopoly it enjoyed in the long heyday o
Ireland, the focus is now switching to a similar loss of public confidence in the gua
and order, the Gardai.
Confirmation of what the Justice Minister, Michael McDowell, has called the force
hour is contained in two damning reports published by a judge, appointed in Mar
the two houses of parliament, the Dail and the Senate, to head an inquiry into alle
misconduct and mismanagement of the force in County Donegal.
In two interim reports, one published in July 2004 and the second earlier this mon
Frederick Morris has found that the force operates in an authoritarian, corrupt, un
and secretive manner. In his official response to the findings of the first report, Mr
himself a distinguished lawyer, likened the prevailing police culture revealed by th
tribunal to a hedgehog that becomes prickly and evasive when called to account.
surprisingly, sweeping reforms of the force the first major overhaul since its foun
promised by Mr McDowell in consultation with the Garda Commissioner, Noel Con
despite the transfer of some officers away from Donegal and the early retirement
others after the media outcry that accompanied the initial report, a year later little
been made, causing Mr Justice Morris to repeat his criticisms.
At the heart of the inquiry were complaints from publicans and nightclub owners F
McBrearty and his son, Frank Jnr, that they were framed and victimised by the Do
for the murder of a cattle dealer called Richie Barron in October 1996.

Not only has Mr Justice Morris upheld the McBrearty complaints, he has establish
Barron died as a result of a hit-and-run car accident. Consequently, he has found
McBreartys, and others who were harassed by the police, were innocent of any in
the death. He has concluded that the Garda investigation was prejudiced, tenden
utterly negligent in the highest degree, and he has noted that the general contem
officers for senior management is a national problem, which makes the force virtu
unmanageable.
Last years Morris tribunal report concluded: The Tribunal has sat through a year
and read thousands of documents and, as a result, has come to the conclusion th
Siochana is losing its character as a disciplined force ... ultimately, the gradual ero
discipline within An Garda Siochana is a developing situation that will, sooner or l
disaster.
In terms of line management, the report stated, it was all too easy for Dublin-b
Headquarters to be hoodwinked and misled by local officers, while the Departme
is utterly isolated from Garda Headquarters.
Meanwhile, in the last few days, the McBreartys have called for the resignations o
McDowell and Mr Conroy, whom they accuse of having received and ignored earl
information about the frame-up. Mr McDowell has tried to defuse the situation by
state apology, along with compensation that reportedly could amount to e10 millio
McBreartys and others caught up in the case. In a bid to stave off a High Court ac
by the McBreartys, due to be heard next week in Dublin, legal representatives of
Government have written to Frank Jnr with a view to reaching a settlement for his
and detention.
Irrespective of the outcome of the case, Senator Maurice Hayes, the man appoint
Irish Government to oversee the implementation of Garda reform, has voiced his
the Garda will in the end avoid proper independent scrutiny. He has criticised legi
submitted to the Dail that would establish a supervisory three-person body reporti
Minister for Justice. Instead, he has called for a police ombudsman such as exists
Ireland.
Unfortunately, at this critical juncture, public cynicism about the third pillar of Irish
the Government is at an all-time high. The first Morris report was not even deba
Parliament, and Irish politicians will soon be off on their summer holidays for four
There is a widely held view that the politicians are scared of the police.
Another major factor in this mounting public disillusionment is the number of judic
that have exposed widespread corruption at the heart of the political system per
notably by former Taoiseach Charles J. Haughey. Although Mr Haughey has settle
of his unpaid taxes with the revenue authorities, there is massive resentment that
been indicted for tax evasion. The only senior politician to be jailed, Ray Burke, a
Minister for Justice under Mr Haughey, was freed earlier this month after serving l
months in Mountjoy Prison.
Not surprisingly, the slow-moving but costly pace of the tribunals has convinced th
its main function has been to make lawyers extremely rich while the standard of li
ordinary people has deteriorated.
And the public mood has been further soured over the scandal of old people in nu
being illegally charged for their accommodation. As far back as 2001, the then Fin
spokesman on health, Gay Mitchell, told the Dail: Systematically, the law was flou

people had their meagre savings taken and even recently there seemed doubt as
these people or their families would be compensated.
Naturally, questions are being asked as to what has gone wrong with a society in
Catholicism remains the majority religion. This unease was articulated by the Gov
Mountjoy, John Lonergan, who said:
Ours is a sick society a society riddled with scandals, corruption and abuses o
society that not only neglects its elderly but robs them.
Arguably, this public dissatisfaction should have provided the Catholic bishops, m
week in Maynooth, with an opportunity to restore their former standing. However,
the Church could regain the lost moral high ground are not helped by public unea
neither a government inquiry into clerical sex abuse in the diocese of Ferns, set u
Brendan Comiskey resigned more than three years ago, has been published, nor
inquiry in the archdiocese of Dublin has even begun.
Indeed, Mary Raftery, the producer of the programme Cardinal Sins, which highlig
alleged mishandling of cases by Cardinal Desmond Connell, has expressed her c
the issue is again being consigned to the dark corner of Irelands past. This is a
by one of the victims, Andrew Madden, who complains that those of us who have
and waited quietly for the inquiry are fast running out of patience.
In this period of paralysis for the three pillars of Irish society, the danger is that Sin
political wing of the IRA, will exploit public dissatisfaction over the corruption at th
Dublin Government, the Garda and the Church.
John Cooney is a journalist working in Dublin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mahon_Tribunal
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 55402247 ParagraphStart 142485654

ParagraphTitleStart Government by propaganda

blitz! ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
By BRUCE ARNOLD
Saturday December 22 2007

(Irish Independent)

Members of the Government are not free to speak, as they have

been doing, about the Mahon Tribunal. In the case of some of them,
their disparagement and criticism is a gross abuse of their
constitutional position and duty.
And, in the case of the Taoiseach, the offence contained in his
expressed views about "being stitched up" are aggravated by the
fact that he is responsible both for and to the Mahon Tribunal in his
official capacity as head of government.
The Constitution is explicit in the collective designation of executive
power to the government, binding all its members to act together
and to protect the legislative decisions of the Oireachtas. They are
not free to engage in independent and possibly divergent criticisms

or attacks on what the State has appointed them to protect and

enforce.
In this respect, they do not have the freedom of speech of the
individual man or woman, or indeed members of the Opposition,
who are not constitutionally bound in the same way.
They are not part of any old debate that may come along
concerning the ways in which we are governed. Were they free to
hack away independently at legislation concerning the way we are
taxed, or the rules of the road, they would be rightly condemned for
introducing chaos at the top. No state could sustain such an
approach for long.
The setting-up of the Mahon Tribunal by the Oireachtas was a
legislative act that falls completely within these terms of reference
-- and required, even demanded, support and backing from the
Government.
This had been the case with all previous tribunals, breached from
time to time, but essentially held in place to the betterment of
public control of wrongdoing and the introduction of more
transparency.
It was always going to be the hardest part of all to detect corruption
in a clear and unequivocal way. It was implicit that some of the
actions of some of those appearing before these public inquiries
appeared to be corrupt. But the proof of corruption -- probably the
most difficult to establish before the courts -- has been an elusive .
Government ministers, over a year ago, showed some collective
recognition of their constitutional obligation. This was to withhold
from comment. It was their first position.
This then shifted to a second position when they stood together
over the argument that the Mahon Tribunal would be left to finish its
investigations, produce its report, and would be accepted as the
final word.
As the going got hotter for Bertie Ahern, this mode of defence
changed to a third set of arguments.
The line taken by members of the Government, wrongly entering
into a debate about the value of Mahon, was that there was nothing
wrong in receiving money.
It was complete nonsense. Everything was wrong with receiving
money, starting with the fact that it was against the law. It had also
been stoutly condemned by Judge Brian McCracken in respect of
Charles Haughey's receipt of money.
This approach -- that there was nothing wrong in receiving money -was a dangerous line to take; it undermined the whole constitutional
obligation those Government members had to a tribunal, the
purpose of which was to look into gifts of money to politicians and
officials.
This defence was absolutely wrong in constitutional terms for
Government members.
Yesterday, Seamus Brennan introduced another diversion that was
both wrong for him as a minister and also not in accordance with the

facts.
This was to claim that Mahon was concerned solely with the problem
of Owen O'Callaghan and Bertie Ahern, and should not have strayed
into the territory covered by recent days of interrogation,
particularly of Bertie Ahern.
The Mahon Tribunal has a wider remit. It is concerned with
politicians receiving money and it is proper that the Taoiseach's
bizarre and unbelievable chronology of his own finances should be
investigated.
Dermot Ahern made a similar error in the line of attack he adopted
against the tribunal.
He said the work of Judge Mahon was confined to "urgent planning
matters" and that he had breached this confine.
However, it is not the case and the tribunal has not breached its
terms of reference.
Painful as it may be for senior ranks of Fianna Fail, they are
precluded, by virtue of their constitutional position if they are
members of the Government, from engaging in any line of defence
that seeks to undermine what they are legally responsible to
protect.
The various lines of defence -- confused, erratic and conflicting -- are
indicative of growing panic and alarm at the political level. But this
is, and should be, clearly distinguished from the legal and
constitutional level at which duly appointed government members
operate.
If they mean to change things, they have to do it in very particular
ways, holding in special regard the legislative powers of the
Oireachtas and their own executive powers in implementing that
body's decisions.
Bertie Ahern and his ministers have repeatedly misrepresented the
legal position public servants occupy in respect of the receipt of
money from private individuals, claiming there is "nothing wrong
with it".
Judge Brian McCracken would disagree, as would well over half the
population of Ireland. The law also would disagree, though this will
need to wait for another day.
Chaos and confusion is being created willfully and wrongly by the
most senior and powerful figures in the State. Read it for what it is:
collective guilt leading to defective defence.
- BRUCE ARNOLD
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 142485654 ParagraphStart 151516198

ParagraphTitleStart 5% own 40% of the wealth of

the Irish nation. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
The damning statistic that the top 5% of the population own 40% of

the countries wealth-and that this imbalance will worsen in the

coming years puts Ireland in a kind of Argentina status where the
wealth owning figures are pretty similiar. There a solid middle class
were recently impoverished when fiscal juggling and devaluation
wiped them out.
The irish currency is happily protected from all this despite having
the worst inflation record in the EEC.
What happens when a huge imbalance in prices occurs within a
common currency area.?
Well, for a start, flight of capital.People from Italy and England, and
Ireland snap up holiday homes in places like Austria,France &
Spain ,where they cant believe they have bought a mansion on its
own grounds for the price of a two bedroom apartment near their
own capital city.
When I left Ireland some years ago, I sold an old property close to
Dublin central, near the peak of the madness, & I bought my new
home here in Gran Canaria.
It is (a lovely three bed house in a small development of 15
properties with private pool and overlooking the beach)
I invested the surplus cash in a number of small lettable properties:
my Insurance bonds,inflation proof; also easy to sell if necessary,
and I retained a sufficient sum to live a very good life in the sun.
Despite having no pension and none expected-except Mr Aherns
generosity in the 66th year of my life which is still five years away
and many do not live long enough to collect it..I find that my total
asset value has grown effortlessly in recent years, despite taking a
good living out of the very modest wealth pie.
Something similiar has happened to the hugely wealthy buccanering
property people attached to the main political parties, Fianna Fail &
Fine Gael.
For decades they have accrued extensive property portfolios. Many
of them cooked the books,paid little or no taxes, and aided by a tax
regime which allowed them to pay 20%capital gains taxes or
reinvest their profits in high rise car parks etc. they prospered. They
have vast cash reserves, and land banks which they will now happily
leave undeveloped, and wait patiently for them to be rezoned in the
fullness of time,by their dutiful colleagues in government at which
time the profits of their investment will have multiplied a thousand
fold.! Until the Irish property market again moves in their directionthey have set off to Britian, France, Poland , The Czech Republic like
Viking marauders to plunder the European property market with the
fortunes they have bled from the young irish mortgage holders;
fortunes amassed under a benigh government which has overseen
the reduction of infrastructure, and public services, to those of a
third world country; and in parallel created perhaps the wealthiest
coterie of landowners and developers on the european continent.
As long as Bertie mantains our tax haven status for american
companies, the country will continue to fill with immigrant
workers.They will continue to accerbate the shortage of public

services, health schools and so forth.

Speculators will continue to get good rents because the present
hiatus in the building industry is simply the result of prices reaching
unaffordable levels.Remember, the 5% who own 40% of the wealth,
own most of the development land.They can sit on it for 3 decades.
They are not stuck for a bob.Dont expect the present downturn in
the building industry to bring any solace for ordinary working
people.If anything more grief.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 151516198 ParagraphStart 104721604

ParagraphTitleStart the nobbling of "An Bord

Pleanala" by Greenstar holdings/Fianna Fail
ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

March 2007.
An Bord Pleanla has agreed before the High Court that its
decision granting planning permission for a landfill site in Co
Kildare must be overturned.
A local residents group which challenged the permission had
claimed the manner in which the board had dealt with the
planning application had been "peculiar throughout". The
board yesterday conceded that its permission, granted on the
basis of certain conditions, should be quashed because the
board had reached that decision on the basis of inadequate
records.
The court heard there was no record of any meeting of the
board as to how the planning conditions as finally prepared
were approved. The issue of how the matter should now
proceed will be decided later.
The Usk and District Residents Group said the conceded
shortcomings in the board's decision failed to address other
matters relating to how the board had reached its decision,
including the group's concerns relating to further information
being sought from the landfill developer by the board after an
inspector had recommended that permission be refused for the

development.
The board had not followed the inspector's recommendation to
refuse permission but instead directed that a further
information request prepared by the inspector be issued in its
entirety, the group said.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly yesterday heard submissions from the
sides as to how the matter should now be addressed in light of
the board's concession that its permission should be quashed.
The judge said he would reserve his decision on how the
planning application should be dealt with in the future.
The challenge to the board's decision of July 24th, 2006, had
been brought by the residents group and related to a proposed
landfill at Usk, Kilcullen, being developed by Greenstar
Recycling Holdings Ltd for 200,000 tonnes per year of nonhazardous waste for 10 years.
An inspector who conducted a four-day oral hearing into the
proposed landfill, submitted a report to the board in July 2005
recommending that permission be refused on four grounds.
The board later sought further information from the developer
and that was assessed by the inspector who, in a second
report, reduced the number of grounds for her refusal to three.
The board decided in July 2006 to grant permission on certain
conditions. It said that, in deciding not to accept the
inspector's recommendation to refuse permission, it had regard
to national policy; a waste licence granted by the
Environmental Protection Agency on June 8th, 2004; the
previous use of the site as a sand and gravel quarry and the
location close to the national road system.
The residents group suggested the second of the inspector's
reports was delivered after the board meeting of June 20th
and, therefore, it did not have the required information when it
made its decision. The board later said the conditions were
prepared after the June 20th meeting which, it said, was not
unusual because no conditions had initially been prepared by
the inspector because she had recommended refusal of
permission. It said the conditions were fully discussed at the
June 20th meeting.
However, because there was no record of any meeting of the
board at which the planning conditions as finally prepared were
approved, the board conceded its decision granting permission
should be overturned.
John Collins, solicitor for the residents group, said his clients
have no faith in the objectivity or impartiality of the board
relating to the landfill development appeal. The manner in
which the appeal had been dealt with "has been peculiar
throughout", he said.

 2007 The Irish Times

From the Irish Independent:
Planning Board forced by court to overturn decision
But the commercial dump at Usk, Kilcullen, may still go
ahead. Justice Kelly has reserved judgment on the
development by Greenstar Recycling Holdings Ltd and will
make his decision soon.
Spokesman for the residents group Pat Higgins said the
decision left locals "in limbo" but at least they retained some
hope that the dump will not go ahead.
Last night, Mr Pat Higgins said locals had been forced to raise
almost 60,000 to fight the case against allowing Greenstar to
open a new commercial dump at Usk, Kilcullen, in the courts
and had lost all faith in An Bord Pleanala.
Ann O'Loughlin and Grainne Cunningham
Irish Independent
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 104721604 ParagraphStart 104743795

ParagraphTitleStart Back to August 2001.No plan

No policy.Fianna Fail.! ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Fingal County Council is to introduce a quota system on waste

contractors disposing commercial waste to Baleally at the
beginning of next month. But Dr Kelly said waste contractors,
represented by the Irish Waste Management Agency, have no
alternative disposal facility.
Businesses producing food waste or waste contaminated with
food will be worst hit when the crisis bites in August, Dr Kelly
said.
"No other outlets exist for this material. Contractors will have
no choice but to leave this waste on the streets when their
quota is full.
"Hotels, restaurants and commercial establishments will be the
hardest hit. Waste contractors do not want this to happen, but
have no choice."
She said the crisis in Dublin was mirrored all over the country,
with commercial waste banned or under threat in many areas.
Existing landfills are closing and no replacements are being
created, she said.

"The situation is very serious, with some companies already

experiencing difficulties. Everybody points the finger at
somebody else, but nobody seems to have overall
responsibility."
She said Ireland's waste infrastructure is fraught with
difficulties and involves a number of bodies, including the
Department of Environment, local authorities and the
Environmental Protection Agency.
She called on all bodies to act to avert the crisis and for
emergency measures to allow Baleally accept commercial
waste until an alternative is put in place. She also called for a
review of the Dublin Waste Management Plan and other
regional plans.
A spokesman for Dublin Corporation, which is co-ordinating
waste strategy for all of Dublin, said the quota system was
being put in place because there was a very limited amount of
space at Baleally.
"We've had to ration the space to commercial operators to
50% of what they've had in the past." There had been several
discussions with waste operators and these were ongoing.
Commercial waste operators had a number of options,
including the use of a private dump near Kilcullen, Co Kildare
and a local authority landfill in Kill, also in Kildare. "Fingal
County Council is trying to arrange a new landfill, but that's
tied up in the courts," he said. A Department of Environment
spokesman said waste strategy was a matter for local
authorities and said most had drawn up a plan to deal with the
problem.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 104743795 ParagraphStart 122955539

ParagraphTitleStart The Great Jackson Way

/Carrickmines Corruption Pit not yet unearthed
ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart A group of conservationists who are

opposed to the building of the M50 motorway through the

archaeological site of Carrickmines Castle in south Dublin,
claimed in 2007 that a State agency warned of the danger of a
"any interference with the ancient sites" at Carrickmines Castle
in 1983.

The conservationists also questioned why the warning contained in a report from An Foras Forbartha and heeded by
Dublin County Council for 15 years - was subsequently
overturned by Dn Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in the
drafting of the 1998 County Development Plan.
Mr Ruadhan MacEoin said the 1998 decision to move the road
has led to one of the State's largest compensation claims
which may amount to 118m for 22 acres required from
Jackson Way Propertied Limited for the motorway - "and we
have legitimate questions about taxpayers' money".
In addition to the 22 acres required for the motorway, Jackson
Way Properties also owned about 24 acres of land to the north
and 60 acres to the south of the new route. The 1998 County
Development Plan also rezoned the northern lands for
"industrial and related uses" while the southern lands
remained for the development of agriculture.
Jackson Way Properties subsequently sought between 96
million and 118 million from Dn Laoghaire-Rathdown County
Council in compensation for the loss of its 22 acres to In
January of this year, the council won an injunction on the
arbitration of the compensation claim pending the conclusion
of investigations into Jackson Way Properties by the Flood
Planning and Payments Tribunal. The High Court decision was
subsequently the subject of an appeal to the Supreme Court by
Jackson Way Properties. The ownership of Jackson Way has not
been revealed.
Yesterday however, Mr MacEoin told The Irish Times that "all
this could have been avoided if the council, like Dublin County
Council before it, had left the route of the motorway to the
south of the interchange, away from the castle ruins."
Now the "Carrickmineders", as they have styled themselves,
say they want an explanation of who decided the route of the
motorway should be changed and what the reasons for that
change were.
The 1983 report from An Foras Forbartha - the National
Institute for Physical Planning and Construction Research identified the fortifications to the north of the existing
farmhouse which form the northwestern part of the castle
complex. It detailed the extent of these earthworks, including

the fosses fed by artificial watercourse, the site of a bawn, and

the avenue and gatehouse.
It recommended that: "If the road was placed on the south side
of the farm it would avoid any interference with the ancient
sites." The recommendation was apparently heeded and the
route was drawn at a remove to the castle. The 1993 Dublin
County Council County Development Plan also respected the
recommendation with Map 26 showing the route again away to
the south of the castle site.
By Tim O'Brien, Regional Development Correspondent
Irish Times
the motorway.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 122955539 ParagraphStart 123867713

ParagraphTitleStart onward march the "Soldiers of

destruction". ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Statement by Michael Canney, plaintiff,

29th. August 2007, 13:00.
Save Tara/M3 Legal Case
It has never been my ambition to put my name forward in a
legal challenge, especially a challenge against such a
seemingly impregnable array of powerful political and
economic forces. I have done so only as a last resort, and only
because it is absolutely essential that the silent majority who
oppose this road are given a final chance to have their
concerns heard before the courts. While the political and
commercial backers of this enterprise have seen fit to ignore
public opinion up to now - they cannot so easily dismiss the
judiciary.
The debate which has raged unevenly between heritage and
economics since the Wood Quay protests of the eighties have
finally reached its' nadir at Tara, a low-point that even the most
pessimistic among us could not have anticipated. The Tara
landscape - the cradle of our civilization, an icon of our
nationhood, the mythical heart of our country is to be defaced
in the name of private profit and political expediency.

The damage already wrought on the landscape cannot be

undone; and the destruction of individual sites over the last six
months are individual and collective acts of vandalism.
However, the integrity of the landscape as a whole, its stillness
and physical beauty are still to be preserved and so this
struggle will be conducted by any means and through any
mechanism available to the Save Tara Campaign.
No matter how much damage has been done up to this point
the road remains totally unacceptable along its present
alignment. Over the last few months people say to us "but they
are going to build it anyway", or "sure isn't the damage already
done". In reply we argue that this road, like Tara itself is a
signifier - a signifier of values and attitudes - this debate
embodies not only the value we place on our heritage and
history, but also signifies how we might deal with the
challenges of an energy-poor future and the massive
sociological changes that are necessary in order to meet these
challenges.
The placing of economic and sectoral interests, above those of
the wider environment and society, is one of the main reasons
we find ourselves in the environmental mess we are in.
Unregulated and profit-driven property development, both
residential and commercial, is the primary cause of the
transport crises facing the people of Meath. A shocking fact,
little reported in the acres of coverage of this issue is that the
route of this road was chosen to increase traffic volumes, and
therefore tolling profits. This road is engineered to increase cardependency. Could our transport planners possibly get any
more cynical and profit-driven?
Our friends and neighbours in the European Union have voiced
grave concerns about this motorway. To deal with one specific
concern - the Commission have questioned how the Lismullin
National Monument, a massive structure over 80 meters in
diameter could have been missed during surveying. The EU
maintains that, having missed the structure initially, it's
subsequent discovery should automatically lead to a new
Environmental Impact Assessment. There would seem to be a
prima facia case that the EIA process is inadequate at best. A
less benign interpretation is also possible; our summons
maintains that in only carrying out a EIA on one route - the socalled "preferred route" through the Valley, the EIA process is
actually subsumed to a function of the route selection process,

as opposed to an objective basis upon which to decide upon

one route as opposed to another.
It is in the public interest that the procedural and legal
shortcomings of the M3 debacle be further examined in the
courts. It is in the public interest, not only because of the
importance of the Tara landscape in and of itself, but also
because this private motorway is iconographic of future
planning, transport and environmental policy in this country.
Who can look at the Dublin Civic offices now and not regret the
lost opportunity of a public park; sweeping up from the river
Liffey to the Christchurch Cathedral, a potential resource of
immeasurable cultural, educational and aesthetic value? At a
time of unprecedented prosperity, who can say that the M3 will
be anything but a source of bewilderment and regret to future
generations?
The preservation of the Tara landscape can our moment of
reflection and renewal, a moment when we realised that our
environment is a finite resource and also an opportunity to
take strength from a proud and ancient past to meet the
challenges ahead.
The Commission for Aviation Regulation prompted by Minister Noel
Dempsey is going to hike the charges at Dublin airport by up to 40
% in the coming years for passengers leaving from both the old
terminal and the new white elephant palace alike to pay for the
escalating debt of the DAA which is estimated to reach 1 billion in
the next few years.
This is on top of the existing government stealth tax levy of 10
Euros on every ticket into and out of the country..
At present the taxes and charges at Dublin airport frequently exceed
the cost of a ticket.
The destruction of our tourist industry will soon be complete.
How many stag party groups will fly from England to Dublin for a
wild spending weekend ,when they can go to Portugal or Spain for
less and drink for far less,and stay there for far less-?
I asked the European Commission to strike down this totally illegal
tax two years ago as it discriminates between internal and
international flights.
My petition is winding its weary wat through the Brussells
bureaucracy and no doubt in another 2 years it will be outlawed-and
immediately replaced by another revenue gathering imposition
under another name.
By then our tourist industry will be totally destroyed.
Hotels are already suffering from new concepts such as home swop
organizations of which I am a member.
I have travelled the world in recent years and never had to pay a
penny for accomodation or car hire.

This government has always turned to more tax to pay for its
profligacy but this time they are driving the country-not to recoverybut to utter and total ruin.
The proprietor of this web site has-two years ago-asked that the
illegal travel tax imposed by Fianna Fail be struck down as it is
clearly in contravention of European law.
Two years later we have been informed that the investigation is
ongoing. Fianna Fail will likely be out of office in 2012,and at this
rate of progress it will be at an even later date that this matter is
finally resolved!
.
Given that the total taxes imposed on Irish citizens travelling abroad
now frequently exceeds the cost of the airline ticket, is it any
wonder that the illegal tax- plus the other ever increasing charges
which are now imposed by the government to pay for the new DAA
"white elephant" passenger terminal, is destroying the Irish tourist
industry?

11.5.2010

NOTICE TO MEMBERS
Subject: Petition 1647/2008 by Mr. David Collins
(Irish), on alleged breaches of EC legislation by the
new Irish aviation departure tax
Petition 1678/2008 by Mr. John McDermott (Irish), on alleged
breaches of EC legislation by the new Irish aviation departure
tax
1. Summary of petition 1647/2008
The petitioner considers that the newly introduced aviation
departure tax for the citizens flying from Ireland to other EU
member states would beach EC legislation. He asks the
European Parliament to have the Commission investigate the
matter.
1

Summary of petition 1678/2008

The petitioner complains about the introduction of an aviation
departure tax for people flying from Ireland to other European
destinations. The petitioner considers that this tax breaches the EU
legislation and asks the European Parliament to investigate the
matter.

2. Admissibility
Petition No. 1647/2008 declared admissible on 24 March 2009
and Petition No. 1678/2008 declared admissible on 25 March

2009. Information requested from Commission under Rule

202(6).
3. Commission reply, received on 26 October 2009.
The Air Travel Tax has been applicable since 30 March 2009 at
all Irish airports, except for very small ones, on flight tickets for
outbound flights from Ireland. The Irish authorities have drawn
a radius of 300 km around Dublin airport. All flights taking
place within this circle are subject to a 2 levy per passenger,
while all other flights are subject to a 10 levy per passenger.
The petitioner considers this tax to be discriminatory and unlawful,
and he refers to the cases of Portugal and Malta, where roughly
similar taxes have successfully been abolished.
The Commission has requested information from the Irish
Authorities about the nature of the Air Travel Tax, and in particular
the basis for the distinction drawn between these two categories of
flights and the proportionality of the levy. The Commission will
subsequently evaluate the compliance of this tax with Community
legislation and case-law, and inform the Parliament accordingly.

4. Commission reply, received on 11 May 2010.

In the light of further information on the operation of the tax
received from the Irish authorities, the Commission has
analysed the tax and its compatibility with provisions of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union enshrining the
freedom to provide services (article 56) as well as article 15(1)
of Regulation 1008/2008 which lays down the conditions for the
operation of air services by carriers within the European Union1.
The tax is levied at two different rates depending upon the
distance of a given flight's destination from Dublin Airport. The
Commission is concerned that this may mean that substantially
different conditions are imposed on cross-border flights
compared to those operated wholely within Ireland and that the
tax could, therefore, constitute an infringement of European law.
The Commission is currently investigating the case accordingly.

or a detailed analysis of Fianna Fail's "Mystical body" of greed and

corruption:

http://www.tascnet.ie/
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 588219616 ParagraphStart 587703925

ParagraphTitleStart Retarded developers son with

helicopter pilot licence pleads he was conned into
borrowing 2 million Euros by unscrupulous
lenders.!
When wannabee developers fall out..
"A SON of hotelier Jim Mansfield and three other businessmen
must immediately repay a 6m loan given to them to develop
lands in Co Meath, the Commercial Court ruled yesterday.
Given Mr Mansfield's difficulties, it was surprising to find he
could fly a helicopter and was a director of 25 companies with

a wide range of activities and had signed annual returns for

those, the judge observed"
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/judge-tellsmansfields-son-to-repay-83646m-loan-2207262.html
His Daddy is a more successful ducker and diver-worth an estimated
400 million thanks to a crony relationship with the Soldiers of
Destiny.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/acoachandfour.htm

THE wife of former Fianna Fail minister Padraig Flynn has been paid
more than 200,000 in state forestry grants after being designated
as a 'farmer'.
She also admitted she had never farmed it in any meaningful way.
The Mahon Tribunal has suggested that the purchase of the land by
Mrs Flynn was funded from the proceeds of the IR50,000
(63,500) donation given to her husband by the builder Tom
Gilmartin.
Mrs Flynn told the tribunal that she could remember nothing about
the three bogus non-resident accounts in AIB Castlebar, but
accepted that she was more than likely the person who operated
the accounts.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/mightymayo.htm

From the people who brought you NAMA. stealth

taxes, and unemployment:
TD's top up their pay with rental income.

"From student accommodation to villas on Lake

Garda in sunny Italy, our landlord class of

politicians has made canny property investments"

Sunday Independent,June 06 2010
FIANNA Fail Senator
Ivor Callely's luxury west Cork holiday home may
have tumbled in value by 40 per cent, but he
is among 34 out of 60 senators who have rental or
development properties as far away as
the US and Dubai.
Despite his obscene wealth,Ivor has confessed to
suffering a "breakdown" after his non re-election in
his Dubin constituency in
the last general election. ! How sensitive are our
poor soul, piggy politicians, when they are rejected
by the fickle electorate..
Research by the Sunday Independent sheds
further light on the extent of our landlord class of
politicians, showing
that half of all TDs have interests in investment
properties of some type, many of which would
generate significant
income on top of the salaries and expenses that
are funded by the taxpayer.
When it comes to comparing deputies' property
portfolios, Fianna Fail's Frank Fahey would
certainly be in the top three.
Among the 19 properties he owns or co-owns are
10 apartments on Rue Du Sceptre in the theatre
district
of Brussels as well as a further five on Rue EmilePaul. As well as a Jumeirah Estates-built house in
Dubai, he also
owns one in Villefranche in the south
of France and has a shareholding in an apartment

in Boston, according to the

register of TDs' interests. He was also in the
process of buying two further properties
in Portugal when he last filed
information in the register.
Fahey's colleague backbencher John McGuinness is
the landlord of a pub, off-licence, fast-food outlet
and motor
service outlet on O'Loughlin Road in Kilkenny plus
a second commercial property there.
As the owner of a nursing home, co-owner of
the Rolestown House Hotel in Dublin and owner of
student
accommodation in Limerick, he can also look
forward to steady income every month from
perhaps dozens of
students, pensioners and holidaymakers.
On the opposition benches, Dr James
Reilly and Alan Shattertop the Fine Gael leader
board.
As well as almost 240 acres over various farms
and plots of land in north Dublin, Meath and Offaly,
Dr Reilly has a
holiday home at the Doonbeg five-star golf and
spa resort in Clare.
In addition to his quarter-share of a nursing home
in Tipperary, he would see a sizeable monthly rent
roll from the
block of surgery rooms, offices, shops, a
supermarket, a restaurant and apartments he
owns in Lusk, north
Co Dublin.
His colleague Alan Shatter would also earn a
considerable monthly income from the 10
apartments and office

properties he owns in the capital and five other

homes and apartments in London and Florida.
The picture is not very different in the Seanad,
where Senator Larry Butler is the latest politician
from whom
the Taoiseach demanded an explanation for
questionable expenses claims.
These were made for travelling into Dublin from a
second home in Co Carlow, despite the fact he also
owns a longterm home on the exclusive Westminster Road in
Foxrock, south Dublin, where his neighbours
include
developers David Arnold and Michael Cotter.
But Senator Butler is way down the league
compared to Fine Gael Senator Paul Coghlan, who
owns 18 properties,
including a sizeable chunk of Killarney in Co Kerry,
including a shopping centre, apartments, offices,
houses and a
restaurant. Apartments in Dublin, an office block
in London and student accommodation
in Waterford, Cork
and Galway generate further income for him.
Fianna Fail Senator Donie Cassidy's property
portfolio is the second largest. Three hotels -the Maldron Hotel on
Granby Row, Cassidy's Hotel on Cavendish Row
and Belvedere Hotel on Great Denmark Street -are among the
nine properties he owns in Dublin and Westmeath.
Eschewing the Marxist view that all property is
theft, Labour Senator Dominic Hannigan is the final
politician of note.

Along with an apartment in Florence and a house

in London, he also owns a holiday villa on the
shores of
Lake Garda in Italy.
Sunday Independent
http://www.independent.ie/business/tds-top-up-their-pay-with-rentalincome-2209703.html ParagraphBodyEnd

chef Tim Allen's TV show abroad - more than a year after his
sensational court case.
Bread At Ballymaloe was filmed at his and celebrity wife Darina Allen's
world-famous cookery school before he was convicted for downloading
twisted images on to his computer. RTE admitted yesterday it made a
mistake by advertising the series on its website.
The station's international programme sales division is now to stop
advertising the show. _ A spokeswoman said: "We are taking the series
down from the website because we feel it is inappropriate due to the
controversy over the court case."
Shamed Allen, 53, became a figure of loathing when he pleaded guilty
in January last year to downloading 977 sick images but walked free
from court after paying /40,000 to children's charities.
RTE is broadcasting a cookery series hosted by Darina - but it too faces
the axe after viewers switched off in disgust over her husband's
behaviour.
RTE said it had no plans to recommission

the series. ParagraphBodyEnd

ParagraphEnd 586374365 ParagraphStart 586162828

ParagraphTitleStart over 700 hardened criminals

walk free to terrorize citizens ,while 700 scarce
prison places are occupied by citizens unable to pay
fines. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Fianna Fail politicians

"MORE than 700 convicted criminals are walking the streets

because there are not enough prison spaces to hold them.
The proportion of inmates being given temporary release to
ease prison overcrowding has more than tripled in the past
two years.
The increase has coincided with an upsurge in crimes
committed by prisoners on temporary release, new figures
obtained by the Irish Independent reveal."

Meanwhile the real criminals are governing

the country!
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/over-700-prisonersallowed-walk-free-as-jails-run-out-of-beds-2210422.html
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/socialjustice.htm

"Ivor Callely is living proof that travel doesnt broaden the mind. The
north Dublin senator claims to have clocked up tens of thousands of
billable miles between his holiday home in west Cork and his social club
in Leinster House, but has evidently noticed nothing en route about the
changing national climate. No wonder he has trouble telling his abode
from his bolthole."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article7144724.ece

JACKIE Healy-Rae has admitted that up until recently he has

been driving to the Dail from his south Kerry constituency in
the company of another Oireachtas member -- but he cannot
say if they both claimed mileage expenses for their journey.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/healyrae-bullish-overexpenses-2209830.html

A Kerry joker-but the joke is on

Dublin taxpayers.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion
/columnists/shane-ross/shaneross-whistleblower-bill-buried2209678.html

itisdisabledinyourbrowser.</div></div>
SO Sheriff Elderfield believes people need to be taught a lesson. A
moral lesson. And most of all, he thinks that people in trouble with
their mortgages need to be taught a moral lesson.
When discussing the possibility of helping those who are falling

behind with their mortgages, and who may be in danger of

losing their homes, Elderfield cautioned against the socalled
moral hazard issue.
Moral hazard, for those of you who dont know, is an old-fashioned
notion that if you dont make people responsible for
the consequences of their actions,
then you will encourage them to go off and do the exact
same stupid things again.
So in this case, if you bail someone out a bit on their mortgage,
they will possibly go off again and get another crippling mortgage,
secure in the knowledge they will be bailed out again.
Because of course thats what someone who nearly loses their home
will do if you help them. Having lain awake, sick with worry, without
a job, and possibly trying to
pay 7 per cent interest on their subprime mortgage, they will think:
Well, thank God I got out of that one. Now let me see if I can get
myself right back into hell.
Of course, what youre wondering now is why Elderfield has only
brought up the whole idea of moral hazard at this point.
We dont seem to recall anyone mentioning moral hazard when we
bailed out the banks and all their buddies.
In fact, to the layman, it would seem that no one in banking, in the
Department of Finance, in the Central Bank, in the office of
the Financial Regulator, in the Dublin Docklands Authority,
or anywhere else in the corporate or government world is
being taught any kind of a lesson.
The moral lesson for all of those people was that you can ruin the
country and you will either stay on in roughly the same job, get a
promotion, or walk away with a giant pension.
Good for Sheriff Elderfield if he wants to go on a moral crusade.
But should he not pick on someone his own size?
No, in the week that we bailed out the EBS, we were told that people
in danger of losing their homes need to learn, and besides, it would
be their neighbours who will be paying to bail them out.
Maybe Sheriff Elderfield should ask us the neighbours in question
whether wed prefer to pay to bail out our neighbours or Anglo
Irish Bank?
Who would we rather learnt the moral lesson here?
In the meantime, Elderfield and the others who are trying to
address the growing mortgage arrears tsunami which threatens to
swamp the country could consider taking the huge number of
people in mortgage trouble who are paying extortionate rates to
subprime lenders, and offer them workable mortgages from the
same banks that they, and we, now own. That might be a
good lesson for everyone. Trust me, moral hazard is nothing next to
real hazard.
(Brendan O Connor. Sunday Independent.)
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/davidmcwilliams/david-mcwilliams-nama-just-a-bailout-for-the-

professional-classes-2203280.html

Now that the country is full of derelict developments and ghost

estates, Fianna Fail have suddenly become impassioned about the
sixty thousand odd families who have been on the waiting lists for
"social housing" during the era of the Great Property Bubble.
These families were supposed to have become wealthy enough to
pay half a million Euros for a new semi out in Sallins or a two bed
dog box in Swords.
Alas they did not. Fortunately for them they languished on the
housing lists as politicians completely ignored them.
A few scraps from the developers table were thrown to young
people who only earned an average working wage ,such as gardai
and nurses and truck drivers and factory workers and so on.
These "scraps" consisted of offerings from the grandiose titled
"Affordable Homes Agency", a new quango which was spawned too
late to do much for these young people, as the recession had
already begun when the local councils started taking houses,
instead of money, from the busy developers.
These developers preferred that their properties would only be
peopled with affluent buyers from the professional classes.That was
then.Now even the knackers are welcome.!
Providing of course the state pays the rent and leases them from,er
from who? Will they be leased from NAMA, or the banks, or the
developers ?
Anyway,suddenly all the well heeled buyers disappeared. the banks
ran out of cash.
Fianna Fail searched frantically for a way to alleviate the burden on
their crony developers.
The re-invented themselves as politicians passionate about social
justice-its convenient corollary-social housing.!
60,000 families waiting to fill the empty houses.Meanwhile the
taxpayer who will now be milked for NAMA, will also be milked to

pay the rent for the "social houses" while they are "parked" with
NAMA,and leased out to tenants- as the government awaits the
( hoped for) reversal of fortune in the economy,and the
reappearance of prospective buyers do give a dig out to the ruined
developers.
For some strange reason the banks are not playing ball?
wonder why?

.I

Website Officially Launched

Tuesday, June 24, 2008: As the well of buyers

began to run dry, Mr. Michael Finneran, T.D.,
Minister for Housing, Urban Renewal and
Developing Areas today launched an important new
resource for affordable home purchase. The local
authorities and the Affordable Homes Partnership
are to market affordable homes available for
purchase around Ireland on one website for the first
time.
Speaking at the launch of the new
website www.affordablehome.ie, Mr Des Geraghty,
the Chairman of the Affordable Homes Partnership,
said it would be
an invaluable tool for those seeking affordable
homes.(they even got an ex-trade union official in
on the act..)
"In an attempt to facilitate the many new
international communities in Ireland, information on
the new website is translated into Polish, Lithuanian
and Chinese as well as Irish. The first three
languages were chosen based on CSO data and
will help local authorities deal with queries from the
public."
Alas the Poles are all gone home, ditto the
Lithuanians. Any of them still here will be customers
of the new "Social Homes Agency" as soon as Mr

Finneran
gets around to setting up yet another costly

quango.!
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/john-drennan/johndrennan-how-banks-are-frustrating-government-home-scheme2209796.html

THE scene: Anglo Irish Bank HQ, St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2.

Location: The Sean FitzPatrick Memorial Room for Humble
Bankers.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/shane-ross/shaneross-exaib-insider-lands-at-anglo-2200445.html
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/shane-ross/

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/83642bn-fund-payingoleary-smurfit-massive-subsidies-2200593.html
Michael Smurfit,The co-owner of the K Club (with Jerry Gannon the
now namad developer) located in County Kildare received over
17,000 Euros from European taxpayers pockets last year!
Here is a picture of Michael's yacht, sailing in tropical seas.!

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/haughey-protege-isappointed-to-board-of-anglo-2200498.html ParagraphBodyEnd

Israel is a favored trading nation of the EEC. No parliamentarian

within the EEU has dared to suggest a boycott of Israeli products.
Gaza is one of the the largest Gulag's in the history of man's
inhumanity to man.
Ironically the scale of repression, persecution and territorial
expansion in the Middle East, has- in a western Europe context-only
been mirrored by the Nazi regime,during the 'Holocaust' period of
the Second World War.!
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/jewishmassacres.htm
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/callely-active-in-dublindespite-836481000-expenses-claims-from-cork-2201209.html

A nexus of sleaze, cronyism, & corruption:TASC

report:Mapping the Golden Circle of corrupt

politicians,connected businessmen and bankers,

who sit on the boards of every institution which
dominates the commercial life of the nation.
An oligarchy of Venetian Doges who have crippled the country: Read
the report:

A government without a conscience.

Government consciously disregards the rights of the

human embryo
By Rnn Mullen(writing in the Examiner (march 2006 )
WITHOUT a vision, the people perish, the Book of Proverbs tells
us.
And although the ancient writer was not thinking of the current
Fianna Fil/PD Government, he would be hard pushed to find a
better phrase to sum them up at the moment. Take the
Governments callous and cavalier attitude to human life at its
earliest stages. In recent days it has emerged that a now-separated
Irish couple will go to the High Court to dispute their competing
claims to control the future of frozen embryos created during an IVF
procedure. The wife wants to implant the embryos; her estranged
husband is opposed. The case could have implications for the right
to life of the unborn child in this country if, as is possible, the matter
ends up in the Supreme Court for a decision about when life begins.
The Government could have prevented all such controversies by
legislating, as it had every right to do, to prevent the creation of
surplus human embryos by fertility clinics and to prevent the use of
embryos for research. But it did nothing. It could have been so
different.
In 2002, the Taoiseach made an attempt to address the abortion
issue by holding a referendum. Although the Governments proposal
was narrowly defeated, Bertie Ahern did not go unrewarded by the
electorate. Many voters were appreciative that the Government took
a difficult decision and adopted a principled stance. Most pro-life
voters appreciated a genuine attempt to protect unborn life. No
doubt their votes helped in deciding some of the marginal seats that
fell the Governments way as the general election count wore on,
some months later.

A holy Blaggard.! Ash Wednsday again, and

Bertie,s Papal credentials are worn on his forehead-as usual.
But since then, this Governments
performance has been an unmitigated
disaster where the unborn child is concerned.
The principled approach of March 2002 has
given way to cynical cowardice - or
something worse. There were early signs of
bad faith when the Commission on Assisted
Human Reproduction (CAHR) was heavily
made up of supporters of embryo research
and professionals involved in controversial
infertility treatments.
The CAHR organised an unbalanced
conference at Dublin Castle which gave little
time to those who believe human life should
be protected from the moment conception.
The lack of balance was evident when the
commission recommended - by 24 votes to
one - the legalisation of research that would
destroy human embryos. A fair
representation of public opinion, would you
say?
The next twist in the saga involved a promise
by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
and Children to hold hearings on the CAHR
report, at which all shades of opinion would
be heard. It is up to the committee to ensure
there is equal opportunity for all sides in the
debate to take part, said committee
chairman, and Fianna Fil TD, John Moloney.

That was last July. What happened? Moloney

reneged on his promise. Soon, it emerged
that a troika made up of long-time activist
Senator Mary Henry, vocal liberal
campaigner Fiona OMalley, and Moloney
himself would study the report. There would
be no hearings. Moloney also issued a denial
that there had been an about-turn in relation
to the cancelled hearings: I dont believe
there were promises made. We consulted the
public in the run-up to the report of the
Commission on Assisted Human
Reproduction. Now, Moloney was not part of
the Commission on Assisted Human
Reproduction, whose findings were so hotly
disputed by pro-life supporters. Whats more,
his promise to hold hearings was given after
the CAHR report was published.

What explanation is
there for this, and the strange composition of
the sub-committee appointed to look into the
report? Did Bertie lean on Moloney? Was a
decision made to go liberal on embryo
research and to silence debate?One Fianna
Fil source defends the Government in this
way: the plan was to let Mary Henry and

Fiona OMalley lose the run of themselves

and propose something so permissive that
the Government could play for time and sit
the issue out until after the next election. If
this is true, it betrays a shameful attitude on
the part of the Government.
As things stand, ethically questionable things
are happening in fertility clinics because
Ireland has no legislation in this area. The
battle for control of actual human embryos,
soon to be played out in the Four Courts, will
shine a light into the dark corner we are now
in. Politicking with human life is just not on.
Inertia is not on.
BUT sadly, the Governments behaviour on
this issue seems to betray something even
worse than politicking or inertia. It appears to
want, quite consciously, to disregard the
rights of the human embryo. In December,
Germany, Italy, Poland, Austria, Slovakia and
Malta united to oppose the use of European
tax money for destructive human embryo
research.
The Irish Government refused to join them despite the fact that our Constitution defends
an, as yet undefined, unborn child.
This problem goes back to 2003 when Mary Harney backed EU
funding for embryo research. It now appears that her successor in
the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Michel
Martin, wants to do the same. Why? It would be interesting to
discover what interest groups are seeking to influence the Irish
State in this area. It would be interesting to know what
correspondence has been received, and who exactly has the
Governments ear.

Could it be that pharmaceutical companies

are involved? (The "Shannon Airport
syndrome"?)We dont know, but they are
never slow to campaign for embryo research,
making highly questionable promises of
miracle cures along the way. But we should
be wary. In Australia, the pharmaceuticals
clamoured for embryonic research using this
kind of argument. Yet when permission was
granted, the research was less about cures
and more about the lucrative cosmetics
industry. Some corporations are more
concerned about patents than patients.
Meanwhile, two remarkable facts cry out for notice. One is that, as
yet, embryo research has yielded damn-all in the way of cures.
Every now and again we get enthusiastic media stories announcing
a breakthrough. As often as not, it turns out to be a hoax. But the
public are left expectant and confident of future progress. By
contrast, the non-controversial research using adult stem cells,
decried by some scientists as less flexible than embryo cells,
continues to show promise and up to 65 different breakthroughs
have been recorded, according to one report.

The second interesting statistic is that, where

the embryo is concerned, Irish people are not
as permissive as some pharmaceutical
companies, fertility professionals and cabinet
ministers. Last year, a Millward Brown/IMS
poll found that 78% of people who expressed
an opinion favoured legal protection for
embryos.
The conclusions for the next Government
should be obvious. Why not concentrate on
making Ireland a centre of excellence for

adult stem cell research? And why not

establish a clear line of principle that this
country respects human embryos? Its that
simple. We need a vision we can all buy into.
And we need to find cures we can all live
with.

Can we have that medal back, Mr Ahern.?

Article 5
1. The articles, sections, chapters, titles and parts of the Treaty on
European Union and of the
Treaty establishing the European Community, as amended by this
Treaty, shall be renumbered in
accordance with the tables of equivalences set out in the Annex to
this Treaty, and which form an
integral part of this Treaty.
2. The cross-references to the articles, sections, chapters, titles and
parts of the Treaty on European
Union and of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
as well as between them, shall be
adapted pursuant to paragraph 1 and the references to paragraphs
of the said articles as renumbered or
re-ordered by the provisions of this Treaty shall be adapted in
accordance with those provisions.
References to the articles, sections, chapters, titles and parts of the
Treaty on European Union and of
the Treaty establishing the European Community contained in the
other treaties and acts of primary
legislation on which the Union is founded shall be adapted pursuant
to paragraph 1 of this Article.

References to recitals of the Treaty on European Union or to

paragraphs or articles of the Treaty on
European Union or of the Treaty establishing the European
Community as renumbered or re-arranged
by the provisions of this Treaty shall be adapted pursuant to this
latter.
Such adaptations shall, where necessary, also apply in the event
that the provision in question has been
repealed.
3. The references to the recitals, articles, sections, chapters, titles
and parts of the Treaty on
European Union and of the Treaty establishing the European
Community, as amended by this Treaty,
contained in other instruments or acts shall be understood as
referring to the recitals, articles, sections,
chapters, titles and parts of those Treaties as renumbered pursuant
to paragraph 1 and, respectively, to
the paragraphs of the said articles, as renumbered or re-arranged by
certain provisions of this Treaty

Two jewels in the coalition crown reviewed by

Vincent Browne! ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

"There are times when one wonders how it is

the Irish economy is such a success.
With the crowd of incompetents, dullards and
nitwits that run the country, how did they not
screw up the economy or induce others to do
it for them?
These are the same people who are
responsible for the engagement of media
consultants, transport policy, e-voting, the
purchase of grand houses for the state and
the running of the police force. I am referring,
of course, to Messrs Martin Cullen and
Michael McDowell.
The Monica Leech story is hilarious. The first

thing that Cullen gets into his head, when he

becomes a junior minister and then a cabinet
minister, is to hire Leech as a public relations
consultant.
When he went to the Office of Public Works
(OPW), he thought that the very thing it
needed was a PR consultant in Waterford.
The OPW never had a PR consultant before in
a regional centre, but for a reason that was
not explained in the report by Dermot
Quigley, there was an urgent need for a PR
consultant for Waterford.
In fact, it was so urgent that the usual
tendering process could not be gone through.
The kind of thing that a PR consultant was
needed for in Waterford was to announce an
opening ceremony for refurbished
government offices, the renovation of a
Garda station, the doing up of a fire station
and the start of a drainage scheme. If you
think I am making this up, just read the
report.
Cullen then gets his legs under the
ministerial desk at the Department of
Environment, Heritage and Local Government
and, again the first thing he needs is a PR
consultant.
And guess who he has in mind?

It doesn't matter that the department already

has lots of press officers, nor that it already
has contracted a very expensive outside PR
agency, Drury Communications, Ms Leech's
services cannot be done without.
She earns a packet of money, and it
transpires that 30 per cent of her time is
devoted to discussions with the minister,
which costs the state around 84,000
Euros.That is for discussions with the
minister, quite apart from her other
functions.
What her other functions were is not at all
clear from the Quigley report, especially as
he notes there is a scarcity of documentation
detailing what she did. She had an
involvement in spatial strategy, but Drury
Communications was specifically engaged to
look after the PR aspects of that, so what was
she doing?
And Quigley thinks this is all OK, for he failed
to find a hard government regulation that
Cullen transgressed in his department's
engagement of Leech.
Cullen's ministerial record is such that he
would be disqualified for the position of
messenger boy in the Dail. He made a
spectacular mess of the two major projects

with which he has been associated: the

purchase of Farmleigh House and the evoting business.
The money he squandered on Leech is
nothing compared with the funds he poured
down the drain on these projects. It would
have been ironic if he had been dismissed for
wasting a few hundred thousand euro on
Leech when he was retained and promoted,
having wasted 56 million Euros on Farmleigh
House and another 50 million Euros on evoting.

But whatever the excuse for getting

rid of him is, he must be got rid of. We can't
have another two and a half years of going
forward and 'rolling out' something or other.
If he is allowed stay, he will have ground
traffic to an absolute halt by the time of the
next election wherever he is.
Onto the other clown Michael McDowell. His
job is to run the Garda Siochana.
He has been squaring up to the police service
since he became Minister for Justice two and
a half years ago. He was the boy who would
sort out the men in uniform.

But what has he done? Yes, there is the police

inspectorate stuff, but so what? The same
culture that has prevailed within the Garda
for years still prevails, and McDowell is doing
precisely nothing about it.
The relevance of this has to do with the
release on bail of the only person yet to be
convicted of an offence connected with the
Omagh bombing of August 1998, Colm
Murphy.
Again and again over the last few years, the
Garda has been associated with scandal, and
again and again things go on as before. The
same structure and personnel at the helm
(apart from the treadmill of retirements), the
old culture, the same practices, with
politicians on the sidelines, notably
McDowell, promising reforms and
transformation, on and on.
The Colm Murphy case collapsed because
one team of two detectives was found to
have fabricated evidence and then given
false evidence under oath. What is significant
about that is not that there are or may be
one or two bad apples in the force, but that it
is likely the practice they engaged in has
featured on other occasions as part of Garda
conduct. McDowell's mate, Mr Justice Adrian
Hardiman, now on the Supreme Court, waved
the red flag about the Garda two years ago in

the Frank Shortt case. In a massive judgment,

Hardiman catalogued not a lone the
intimidatory abuses of the Gardai involved in
that case but the inadequacy of the official
Garda investigation into what had gone on.
Now, another mate of McDowell, Mr Justice
Nicholas Kearns, also of the Supreme Court,
in another massive judgment, has detailed
the abuses that characterise the Garda
handling of the Colm Murphy case and the
trial of the case by the Special Criminal
Court.
What more do we need to know about the
Garda to realise that there is something very
wrong at the heart of the organisation? They
made a complete mess of the Veronica
Guerin murder investigation, the conduct of
the Gardai in Donegal defies belief, the
handling of the Abbeylara affair was
appalling, and now this.
There is an obvious initiative for McDowell to
take but probably too obvious for him to be
bothered about. It is to do to the Garda what
was done to the RUC in Northern Ireland. Set
up a commission to examine all aspects of
policing, include on the commission people
who know and understand policing (an
obvious chairman would be Maurice Hayes
who was on the Patten commission in
Northern Ireland) and then implement the

recommendations, come what may.

But McDowell is too busy strutting over the
Northern Ireland peace process to be
interested in something so mundane."
Vincent Browne,Sunday Business Post.30
Janruary 2005

ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 36672152 ParagraphStart 92814980

ParagraphTitleStart The "Beast" mcDowell.(from

Dublin 4) ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Political big beast

moves in on stakeholders, not voters 24
September 2006 By Tom McGurk He has
waited a long time for it and now at last he
has gained the prize.He has waited a long
time for it and now at last he has gained the
prize. When Michael McDowell became leader

of the PDs, there was more than a frisson

doing the rounds of the political chattering
classes.Politicians of various shapes and sizes
come and go, but there can be no denying
that McDowell is the archetypical
heavyweight, the proverbial political big
beast.

Formidable species found in leafy

confines of Dublin 4These are now an
endangered species in the modern spindoctored, image-managed, rarefied world of
consensual politics. In many ways, they are a
dinosaur class, a throw-back to a previous
political era when politics was a cut-andthrust blood sport, when speeches came not
from the autocues but from the gut, and
parliament was the bull-ring.
Ian Paisley is one such figure. So too in
Britain are figures like Kenneth Clarke,
Gordon Brown and even George Galloway.In
the Dail, perhaps only Brian Cowen could
scale the heavyweight division to line up
across the ring from McDowell. Political big
beasts always give the impression that they
were born to rule, and maybe they were.They
lumber around, breaking all the media
performance rules yet manage to get away
with it. They generate instant reactions of
approval or disapproval. Love them or hate

them, they make for essential and

unmissable political theatre.With McDowells
elevation, commentators lined up to express
their concerns at how one so
temperamentally gifted would fare. Some
wondered how long the relationship with
Bertie Ahern would last, others about what
Fianna Fail backbenchers might do.I imagined
a mother and several aunts nervously
standing at a garden gate watching little
Michael take off for the first time on his new
bicycle into the traffic.Would he come back
holding an errant trucker by the ear?I think
their fears are totally unfounded.My instinct
is that McDowell will generate a huge
increase in support for the PDs. There are a
number of reasons for this, all intimately
related to the radical political changes that
the Celtic Tiger economy has created in
Ireland and the character of the man himself.
For a start, the economic miracle of the last
decade has produced for the first time in Irish
society, and in significant numbers, a new,
native class of nouveau riche.Its on a tiny
scale compared, for example, to Britain, but
nonetheless represents a new, growing Toryinstincted constituency.These nouveau riche
are deeply underwhelmed at the shotgun
marriage of Labour and Fine Gael and, since
they have never had it so good, they intend
to maintain the status quo. Enda Kenny and
Pat Rabbittes offer of new management
doesnt interest them - they are not looking

for managers but for shareholders.

Traditionally Fianna Fail voters and aspiring
Galway Races tenters, I suspect that many of
them may vote PD for the first time,
attracted by McDowells persona.His
unashamed low tax, small government and
privatised economic agenda - with law and
order apriority and a critical eye kept on
immigration at the same time - will read to
them like a five-star menu.Under his new
leadership, the PDs may even abandon the
arid political moral high ground, an act that in
real terms was only ever going to attract the
political whingeing classes.McDowell can
afford to abandon the political whingers to
their radio phone-ins and go instead for the
corporate seat-holders. Just look at how
many BMWs and Mercedes are stuck at the
lights in traffic jams every morning.The
second reason has to do both with the
character of McDowell and his unique
political circumstances. As politics has
transmogrified into a social democratic,
middle-ground, beauty competition cum
panto, there is more room for a full-sized ugly
sister to create a stir.Our timid, spin-doctored
political classes, having abandoned political
instinct, now tip-toe a narrow path of political
correctness on which a political big beast is
always going to hustle them aside.He will win
out because, first, he makes up his own rules
as he goes along. Second, he speaks from
the gut and, third - and critically in

McDowells case - he is not seeking a

widespread popular mandate but rather a
small one from a significantly targeted
interest group. To put it crudely, if you want
someone to piss off 90 per cent of voters in
order to attract the other 10per cent,
concerned of Ranelagh is your only man.As
a political divinity (and a bit like God, I
suppose),McDowell is uniquely threepersoned - a post-nationalist amalgam of
parish priest, panto horse and pugilist. In all,
he is a unique blend of authoritarianism and
aggression, with the little touch of the truly
bizarre never too far away. He can be spiteful
and vindictive, but among our mediocre
political classes his debating skills and his
intellectual abilities are unequalled.
Interestingly, as an item on the political
horizon, he has a bigger visibility than the
party he actually leads. In media
configurations, the PD party runs a very poor
second to the spectre of McDowell himself.All
elections now are fought on television and
McDowell is a consummate performer. He
loves a political ruck in the way Cowen does again a sure sign of the political big beast. In
the midst of a studio shouting match, note in
their eyes the ecstatic look of swine among
the fertiliser.I think Fine Gael may yet come
to deeply regret losing McDowell in a tiff over
the cucumber sandwiches down Donnybrook
way some time ago. He still carries their DNA,
but political circumstances now allow him to

be both poacher and gamekeeper.His slump

coalition is only the beginning of the DIY
weapons of mass destruction he is already
hard at work at in his garden shed in
Ranelagh. Call the next election how you like,
but watch McDowells PDs end up closer to
10per cent than 3 per cent. Just you wait.

Gormley to launch probes into

planning complaints
Saturday, March 27, 2010

INVESTIGATIONS will be launched into planning matters in

up to six local authorities following what was described as
an alarming and increasing number of complaints to the
Environment Minister.

INVESTIGATIONS will be launched into planning matters in

up to six local authorities following what was described as
an alarming and increasing number of complaints to the
Environment Minister.
John Gormley indicated he would announce the
investigations shortly in a speech in which he also urged
Fine Gael to look at planning problems within its own party
instead of pointing the finger of blame elsewhere.
The Environment Minister cannot intervene in any
individual planning cases or decisions, but can launch

investigations where a local authority is found to be in

breach of planning laws, or where they breach their own
local development plan.
At least six independent investigations will be launched at
the start of next month but some local authorities might
be subject to two investigations on separate grounds.
Mr Gormley accused Fine Gael of hypocrisy for promising
to reform the political system when local councils,
dominated by its party members, are engaging in crony
capitalism.
Mr Gormley also used the opening speech of his partys
conference in Waterford last night to hit back at
disgraceful comments made by Fine Gael following the
publication of the Dublin Docklands Development
Authority (DDDA) report.
He said: They would be better off talking to their own
councillors about their planning decisions.
The minister promised a strengthening of planning laws
and hit back at critics who believe tight planning laws are
costing jobs a concern raised by some Fianna Fil TDs
last week.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/gormle
y-to-launch-probes-into-planning-complaints115718.html#ixzz0jNIL1G5u
While the economic crisis has caused their
anger to explode, it has been bubbling away
for decades because of the corruption and
injustice rife throughout their systems. Not
one politician during the last 35 years has
been brought before a court, not one has
faced a jury. There is silence about
responsibilities and a very strong interdependency between the political interests
and that of Greek capitalists."

Assassins target former Prime Minister

Bertie Ahern.
Nov 7, 2009

A conceivable, if unlikely piece of fiction which outlines a

possible end to a true disaster story.
The Dublin Docklands Authority was a government quango
which got involved in the property speculation game and lost
100 billion Euros of taxpayers money on one spectacularly
disastrous investment site alone ( in Docklands/Ringsend)
Bertie Ahern the disgraced Irish ex prime minister has
impoverished thousands of honest, thrifty citizens, some of
whom have lost everything and committed suicide.
A story of how one man, by his politicised cronyism with the
banker/developer/landowner complex, can destroyed the
economic fabric of an entire nation.
Niamh Brennan, the DDDA's chairwoman since March, told a
Dail committee earlier this month that she could not
understand why the authority took a stake in the project. She
said it was not fully clear what was going on behind the scenes
at the time. The fall-out from the ill-fated deal is likely to
continue for some time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5zlfctHdW0
A schoolteacher in Greece earns 1300 Euros a month.These state
employees are now being asked to take the pain for a bankrupt
nation that has a wealthy elite like Ireland and never had an
efficient revenue gathering service. It is still like Ireland was in the
80's ,when CJ Haughey had Ansbacher Caymen up and running ,and
most of the farmers,builders, businessmen and professional classes
paid little or no tax.

"We are not Irish!" cry the Greeks.

(Lambs to the NAMA slaughter house.)
Only fat-cat farmers block the city streets in
Dublin when their perks are threatened.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/anirishtragedy.htm

Can you name Ireland's most popular web site

which receives more than 20,000 hits a day?
(hint-"the bird has flown!")

Brendan McDonagh Director of the National Toxic Assets

Management Agency,told a Dail committee it was his strong
view that indebted developers "displaying obvious wealth [are]
almost
in defiance of us".
He also announced new plans to enable taxpayers and the
growing army of unemployed citizens to benefit from the nonseizure by the banks-socializing the golf courses and Luxury
Spa hotels countrywide now in the custodianship of NAMA.

"Half of all the people who were sent to prison last year were
incarcerated for non-payment of fines, new figures reveal.
In the first ten months of 2009, 3,300 people were sent to prison for
failing to pay fines.
A continuation of that pattern for the final two months of the year
would leave the full-year total equal to half of all those placed in
prison last year, according to Professor Ian ODonnell of the Institute
of Criminology at University College Dublin."
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/socialjustice.htm

He said:
"Members of Dail Eireann are well paid, not because they
work harder than other workers, not because they are more
qualified than other workers or because they are more
deserving than other workers. They are well paid because they
have legislative powers that effect the lives of every citizen in
the State

, and because that power is continually sought by

people who do not have the interests of the State at heart

."

(Jim McDaid TD for Donegal, who has

managed to retain his high political office, despite a life -long
struggle with alcohol dependence.)
Donegal was one of the most picturesque counties in Irelandbefore the landscape was totally despoiled- littered with "oneoff" holiday homes; a direct consequence of the greed driven
development policies of Mr McDaid's crony councillors.
The Fianna Fail party,as was once said of jerry Adam's Sinn
Fein,"never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity"
If Cowan & cohorts, had been capable of shedding their
"gombeen" mentality during the commencement of the current
crisis and had first offered to hand back their obscene so called
"pensions"; thereby identifying with the suffering and hardship
of many of our citizens at an early stage;they would have
recovered some status and credence as statesmen ,despite

their ruinous policies which have bankrupted the nation.

Instead the right thing was done with great reluctance, by
virtue of a "trial by media" campaign of national newspapers,
and the big unions demanding their pound of flesh for
industrial peace.
The Soldiers of Destiny have gained not an iota of good
publicity,praise or benefit from the mealy mouthed manner in
which they reacted to this crisis.Exemplars they were
not.Gombeen men one and all.!
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/shaneross/shane-ross-aib-wimps-and-cute-hoors-2161788.html

Which one of the three websites listed above is a joke, but is funded
by thousands of Euros of taxpayers money ?
Which two of them, costs less than a hundred Euros a year to
maintain, and is is paid for directly by ordinary citizens?

http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/disgruntledcops.htm
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/stitchedup.htm
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/frankmcbrearty.htm

http://www.thepost.ie/news/social-housing-to-be-used-for-mentalhealth-patients-48847.html ParagraphBodyEnd
"Irish Nationwide did not receive two-thirds of all the interest that it
reported as income last year, underlining the financial crisis at the
building society.
Instead, it rolled up the interest into extra lending to customers who
were not in a position to pay back their loans. "
http://www.thepost.ie/newsfeatures/the-fall-of-the-house-of-

fingleton-48820.html
http://www.thepost.ie/news/phantom-funds-make-up-66-of-inbsincome-48849.html

Brian Cowan was visiting a primary school and he visited one

of the classes. They were in the middle of a discussion related
to words and their meanings. The teacher asked Mr. Cowan if
he would like to lead the discussion on the word 'tragedy'.
So the illustrious leader asked the class for an example of a
'tragedy'.
A little boy stood up and offered: 'If my best friend, who lives
on a farm, is playing in the field & a tractor runs over him and
kills him, that would be a 'tragedy.'
No, said Brian - that would be an accident.'
A little girl raised her hand: 'If a school bus carrying fifty
children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would
be a tragedy'.
I'm afraid not, explained Brian - that's what we would call great
loss.
The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Brian
searched the room. 'Isn't there someone here who can give me
an example of a tragedy?'
Finally, at the back of the room, little Johnny raised his hand...
In a quiet voice he said: 'If A plane carrying you and Mr.Lenihan
was struck by a 'friendly fire' missile & blown to smithereens,
that would be a tragedy.'
'Fantastic!' exclaimed Brian. 'That's right. And can you tell me
why that would be tragedy?'
'Well,' says little Johnny 'it has to be a tragedy, because it
certainly wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be a
f*cking accident either!'
( a "greater tragedy" is .. the rest of the Fianna Fail
Party,greedy arse holes, were not occupying seats on same

plane

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/davidmcwilliams/david-mcwilliams-the-great-property-scam-is-back-to-ripus-off-again-2145197.html

"The non-cash assets on Quinn Insurances balance sheet include a

bizarre array of pubs in Ireland, property companies in Switzerland
and Poland, hotel companies in Bulgaria and Holland, and landfill
waste and wind farm businesses in Northern Ireland.
One interesting example is a company called Mantlin Ltd, which
owns a wind farm on Slieve Rushen mountain in Co Fermanagh. This
was owned by a Quinn family company registered in Sweden.

The Banksters part 1

Mar 5, 2010
Fianna Fail and their crony developers- plus greedy bankers

destroy the nation of ireland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzwt7Ecw2hw
The wind farm was valued on the books of the company at 4.5
million at the end of 2006 before the wind farm got going. During
2007, the business became operational.
The Quinns had put 35 million into the business and then got NCB
Corporate Finance to revalue it at the end of 2007. NCB revalued it
upwards by 100 million, giving it a value of 135 million. During
2008, the Swedish-registered Quinn family vehicle sold it to the
Quinn insurance group. At the end of 2008, NCB revalued it again,
which boosted its value on the balance sheet by another 49 million
to 190 million."
http://www.sbpost.ie/newsfeatures/quinn-insurance-under-thespotlight-48674.html

Anglo Irish Bank.

Throw money in-see it disappear
before your eyes!

Brian Lenahan seals the fate of 4 million irish taxpayers for

generations to come.
One million policy holders in Quinn Insurance and some 3000
jobs in Cavan/Fermanagh are once again changing the course of
Irish history; and the sufferin taxpayer(who is that poor bas+ard
anyway?) is once more called upon to do his Gombeen man duty
for Fianna Fail.
Once upon a time in Ireland there was one monopolist private
health insurance provider (VHI) .
Enter Mata Harney. She wanted liberalization.
She wanted competition
She got an english entrant called BUPA to respond to her call.
They were however fuc*ed up by her personal interpretation of
fair neo-liberalism, in the free market.
They upped and left.
Enter Sean Quinn.
Don Quijote.
He smelt an opportunity.He had already made a fair amount of
dosh quarrying sand and gravel and breaking the CRH cement
monopoly which prospered under the Haughey regime (by first
importing the stuff and then opening a rival factory)
CRH as we know even provided offices for Irish businessmen to
transfer funds offshore-along with Haughey-and thereby avoid
paying tax on their income.
However, when BUPA/Seanie, set up their health insurance stall,
VHI lost many thousands of young and healthy customers at a time
when their older clients were costing them a lot of money.

Crisis.!
Meanwhile Sean Q poured lots of his revenue stream lolly into
Anglo Irish, in the full knowledge that his young client base had
lots of years to go before they developed prostate cancer etc and
started to demand their money back.
Anglo then went bottoms up and Seanie was fu*ked.
Unlike most of the other developers, he was vulnerable because of
his grand gamble.
Harney and Fianna Fails liberalization of health insurance was fast
coming unstuck.
What was to be the outcome of it all?
A few protests were orchestrated by some 3000 employees of
Seans outfit, and the government/taxpayer owned,bankrupt bank
(Anglo-Irish) decided to take charge of the ruined insurance
company, which had virtually destroyed the government owned
monopolist-the VHI!!
A ruined bank takes over a ruined insurance company!
So now Seans health insurance outfit (owned by the state) is now
in competition with the VHI insurance outfit (also owned by the
state!)
This must be the weirdest form of neo-liberalization that has ever
been conceived-by any government in the history of capitalism.!
Only the Paddies could come up with it.
It reconciles the socialist credentials of Bertie Ahern with the neoliberal agenda of Brussels and the P.D.s
And the poor sods in the streets will pay for the exercise in new
taxation!.
Many former subscribers to private health insurance have lost their
jobs and are now throwing themselves on the mercy of the (16
billion euros budget) public health service.
Both state owned health providers are haemorrhaging revenue.
Soon only Gardai and ESB workers (and the privately wealthy) will
be able to check in to the Mater Private for their Coronary by-pass
op.
Where will the madness end? ParagraphBodyEnd

http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/theghosttrain.htm
Joe Higgins Euro MP and his small group of socialist party activists
called a protest outside Anglo Irish Bank on April Fool's Day
2010,and got about 2 seconds airtime in the national media..
We are pleased to allocate a generous one minute twenty seconds,
to Joe's predictable (and credible) anti- establishment rant.!

Joe Higgins, Euro MP representing the working

people of Ireland.wmv

"The cost to the taxpayer of keeping Anglo on life-support now runs at more
than 40 billion. The Opposition leaders wanted to know why it was so vital to
keep Anglo afloat."
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/miriamlord.htm
"There are around 1.8 million people working in Ireland now. Not all
of them are in the tax net. Each month those workers will have to
generate enough income to pay enough tax to pay billions per year
in servicing the national debt.
Whats left of their taxes will have to pay for running the country.
With whats left of their wages, they will have to pay for their own
pensions.
With whats left after that they will have to service their own

personal debts, such as mortgages and personal loans.

With whats left after that again, they can spend on goods and
services to keep the domestic economy going. Its a lot to ask."
http://www.thepost.ie/newsfeatures/paying-the-price-forincompetence-48396.html

A training programme aimed at getting the long-term unemployed

back to work cost the state almost 890,000 per person, and did not
lead to any of its participants getting a job.!!
The Job Training Initiative, which was managed by Fas, had a budget
of 39 million in 2008, when 46 people completed the programme.

Inset: One of 46 lucky FAS back to work

trainees, learning futuristic skills ,courtesy of the Irish taxpayer.?

"Mr Gormley accused Fine Gael of hypocrisy for promising to reform the
political system when local councils, dominated by its party members, are
engaging in "crony capitalism".

Mr Gormley also used the opening speech of his partys conference in

Waterford last night to hit back at "disgraceful" comments made by Fine Gael
following the publication of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority
(DDDA) report.
He said: "They would be better off talking to their own councillors about their
planning decisions."
http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/gormley-to-launch-probes-into-planningcomplaints-115718.html#ixzz0jNIL1G5u

No, it's not a dole queue in Dublin..it's citizens

treated like sh*t in a war between a paralized
,discredited government and their civil service
lackeys.!

A useful link below : real stories of increasing hardship:

For how long more will the decent people of Ireland allow
themselves to be treated thus?
http://www.turbulenceahead.com/2010/03/lives-of-quietdesperation.html

"Mr Gilroy said that much of the HSE's multi-million euro

annual rental costs were due to the signing of 25-year leases
by the former health boards, which could not be broken. These
include the HSE headquarters in Parkgate Street in Dublin and
head offices in Bray, Co Wicklow, Swords, Co Dublin, and
Millennium Park in Naas, Co Kildare."
"They are four offices of considerable size, all of which are on
25-year leases. If I could get out of any of them tomorrow, I

would. All of them were signed pre-HSE," he said.

Who owns the buildings then ?. Are they Ballybritt racecourse
donors,by any chance? Who signed off on the 25 year leases &
why?
Why did Martin Cullen sign 25 year leases to store voting
machine trash around the country.? How much did he then pay
his cronies to get out of the contracts?.
So many unanswered questions.So much corruption.!All with
taxpayers monies.
also: new buying opportunities from HSE for fortunate, Fianna
Fail developer cronies, who are not yet bankrupt or Namad!
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/the-properties-andwhy-they-are-to-be-sold-2106641.html
"JUST 320 passengers a day will use the 110m GalwayLimerick train service which opens for business next week.
And it will take longer to travel by rail than by road, with 30
minutes added to the journey time of commuters who choose
to go green and leave the car at home.
The Irish Independent has learnt Iarnrod Eireann expects to
lose 2.4m a year running the service"
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/theghosttrain.htm
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/galway-to-limerick-railroute-to-run-at-836424m-loss-2110771.html

"The cruel truth is, however, that we'll be paying a lot more
than 6bn or even 15bn before the game of Monopoly aka
Nama will be over.
What's worse, we may need four more Namas to deal with the
bankruptcy of small developers, the mortgage crisis, personal
and credit card debt and commercial debt.
It is hard to avoid comparisons between the fate the banks
have visited on us and Orwell's famous boot stamping
eternally upon the lives of a society.
Each payment to the banks will act as a stake into the heart of
the retail economy for it will come at the expense of any
possible economic stimulus. Each cutback or the taxes on
pensioners and the poor so we can give more money to the
banks will be a further attack on national morale."
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/drolldrennan.htm

"Last year when Denis Casey was forced to resign after the
doctoring of Anglo's books with the co-operation of Irish Life,
the board sought a replacement.
No doubt the interview process for Casey's successor was
painstaking. Perhaps, like Bank of Ireland and AIB, they
searched the world before making a selection. Within weeks
they had found the ideal candidate. Enter the boy next door,
Irish Life board member and head of life and pensions, Kevin
Murphy.
Murphy, like his predecessor Denis Casey, is an Irish Life 'lifer'.
Just like the anointed successors Richie Boucher at Bank of
Ireland and Colm Doherty at AIB, he was selected "from an
exhaustive process of interviews of external and internal
candidates" . Insiders win at AIB. Insiders win at Bank of
Ireland. And insiders win at Irish Life. Insiders will win when
the third force is up and running."
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/shaneross.htm
"Last week, in the Economix blog of The New York Times, Peter
Boone and Simon Johnsonnamed things as they are: "The
(Irish) government has cut take-home pay of public-sector
workers by roughly 20 per cent . . . guaranteed all the
liabilities of banks and then began injecting government
funds . . . The ultimate result of this exercise is obvious: One
way or another, the government will have converted the
liabilities of private banks into debts of the sovereign (i.e. Irish
taxpayers)".
"Ireland had more prudent choices. It could have avoided
taking on private bank debts by forcing the creditors of these
banks to share the burden . . . But a strong lobby of realestate developers, the investors who bought the bank bonds,
and politicians with links to the failed developments (and their
bankers) have managed to ensure that taxpayers rather than
creditors will pay. The government plan is -- with good reason
-- highly unpopular, but the coalition of interests in its favour is
strong enough to ensure that it will proceed."
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/seaniefitz.htm

Sonia Cunningham, from Co Meath, will lose 1,700 spent on

a holiday to Lanzarote.
Despite queueing since before noon, she was unable to get her
daughter's passport.
"It's an absolute disgrace and they should be ashamed of
themselves," she said. "I'm a nurse and I've lost 700 a month
and my husband is in the ambulance service and he's lost
700 a month and we don't carry on like that. They should
have prioritised those waiting for passports this weekend and
brought them in."
(Irish Independent )
Its good to know that David Begg's uncivil servants are cutting
their own mates throats too..
(Perhaps civil servants seeking passports should have been
"prioritized", in the passport office queues.!)

The Anglo Irish Bank investigation

Mary Harney Minister for Health (with a

budget of 16 billion Euros) is accompanied
by her husband and three "advisers"
tours
the streets of Christchurch New Zealand, and
soaks up the greetings of local well wishers,
in search of answers to the chaotic Irish

Health Service.
She successfully deregulated the taxi industry in Ireland after
learning of similar moves in New Zealand on a previous visit here
about 15 years ago.
The taxi industry has since been re-regulated there due to
the impoverishment of thousands of drivers. It may happen in
Ireland as well, given recent angry street demonstrations by Irish
taxi drivers.
Mary can hope to return to the same old chaotic Health system in
Ireland, but better news is; the prospect of untold millions of Euros
in compensation in the Four Goldmines due to the public airing of
anger (and a few personal remarks) by guttersnipe journalist Nell
McCafferty.
Funny thing is; if this took place in in America-if what Nell says has
any substance-the gutter press (or the political opposition) would
have made such facts public, without suffering any massive financial
penalties. We could do with more free speech in Ireland.If some of it
turns out to be untrue, then what of it.?
The slanderer will be outed quickly enough anyway and shamed.?
Fianna Fail have run this country as a secretive Stalinist-like state,
and unleashed political corruption and paedophile priests alike, on
our children and citizens- via a highly muffled media- for decades.
This saga is likely to run and run..
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 541919937 ParagraphStart 540817312

ParagraphTitleStart Listen to the Nell McCafferty

allegations,and the Newstalk apology here
ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
Listen to Newstalk attempting to stave off a multi-million euro
golden handshake to Mary Harney-courtesy of Nell McCafferty. (Nell,
you are a guttersnipe.! but my own nephew got MRSA in Beaumont
Hospital, so I like you..
)
InsertMediaBegin alt="http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/Tom Dunn of
Newstalk Apology to Mary Harney Sound Bite.mp3" width="160"
height="60" InsertMediaEnd
InsertMediaBegin alt="http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/V001.WAV"
width="290" height="44" InsertMediaEnd
Listen to the Nell McCafferty interview on Newstalk, and her snide
and shit stirring comments regarding the most incompetent Minister
for Health that has ever been promoted by a Fianna Fail
government.

We have written a brief synopsis of the Mary Harney promoted

"Golden Health Era" in Leprechaun land, to date
.
The Four Goldmines may now provide a multi-million Euro golden
handshake for Mary,thanks to Nell.
A re-run of the "Monica
Lewinsky" Monica Leech saga.?
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/monicalewinsky.htm
Mary Harney was a simple farmers daughter (we are told) who rose
to high office in the neo-liberal party so called "Progressive
Democrats".Her party was founded to oppose corruption during the
Charles J. Haughey Era. Corruption was an art form under his
reign.As with all small "reformist" parties in Ireland, (The Green
Party) her wee outfit eventually held the balance of power,and were
subsumed into the Fianna Fail party, to ensure that Fianna Fail
continued their reign of corruption, under Charles Haughey-and
later-his heir designate, Bartholmew Ahern!
She set out her policy stall endless years ago. Privatise Health
Provide huge incentives for builders and developers and wealthy
businessmen to build new private hospitals.She even gave them the
land for free, conveniently located beside the existing structures, so
that the Consultants could continue "double jobbing", hopping into
the public service to do the odd procedure, while beavering away in
the lucrative private operating theatres next door.!
She was-she said- going to make fundamental reforms in a totally
dis-functional government department,and like a latter day Joan of
Arc sallied forth with a budget of 16 billion Euros to create a
new,equally wasteful,bureaucracy; with the grandiose title "HSE"
(Health Service Executive).
She appointed numerous cronies to the job. They went on worldwide
junkets and stayed in five star hotels swilling the best wines ,while
"studying" the health services in other nations.
Two of their top executives indulged in a street brawl outside a well
known city pub (Ryan's Parkgate Street).
One suffered broken bones and sued his drinking colleague for
hundreds of thousands of Euros.The Health executive gave the
assailant a huge golden handshake to pay off the injured party and
ensure the matter would never see the light of day in the Four
goldmines.
She left the public service unions in charge of the public hospitals
and all their accompanying bureaucracy. Nothing changed. She
simply created a new layer of "apparatcheks" to oversee the
existing lot. Moved the deck chairs on the Health Titanic.
She made nobody redundant.
This excercise just doubled the cost of running the same dreary old
service.
it doubled-nay quadrupled- the waiting lists for surgery.
The citizens-frightened by horror stories of dirty ,virus ridden, public
hospital wards- rushed to join the VHI, Ireland's (until recently)

private health insurance monopolist (part owned by the government

and the consultants themselves).
She then tried to stem the rising cost of private health insurance by
legislating for "competition". Competition arrived from John Bull's
country (BUPA), but left shortly afterwards when they discovered the
would have to pay half of their profits to the former monopolist
whose elderly clientele were understandably nervous that saving a
few hundred Euros a year by joining the new outfit, would not result
in BUPA having an inordinately strong commitment to look after
them in their ( medically expensive) old age..
So the old stayed put, and some of the healthy moved, but BUPA
had had enough of the unique Irish mish-mash of socialismcapitalism in the Health arena, and they sailed back across the
channel.
Enter one of our very own cute hoor businessmen who saw an
opportunity.
Sean Quinn, a buccaneering tycoon (and would-be-owner of Anglo
Irish Bank) was the man who made a billion when he broke the CRH
cement monopoly in CJH's Ireland some years past.
Fair dues to Sean.He took on a massive vested interest monopoly
(CRH was the company, in whose offices, CJ Haughey and his
accountant Des Traynor, ran their Ansbacher off-shore tax haven
accounts)
Sean had his eyes on all those premiums from the young workers
who would pay him lots of dosh now-for decades in fact- before
entering their golden years when he would have to give some of it
back.A great business, the insurance industry,shure he might be
dead by the time the came looking for heart surgery.Their pension
funds had just been decimated,(2009)and they were slow to take
out costly private health insurance. Sure the new company could go
out of business before they were old and grey. Mary was in a
dilemma. Foundations laid by the developers to screw the families
who were now in negative equity and worse-unemployed-what to do
now.?
Well Sean went to the Four Goldmines and challenged
Mary's misconceived cross subsidy plan, which was a total disaster.
He is now able to spend millions in the media touting his cheaper
health insurance.The former state monopolist is left carrying the can
for the cost of keeping alive a growing number of older fogies. The
demographics are not good. As the VHI struggles with it's mounting
burden, and annual renewal premiums continue to rise in double
digits, their survival is far from guaranteed. What then Mary.? At
least you will be a happy pensioner (on your obscene Dail pension)
To be continued (during the coming decades.!

For twenty years rumours were circulated in the media that the
departed CJH was hooring around with a married woman.
Nobody ever published nothing on the subject.
Nobody dared to.
Look at the millions Monica Leech got,and the millions Martin Cullen
will soon get just because some newspaper "juxtaposed" (edited) a
picture of Martin & Monica and left out the other guests in the
group photo.
What were journalists to think?
They knew that Monica had received a king's ransom from Martin for
some public relations consultancy work. They never said she was
sleeping with him, yet they paid dearly for even reporting the
incident on Liveline where a blaggard came on air and abused
Martin. Martin felt "raped" he said. Rape me anytime Martin, for a
couple of million Euros courtesy of the Four Goldmines.
If your government ministers have cancer; have hoors; or have an
alcoholic problem (Jim McDaid?) and you re-elect them, then it's not
their problem-it's your problem!
I say: People in charge of 16 billion Euro annual expenditure of taxpayers money have no right to shielding themselves from public
scrutiny.
ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 540817312 ParagraphStart 540578412

ParagraphTitleStart Shock consultant report

recommends closure of entire public health system.
ParagraphTitleEnd

Mary Harney announces 1000

new jobs for solicitors and
barristers.

ParagraphTitleStart "Like father like son" (-in law)

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

March 10th 2010.

Charlie Haughey's son-in-law has been hit

with a 1.4 million euro bill for unpaid taxes.
John Mulhern, racehorse trainer and retired
boss of the Meadow Court Stud, The
Curragh, Kildare,
was one of the top five biggest settlements
on the latest defaulters' list.
Married to the late Taoiseach's daughter
Eimear, chairman of bloodstock giant Goffs,
Mr Mulhern
was hit with the bill for underpaying income
tax and capital gains tax.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breakingnews/uk-ireland/haughey-soninlaw-facestax-demand14718731.html#ixzz0i08bfHTM

ParagraphTitleStart A little bit of NAMA (the

National Toxic Assets Management Service) in the
far away Canary Islands? ParagraphTitleEnd

ParagraphBodyStart I made this little video ,having noticed a near

derelict little holiday home development -with obvious Irish
connections- not far from my home here in puerto Rico Gran
Canaria.
It goes to prove that you can't get away from NAMA-wherever in the
world you go.Among other things,Brian Lenehan is the new
caretaker(on behalf of you the unfortunate taxpayer) for a 500
million euro, derelict power station, in Battersea London (Johnny
Rohan), not to mention gambling Casino developments in Shanghai
China.(Seanie Fitz) and even little Islands (with development
potential) in the centre of Warsaw.!

ParagraphTitleStart Soldiers of Destiny:Ireland.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphTitleStart NAMA - A monstrous quango is
born.Can it save the developers.? Will garlic protect
us from a blood-sucking beast. ? ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart
By Patricia McDonagh
Friday March 12 2010

National Assets Management Agency (NAMA) board members

have received a hike in salary -- despite being less than three
months in the job.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan yesterday confirmed he had
approved a new fee structure for the nine-strong board in light
of their increased workload.
The board's chair, former Revenue Commissioner boss Frank
Daly, will receive 170,000, a 70pc increase on his original pay
packet of 100,000. And the team of ordinary members will
receive an annual fee of 50,000, rather than the 38,000 first
proposed.

Dancing on Charlie Haughy's grave part 4 wmv

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ParagraphBodyEnd
ParagraphEnd 540588516 ParagraphStart 539057747

ParagraphTitleStart Solidarity and co-ordination at

last among irish taxi drivers? Don't hold your
breath.. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

If Brussels dictated policy of "deregulation" of transport facilities,

means impoverishment for 30,000 self employed Irish citizens, I
believe there are ten times that amount of good and moral citizens
living in Ireland who want no part of it. Why is the livelihoods of taxi
drivers currently protected in many parts of Europe
by responsible and decent Councillors,whereas in other regions
these hapless community has been thrown to the neo-liberal
agenda of bureaucrats who are removed from real life,in ivory
towers in the EEU parliament.?
Fianna Fail "deregulate" whatever they can -but only if it suits their
political agenda. The deregulation of the train services has not yet
commenced-why? The partial deregulation of the bus service has
been a disaster so far, and if pursued to its logical conclusion will
entail private companies cherry picking the lucrative routes and the
taxpayer picking up the tab for a worsening-or nil- service on many
routes. Fianna Fail deregulated waste collection and now their
buddies in local councils want to backtrack and raise more stealth
taxes by re monopolizing the bin collection business.
Noel Dempsey is the current muppet in charge of transport.He is
determined to relinquish not an inch.

He changed his mind quickly enough over his crazy plan to put
half the population off the road overnight last year -when
thousands of irate voters were infuriated. Many of them were
driving with provisional licences,and suddenly found
themselves with no way to motor from their ghost estates in
Meath to their jobs /colleges etc in Dublin!
Drivers would be better focussing their minds on Leinster
house.If a few hundred of them brought sleeping bags and
camped outside Dail Eireann,enough of the rest of the
wimps/sheep citizens in the country might actually join them
and put this government out of office with People power.It
has already been done before in other countries.

The shameful legacy of Bertie Ahern

My best wishes to all the Irish taxi drivers who are committed to
removing this government from office; and determined that the
"Taxi Regulator" quango-whatever it takes-will no longer grind
30,000 decent self employed men into the dirt.

I appeal to the Irish taxi Council to consider my plan of action:

1 Organize 200 drivers prepared to camp in their cars for as
long as it takes.2 Take over Kildare Street-from end to end.3
hire a PR outfit to get proper media coverage.4 Appeal to all
disgruntled citizens from whatever spectrum of society
(victims of Fianna Fail) to come and join the park in on foot
or bicycle and stand with their brother workers.5 Remain
outside Dail Eireann until all reforms are publicly agree to-or
until Fianna Fail are forced from office.A strike at the airports
could take place in conjunction.Causing traffic jams infuriates
the public you need on your side.Close Kildare Street-keep it
closed-appeal to the public for a mass demonstration.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/taxitaxi.htm
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/blacktaxisincrisis.htm

"Those Fianna Fail bas+ards like Noel

Dempsey only seem great-because we are on
our knees"
(loosely attributable
to Big Jim Larkin)
ParagraphTitleStart Martin Cullen-have we really
seen the back of him? ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Martin Cullen's tenure in office has represented everything that is

wrong with politics on the island of Ireland. He has pandered to big
business (developers) with regard to the social housing regulationswhich were never implemented- and wasted untold millions of
Euros on electronic voting machines.He is-and always was- an
ambitious, self seeking opportunist; full of his own importance.He
thought he was important.To a Mosquito,he is just another source of
blood. He bled the taxpayers of Ireland in ways too numerous to
mention, in his chequered career.
He unashamedly blackmailed the Fianna Fail Party into wasting
taxpayers money in an inefficient manner to provide new facilitieshospital; airport; educational institution, etc. for his constituents in
Waterford.
He represents the "Gombeen man" political structure of our
democracy: "Blackmail rules OK". "Power at any price". "Fianna Fail
rule OK"!. "If we need him pay him whatever he asks"
His departure is nothing to gloat over. He will be replaced quickly
enough by another of his ilk.Probably one of his sons, if he is old
enough to replace him.
He has made his personal publicity agent -Monica Leech-a multi
millionaire thanks to the shysters in the four goldmines..and no
doubt he will shortly be treading the same path himself to enhance
his obscene pension entitlement. He must ASK HIMSELF NOW:
"What good is any of it to me now.."
The money he wasted while in government would have helped a lot
of ordinary citizens, if it had been used properly.
"Bad cess to him", I say-and particularly to his ever so smart
political confidante, Monica Leech-the "Belle of Waterford"
.
He will no longer be jetting around the world ,staying in 5 star
hotels; visiting Bejing, Singapore,Australia America etc etc. on a
"government jolly" just in time for the Olympic Games there,etc
..and all the other sh*t and waste of taxpayers money that goes on
in the Fianna Fail government.
http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/monicaleechsaga.htm

ParagraphTitleStart A corrupt Oligarchy reigns

supreme. ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

"Findings in relation to the disastrous Irish Glass Bottle site

deal in 2006 are thought to be the biggest potential political
hand grenade in the reports.
The DDDA's taking of a 26pc stake in the property was
endorsed by Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who was then Finance
Minister, and the then environment minister, Dick Roche.
The 412m purchase was carried out in conjunction with
developer Bernard McNamara and businessman Derek
Quinlan and was primarily funded with a 293m loan
from Anglo Irish Bankand AIB.
The site is now worth just 50m. That former board
members Sean FitzPatrick and Lar Bradshaw helped approve
the DDDA's involvement while their bank was part-funding the
deal has raised many questions".
- Shane Phelan Investigative Correspondent
Irish Independent

ParagraphTitleStart Prime Time award winning

expose serialized in 9 sections, on you tube
ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

ParagraphTitleStart The Gangsters.

ParagraphTitleEnd
ParagraphBodyStart

Minister Coveney
must urgently
clarify legal position
on Irish Water sale
of assets - Eoin
Broin TD
25 January, 2017 - by Eoin Broin TD

Email Facebook Google+ Twitter

Sinn Fin spokesperson on water Eoin Broin TD has called on

the Minister Simon Coveney to urgently seek legal clarity from
the Attorney General on whether Irish Water has the right, with
Minister approval, to sell public water service assets. The call
comes following a disagreement in interpretation of the legal
restrictions on the sale of public water service assets in the
Water Services Act 2007 between Department of Housing
officials and Senior Council Seamus Tuathail.
Deputy Broin said:
Today the Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of
Water Services examined the issue of the need for
constitutional protection of the public water system.
While the Water Services Act 2014 prevents the Government
from selling its shares in Irish Water without a referendum and
subsequent legislation,, the issue of whether Irish Water could
sell public assets, with Minister Approval, is of equal
importance to this debate.
When questioned directly on whether Irish Water could, with
Ministerial approval, sell public water system assets, officials
for the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government
said that such sale could not take place under the terms of the
Water Services Act 2007. The Department indicated that only
public assets that were not in active use could be sold.
However Senior Council Seamus Tuathail flatly contradicted
the Departments reading of the legislation and argued that,
under current legislation and Irish Waters Constitution, any
assets could be sold subject to Ministerial Approval.
To have such diametrically opposed readings of the legislation
on such a fundamental issue is deeply worrying. Minister
Coveney must urgently seek legal clarity from the Attorney
General on whether Irish Water has the right, with Minister
approval, to sell public water service assets.
If they do this provides a clear route for a future government
to by-pass the legislative protections against privatisation of the
public water system contained in the 2014 legislation.

While those protections are themselves weak as they can be

overturned by future legislation paving the way for
privatisation, this additional route to privatisation is deeply
worrying.
On both grounds the case for a referendum to provide
constitutional protection for the public water system is urgently
needed. Given that the Housing, Planning and Local
Government Committee is dealing with legislation on this
matter I would urge all members to ensure that this Bill is
progressed through the Oireachtas as speedily as possible so
that people can have their say on this matter in a referendum.
http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/43202

Irish Water issued a small

business a bill of over
200,000 for 3 months
Although the utility cannot comment on individual accounts, they said
that a huge amount could be because of outstanding debt.
January 26, 17

IRISH WATER HAS recently issued a small Irish business a

bill of over 200,000 for three months.
The bill was issued to the business which doesnt use water
as part of its day-to-day operations.
The owner of the business has contacted Irish Water about
the charge and was told that it was a mistake and they will
not have to pay the huge bill.
When TheJournal.ie asked about how a bill could be issued
for this amount, Irish Water said it could not comment on
individual accounts.
It said that a larger than usual commercial bill could
indicate a leak in the pipes, which Irish Water are in charge
of repairing.
It could also be the cause of an outstanding payment which
is only now being flagged because of billing services
changing hands from local authorities to Irish Water.
Seven local authorities
Before Irish Water was established, county councils billed
businesses for their water services.

When the utility was set up in 2014, they took over

responsibility for providing public water services to business
customers, but councils continued to issue bills on behalf of
Irish Water.
In July 2016, a process began to transfer this billing process
to Irish Water. A total of 24 local authorities have now
transferred billing to Irish Water and work is continuing on
the remaining seven local authorities, a spokesperson said.
Bills will now be issued from Irish Water directly; the utility
will be responsible for water supply, wastewater treatment
and business account management.
Charges for business customers, credit terms and the
frequency of billing remained unchanged while this
transition took place.
Outstanding bills
When customers are transferred from their local authority to
Irish Water, they receive a welcome letter which includes
any outstanding debt owed to Irish Water and payment
options.
Irish Water have already issued around 50,000 bills since
July. After 30 days customers who had not arranged
payment received a reminder by phone where possible or

letter.
Irish Water are keen to engage with customers and advise
and support them in settling their accounts. This process is
essential to ensure that businesses are compliant with their
bills and to ensure that all businesses are treated in a fair
and equitable manner.
All efforts are made by Irish Water to ensure that the
correct information is contained with each bill, including the
outstanding amount. Irish Water are reliant on the
information provided by various external stakeholders,
including meter.
Irish Water also conducts a pre-billing audit process to
compare a representative sample of current and past bills to
establish any anomalies and flag those accounts for
investigation. This means that if theres a huge amount
being billed for this month when compared to the previous
month, the system flags the account to be checked by an
employee.
The bill was issued to the business which doesnt use
water as part of its day-to-day operations, and is
understood to be a mistake made by Irish Water
It always seems to be a mistake with this shit hole acomplete waste
of taxs payers money this kip

If any business customer has a query relating to their Irish

Water bill/account, they should contact the utility on 1850
778 778 or +353 1 707 2827 (9am-5.30pm).
http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-water-business-bill-3205431-Jan2017/

Irish Water told to carry out

'stoat survey' in south

Dublin
Shane Ross asks Dn Laoghaire-Rathdown County
Council to refuse permission for 80m reservoir
Olivia Kelly

The Department of Arts and Heritage has requested that Irish Water
undertake a stoat survey after the mammal was detected at the Stillorgan
reservoir. Photograph: Dermot Breen

Irish Waters plans for an 80 million redevelopment of

the Stillorgan reservoir have hit a number of hurdles,
including demands from a local authority that 60 per
cent of the lands to be turned into a public park.
Minister for Transport Shane Ross has also called for
Dn Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to refuse
permission for the scheme on the grounds that it would
not provide sufficient water for the areas future needs.
In addition, the Department of Arts and Heritage has
requested that Irish Water undertake a stoat survey
after the mammal was detected at the reservoir.
Irish Water submitted an application to redevelop the
150-year-old open-air complex of three reservoirs, which
provides drinking water for 200,000 people across south
Dublin, to the council last November.
Stephen Collins: Water charges to dictate future of
Irish politics

EPA anxious 200m Vartry reservoir upgrade

proceeds
Irish-speaking Oireachtas water committee witness
had to use English

The company wants to build a new covered reservoir on

the site of the largest of the three, known as the Gray
Reservoir. Once the new covered reservoir is operational,
the two other reservoirs, the Upper Reservoir and the
Lower Reservoir, would be drained and decommissioned
and then landscaped.

Closed to public

The company said it plans to retain the landscaped site

for future water infrastructure development, and not
make it open to the public.
However, the councils planning department wants the
public to have access to the lands and has directed Irish
Water to make 60 per cent of the site publicly accessible
passive open space or playing fields and to design the
land in such a way as to optimise public patronage of
it.
Local councillor Barry Saul (Fine Gael ) said there was a
massive shortage of public parkland and sporting
fields in the area. The reservoir should be a solution to
these requirements. In Sandyford, businesses are being
charged development levies in order to purchase open
space at the same time Irish Water want to keep 20 acres
of landscaped green area under lock and key.
Separately Mr Ross has asked the council not to allow
Irish Water to fill in and landscape the two smaller
reservoirs, but to retain them for future consumption
needs. He asked that the council reject the application
in a bid to encourage Irish Water to make better use of
the reservoirs that are currently in place at the Stillorgan
site.

The council noted Irish Water had assessed the site for
the presence of badgers, bats, otters, amphibians and
reptiles, but not stoats.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/irish-water-told-tocarry-out-stoat-survey-in-south-dublin1.2950825#.WImho4BGeqA.facebook

I think from reading the article Shane Ross is making the case to
refuse the permission to do away with 2 of the reservoirs as per iw
plans, because if i read it properly.. he believes that one single
reservoir wont do the job of supplying all the people of the area. the
byline is a bit misleading

Pearse Doherty full exchange with

Permanent TSB reps
Nov 23, 2016
Sinn Fin Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty grills
Permanent TSB spokespersons in front of the Oireachtas
Finance Committee

financial institutions that took homes off people by TAKING

their money off them by refusing to put them back onto
their tracker mortgage rate...by forcing them into arrears,
EVEN after the courts TOLD them they were in the wrong
by law
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw5GuQZrxu8

Anyone wonder why the controlled opposition in this

country spend so much time and energy on minority
issues funded and promoted by George Soros NGO's? It's a
case of the little thing to distract from the big thing, while
the minority are in focus the majority get shafted. The
same people pushing mass migration into the EU are
coincidentally the same characters behind TTIP. Refugees
or cheap labour who will also be used to rile the local
population in the divide and rule game that has been used
so successfully since time began?"The Architects of TTIP
would seem to be an interesting quintet including: George
Soros, Rockefeller, Cecilia Malmstrom, Peter Sutherland
and Goldman Sachs.
-Sutherland is a UN special representative for global
migration
-Malmstrom is a Swede who assumed office as European
Commissioner of Trade in 2014 She and Sutherland have
co-authored numerous articles pushing for massive

immigration. When asked if she would revise TTIP as a

result of the massive outpouring of European dissent, she
stated icily, I do not take my mandate from the European
people!
And guess what the premise of TTIP is according to
Malmstrom? Openness, transparency and inclusivity.
Perhaps she means for them but not for the pions as in
We The People.
This is the next step in creating a global government run
by corporate officials elected by corporate officials. And
why they are not terribly concerned with the elections."

Commission for Energy Regulation

says water-metering works should be
parked
Thursday, January 12, 2017

The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) has said the

water-metering programme should be parked, but not
abandoned.
The Oireachtas Committee on the future funding for water
charges has heard that if the State is going to be the main
funder, then investing in meters is not a priority, and that
leaking pipes should be fixed instead.
However, the Commission has admitted they have no
definitive answer on how to work out whether a house is
being wasteful with water.
Labour TD Jan O'Sullivan said that without water meters, it
will be impossible to charge households who use water
unfairly.

Paul McGowan is from the CER said the proposal from the
expert commission is that the vast majority of the water
should be paid for by the State, and only excessive use
should be charged for.
"In that context, we said that at this time there are other
priorities for capital investment, but that we could come
back and look at whether there is a case for further
metering in due course," he said.
Housing Minister Simon Coveney has said that adults
should be allowed to use 123 litres of water per day free of
charge before excess costs apply under a new system,
writes Juno McEnroe, Political Correspondent.
He said households who had still not paid old water bills
should be pursued but allowed to pay outstanding debts
over a long period.
A special commission last month recommended most
homes get water for free. Mr Coveney said parties wanted
to move on and agree a plan through a new Oireachtas
committee on water charges.
advertisement

But in an interview with the Irish Examiner he also

admitted that he and the Government had not received
word from Brussels as to whether the new water charges
plan was acceptable.

He expected the free water allowance per adult to be

agreed by the Dil to be 123 litres per day.
The average usage in Ireland is about 46,000 litres. To be
exact it is about 123 litres per day for an average adult...
We need to be at the national average and probably a
little bit more than that so that people who are using
water will have some flexibility around being a little bit
above the average or below the average.
Mr Coveney stressed that he did not want to interfere with
the Oireachtas committee, which will begin its work next
week. But he still believes households using excess
amounts of water must pay more.
If people are using more than that, why should their

neighbours pay for it through general taxation?

So if you have one house in the estate that is filling a
swimming pool out the back, everybody else in the estate
has to pay for it. That is just not fair. Taoiseach Enda
Kenny has said that water charges will not be the issue to
bring down the Government.
The minority coalition has pledged for a vote on charges in
the Dil by the end of March.
A special Dil committee is examining an expert
commission report which suggested that households
should only pay for excessive usage.
advertisement

Mr Kenny says there are a number of issues that will have

to be decided.

"Those who have paid should not be treated any less fairly
than those who haven't, and that's a matter that the
committee have got to reflect on now, and bring their
proposition to the Dil," he said.
"So, in answer to your question - do I think that that would
bring the Government down - no, I don't.
"And what I do believe is that Irish Water as a single entity
is already proving its worth."
A group of TDs and Senators will today start the process of
deciding the future of water charges.
The special Oireachtas committee has to come up with a
final recommendation for the Dil and Seanad to turn into
law.
The committee will hold its first public meeting today, as it
sets about the process of making a final recommendation
on water charges.
To do that, it will pull apart the report of the expert group
set up under the deal between Fine Gael and Fianna Fil.
That group suggested that most households would not
have to pay, and that only wasteful homes would face
bills.
However, that is only a recommendation; ultimately, it is
up to the politicians to decide what kind of system Ireland
should have.
Kevin Duffy, the chairman of the independent commission
on water charges that compiled the report, will face the
questions from Fine Gael, Fianna Fil, Sinn Fin, Labour,
AAA-PBP, Greens and Independent TDs during a threehour meeting this afternoon.
The meeting, to be chaired by Independent senator
Padraig Cidigh, is the first in a series of public meetings
scheduled for between today and March, at which point
the new committee will be asked to recommend to the

Dil whether water charges should return or be scrapped

entirely.
While future meetings will examine public ownership
(January 12 and February 2), funding (January 19 and
March 2), metering (January 26), and whether to give
payers refunds or pursue non-payers (February 23),
todays discussion is likely to see Mr Duffy put under
pressure to explain why charges should remain.
The meeting will take place after Irelands energy
watchdog last night warned Irish Water its revenue,
operating and capital cost ceilings will be reduced by
429m over the next two years.
In a scheduled statement released after the Irish Examiner
yesterday revealed Irish Water has already cost the
taxpayer 2.143bn since it was set up in late 2014, the
CER said the rate will have to be significantly reduced for
efficiency drive reasons.
While not directly addressing the 2.143bn expenditure to
date, the watchdog group said it would have to cut
allowed revenue returns by 165m, operating costs by
128m and capital costs by 136m by the end of 2018.
Although not providing an opinion on whether water
charges will need to continue in order to help fund Irish
Water, the CER statement said it anticipated the utilities
budget would continue to come from a mix of funding
sources.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/com
mission-for-energy-regulation-says-water-metering-worksshould-be-parked-772157.html

Contemporary
Approaches to the
Social Contract
FirstpublishedSunMar3,1996;substantiverevisionTue
Dec20,2011
Theideaofthesocialcontractgoesback,inarecognizably
modernform,toThomasHobbes;itwasdevelopedin
differentwaysbyJohnLocke,JeanJacquesRousseau,and
ImmanuelKant.AfterKanttheidealargelyfellintodisrepute
untilitwasresurrectedbyJohnRawls.Itisnowattheheartof
theworkofanumberofmoralandpoliticalphilosophers.The
basicideaseemssimple:insomeway,theagreement(or
consent)ofallindividualssubjecttocollectivelyenforced
socialarrangementsshowsthatthosearrangementshavesome

normativeproperty(theyarelegitimate,just,obligating,etc.).
Eventhisvaguebasicidea,though,isanythingbutsimple,
andeventhisabstractrenderingisobjectionableinmany
ways.Toexplicatetheideaofthesocialcontractweanalyze
contractualapproachesintofivevariables:(1)thenatureofthe
contractualact;(2)thepartiestotheact;(3)whattheparties
areagreeingto;(4)thereasoningthatleadstotheagreement;
(5)whattheagreementissupposedtoshow.

1.1 Consent and Agreement

ThetraditionalsocialcontractviewsofHobbes,Locke,and
Rousseaucruciallyreliedontheideaofconsent.ForLocke
onlyconsentofFreemencouldmakethemmembersof
government(Locke1689,117).Nowinthehandsofthese
theoristsandinmuchordinarydiscoursetheideaof
consentimpliesanormativepowertobindoneself.When
onereachestheageofconsentoneisempoweredtomake
certainsortsofbindingagreementscontracts.Byputting
consentatthecenteroftheircontractstheseearlymodern
contracttheorists(1)wereclearlysupposingthatindividuals
hadbasicnormativepowersoverthemselvesbeforethey
enteredintothesocialcontract(apointthatHume[1741]
stressed),and(2)broughtthequestionofpoliticalobligation
tothefore.Ifthepartieshavethepowertobindthemselvesby
exercisingthisnormativepower,thentheupshotofthesocial
contractwasobligation.AsHobbes(1651,81[chapxiv,7)
insisted,covenantsbind;thatiswhytheyareartificial
chains(1651,138[chap.xxi,5).AccordingtoJames
Buchanan,thekeydevelopmentofrecentsocialcontract
theoryhasbeentodistinguishthequestionofwhatgenerates
politicalobligation(thekeyconcernoftheconsenttraditionin
socialcontractthought)fromthequestionofwhat
constitutionalordersorsocialinstitutionsaremutually
beneficialandstableovertime(1965b).Thenatureofa
person'sdutytoabidebythelaworsocialrulesisamatterofa

moralityasitpertainstoindividuals(Rawls1999,293ff),
whilethedesignandjustificationofpoliticalandsocial
institutionsisaquestionofpublicorsocialmorality.Thus,on
Buchanan'sviewacrucialfeatureofmorerecentcontractual
thoughthasbeentorefocuspoliticalphilosophyonpublicor
socialmoralityratherthanindividualobligation.
Althoughcontemporarysocialcontracttheoristsstill
sometimesemploythelanguageofconsent,thecoreideaof
contemporarysocialcontracttheoryisagreement.Social
contractviewsworkfromtheintuitiveideaofagreement
(Freeman2007a,17).Nowonecanendorseoragreetoa
principlewithoutthatactofendorsementinanywaybinding
onetoobey.SocialcontracttheoristsasdiverseasFreeman
andJanNarveson(1988,148)seetheactofagreementas
indicatingwhatreasonswehave.Agreementisatestora
heuristic.Theroleofunanimouscollectiveagreementisin
showingwhatwehavereasonstodoinoursocialand
politicalrelations(Freeman2007,19).Thusunderstoodthe
agreementisnotitselfabindingactitisnotaperformative
thatsomehowcreatesobligationbutisreasonrevealing
(Lessnoff1986).Ifindividualsarerational,whattheyagreeto
reflectsthereasonstheyhave.Incontemporarycontract
theoriessuchasRawls's,theproblemofjustificationtakes
centerstage.Rawls'srevivalofsocialcontracttheoryinA
TheoryofJusticethusdidnotbaseobligationsonconsent,
thoughtheapparatusofanoriginalagreementpersisted.The
aimoftheoriginalposition,Rawlsannounced(1999,16),isto
settlethequestionofjustificationbyworkingouta
problemofdeliberation.
Thesocialcontractincontemporarymoralandpoliticaltheory
isanattempt,then,tosolveajustificatoryproblemby
convertingittoadeliberativeproblem.Atitsheartisthe
questionofjustification.AsJamesBuchananpointsout,
preceptsforlivingtogetherarenotgoingtobehandeddown
fromonhigh(1975,3).Justifyingsocialarrangements

(showingthattheyhavetherequisitenormativeproperty,see
5below)requiresshowingthatall(suitablyidealized)
citizenshavereasonsfavoringthearrangements.Nowthis
wouldbeanotioserequirementunless,tosomeextent,the
reasonsofcitizensdiffered.Ifallcitizenshadpreciselythe
samesetofreasonstherewouldbenopointinshowingwhat
theyallcanagreeto.Theideaofaunanimouscollective
agreementonlydoesjustificatoryworkwhenthereasonsof
citizenscandiffer,andsoitisanopenquestionwhateveryone
hasreasontoendorsewhateveryonewouldagreeto.Under
conditionsofreasonablepluralism,wecannotsupposethat
thereasoningofonememberofthepublicisaproxyfor
everyoneelse'sreasoning.Consequently,underreasonable
pluralismtherequirementthateverymemberofthepublichas
reasontoendorseasocialarrangementisnotimpliedbyone
memberdoingso.

1.2 Hypothetical Agreements

Giventhattheproblemofjustificationhastakencenterstage,
thesecondaspectofcontemporarysocialcontractthinking
appearstofallintoplace:itsrelianceonmodelsof
hypotheticalagreement.Theaimistomodelthereasonsof
citizens,andsoweaskwhattheywouldagreetounder
conditionsinwhichtheiragreementswouldbeexpectedto
tracktheirreasons.Contemporarycontracttheoryis,
characteristically,doublyhypothetical.Certainly,no
prominenttheoristthinksthatquestionsofjustificationare
settledbyanactualsurveyofattitudestowardsexistingsocial
arrangements,andarenotsettleduntilsuchasurveyhasbeen
carriedout.Thequestion,then,isnotArethesearrangements
presentlytheobjectofanactualagreementamongcitizens?
(Ifthiswerethequestion,theanswerwouldtypicallybe
No.)Thequestion,rather,isWouldthesearrangementsbe
theobjectofanagreementifcitizensweresurveyed?
Althoughbothofthequestionsare,insomesense,susceptible

toanempiricalreading,onlythelatterisinplayinpresentday
theorizing.Thecontractnowadaysisalwayshypotheticalinat
leastthisfirstsense.
Thereisareadingofthe(firstorder)hypotheticalquestion
Wouldthearrangementsbetheobjectofagreementif___
which,asindicated,isstillresolutelyempiricalinsomesense.
Thisisthereadingwherewhatisrequiredofthetheoristis
thatshetrytodeterminewhatanactualsurveyofactual
citizenswouldrevealabouttheiractualattitudestowardstheir
systemofsocialarrangements.(Thisisseldomdone,of
course;thetheoristdoesitinherimagination.See,though,
Klosko2000).Butthereisanotherinterpretationthatismore
widelyacceptedinthecontemporarycontext.Onthisreading,
thequestionisnolongerahypotheticalquestionaboutactual
reactions;itis,rather,ahypotheticalquestionabout
hypotheticalreactionsitis,aswehavesaid,doubly
hypothetical.Framingthequestionisthefirsthypothetical
element:Woulditbetheobjectofagreementiftheywere
surveyed?Framedbythisquestionisthesecondhypothetical
element,onewhichinvolvesthecitizens,whoarenolonger
treatedempirically,i.e.takenasgiven,butare,instead,
themselvesconsideredfromahypotheticalpointofviewas
theywouldbeif(typically)theywerebetterinformedormore
impartial,etc.(seefurther2.2below).Thequestionformost
contemporarycontracttheorists,then,is,roughly:Ifwe
surveyedtheidealizedsurrogatesoftheactualcitizensinthis
polity,whatsocialarrangementswouldbetheobjectofan
agreementamongthem?
Famously,RonaldDworkinhasobjectedthata(doubly)
hypotheticalagreementcannotbindanyactualperson.Forthe
hypotheticalanalysistomakesense,itmustbeshownthat
hypotheticalpersonsinthecontractcanagreetobeboundby
someprinciplePregulatingsocialarrangements.Supposethat
itcouldbeshownthatyoursurrogate(abetterinformed,more
impartialversionofyou)wouldagreetoP.Whathasthatto

dowithyou?Wherethissecondstagehypotheticalanalysisis
employed,itseemstobeproposedthatyoucanbeboundby
agreementsthatothers,differentfromyou,wouldhavemade.
Whileitmight(thoughitneedn't)bereasonabletosuppose
thatyoucanbeboundbyagreementsthatyouwouldyourself
haveenteredintoifgiventheopportunity,itseemscrazyto
thinkthatyoucanbeboundbyagreementsthat,demonstrably,
youwouldn'thavemadeevenifyouhadbeenasked.This
criticismisdecisive,however,onlyifthehypotheticalsocial
contractissupposedtoinvokeyournormativepowertoself
bindviaconsent.Thatyoursurrogateemployshispowerto
selfbindwouldnotmeanthatyouhademployedyourpower.
Again,though,thepowertoobligateoneselfisnottypically
invokedinthecontemporarysocialcontract:theproblemof
deliberationissupposedtohelpusmakeheadwayonthe
problemofjustification.Sothequestionforcontemporary
hypotheticalcontracttheoriesiswhetherthehypothetical
agreementofyoursurrogatetracksyourreasonstoaccept
socialarrangements,averydifferentissue.

1.3 The Importance of Actuality

Itisalmostacommonplacetodaythatcontemporarysocial
contracttheoryreliesonhypothetical,notactual,agreement.
Aswehaveseen,inonesensethisiscertainlythecase.
However,inmanywaysthehypothetical/actualdivideis
artificial:thehypotheticalagreementismeanttomodel,and
providethebasisfor,actualagreement.Understanding
contemporarysocialcontracttheoryisbestachieved,not
throughinsistingonthedistinctionbetweenactualand
hypotheticalcontracts,butbygraspingtheinterplayofthe
hypotheticalandtheactual.
ThekeyhereisRawls's(1996,28)distinctionamongthe
perspectivesof:
youandme
thepartiestothedeliberativemodel

personsinawellorderedsociety
Theagreementofthepartiesinthedeliberativemodelis
certainlyhypotheticalinthetwofoldsensewehaveanalyzed:
ahypotheticalagreementamonghypotheticalparties.Butthe
pointofthedeliberativemodelistohelpus(i.e.,youand
me)solveourjustificatoryproblemwhatsocial
arrangementswecanallacceptasfreepersonswhohaveno
authorityoveroneanother(Rawls1958,33).Theparties'
deliberationsandtheconditionsunderwhichtheydeliberate,
then,modelouractualconvictionsaboutjusticeand
justification.AsRawlssays(1999,514),thereasoningofthe
hypotheticalpartiesmatterstousbecausetheconditions
embodiedinthedescriptionofthissituationareonesthatwe
doinfactaccept.Unlessthehypotheticalmodelstheactual,
theupshotofthehypotheticalcouldnotprovideuswith
reasons.GeraldGausdescribessomethinglikethisprocessas
atestingconceptionofthesocialcontract(2011a,425).We
usethehypotheticaldeliberativedeviceofthecontractto
testoursocialinstitutions.Inthisway,thecontemporary
socialcontractismeanttobeamodelofthejustificatory
situationthatallindividualsface.Thehypotheticaland
abstracted(see2)natureofthecontractisneededtohighlight
therelevantfeaturesofthepartiestoshowwhatreasonsthey
have.
Freemanhasrecentlystressedthewayinwhichfocusingon
thethirdperspectiveofcitizensinawellorderedsociety
showstheimportanceofactualagreementinRawls'scontract
theory.OnFreeman'sinterpretation,thesocialcontractmust
meettheconditionofpublicity.Freeman(2007b:15)writes:
Rawlsdistinguishesthreelevelsofpublicity:first,the
publicityofprinciplesofjustice;second,thepublicityofthe
generalbeliefsinlightofwhichfirstprinciplesofjusticecan
beaccepted(thatis,thetheoryofhumannatureandofsocial
institutionsgenerally);and,third,thepublicityofthe
completejustificationofthepublicconceptionofjusticeasit

wouldbeonitsownterms.Allthreelevels,Rawlscontends,
areexemplifiedinawellorderedsociety.Thisisthefull
publicitycondition.
Ajustifiedcontractmustmeetthefullpublicitycondition:its
completejustificationmustbecapableofbeingactually
acceptedbymembersofawellorderedsociety.The
hypotheticalagreementitselfprovidesonlywhatRawls(1996,
386)callsaprotantoorsofarasitgoesjustificationof
theprinciplesofjustice.Fulljustificationisachievedonly
whenactualpeopleendorseandwillliberaljusticeforthe
particular(andoftenconflicting)reasonsimplicitinthe
reasonablecomprehensivedoctrinestheyhold(Freeman
2007b,19).Thusunderstood,Rawls'sconcernwiththe
stabilityofjusticeasfairness,whichmotivatedthemoveto
politicalliberalism,isitselfaquestionofjustification
(Weithman,2010).Onlyiftheprinciplesofjusticearestable
inthiswayaretheyfullyjustified.Rawls'sconcernwith
stabilityandpublicityisnot,however,idiosyncraticandis
sharedbyallcontemporarycontracttheorists.Itissignificant
thateventheoristssuchasJamesBuchanan(2000[1975],26
27),DavidGauthier(1986,348),andKenBinmore(2005,5
7)whoaresodifferentfromRawlsinotherrespectsshare
hisconcernwithstability.

2. Modeling the Parties

2.1 Non-moralized v. Moralized

Parties

Howthecontracttheoristmodelsthepartiestothe
hypotheticalagreement,then,isdeterminedbyour(actual)
justificatoryproblem,andwhatisrelevanttosolvingit.A
majordivideamongcontemporarysocialcontracttheories
thusinvolvesdefiningthejustificatoryproblem.Adistinction
isoftendrawnbetweentheHobbesian(contractarian)and

Kantian(contractualist)interpretationsofthejustificatory
problem.Thesecategoriesareimprecise,andthereisoftenas
muchdifferencewithinthesetwoapproachesasbetween
them,yet,nevertheless,thedistinctionisusefulinisolating
somekeydisputesincontemporarysocialcontracttheory.
Amongthosecontractarianswhoveryroughlycanbe
calledfollowersofHobbes,thecrucialjustificatorytaskis,as
DavidGauthierputsit,toresolvethefoundationalcrisisof
morality:
Fromthestandpointoftheagent,moralconsiderationspresent
themselvesasconstraininghischoicesandaction,inways
independentofhisdesires,aims,andinterests.Andsowe
ask,whatreasoncanapersonhaveforrecognizingand
acceptingaconstraintthatisindependentofhisdesiresand
interests?[W]hatjustifiespayingattentiontomorality,
ratherthandismissingitasanappendageofoutwornbeliefs?
(Gauthier1991,16)
Ifourjustificatoryproblemisnotsimplywhatmorality
requires,butwhethermoralityoughttobepaidattentionto,or
insteaddismissedasasuperstitionbasedonoutmoded
metaphysicaltheories,thenobviouslythepartiestothe
agreementmustnotemploymoraljudgmentsintheir
reasoning.AnotherversionofthisconcernisGregoryKavka's
(1984)descriptionoftheprojecttoreconcilemoralitywith
prudence.Onboththeseaccounts,theaimofthecontractisto
showthatcommitmenttomoralityisaneffectivewayto
furtherone'snonmoralaimsandinterests.Thejustificatory
problemistheproblemofsatisfactorilyansweringthe
questionwhybemoral?Thiscontractarianprojectis
reductionistinaprettystraightforwardsense:itderivesmoral
reasonsfromnonmoralones.Or,touseRawls'sterminology,
itattemptstogeneratethereasonableoutoftherational(1996,
53).
Thisapproachisappealingforseveralreasons.First,insofar
aswedoubtthatmoralreasonsaregenuineormotivationally

effective,suchareductioniststrategypromisestoground
moralityontheprosaicrequirementsofinstrumentalist
practicalrationality.Thejustificatoryquestionwhybe
moral?istransformedintothelesstroublingquestionwhy
berational?Second,evenifwerecognizethatmoralreasons
are,insomesense,genuine,contractarianslikeKavkaalso
wanttoshowthatprudentindividuals,notindependently
motivatedbymoralitywouldhavereasontoreflectively
endorsemorality.Furthermore,ifwehavereasontosuspect
thatsomesegmentofthepopulationis,infact,knavishthen
wehavegooddefensivereasonsbasedonstabilitytobuildour
socialinstitutionsandmoralitysoastorestrainthosewhoare
onlymotivatedbyprudence,evenifwesuspectthatmost
personsarenotsomotivated.Anticipatingconcernsabout
evolutionarystability(see4below)GeoffreyBrennanand
JamesBuchananarguethataversionofGresham'slawholds
inpoliticalandsocialinstitutionsthatbadbehaviordrivesout
goodandthatallpersonswillbeledthemselvesbyeventhe
presenceofafewselfseekerstoadoptselfinterested
behavior(2008[1985],68).Weneednotthinkpeopleare
mostlyselfseekingtothinkthatsocialinstitutionsand
moralityshouldbejustifiedtoandrestrainthosewhoare.
Ontheotherhand,contractualists,suchasJohnRawls,John
Harsanyi(1977),ThomasScanlon(1998),StephenDarwall
(2006),andNicholasSouthwood(2010)attributeethicalor
politicalvaluestothedeliberativeparties,aswellasamuch
moresubstantive,noninstrumentalistformofpractical
reasoning.Thekindsofsurrogatesthatmodelthejustificatory
problemofyouandmearealreadysosituatedthattheir
deliberationswillbeframedbyethicopoliticalconsiderations.
Theagents'deliberationsarenot,aswiththeHobbesian
theorists,carriedoutinpurelyprudentialorinstrumentalist
terms,buttheyaresubjecttotheveilofignoranceorother
substantiveconditions.Herethecorejustificatoryproblemis
notwhethertheveryideaofmoralandpoliticalconstraints

makessense,butwhatsortsofmoralorpoliticalprinciples
meetcertainbasicmoraldemands,suchastreatingallasfree
andequalmoralpersons,ornotsubjectinganypersontothe
willorjudgmentofanother(Reiman1990,chap.1).This
approach,then,isnonreductionistinthesensethatnotallof
moralityisderivedfromthenonmoral.Manyoftheconcerns
withthisapproachtocontracttheoryarerelatedtothe
particularidealizationofthepartiesthatthesubstantive
conceptionofpracticalrationalityinthecontractprocedure
requires.

2.2 The Level of Idealization and

Abstraction
Thecoreideaofsocialcontracttheories,wehavebeen
stressing,isthatthedeliberationofthepartiesissupposedto
modelthejustificatoryproblemofyouandme.Nowthis
pullssocialcontracttheoriesintwoopposingdirections.On
theonehand,ifthedeliberationsofthehypotheticalparties
aretomodelourproblemandtheirconclusionsaretobeof
relevancetous,thepartiesmustbesimilartous.Thecloser
thepartiesaretoyouandmethebettertheirdeliberations
willmodelyouandme,andbeofrelevancetous.Onthe
otherhand,thepointofcontracttheoriesistomakeheadway
onourjustificatoryproblembyconstructingpartiesthatare
idealizationsofyouandme,suggestingthatsomeidealization
isnecessaryandsalutary.Torecognizethatsomeformsof
idealizationareproblematicdoesnotimplythatweshould
embracewhatGaushascalledjustificatorypopulismthat
everypersoninasocietymustactuallyassenttothesocialand
moralinstitutionsinquestion(Gaus1996,130131).Sucha
standardwouldtakeusbacktotheoldersocialcontract
traditionbasedondirectconsent.But,aswesawin1,
moderncontracttheoriesareconcernedwithappealstoour
reason,notourselfbindingpowerofconsent.

Despitepossibleproblems,therearetwoimportant
motivationsbehindidealizationofthedeliberativeparties.
First,youandI,aswenoware,maybeconfusedaboutwhat
considerationsarerelevanttoourjustificatoryproblem.We
havebiasesandfalsebeliefs;tomakeprogressonsolvingour
problemofjustificationwewish,asfaraspossible,tosee
whattheresultwouldbeifweonlyreasonedcorrectlyfrom
soundandrelevantpremises.Soinconstructingthe
hypotheticalpartieswewishtoidealizetheminthisway.
IdealdeliberationtheoristslikeHabermas(1985)and
Southwood(2010),intheirdifferentways,aredeeply
concernedwiththisreasonforidealization.Onthefaceofit,
suchidealizationdoesnotseemespeciallytroublesome,since
ourultimateconcerniswithwhatisjustified,andsowewant
thedeliberationsofthepartiestotrackgoodreasons.Butifwe
idealizetoofarfromcitizensastheypresentlyaresuppose
wepositthattheyarefullyrationalinthesensethattheyknow
alltheimplicationsofalltheirbeliefsandhaveperfect
informationtheirdeliberationsmaynothelpmuchinsolving
ourjustificatoryproblems.Forexample,supposethathyper
rationalandperfectlyinformedpartieswouldhaveno
religiousbeliefs,sotheywouldnotbeconcernedwith
freedomofreligionortheroleofreligionofpoliticaldecision
making.Butourproblemisthat,amongtolerablyreasonable
butfarfromperfectlyrationalcitizens,pluralismofreligious
beliefisinescapable.Consequentlytogaininsightintothe
justificatoryproblemamongcitizensoflimitedrationality,the
partiesmustmodelourimperfectrationality.
Secondly,socialcontracttheoriesarepulledtowardsidealized
andabstractedrepresentationsofthepartiesinordertorender
thechoicesituationdeterminate.Thisgoalofdeterminacy,
however,canhavetheeffectofeliminatingthepluralismof
thepartiesthatwastheoriginalimpetusforcontractinginthe
firstplace.InhisLecturesontheHistoryofPolitical
PhilosophyRawlstellsusthatanormalizationofinterests

attributedtothepartiesiscommontosocialcontract
doctrinesanditisnecessarytounifytheperspectivesofthe
differentpartiessoastoconstructasharedpointofview
(2007,226).HereRawlsseemstobesuggestingthatto
achievedeterminacyinthecontractprocedureitisnecessary
tonormalizetheperspectivesoftheparties.
Theproblem,however,isthis.Supposethatthepartiestothe
contractcloselymodelyouandme,andsotheyhavediverse
basesfortheirdeliberationsreligious,secular,perfectionist,
andsoon.Inthiscaseitishardtoseehowthecontract
theoristcangetadeterminateresult.JustasyouandI
disagree,sowilltheparties.Socialcontracttheoristshave
soughttogenerateadeterminateresultbymodelingtheparties
inaveryabstractedway,supposingthattheyareallcentrally
concernedwithpromotingtheirconceptionofthegood,and
insuringthattheyreasoninthesameway.Rawls(1999,121)
acknowledgesthathisrestrictionsonparticularinformationin
theoriginalpositionarenecessarytoachieveadeterminate
result.Ifweexcludeknowledgeofthosecontingencieswhich
setmenatoddsthensinceeveryoneisequallyrational
andsimilarlysituated,eachisconvincedbythesame
arguments(Rawls1999,17,120).
Gaus(2011a,3647)hasrecentlyarguedthatadeterminative
resultcanonlybegeneratedbyanimplausiblyhighdegreeof
abstraction,inwhichthebasicpluralismofevaluative
standardsthecoreofourjustificatoryproblemis
abstractedaway.Thus,onGaus'sview,modelingsofthe
partiesthatmakethemanythingapproachingrepresentations
ofyouandmewillonlybeabletogenerateanonsingletonset
ofeligiblesocialcontracts.Thepartiesmightagreethatsome
socialcontractsarebetterthannone,buttheywilldisagreeon
theirorderingofpossiblesocialcontracts.Thisconclusion,
refinedanddevelopedin(Gaus2011a,PartTwo)connectsthe
traditionalproblemofindeterminacyinthecontractprocedure
withthecontemporary,technicalproblemofequilibrium

selectioningames(seeVanderschraaf,2005).Atopicwewill
exploremorein4below.
Itispossible,however,thatdeterminacymayactuallyrequire
diversityintheperspectiveofthedeliberativepartiesinaway
thatRawlsandotherslikeHarsanyididn'texpect.Thereason
forthisissimple,theproofissomewhatcomplex.
Normalizingtheperspectivesofthepartiesassumesthatthere
isonestablepointofviewthathasalloftherelevant
informationnecessaryforgeneratingastableanddeterminate
setofsocialrules.Thereisnoreason,antecedently,tothink
thatsuchaperspectivecanbefound,however.Instead,ifwe
recognizethatthereareepistemicgainstobehadfroma
divisionofcognitivelaborthereisreasontopreferadiverse
ratherthannormalizedidealizationofthepartiestothe
contract(seeWeisbergandMuldoon,2009andMuldoon
2009).Thereisreasontoconcludethatifwewishtodiscover
socialcontractsthatbestachieveasetofinterrelated
normativedesiderata(e.g.,liberty,equality,welfare,etc.),a
deliberativeprocessthatdrawsonadiversityofperspectives
willoutperformonebasedonastrictnormalizationof
perspectives(Gaus2011b).JamesBuchanangoeseven
further,eliminatingallidealizationandnormalizationofthe
parties(2000[1975],221222).Although,insofaras
Buchananandothercontractariansmodelthepartiesasguided
solelybythereasoningcharacteristicofHomoEconomicus
thereissomeidealizationofthepartiesintermsoftheir
practicalrationality.

3. The Object of Agreement

Socialcontracttheoriesdifferabouttheobjectofthecontract.
InthetraditionalcontracttheoriesofHobbesandLockethe
contractwasaboutthetermsofpoliticalassociation.In
particular,theproblemwasthegroundsandlimitsofcitizen's
obligationtoobeythestate.Inhisearlyformulation,Rawls's

partiesdeliberatedaboutcommonpractices(1958).Inhis
laterstatementofhisviewRawlstooktheobjectofagreement
tobeprinciplesofjusticetoregulatethebasicstructure:
Thebasicstructureisunderstoodasthewayinwhichthe
majorsocialinstitutionsfittogetherintoonesystem,andhow
theyassignfundamentalrightsanddutiesandshapethe
divisionofadvantagesthatarisesthroughsocialcooperation.
Thusthepoliticalconstitution,thelegallyenforcedformsof
property,andtheorganizationoftheeconomy,andthenature
ofthefamily,allbelongtothebasicstructure.(Rawls1996,
258)
ForRawls,asformostcontemporarycontracttheorists,the
objectofagreementisnot,atleastdirectly,thegroundsof
politicalobligation,buttheprinciplesofjusticethatregulate
thebasicinstitutionsofsociety.Freeman(2007a:23),perhaps
thepreeminentstudentofRawls,focusesonthesocialroleof
normsinpubliclife.JamesBuchananisconcernedwith
justifyingconstitutionalordersofsocialandpolitical
institutions(2000[1975]).Gauthier(1986),Scanlon(1998),
Darwall(2006),Southwood(2010),andGaus(2011a)employ
thecontractdevicetojustifyinterpersonalmoralclaims.The
commonthreadthatrunsthroughallofthesecontemporary
accountsisanideaattheheartofthecontracttheory,namely
thatrulesandconstraints,atwhateverlevel,mustbejustified
tothosewhomtheyapply.Thereissomedebateoverhowto
understandthiscondition(seeGauthier2003)butsome
versionofitunderliesthedesireforagreementinherentinthe
ideaofthesocialcontract.
Thelevelatwhichtheobjectofthecontractisdescribedisapt
toaffecttheoutcomeoftheagreement.Astrikingfeatureof
Hobbes'view,RussellHardinpointsout,isthatitisa
relativeassessmentofwholestatesofaffairs.Lifeunderone
formofgovernmentversuslifeunderanarchy(2003,43).
Hobbescouldplausiblyarguethateveryonewouldagreeto
thesocialcontractbecauselifeundergovernmentis,from

theperspectiveofeveryone,betterthanlifeunderanarchy.
However,ifaHobbesiansoughttodividethecontractupinto,
say,morefinegrainedagreementsaboutthevariousfunctions
ofgovernment,sheisapttofindthatagreementwouldnotbe
forthcomingonmanyfunctions.Aswezoomin(Lister,
2010)onmorefinegrainedfunctionsofgovernment,the
contractisapttobecomemorelimited.Ifthepartiesare
simplyconsideringwhethergovernmentisbetterthan
anarchy,theywilloptforjustaboutanygovernment
(includingonethatfundsthearts);iftheyareconsidering
whethertohaveagovernmentthatfundstheartsoronethat
doesn't,itiseasytoseehowtheymaynotagreeontheformer.
Inasimilarway,ifthepartiesaredeliberatingaboutentire
moralcodes,theremaybewideagreementthatallthemoral
codes,overall,areineveryone'sinterests;ifwezoominin
specificrightsandduties,weareapttogetaverydifferent
answer.
Thepointisthatthelevelofagreementontheobjectofthe
contractwilllikelybeverydifferentdependingonhow
concretelythecontractitselfisspecified.Onewaytospecify
thealternativetothecontractsoastomakethechoice
situationmoredeterminateistothinkofthealternativetothe
contractnotasanidealizedstateofnaturebutratherasthe
statusquo.BothBinmore(2005,5)andGaus(2011a,424
446)suggestthatthecontractprocedurecanbeusedasa
devicetotestdifferentsetsofrulesagainstthestatusquo.This
isonewaytoincorporatetheinsightfromBuchananthatwhen
wetheorize:
Westartfromhere,fromwhereweare,andnotfromsome
idealizedworldpeopledbybeingswithadifferenthistoryand
utopianinstitutions.Someappreciationofthestatusquois
essentialbeforediscussioncanbeginabouttheprospectsfor
improvements.(2000[1975],xv)
Binmore,forinstance,arguesthatweshouldthinkofthe
statusquoasanalogoustothestateofnatureintraditional

contracttheories.Hemakesthisexplicitinhisrepresentation
ofthecontractdeviceasabargainingproblem,makingthe
disagreementpointofthebargain(theequivalentofthestate
ofnature)thestatusquo(2205,25).Tosome,this
identificationofthestateofnaturewiththestatusquomay
seemundulyconservative,butthismaybeamistake.Recall
thatHardin'scomplaintagainstcontracttheoriesisthatthey,
ineffect,rigthegameinfavorofaparticularoutcomeby
makingthedisagreementpointorstateofnaturesohorrible
thatalmostanyalternativewilllookattractiveincomparison.
Bymakingthedisagreementpointthestatusquoinsteadofthe
Hobbesianstateofnature,however,agreementwillbeharder
toachievebecause,presumably,manywillfindthestatusquo
attractive.Whetherornotthiswillleadtoconservative
outcomesdependsonthealternativesthatareputupagainst
thestatusquo.Italsodependsonthenatureofthestatusquo.
Eachstartingpointwillpresentnewchallengesandwilllikely
resultindifferentpointsofagreement.
Anotherwaytoavoidambiguityisthedeterminationofthe
objectofagreementistofollowBuchananand,arguably,
Gauthierindevelopingatwostagecontracttheory.Buchanan
divideshiscontractprocedureintotwostages:the
constitutionalandpostconstitutional.Theobjectofthe
constitutionalstageistodevelopasystemofconstraintsthat
willallowindividualstopeacefullycoexist,whatBuchanan
callstheprotectivestate(2000[1975]).Thestateofnature,
forBuchanan,ischaracterizedbybothpredationanddefense.
Theamountoftimeonecanengageinproductiveenterprises
isdecreasedbecauseoftheneedtodefendthefruitsofthose
enterprisesagainstthosewhowouldrelyonpredationrather
thanproduction.Wehavereasontocontract,accordingto
Buchanan,inordertoincreasetheoverallabilityofeveryone
toproducebylimitingtheneedfordefensebyconstrainingthe
abilitytoengageinpredation.Oncethesolutiontothe
predationproductionconflicthasbeensolvedbythe

constitutionalcontract,membersofsocietyalsorealizethatif
allcontributedtoproductionofvariouspublicgoods,the
productivepossibilityofsocietywouldbesimilarlyincreased.
Thissecond,postconstitutionalstage,involveswhat
Buchanancallstheproductivestate.Eachstageislogically
distinctthoughtherearecausalrelationshipsbetweenchanges
madeatonestageandtheefficacyandstabilityofthesolution
atthelaterstage.Thedistinctionbetweenthetwostagesis
analogoustothetraditionaldistinctionbetweencommutative
anddistributivejustice.Althoughthesetwoareoftenbound
uptogetherincontemporarycontracttheory,oneof
Buchanan'snovelcontributionsistosuggestthatthereare
theoreticalgainstoseparatingthesedistinctobjectsof
agreement.

4. The Reasoning of the Parties

Supposewehaveidentifiedtheobjectoftheparties'
deliberations:practice,norms,basicinstitutions,moralcodes,
etc.Nowsocialcontracttheoriesfundamentallydifferin
whetherthepartiesreasondifferentlyorthesame.Aswehave
seen(2.2)inRawls'scontracteveryonereasonsthesame:the
collectivechoiceproblemisreducedtothechoiceofone
individual.Anyoneperson'sdecisionisaproxyforeveryone
else.Insocialcontractsofthissort,thedescriptionofthe
parties(theirmotivation,theconditionsunderwhichthey
choose)doesallthework:oncewehavefullyspecifiedthe
reasoningofoneparty,thecontracthasbeenidentified.
Thealternativeviewisthat,evenafterwehavespecifiedthe
parties(includingtheirrationality,valuesandinformation),
theycontinuetodisagreeintheirrankingsofpossiblesocial
contracts.Onthisview,thecontractonlyhasadeterminate
resultifthereissomeuniquelyrationalorcorrectwayto
commensuratethedifferentrankingsofeachindividualto
yieldasocialchoice(D'Agostino,2003).Wecandistinguish

threedifferentcommensurationmechanisms.

4.1 Bargaining

AsRawlsrecognizedinhis1958essayJusticeasFairness
onewayforpartiestoresolvetheirdisagreementsistoemploy
bargainingsolutions,suchasthatproposedbyR.B.
Braithwaite(1955).Rawlshimselfrejectedbargaining
solutionstothesocialcontractsince,inhisopinion,such
solutionsrelyonthreatadvantageandtoeachaccordingto
histhreatadvantageishardlyaprincipleoffairness(Rawls
1958,58n).Gauthier,however,famouslypursuedthis
approach,buildinghisMoralsbyAgreementontheKalai
Smorodinskybargainingsolution(seealsoGaus1990,Ch.
IX).Binmore(2005)hasrecentlyadvancedaversionofsocial
contracttheorythatreliesontheNashbargainingsolution,as
doesMuldoon(2009)whileMoehler(2010)reliesona
stabilizedNashbargainingsolution.InadditiontoRawls's
concernaboutthreatadvantage,adrawbackofallsuch
approachesisthemultiplicityofbargainingsolutions,which
cansignificantlydiffer.AlthoughtheNashsolutionismost
favoredtoday,itcanhavecounterintuitiveimplications.
Furthermore,therearemanywhoarguethatbargaining
solutionsareinherentlyindeterminateandsotheonlywayto
achievedeterminacyistointroduceunrealisticor
controversialassumptions(Sugden,1990,1991).Similar
problemsalsoexistforequilibriumselectioningames(see
Vanderschraaf2005andHarsanyiandSelten1988)Although
appealingtoabargainingsolutioncangivedeterminacytoa
socialcontract,itdoessoatthecostofappealingtoa
controversialcommensurationmechanism.

4.2 Aggregation
Wemightdistinguishbargainingfromaggregationsolutions.
Ratherthanseekinganoutcomethat(as,roughly,theKalai
Smorodinskysolutiondoes)splitsthedifferencebetween

variousclaims,wemightseektoaggregatetheindividual
rankingsintoanoverallsocialchoice.Arrow'stheoremand
relatedproblemswithsocialchoicerulescastsdoubtonany
claimthatonespecificwayofaggregatingisuniquely
rational:allhavetheirshortcomings(Gaus2008,chap.5).
Harsanyi(1977,chaps.1and2;1982)developsacontractual
theorymuchlikeRawls's.Reasoningbehindaveilof
ignoranceinwhichpeopledonotknowtheirpostcontract
identities,hesupposesthatrationalcontractorswillassumeit
isequallyprobablethattheywillbeanyspecificperson.
Moreover,hearguesthatcontractorscanagreeon
interpersonalutilitycomparisons,andsotheywilloptfora
contractthataggregatesutilityatthehighestaverage(seealso
Mueller2003,chap.26).This,ofcourse,dependsonthe
suppositionthatthereisanoncontroversialmetricthatallows
ustoaggregatetheparties'utilityfunctions.Binmore(2005)
followsHarsanyiandAmartyaSen(2009,Chap.13)in
arguingthatinterpersonalcomparisonscanbemadeforthe
purposesofaggregation,atleastsomeofthetime.Oneofthe
problemswiththisapproach,however,isthatifthe
interpersonalcomparisonsareincompletetheywillnotbeable
toproduceacompletesocialordering.AsSenpointsout,this
willleadtoamaximalsetofalternativeswherenoalternative
isdominatedbyanyotherwithinthesetbutalsowhereno
particularalternativeisoptimal(Sen,1997).Insteadofsolving
theaggregationproblem,then,interpersonalcomparisonsmay
onlybeabletoreducethesetofalternativeswithoutbeing
abletocompletetheorderingofalternatives.

4.3 Equilibrium

Thereisalongtraditionofthinkingofthesocialcontractasa
kindofequilibrium.Withinthistradition,however,the
tendencyistoseethesocialcontractassomekindof
equilibriumsolutiontoaprisoner'sdilemmatypesituation
(seeGauthier,1986andBuchanan,2000[1975]).Brian

Skyrms(1996,2004)suggestsadifferentapproach.Suppose
thatwehaveacontractualnegotiationinwhichtherearetwo
parties,orderingfourpossiblesocialcontracts:
bothAlfandBettyhuntstag
bothhunthare;
Alfhuntsstag,Bettyhuntshare;
Alfhuntshare,Bettyhuntsstag.
Let3bethebestoutcome,andlet1betheworstineach
person'sranking(Alf'srankingisfirstineachpair).Wethus
getFigure1

ALF

HuntStag HuntHare
2,1
HuntStag 3,3
BETTY
2,2
HuntHare 1,2
Figure1:AStagHunt
TheStagHunt,Skyrmsargues,shouldbeafocalpointfor
socialcontracttheory(2004,4).TheissueintheStagHuntis
notwhetherwefightornot,butwhetherwecooperateand
gain,oreachgoourseparateways.TherearetwoNash
equilibriainthisgame:bothhuntingstagandbothhunting
hare.AlfandBetty,shouldtheyfindthemselvesatoneof
theseequilibria,willsticktoitifeachconsultsonlyhisorher
ownrankingofoptions.InaNashequilibrium,noindividual
hasareasontodefect.Ofcoursethecontractinwhichthey
bothhuntstagisabettercontract:itisParetosuperiortothat
inwhichtheybothhunthare.TheHareequilibriumis,
however,risksuperiorinthatitisasaferbet.Skyrmsargues
thatthetheoryofiteratedgamescanshownotsimplythatour
partieswillarriveatasocialcontract,buthowtheycancome
toarriveatthecooperative,mutuallybeneficialcontract.Ifwe
haveachancetoplayrepeatedgames,Skyrmsholds,wecan
learnfromHumeabouttheshadowofthefuture:Ilearnto
doaservicetoanother,withoutbearinghimanyrealkindness;
becauseIforesee,thathewillreturnmyservice,in

expectationofanotherofthesamekind,andinorderto
maintainthesamecorrespondenceofgoodofficeswithme
andwithothers(Skyrms2004,5).Sugden,alongdifferent
lines,alsosuggeststhatrepeatedinteractions,whathecalls
experienceisessentialtothedeterminationofwhichnorms
ofsocialinteractionactuallyholdovertime(1986).
Theproblemwithequilibriumsolutionsisthat,asinthestag
huntgame,manygameshavemultipleequilibria.Theproblem
thenbecomeshowtoselectoneuniqueequilibriumfromaset
ofpossibleones.Theproblemiscompoundedbythe
controversiesoverequilibriumrefinementconcepts(see
HarsanyiandSelten1988).Manyrefinementshavebeen
suggestedbut,asinbargainingtheory,allarecontroversialto
onedegreeoranother.Oneoftheinterestingdevelopmentsin
socialcontracttheoryspurredbygametheoristssuchas
SkyrmsandBinmoreistheappealtoevolutionarygame
theoryasawaytosolvethecommensurationandequilibrium
selectionproblem(Vanderschraaf2005).Whatcannotbe
solvedbyappealtoreason(becausetheresimplyisno
determinatesolution)maybesolvedbyrepeatedinteractions
amongrationalparties.TheworkoftheoristssuchasSkyrms
andBinmorealsoblursthelinebetweenjustificationand
explanation.Theiranalysesshedlightbothonthejustificatory
problemwhatarethecharacteristicsofacooperativesocial
orderthatpeoplefreelyfollow?whilealsoexplaininghow
suchordersmaycomeabout.
Theuseofevolutionarygametheoryandevolutionary
techniquesisaburgeoningandexcitingareaofcontract
theory.Oneofthemanyquestionsthatarise,however,isthat
ofwhy,andifsounderwhatcircumstances,weshould
endorsetheoutputofevolutionaryprocedures.Shouldone
equilibriumbepreferredtoanothermerelybecauseitwasthe
outputofanevolutionaryprocedure?Surelywewouldwant
reasonsindependentofhistoryforreflectivelyendorsingsome
equilibrium.Thisproblemhighlightstheconcernthatsocial

contractsthataretheproductofevolutionaryprocedureswill
notmeetthepublicitycondition(1.3)intherightkindof
way.Ifthepublicityconditionseemshardertomeet,the
evolutionaryapproachprovidesapowerfulanddynamicway
tounderstandstability.FollowingMaynardSmith,wecansee
stabilityasbeinganevolutionarilystablestrategyequilibrium
oranESS(1982).Basicallythisistheideathatanequilibrium
inanevolutionarygamewheresuccessfulstrategiesreplicate
athigherratesisstableiftheequilibriumcompositionofthe
populationintermsofstrategiesisnotsusceptibletoinvasion
byamutantstrategy.AnESSisanapplicationoftheNash
equilibriumconcepttopopulations.Apopulationis
evolutionarilystablewhenamutantstrategyisnotabetter
responsetothepopulationthanthecurrentmixofstrategiesin
thepopulation.ThisgivesaformalinterpretationofRawls's
conceptionofinherentstabilityandtoBuchanan'snotion
thatsocialcontractsshouldbeabletowithstandsubversionby
asubpopulationofknaves.Thisnewconceptionofstability
combinedwiththedynamicnatureofevolutionarygames
providesinterestingnewwaysforthesocialcontracttheorist
tomodeltheoutputofthecontract.

5. What Does the Contract

Show?

Suppose,then,thatwehavearrivedatsomesocialcontract.
Dependingontheinitialjustificatoryproblem,itwillspecify
principles(P)thathavesomenormativeproperty(N)such
asjustice,morality,authority,obligation,legitimacy,mutual
benefit,andsoon.But,supposingthatthecontracthas
generatedprinciplePwiththerelevantnormativepropertyN,
preciselywhatisshownbythefactthatPwasgenerated
throughthecontractualdevice?
Throughoutwehavebeendistinguishingthejustificatory

problemfromthedeliberativemodel.Nowthestrongestthat
couldbeclaimedforacontractualargumentisthatthe
outcomeofthedeliberativemodelisconstitutiveofboththe
correctsolutionofthejustificatoryproblemandthatPhasN.
Onthisconstructivistreadingoftheoutcomeofthe
deliberativemodel,thereisnoindependentanddeterminate
externaljustificationthatPhasNthatthecontractualdeviceis
intendedtoapproximate,but,rather,thatPistheoutcomeof
thedeliberativemodelisthetruthmakerforPhasN.
Rawls,alongwithGauthierandBuchanan,wereattractedto
suchareading.Rawls(1999,104)describestheargument
fromtheoriginalpositionasinvokingpureprocedural
justicethedeliberativesituationissosetupthatwhatever
principlesitgeneratesare,bythefactoftheirgeneration,just.
ButthoughRawlssometimesseemedattractedtothisstrong
interpretation,hisconsideredpositionisthattheoutcomeof
thedeliberativemodelisindicative(notconstitutive)ofthe
correctsolutiontothequestionofjustification(1999,16).
Wemightsaythatthedeliberativemodelisevidenceofthe
properanswertothequestionofjustification.However,thisis
stillconsistentwithRawls'sconstructivismbecausethe
answertothejustificatoryproblemisconstitutiveofPs
havingN.SowemightsaythatRawls'stwoprinciplesarejust
simplybecausetheyareinreflectiveequilibriumwiththe
consideredjudgmentsofyouandme,andthattheywouldbe
chosenintheoriginalpositionisindicativeofthis.
Theweakestinterpretationofthecontractisthatthe
contractualresultissimplyindicativeofthecorrectanswerto
thejustificatoryproblem,whichitselfissimplyindicativeof
thefactthatPhasN.Onecouldbearealist,maintaining
thatwhetherPhasNisafactthatholdswhetherornotthe
contractdevicegeneratesprinciplePwithN,and
independentlyofwhetherthecorrectanswertoour
justificatoryproblem(i.e.,whatwecanjustifytoeachother)
isthatPhasN.Thereisstillroomforcontractualismhere,but

notconstructivism.Some,forexample,havearguedthat
T.M.Scanlon'stheoryisactuallybasedonasortofnatural
rightstheory,wheretheserightsarepriortothecontract
(Mack2007).Evenifthisiscorrect,Scanloncanbeasortof
socialcontracttheorist.Thediversityofpossibleapproaches
withinsocialcontracttheoryindicatesthevarietyofdifferent
usestowhichsocialcontracttheorycanbeapplied.

6. Conclusion: The Social

Contract and Public
Justification

ThesocialcontracttheoriesofHobbes,LockeandRousseau
allstressedthatthejustificationofthestatedependson
showingthateveryonewould,insomeway,consenttoit.By
relyingonconsent,socialcontracttheoryseemedtosupposea
voluntaristconceptionofpoliticaljusticeandobligation:what
isjustdependsonwhatpeoplechoosetoagreetowhatthey
will.OnlyinKant(1797)doesitbecomeclearthatconsentis
notfundamentaltoasocialcontractview:wehaveadutyto
agreetoactaccordingtotheideaoftheoriginalcontract.
Rawls'srevivalofsocialcontracttheoryinATheoryofJustice
didnotbaseobligationsonconsent,thoughtheapparatusof
anoriginalagreementpersistedasawaytohelpsolvethe
problemofjustification.Asthequestionofpublicjustification
takescenterstage(wemightsayascontractualistliberalism
becomesjustificatoryliberalism),itbecomesclearthatposing
theproblemofjustificationintermsofadeliberativeora
bargainingproblemisaheuristic:therealissueisthe
problemofjustificationwhatprinciplescanbejustifiedto
allreasonablecitizensorpersons.

EPA anxious 200m Vartry

reservoir upgrade proceeds

Agency says Victorian infrastructure is vulnerable to
chemicals linked to cancers
Tim O'Brien

The Vartry reservoir in Roundwood, Co Wicklow, which supplies 15 per cent

of the Dublin regions water.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said it is

anxious that a 200 million upgrade of the Vartry
reservoir in Co Wicklow go ahead, in part because of
chemicals in the water which have been linked to cancer.
The Department of Housing told the committee it had
concerns about the impact a referendum on retaining the
network in public ownership would have on group water
schemes and private water supplies.
While the Government had not ruled out a referendum,
which would cost around 20m, it was in discussions with
the Attorney General about a form of words which would
not impact on private property rights and result in
"unintended consequences"
Complete media blackout of the Anti-Austerity march that
took place in Dublin last Saturday, January 21st. Here's a
short video that will give you an idea of the scale of the
protest from grassroot activists from around the country.
Naturally, this was ignored

CORRUPTION AND INEQUALITY:

HOW POPULISTS MISLEAD PEOPLE

Fighting corruption must

be a higher priority for
the next Government,
says Transparency
International Ireland

Analysis by Finn Heinrich, Transparency

International
With the launch of Transparency Internationals
Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 just five days
after Donald Trumps inauguration as US President,
its timely to look at the links between populism,

socio-economic malaise and the anti-corruption

agenda. Indeed, Trump and many other populist
leaders regularly make a connection between a
corrupt elite interested only in enriching
themselves and their (rich) supporters and the
marginalisation of working people.
Is there evidence to back this up? Yes. Corruption
and social inequality are indeed closely related and
provide a source for popular discontent. Yet, the
track record of populist leaders in tackling this
problem is dismal; they use the corruption-inequality
message to drum up support but have no intention
of tackling the problem seriously. But, first, lets look
at what corruption has to do with inequality and vice
versa.
http://transparency.ie/sites/default/files/16.09.30_int
egrity_at_work_brochure.pdf
There seems to be a misconception that water charges
ONLY came about as FG and Co took office.. not so. The
plans for Domestic water metering and charging were laid
while Fianna Fail and the Greens were in gov.
FG just took over where they (FF) left off is all.
have a look at the date at the bottom of the pic..

CORRUPTION AND INEQUALITY

A VICIOUS CYCLE, LEFT LARGELY
UNATTENDED
The two diagrams below show the relationship
between the corruption scores in the Corruption
Perceptions Index (CPI) and the degree of social
exclusion as measured by the Social Inclusion Index
for OECD countries (from the Bertelsmann
Foundations Sustainable Governance Indicators)
and by the Welfare Regime indicator for the rest of
the world (from the Bertelsmann Foundations
Transformation Index). The higher scores signify
less corruption/exclusion. The first diagram plots the
scores for OECD countries.

Sources: Transparency International, Bertelsmann

Foundation
The second diagram shows the rest of the world. (I
had to split the countries [and diagrams] into two as
there isnt a single robust measure of social
exclusion worldwide.)

Sources: Transparency International, Bertelsmann

Foundation
The data show a strong correlation between
corruption and social exclusion.
For example, Mexico is in the bottom third of the
CPI, indicating rampant corruption, and has a score
of less than 3.5 on the Social Inclusion Index that
indicates that many people are marginalised and
excluded. However, Denmark, which tops the CPI
also performs well on the social inclusion index.
Still, correlation is not necessarily causation. Could
it be that theres a third characteristic that causes
social inequality and corruption to travel in the same

direction?
A likely possibility is a countrys level of
development, as richer countries might be able to
afford to spend more money on social services
and redistribution of wealth while also addressing
corruption.
A multivariate regression (see note) with both GDP
per capita (measuring a countrys level of
development) and social exclusion as predictors of
corruption shows that social inclusion is a much
stronger predictor of corruption levels than GDP per
capita. In the case of the remainder of the world
country sub-set, for every step increase in the 10point social inclusion indicator, the CPI score would
improve by as much as 5.5 points on its 1-100
scale.
This finding is actually nothing new. There has long
been a scholarly consensus that corruption and
inequality are closely interrelated (see here, here,
and here). The two phenomena interact in a vicious
cycle: corruption leads to an unequal distribution of
power in society which, in turn, translates into an
unequal distribution of wealth and opportunity.

STATE CAPTURE, GRAND

CORRUPTION AND THE DEATH OF
DEMOCRACY

While the anti-corruption community has largely

ignored the mutually reinforcing dynamics between
corruption and social inequality, there are two quite
different movements that made these issues a core
element of their campaigning.
First is the emerging global inequality movement
the 99 percenters spearheaded by progressive
NGOs and supported by leftist thinkers, such as
Thomas Piketty and Branko Milanovic.
An influential 2014 report by Oxfam, titled Working
for the Few summarises the main point: Extreme
economic inequality and political capture are too
often interdependent. Left unchecked, political
institutions become undermined and governments
overwhelmingly serve the interests of economic
elites to the detriment of ordinary people. In other
words, corruption can flourish when elites control
the levers of power without any accountability.
The second movement that links corruption and
inequality is also global but it is not progressive. It is
reactive, nativist and often right-wing. It is
exemplified by politicians like Trump in the US,
former Prime Minister Jarosaw Kaczyski in Poland
and presidential candidate Marine le Pen of the
National Front in France.
According to Trump, for example: Our corrupt
political establishment that is the greatest power

behind the efforts at radical globalization and the

disenfranchisement of working people. Their
financial resources are virtually unlimited, their
political resources are unlimited, their media
resources are unmatched.
And from Kaczyski: Corruption is a part of this
system that we have to change. Democracy is
endangered by corruption, by the decomposition of
the state, by all that constitutes the system of
Donald Tusk. We believe that this system is about to
collapse, that its end will come, that corruption will
be subdued, that our considerable possibilities will
be used, that Poland will become a free country of
free Polish people.
Judging by the success of the populists at the ballot
box, it is clear that they have been able to exploit
the disenchantment of people with the corrupt
system and present themselves as the only way
out of the vicious cycle described above.
Drain the swamp, Trumps epithet for reforming
Washington D.C., clearly resonated with US voters
and there is strong academic evidence that
corruption as an issue was indeed salient for many
anti-establishment voters in post-Communist
countries (see here, here, here, and here).
The question is: are these voters backing a real
anti-corruption proponent or supporting con artists?

Source: Transparency International

By and large, anti-establishment parties fail
miserably to address and often significantly
increase the very corruption they set out to get rid
of. When an anti-corruption party won elections in
New Delhi, for example, hopes were high but
schisms and fights stalled progress. There are other
examples in Italy (the 5 Star mayor of Rome),
Slovakia and Hungary.
In the case of Donald Trump, the first signs of such
a betrayal of his promises are already there. The
talk is of rolling back key anti-corruption legislation
and ignoring potential conflicts of interests that will
exacerbate not control corruption.
Will this lead to his downfall? Evidence from other
populist leaders (Erdogan in Turkey and Orban in
Hungary and also Chvez and Maduro in
Venezuela) is not encouraging. They appear almost

immune to challenges about unethical and corrupt

behavior (see also Jan-Werner Muellers What is
Populism?). While Turkey and Hungary have
declined on the Corruption Perceptions Index since
the election of populist leaders and Venezuela has
been near the bottom of the table for years, the
populist leaders seem to be more invincible than
ever.

THE ANTIDOTE TO CORRUPT

POPULISM

As history shows, turning back the corruption tide is

often as hard as preventing a phony corruption
fighter from getting into office in the first place. To
pre-empt this, mainstream governments need to get
much more serious about breaking the vicious cycle
between corruption and social inequality.
We would advocate:
stopping the revolving door between business
leaders and high-ranking government positions
holding the corrupt to account rather than letting
corrupt officials hide behind political immunity (the
Lava Jato case in Brazil, for example)
enforcing greater controls on banks, luxury goods
sellers, lawyers and real estate agents who help
launder corrupt money
outlawing the use of secret companies that hide the

identity of the real owners

These proposals require the investment of
substantial political capital by government leaders to
confront entrenched interests. It is in the interests of
democratic governments to use that capital so they
can again deliver on their central promise to provide
equal opportunities for all.
NOTE: REGRESSION RESULTS FOR
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Multivariate Regression of corruption (CPI 2016)
with independent variables: Social inclusion
(Welfare Regime indicator, BTI 2016; GDP per
capita at purchasing-parity levels, logged, World
Bank 2015, n =129).

Top image: Creative Commons, Flickr /

johnnysilvercloud
Editor's note: On 26 January 2017 this article was
amended to reflect that Jarosaw Kaczyski is the
former Prime Minister of Poland. He is also the
current leader of the ruling party.
For any press enquiries please contact

press@transparency.org

Ireland drops another place in

global corruption ranking
Denmark was named the least corrupt state out of 176 countries,
followed by New Zealand, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.
January 26, 17

Ireland falls one place on Corruption Perceptions Index

16.01_cpi_2015_heat_map_en.jpg
The independent anti-corruption organisation,
Transparency International (TI) Ireland has called on
political parties and candidates to commit themselves to
introducing reforms and dedicating adequate resources to
stop corruption after the forthcoming election.
The call comes as Ireland has slipped one place on
Transparency Internationals Corruption Perceptions Index
(CPI) for 2015. The findings published today show a fall in
Irelands ranking since 2014 from 17 to 18 out of 168
countries, but a slight improvement in its score from 74 to
75 out of 100.
Although Ireland is considered to be one of those countries
least affected by systemic public-sector corruption, it is
perceived to be far less clean than many of the worlds
advanced democracies.
Some important reforms, such as new whistleblower
protections and lobbying regulations have recently been
introduced and will help prevent wrongdoing. However,
the failure to publish new anti-corruption legislation, four
years after it was announced, is hugely disappointing and
should be a source of embarrassment for the Government,
said TI Ireland Chief Executive, John Devitt.
New political finance rules and reforms enacted in 2012
have an important role to play in helping prevent
corruption. Yet we know that people will break the rules.
Laws that are not enforced are not worth much more than
the paper theyre written on.

The Garda and Standards in Public Office Commission

(SIPO) have been starved of specialist staff and financial
resources to investigate corruption-related offences. If
either agency is to investigate corruption properly, they
need to see their powers and independence enhanced
significantly, and their respective budgets increased tenfold. Unfortunately, too many members of the Oireachtas
dont seem to realise how big a problem corruption is. If
they do know and theyre not prepared to call for reform,
then the only conclusion we can draw is that they dont
care, Mr Devitt added.
TI Ireland has also been critical of delays on a decision by
the Director for Public Prosecutions on whether court
action will follow Garda investigations that were
undertaken as a result of the final Moriarty Tribunal report.
The apparent lack of action and political ambivalence
towards Judge Moriartys findings sends the public the
message that different rules apply to those in positions of
power and influence. This will be deeply corrosive of public
confidence in democratic government and our criminal
justice system, said Mr Devitt.
99699022-1bc4-4220-a103-3aa59933bae9.jpg
The Results
The index covers perceptions of public sector corruption in
168 countries.
Denmark took the top spot for the second year running,
with North Korea and Somalia the worst performers,
scoring just eight points each.
Top performers share key characteristics: high levels of
press freedom; access to budget information so the public
knows where money comes from and how it is spent; high
levels of integrity among people in power; and judiciaries
that do not differentiate between rich and poor, and that
are truly independent from other parts of government.
Read our analysis of what Ireland is doing to safeguard its
citizens against corruption.

The big decliners in the past four years include Libya,

Australia, Brazil, Spain and Turkey. The big improvers
include Greece, Senegal and the UK.
Download the full table of findings here.
NOTES
For the avoidance of doubt, neither TI nor TI Ireland
attributes a country's rise or fall on the index to any
individual event or individual.
TI Ireland operates the Speak Up helpline for
whistleblowers, as well as witnesses and victims of fraud,
corruption and other wrongdoing. The free-phone helpline
(1800 844 866) is open from 10am to 6pm Monday to
Friday.
It published its first Speak Up Report in 2015 which
highlighted the risk of corruption across both the public
and private sectors. Free guidance on whistleblowing is
also available at http://transparency.ie/helpline/guides
The Speak Up helpline will soon be operated by a new
independent law centre providing access to free specialist
legal advice to anyone making disclosures of wrongdoing.
TI Ireland has also recently launched new resources on
Responsible Lobbying as well as an introductory video on
the initiative.

IRELAND HAS SLIPPED one place in a global report into

corruption perceptions in countries across the globe.
The Corruption Perception Index 2016, released each year
by Transparency International, is seen as the definitive
guide to how cleanly each countrys political system is
perceived to operate.
Ireland ranked as the 19th least corrupt state in the world
falling one spot from its previous ranking. However, it also
slipped from 17th to 18th the year previous making this the
second successive fall.
Denmark was named the least corrupt state out of 176
countries, followed by New Zealand, Finland, Sweden and
Switzerland.
Chief Executive of Transparency International Ireland John
Devitt said failure of some politicians to hold to account a
handful of suspects of corruption and serious fraud
continues to undermine public trust in parliamentary
democracy.
Political leaders around the world, and that includes Ireland,
have failed to see the link between political corruption and
the public distrust it engenders towards democratic
institutions.
Its not too late to challenge hate-politics and demagoguery
in Europe, but politicians from across the political divide
need to understand the urgency of implementing reforms
that rebuild trust in democracy itself.
Contributing factors in Irelands relatively low standing are
believed to include international scrutiny over its failure to
police financial institutions which led to the collapse of its
banking sector in 2007, a series of tribunals of inquiry which
made findings of corruption in Irelands planning system,
police and public procurement and recent controversies
surrounding the sale of NAMA portfolios.
Top performing countries are also believed to share key
characteristics:

high levels of press freedom

access to budget information so the public knows where

money comes from and how it is spent
high levels of integrity among people in power
and judiciaries that do not differentiate between rich and
poor, and that are truly independent of other parts of
government
Top performing countries are also believed to share key
characteristics:
high levels of press freedom
access to budget information so the public knows where
money comes from and how it is spent
high levels of integrity among people in powerand
judiciaries that do not differentiate between rich and poor,
and that are truly independent of other parts of
government""
More ACCOUNTABILITY is needed

Ireland falls one place (from 18th to 19th) in

Corruption Perceptions Index for 2016
Dublin, 25 January 2017
Transparency International (TI) has warned of the
role corruption poses in fuelling anti-democratic
populism and the dangers of populism itself as it
publishes its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for
2016 today. Ireland has slipped one place on the
CPI for 2016. The findings show a fall in Irelands
ranking in the index since 2015 from 18 to 19 out
of 176 countries, with those countries near the top
of the CPI being considered to be the least affected
by corruption.
TI Ireland has repeated its call on the Government
to invest resources and political capital in
promoting higher ethical standards in public life.

Noonan is accused of

'rolling out the red carpet

for vulture funds'
Charlie Weston Twitter
EMAIL
PUBLISHED
16/03/2015

1
Michael Noonan

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has been

accused of "rolling out the red carpet" for
vulture funds buying up mortgages and
other distressed assets.
And he has also been accused of snubbing advocacy
groups for mortgage holders.
New figures show that officials in the Department of
Finance met with private equity vulture firms 65 times in

2013 and 2014. Mr Noonan attended eight of these

meetings.
But just five meetings were held with advocacy groups for
mortgage holders - and the minister did not attend any of
these, according to information released to Fianna Fil's
Michael McGrath.
Data supplied in a Dil answer to Mr McGrath shows the
minister met with Texas-headquartered Lone Star three
times last year.
The US vulture fund bought sub-prime lender Start
Mortgages and a string of commercial loan books from
State bad bank Nama.
Mr Noonan also met with US private equity group
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2014.
The previous year the minister was at two of the six
meetings when his officials talked with US investment
fund Apollo, where former Bank of Ireland boss Brian
Goggin is an executive.
Mr Goggin was the chief executive of Bank of Ireland when
it was bailed out by the State after a disastrous lending
binge.
Finance officials had a number of meetings with
unregulated funds that bought residential mortgage books
in the last two years. Departmental officials met with
private equity giants CarVal, Apollo Asset Management
and Lone Star, groups that bid to buy portions of the IBRC
mortgage books.
However, Mr Noonan was not at meetings his officials had
with the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, the Free
Legal Advice Centre, New Beginning and Brendan Burgess
of Askaboutmoney.com.
Mr McGrath said: "Minister Noonan met eight times with
private equity groups during 2013 and 2104, while failing
to meet at all with advocacy groups for mortgage holders."
He accused the minister of "rolling out the red carpet" for
vulture funds and ignoring mortgage holders in distress".
"The contrast could not be greater with how the red carpet
is rolled out by his department for private equity and

vulture funds, who are in many instances looking to profit

from the very difficulties which mortgage holders are
experiencing."
He said people whose mortgages were bought by an
unregulated entity were living in fear of interest rate
increases and aggressive legal action.
Defended
But a Department of Finance spokesman defended the
meetings, which he said were arranged with a view to
protect jobs.
"The issue of meeting potential investors to create jobs is
separate to the issue of mortgage arrears," the minister's
spokesman said.
He said the situation around mortgage arrears was a
"legacy issue caused by the disastrous management of the
economy by the last government".
He added: "There is no one-size-fits-all solution for all
mortgages in arrears."
http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/noonan-is-accused-ofrolling-out-the-red-carpet-for-vulture-funds-31069286.html

Central Bank
whistleblower hotline
went unanswered

Charlie Weston Twitter

EMAIL
PUBLISHED
26/01/2017

1
Karl Deeter: Situation over phone line not good enough

The Central Bank has been left red-faced

after it emerged a whistleblower phone
hotline it set up was not manned, while the
voicemail was not activated.
=

There were also issues with emails sent to the special

whistleblower address not being answered.

Following the banking collapse, the Central Bank was

pressed to put a so-called protected disclosure facility in
place that would allow staff in financial services
companies to report questionable and illegal activity,
particularly in banks.
The banking collapse cost taxpayers 64bn.
The whistleblower hotline was not answered when this
journalist called it a number of times over the past few
days.
A senior person in a financial institution, spoken to by this
newspaper, who emailed the special whistleblower email
address at the Central Bank, says he got no response.
Legislation was enacted in 2013 to give whistleblowers
protection when making disclosures to the Central Bank.
As well as protecting whistleblowers, the protected
disclosures law places obligations on certain categories of
people in firms to disclose breaches of financial services
legislation to the Central Bank.
Whistleblowers making a disclosure under the law must
have reasonable grounds for believing there has been a
breach of financial services legislation or the concealment
or destruction of evidence relating to such an offence.
Crucially, the protected disclosures law means
whistleblowers are protected from civil liability, and their
employer may not penalise them for making the
disclosure. An employer may be prosecuted for penalising
an employee who makes a protected disclosure.
Compliance officer with Irish Mortgage Brokers Karl
Deeter said it was not good enough that the whistleblower
phone line was not being answered and emails not getting
a response.
"Imagine if you called 999 to report a crime and no-one
answered. What would you think of our police service?" he
said.
A Central Bank spokesman claimed the problem has now
been rectified after the situation was raised with it by the
Irish Independent.
"This arose from an IT problem. When notified of the

outage, we immediately amended the numbers on the

website to ensure that calls were routed to a staff
member's number, restoring access for anyone looking to
make a disclosure.
"The 1890 number is now restored, and is back on
centralbank.ie."
He said correspondence received by the Central Bank
through its protected disclosure channel is treated
seriously and examined thoroughly.
"It is a valuable channel for the Central Bank to receive
reports in a confidential form.
"Where a person wishes to disclose to the Central Bank an
alleged offence, breach of financial services legislation or
concealment or destruction of evidence of such, they may
make the disclosure by post, email or over the phone," the
spokesman said.
http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/central-bankwhistleblower-hotline-went-unanswered-35399044.html

Regulator is poised to
relax credit union rules
on mortgages

Charlie Weston Twitter

EMAIL
PUBLISHED
24/01/2017

1
Credit unions have limits imposed on them, with the value of their
overall loan books restricting what they can issue as mortgages,
but the Central Bank said it was reviewing the rules. Stock Image

Hopes have been raised that rules limiting

the amount of mortgage lending by credit
unions may be relaxed.
Credit unions have limits imposed on them, with the value
of their overall loan books restricting what they can issue
as mortgages, but the Central Bank said it was reviewing
the rules.
The move to review the mortgage restrictions comes as
credit unions are stepping up their efforts to capture some
of the rising demand for mortgages.

The Government's help-to-buy rebate for first-time buyers

and a shortage of housing mean mortgage demand is
strong.
A new initiative means credit unions are expected to stepup mortgage lending.
They are to target first-time buyers, trader-uppers and
those looking to acquire properties in tenant-purchase
schemes.
They could lend up to 400m this year, this despite having
some 5bn to loan out. Current rules mean they can issue
only 10pc of their individual loan books in long-term
lending, such as mortgages.
But the Central Bank said it was reviewing the rules, in a
move that could give a massive competitive boost to the
home-loans market.
"Longer-term lending limits are constantly under review
by us and are also being addressed in the strategic
dialogue forum we initiated last year," a spokesman for the
Central Bank said.
Proposals for changes to the restrictions on long-term
lending have already been put to credit union
representative bodies.
http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/propertymortgages/regulator-is-poised-to-relax-credit-union-rules-onmortgages-35392618.html

Investigation into Sean

FitzPatrick marked by

'coaching' of key
witnesses - court hears
Shane Phelan Twitter
EMAIL
PUBLISHED
26/01/2017

1
Sean Fitzpatrick. Photo: Collins Courts

An investigation into former Anglo Irish

Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick was marked
by the coaching of key witnesses, a court

hard heard.
b
The bombshell claim was made by a lawyer representing
Mr FitzPatrick, who denies charges of misleading auditors
about the size of multi-million euro loans he had from the
bank.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has been hearing evidence
from Kevin OConnell, a legal advisor in the Office of the
Director of Corporate Enforcement, who led the
investigation into Mr FitzPatrick.
Beginning his cross examination of Mr OConnell, Mr
FitzPatricks barrister Bernard Condon SC said he was
going to assert that the investigation was unfair due to
the manner in which statements had been taken from two
Ernst & Young auditors, Kieran Kelly and Vincent Bergin.
I say this investigation was one that was marked by
coaching of the witnesses and that you permitted the
witnesses to contaminate each other, said Mr Condon.
He said Mr Bergin and Mr Kelly got to read each others
statements before they were submitted to the ODCE.
Mr Kelly was Anglos auditor between 2002 and 2004,
while Mr Bergin audited the bank between 2006 and
2007.
The barrister said he would be putting it to Mr OConnell
that he failed to conduct a fair investigation.
Mr OConnell did not make any comment on the accuracy
of Mr Condons claims, but said he had anticipated the
defence would make such arguments.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/investigation-into-seanfitzpatrick-marked-by-coaching-of-key-witnesses-court-hears35400373.html

You and your friends keep the streets

safe! Whether its petty criminals or a
mob boss, nobody can hide from you! As
Commissioner you have everything
under control! You impress others with
Honesty and Confidence.
Theresa is your Deputy Commissioner
and is famous for Kindness. In your unit
Theresa is also known as Leopard.
Peter is your Criminal Inspector and is
famous for Justice. In your unit
Peter is also known as Bear.
Nachida is your Good Cop and is famous
for Determination. In your unit
Nachida is also known as Fox.
Sarah is your Sniper and is famous for

Creativity. In your unit

Sarah is also known as Wolf.
Nikita is your Bad Cop and is famous for
Attentiveness. In your unit
Nikita is also known as Lion.
Louise is your Gangster and is famous
for Spontaneity. In your unit
Louise is also know as Tiger.
Rita, among your colleagues you are
known as Hyena!
Share your group of reliable and
adventurous friends and show everyone
that criminals don't stand a chance
against you!

The fortune teller's glimpse into your

future promises exciting as well as

mysterious events! You will experience

many great things but you will have to
earn your happiness. You will easily
succeed at this task because you are full
of hope and enjoy life to its fullest. You
deserve that fate is in your favor! Share
your prophecy and show everybody that
the tarot cards mean well for you!

Rita, your bright and shiny future awaits

you! Many amazing things are in store
for you in the coming years. But here are
the highlights of some of the awesome
things that are going to happen:
In 2017, you will Move to a new country
and in 2018 you will finally Get a dream
job offer. 2019 will be very exciting

because you will Buy an island. In the

golden year 2020, you will Win the
lottery. Wow! That sounds like a plan for
the future. We wish you all the best.

Rita, your wisdom quote is enlightening!

These words will guide you through
tough days and help you feel stronger.
They will also remind you to believe in
yourself and that you are a wonderful
human being.

Rita, in the magical crystal ball we see

your bright future!
It's clear to anyone who looks into the
crystal ball that you have your life under
control and that you will soon achieve
your goals. All of your dreams are going
to come true and you will celebrate
many great successes. You are on the
right path!
But the crystal ball still has a piece of
advice for your: your lucky stone is an
amethyst. Carry it with you at all times
and you will become even more
successful!

Share your result with your friends now

and show them what the crystal ball
reveals about your future!

Irish Water's ability to

become a standalone
utility is questioned
Paul Melia Twitter
EMAIL
PUBLISHED
26/01/2017

1
Jerry Grant, managing director of Irish Water, and Michael
McNicholas, Group CEO of Ervia, at Leinster House to attend the
Oireachtas committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water
Services. Photo: Tom Burke

Irish Water's ability to operate as a

standalone utility has been called into
question in a new report showing the State
can borrow money at a cheaper rate to fund
network upgrades.
=
=

A NewEra report on funding options says Irish Water has

almost 1.3bn worth of lending facilities in place, and
spends 20m servicing the cost of this.
The money could be borrowed at cheaper rates which
would save money, said the report, released under
Freedom of Information rules.
It raises questions about the ability of the water utility to
become a standalone entity, capable of borrowing money
which falls outside Government debt. This was among the

main reasons why it was established in 2013.

It also said the utility's ability to raise new money over the
coming years was linked to the future of domestic charges,
and financial commitment of the State in funding
upgrades and providing financing for day-to-day
operations.
The report also said that households that refused to pay
their water bills owed the utility some 127m.
It comes as a special Dil committee on the Future
Funding of Water Services continues public hearings on
how the utility's 5.5bn capital investment plan out to
2021 will be financed.
The Department of Housing told the committee it had
concerns about the impact a referendum on retaining the
network in public ownership would have on group water
schemes and private water supplies.
While the Government had not ruled out a referendum,
which would cost around 20m, it was in discussions with
the Attorney General about a form of words which would
not impact on private property rights and result in
"unintended consequences".
The NewEra report set out a number of possible funding
options, including allowing Irish Water to continue to
borrow, a mix of private and State funding, and
Government money.
But it warned that if the State became the primary lender
to the utility over the coming years, it could limit its ability
to become an independent agency at a future date.
advertisement

Advertisement 00:23

This is because Eurostat, the statistical agency of the

European Union, may consider it overly reliant on the
Government, meaning that it cannot be classed as a
standalone entity and its borrowings will remain part of
overall national debt.
In 2015, Eurostat ruled that Irish Water's borrowings had
to remain on the State's balance sheet after it failed to pass
the 'Market Corporation Test'.
The NewEra report said there was "currently limited
visibility" as to when it may be classified as being outside
the Government sector, and that up to three years of data
may be required before it can be reconsidered by Eurostat.
"On this basis, we believe that it is currently difficult to
justify the incremental cost of maintaining Irish Water's
external borrowings (relative to the cost of State funding)
and would recommend that Government give
consideration to replacing Irish Water's debt facilities, and
funding for Irish Water's future borrowing requirements,
with State funding," it said.
The utility has put in place some 1.3bn in external debt
facilities, of which 450m is drawn from the Ireland
Strategic Investment Fund and the remainder from private
lenders.
Most of the debt is short-term and refinanced on an
annual basis.
Irish Water says if it could draw down funding on a
longer-term basis, the cost would fall from 20m to 5m.
It plans to borrow 3.9bn by 2021.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irish-waters-ability-to-becomea-standalone-utility-is-questioned-35398999.html

Government suffers

double defeat in Dail but

Stardust motion passed
Niall O'Connor Political Correspondent
PUBLISHED
26/01/2017

1
The interior of the Stardust which went on fire in the early hours of
St Valentines Day ,1981. Photo: Independent Newspapers

The Government has suffered a double

defeat in the Dil.
Bills on the issues of fossil fuels and tracker mortgages put forward by Independent TD Thomas Pringle and Sinn
Fin deputy Pearse Doherty - were passed by a
comfortable majority.
As politicians, we have sent out a message of solidarity
with the victims and marked the card of the banks that
they need to sort out the mess they created, Mr Doherty
said afterwards.
But the Governments counter motion on the issue of the
Stardust tragedy was successfully passed.

The motion proposes to appoint a retired judge to lead a

scoping exercise into new evidence relating to the fire in
the Artane nightclub in 1981.

Wicklow Solicitor Pat OToole

charged with corruption
Posted on January 25, 2017 by admin

.entry-header

Here are the reports in this weeks local paper regarding

the arrest and charging of Wicklow Solicitor and
subsequent property developer Pat OToole on Corruption
charges stemming from an interaction with disgraced
former Town Clerk and senior Wicklow County Council
official Frank OToole (No relation). Frank OToole was
found guilty of corruption last year and was let off with a
suspended sentence and a 10,000 fine. The judge at the
time said a custodial sentence would serve no
purpose??????
This is a very welcome development as the courts begin to
unravel the many many corruption scandals that seem to
come thick and fast when looking at Local Government in
Wicklow.
Indeed a file detailing a lot of these corruption scandals
was delivered by hand to the Department of the
environment personal secretary to minister Alan Kelly. In a

phone call a few months ago to the department that I

made I was told that the decision to have an investigation
into corruption in Wicklow Local government had not been
made yet. Now with a new minister, it is still being hidden
by Simon Coveney and his new department.
The full details of every scandal will probably never be
known due to an ongoing campaign by those involved to
destroy evidence, block and deceive at every turn. But the
vast majority will come out whether they like it or not. No
law they hide behind will stop that coming. Once the
Pandoras box has been opened I say to these people.
Good luck shutting and putting all the revelations back in
the box
Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality
(Deputy David Stanton): I move: That Dil ireann approve
the exercise by the Stat

Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training: Motion

26/01/2017
21 July 2016 Chuaigh an Leas-Cheann Comhairle i
gceannas ar 10.00 a.m. Paidir. Prayer. 10
oclock21/07/2016A00100European
21/07/2016A00200Minister of State at the Department of
Justice and Equality (Deputy David Stanton): I move: That
Dil ireann approve the exercise by the State of the
option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position
of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of
freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on
European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of
the European Union, to accept the following measure:
Regulation (EU) 2015/2219 of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 25th November, 2015 on the
European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training
(CEPOL) and repealing and replacing Council Decision
2005/681/JHA, a copy of which was laid before Dil
ireann on 13th April, 2016. I am very pleased to move
this motion in the House today. It gives me an opportunity
to describe the service provided by the European Union

Agency for Law Enforcement Training, CEPOL, and

highlight the benefit it brings to An Garda Sochana. The
motion, if passed, will allow Ireland to exercise its right
under Protocol No. 21 of the Treaty on European Union and
the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to opt
in to the EU regulation on CEPOL. CEPOL, which is the
European police college, was established in 2005. It brings
together senior police officers from across the EU and
aims to encourage cross-border co-operation in the fight
against crime and the maintenance of public security and
law and order through training and exchange programmes
and the sharing of research and best practice. Since 2005,
An Garda Sochana has played an important part in CEPOL
EU training by organising courses in the Garda college for
participants from EU member states to attend. These
include training programmes on language development,
human rights, community policing, confiscation of assets
and counterfeit medicines. The expertise of members of
An Garda Sochana has proven beneficial to CEPOL
programmes through their involvement in training
programmes in other member states on a wide variety of
policing topics including management, public order and
crowd management, issues regarding the Schengen
Agreement, counterfeit goods, organised crime and drugs.
In more recent times, CEPOL has provided training
programmes to address emerging policing and security
issues such as fundamentalism and immigration. As a
result, CEPOL has been successful in developing the
talents of garda and their ability to network and cooperate with other European counterparts. As we can see
from the almost daily terrorist attacks that have begun to
define the world we live in, terrorism and organised crime
are constantly changing forms and means. The sharing of
good practice, prevention techniques and use of modern
tools to address these threats is vital in our efforts to
protect citizens and combat crime. The new CEPOL
regulation, which replaced the 2005 council decision, was
introduced to enhance CEPOLs operational mandate and
reforms its governance in line with general principles laid
down in the Lisbon treaty. The general aim of the
regulation is to improve EU security through the
implementation by CEPOL of a new training approach for

EU law enforcement officers consistent with the evolving

priorities for operational law enforcement co- operation.
Moreover, the regulation has widened the target group of
law enforcement officials that CEPOL should serve as well
as expanding its research function and association with
relevant bodies. The regulation was drafted on the basis of
the European Commissions communication on the law
enforcement training scheme, known as LETS. The LETS
aims to make the EUs response to common security
challenges more effective, to raise the standard of policing
across the EU and to stimulate the development of a
common law enforcement culture as a means of
enhancing mutual trust and co-operation. In this regard,
the regulation identifies and addresses gaps in existing
law enforcement training on cross-border matters by
supporting and, where appropriate, co-ordinating the
delivery of training by European and national centres of
excellence. The regulation provides CEPOL with the
appropriate legal mandate and necessary resources to
implement the training effort envisaged in the
communication. In addition, the scope of CEPOLs
mandate is broadened so that it can support, develop,
deliver and co-ordinate learning activities for law
enforcement officials of all ranks and not only police
officers of senior rank, as is the case under the old CEPOL
decision, as well as to officers of customs and of other
relevant services dealing with cross-border issues. This
means that if we opt in, our customs officials will also be
able to benefit from the training provided. Perhaps equally
as valuable, the regulation ensures that the agency
remains network-based, bringing together the network of
training institutes of the member states for the law
enforcement officials and liaising with a
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single national unit in each member state. This, as I am
sure Deputies will appreciate, will allow An Garda Sochna
to continue to build networks of counterparts in other EU
jurisdictions which can be used for other operational
intelligence sharing outside the CEPOL framework.

Furthermore, the core objectives of CEPOL were updated

and clarified so that the agency may improve awareness
and knowledge of international and EU instruments and
the institutions, agencies and bodies of the EU. It will now
also encourage the development of regional and bilateral
co-operation among the member states and address
specific criminal or policing thematic areas where training
at EU level can add value, in addition to the national level.
In summary, the regulation expands and provides clarity
on the role of CEPOL and improves governance in the
management, accountability and procedures for the
CEPOL secretariat and the member states involved in
police training. For all of these reasons, I hope Deputies
can agree that Irelands participation in the regulation will
be of tremendous value to An Garda Sochna and our
customs service. It will also send a clear message that
Ireland continues to support CEPOL and values the service
it provides. As the regulation came into effect on 1 July
2016, it is important to signal our desire to participate as
soon as possible to ensure that An Garda Sochna
continues to be part of the European Union Agency for
Law Enforcement Training, CEPOL, and benefits from the
service it provides. Deputies will be mindful of the
importance of training for our law enforcement agencies.
The Garda Inspectorate, in its report on the future of
policing in Ireland from 2007, indicated that, historically,
police services have dedicated substantial resources to
recruit training but did not invest appropriately in the longterm professional development of personnel. The recently
published Garda Sochna Modernisation and Renewal
Programme 2016-2021 identifies training and
development as a key requirement in developing a
modern, efficient police service. It stresses that training is
critical to the success of that modernisation programme
and CEPOL can continue to provide a valuable service in
this regard. I strongly believe continued participation in
CEPOL will provide huge benefit to An Garda Sochna and
the Customs at no cost to the Irish Exchequer. Put simply, I
can see no reason Ireland would not wish to participate in
this regulation. It is clear, from all the reasons I have
presented, that CEPOL delivers tangible benefits to our law
enforcement agencies and, as such, I invite Deputies to

support the motion before them. In so doing, Members will

allow our police service to continue to benefit from the
invaluable training provided by CEPOL and to learn from
and engage with other European partners to assist in the
fight against crime. 21/07/2016B00200Deputy Jim
OCallaghan: The 28th amendment to the Constitution
approved by the people in October 2009 allowed Ireland to
ratify the Lisbon treaty. That amendment changed Article
29 of the Constitution and expressly allowed Ireland to
exercise options or discretions under Protocol No. 21 of the
European treaty. Protocol No. 21 of the treaty allows
Ireland and the United Kingdom to opt out of a number of
the treatys provisions governing security, policing and
justice, but to our benefit, Article 4 of Protocol No. 21
allows Ireland to opt into some measures adopted by our
European partners in respect of policing, security and
justice, without the British so doing. This is what we seek
to exercise here today because on 23 November 2015, the
Council and European Parliament adopted Regulation (EU)
2015/2219, which enhances the operational mandate of
CEPOL and reforms its governance. The general objective
of the regulation is to improve EU security through the
implementation by CEPOL of a new training approach for
EU police and customs officers. The regulation was
implemented on 1 July 2016. Under Article 29 of the
Constitution, a resolution must be approved by both
Houses of the Oireachtas if we wish to opt into a provision
under Protocol No. 21. Fianna Fil will support the motion
before the House, as it will be of benefit to policing both in
Ireland and in Europe. It also is worth pointing out that we
should be concentrating on the importance of education
and improving excellence in our policing service as well as
considering how it operates in a European context.
Policing has become an extremely complex and difficult
profession. If one considers some changes that have taken
place in the area of criminality and the issues the Garda
must investigate, one will note it has become a difficult
and demanding profession. I will give examples of three
recent changes that impose great demands on An Garda
Sochna and which illustrate why it is so important to
have greater training for the Garda and to seek to
emphasise the importance of further training and

education in An Garda Sochna. I refer first to the

increasing complexity of certain financial crimes. It now is
apparent that certain white collar crimes are of such
financial complexity it is necessary to have great expertise
to investigate them. We must have expertise
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in both forensic accounting and company law to be able
to trace some of the alleged white collar crimes that take
place. A second example of recent change is the use of
the Internet, particularly in crimes against children. This
requires great and increased levels of expertise in
information technology and in how to examine computers.
Finally, historic complaints require understanding on the
part of An Garda Sochna that there must be an
appreciation of the psychology as to why people
legitimately take their time and delay in making
complaints because of the impact the offence may have
had upon them. All these issues illustrate that policing is a
demanding profession, and to improve it, we must place
greater emphasis in Ireland on the requirement to improve
the educational standards and expertise of An Garda
Sochna. This perhaps could be done in three ways and I
acknowledge they may be seeking to expand this in
Europe and some European countries already allow for
this. We first must improve and expand the professional
development of An Garda Sochna in order that its
members who seek to go on to do third level studies and
who obtain third level qualifications are facilitated in so
doing and derive benefit from so doing. Second, we must
consider graduate recruitment into An Garda Sochna.
While graduates are entitled to be recruited into An Garda
Sochna, they derive no benefit from being recruited as a
graduate. In other countries, there is some fast- track
promotion for those who enter at a starting level and who
have the benefit of a graduate degree. If a graduate
degree is beneficial and useful, it should be of some
benefit in a persons promotion up through the force.
Third, we must also consider recruitment of people from
other police forces, as well as members of the Garda

Reserve. Many Irish garda went overseas and got jobs in

Canadian police forces and a recruitment method is
needed whereby they can be taken back in to the force at
a sufficiently high level. All these measures emphasise the
ongoing importance of education within An Garda
Sochna and for this reason, Fianna Fil will support this
motion as we believe the European college of police is
essential to improve the development of police forces
throughout Europe. 21/07/2016B00300Deputy David
Cullinane: It has long been the position of Sinn Fin to
support international co-operation on justice matters
within a sovereign framework that ensures human rights
compliance. Sinn Fin supports the States participation in
European Union-level and international co-operation in
criminal justice matters where this clearly serves the
public interest, but not to cede national sovereignty over
or democratic oversight of such matters. In particular, we
will resist any moves towards establishing exclusive EU
competence over any area of justice, including that of
police training. That said, Sinn Fin supports the practice
of sharing knowledge and experience in an effort to
improve standards. We wish to ensure that all EU and
international co-operation in criminal justice matters,
including when this simply pertains to training, complies
fully with human rights standards and that any cooperation or voluntary harmonisation works to enhance
human rights. I urge the Minister of State to ensure the
Irish delegation and representatives to CEPOL reflect this.
As the Minister of State is aware, however, beyond this
Sinn Fin has adopted a general policy of critical
engagement on EU policies and legislative proposals. This
means we are willing to support those we believe will be of
benefit to the Irish people and will oppose those we
believe will be detrimental. In deciding its position on
justice matters, Sinn Fin examines any EU policy proposal
against critical engagement criteria I will set out. The first
is whether it respects or fundamentally compromises
national sovereignty over justice. The second is whether it
advances or rolls back human rights protections. The third
is whether it respects or compromises the interests of
smaller nations or minority groups within those nations.
The fourth is whether the proposal was arrived at through

democratic dialogue and consultation with civil society

and fifth, whether its outworking will be transparent and
subject to democratic accountability. Sinn Fin is not alone
within the European Union in this regard, as many
different countries, political parties and individuals within
systems have similar types of approaches to these issues.
To be valid, any European Union harmonisation or cooperation measure in the area of justice or training for
those engaged in the administration of justice should have
as its objective the increased protection of human rights. I
seek clarity from the Minister of State as to whether this is
the case in this regard. I further ask the Minister of State
to stipulate the number of officers who will be assigned to
CEPOL as our communities already are suffering from the
reduction in policing numbers and resources. Will the
Minister of State indicate what resources will be allocated
to CEPOL, as per section 4 of Article 6 in Chapter II of the
regulation? I further ask the Minister of State to indicate
whether the financial irregularities uncovered in CEPOL in
the past have been addressed to his satisfaction.
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At one point, the European Court of Auditors found there
had been a high number of breaches of EU administrative
and financial rules at CEPOL and I hope the necessary
changes have taken place. Sinn Fin is committed to
ensuring we have policing that reflects total human rights
compliance. We need robust standards and systems to
end and prevent into the future the types of systemic
human rights abuses that have characterised police forces
across this island in the past. Moreover, Sinn Fin believes
that there is no inherent conflict between human rights
and policing because good policing is the protection of
human rights. This should be the core position of any
learning activities steered by CEPOL and, ultimately,
CEPOL should not be allowed to dictate the training needs
of domestic police services. The Irish people alone have
the right to determine policy questions and to set the law
regarding the administration of justice in Ireland and the
training of those who administer it. There should be a

greatly increased role in civil society for advising on

training matters for An Garda Sochna. For example,
there is great scope for increased co-operation between
An Garda Sochna and the domestic violence and sexual
violence sectors. They are well placed to advise on further
training for garda. This must be accompanied by
appropriate resourcing. Within a human rights based
framework Sinn Fin supports international co-operation in
the area of justice where this is necessary to fight crime
and, in particular, cross-Border trafficking of drugs,
weapons and human beings and in the interests of child
protection. However, we believe it is equally essential to
safeguard against the creation of further victims through
human rights violations, so such measures must be
compatible with human security and reflected in CEPOL
training. 21/07/2016C00200Deputy Brendan Howlin: The
Labour Party supports the adoption of this regulation.
CEPOL is the acronym for the European Police College,
which continues to be a useful training device for police. In
the international world of criminal activity, we need to
have the expertise gathered from one nation shared. The
European Police College was based in Bramshill in
Hampshire up to September 2014, when it was then
relocated to Budapest. Efforts were made at the time to
have it relocated to Templemore but that did not come to
pass and the college is now located in Budapest. It would
have been useful to have the centre located here. The
European Police College is an important training centre
and we support it. The aim of Europol is to share best
policing practice. Its close cousin, CEPOL, is not as well
known but is also really important as a training element to
support the objectives of Europol. The original council
proposal was to merge Europol and CEPOL but that was
resisted by a number of member states at the time. What
have now is a stand-alone proposal in relation to CEPOL,
which is better. I would like to raise a couple of issues
with the Minister of State in relation to how we do this
type of business. I am minded by the comments of the two
previous speakers. The fact that we are exercising a
protocol on the position of the UK and Ireland to opt into a
regulation in respect of the area of freedom, security and
justice indicates that we were hangers on to a UK position

when Article 4 of Protocol 21 was annexed to the Treaty of

the European Union. In light of our co-operation with
Britain on security matters, it was determined that we
should have the same opt-in or opt-out mechanism as the
UK. What will be the impact of the British decision to exit
the European Union on this protocol, our continued cooperation in police and justice matters on an all-island
basis and on an east-west basis with the United Kingdom?
Have these issues been explored? I presume we can
continue to use the existing protocol for future opt-ins or
opt- outs or will it be necessary to modify it subsequent to
the exit of the UK from the European Union? All of these
things add a complication. My second point relates to the
way we do our business. In the United Kingdom, the
European Affairs Committee deals with these matters and
makes recommendations in the blind of the attitude of
Government, such that when the committee brings its
proposals to parliament the attitude of Government is not
known. If we are to have respect for the new politics, that
is the way this business should be done here too. In other
words, these matters should in the first instance be
referred to the appropriate committee of the Houses for it
to shape an opinion, following which the Government can
partner in the decision-making. In regard to the general
reforms in An Garda Sochna, training is critical. I strongly
endorse the views of my Fianna Fil colleague, Deputy Jim
OCallaghan, in relation to the recruitment area. I have
raised this issue many times. The only way a person can
join An Garda Sochna is as a new recruit. I was
approached by a young man who was a commander in the
Singapore police force and has great experience but he is
unwilling to return here to join An Garda Sochna as a
recruit. There are many people who have years of
experience internationally who will not come back here to
join An Garda Sochna as a
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recruit. Even if the age limit allowed for this, it is not the
way to go. This issue needs to be examined. I am
interested in hearing the Minister of States views on the

status of the protocol post-Brexit, the mechanism for

ratification in this jurisdiction and whether we should look
to model ourselves in the British system in terms of giving
more autonomy to the committees to do this business
rather than bring it before the House and on the issue of
recruitment. 21/07/2016C00300An Leas-Cheann
Comhairle: The next speaker is Deputy Mick Barry. Is the
Deputy sharing time with Deputy Brd Smith?
21/07/2016C00400Deputy Mick Barry: Yes.
21/07/2016C00500An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Is that
agreed? Agreed. 21/07/2016C00600Deputy Mick Barry:
This motion will give effect to Irish participation in the
European Police College, CEPOL. As well as uncontroversial
courses such as language, training and so on, this year
CEPOL is holding courses in the following areas: informant
handling, undercover operations, radicalisation, social
media policing, and the use of passenger name data, etc..
My colleague, Deputy Brd Smith, will address issues
relating to Fortress Europe. I would like to know more
about the aforementioned courses. For example, what is
covered in the undercover operations course? Presumably,
we will be told it deals with terrorism, etc.. Many
undercover operations in Europe are related not to
terrorism, but to social campaigns. I wonder if PC Mark
Kennedy of the British Metropolitan Police is being asked
to speak at the CEPOL training courses this summer. Mr.
Kennedy was involved in undercover operations in this
State, including at Rossport with the Shell to Sea
campaign, the May Day protest and the anti-war
campaigns at Shannon Airport. In January 2011, President
Michael D. Higgins said: It is of grave concern. This type
of activity undermines respect for the law and it is very
sinister in that it can damage good causes. An MIT
research scientist, Harry Halpin, who was spied on by PC
Kennedy in a different country at a different time said:
What we are seeing globally is the rise of dangerous new
authoritarian secret States, whose architecture of
oppression is aimed at suppressing social change. I
would like to speak about Operation Mizen and the
manner in which the Irish State used the police to monitor
the Facebook and other social media pages of anti-water
charge activists, as admitted by the Tnaiste and Minister

for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, in the

House in October, but I want to allow my colleague,
Deputy Brd Smith, to deal with other issues.
21/07/2016D00100Deputy Brd Smith: When I read
through this and all it implies, I realise that if I was running
a right-wing State that wanted to batten down the
hatches, control workers rights and stop refugees from
receiving the support and shelter they deserve, I would
probably be in favour of CEPOL training my police force
because it would be watching all of the left-wing and
radical people who want to change society and send it in a
different direction. In particular, my police force would be
trained to support fortress Europe and Frontex, which is a
European-wide police force with 1,500 police operatives
whose only objective is to stop refugees getting across
Europe. We have spoken about this previously in the
House. I was in Greece earlier this year and visited many
of the refugee camps and the borders where these police
forces operate. It is quite sickening to see a group of
human beings holding back another desperate group of
human beings. There are terrified, traumatised and hungry
children who are desperate for safety and security with
their families trying to get to the wealthiest part of the
planet. The EU is the wealthiest part of the planet, yet we
intend participating in Frontex, which does not deal with
mass migration but is about resisting a refugee crisis and
containing people in the most desperate parts of the
world, including Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali and beyond.
On the grounds that CEPOL would train our police force to
contain refugees, I appeal to people in this House to have
a bit of humanity and not participate in the sort of
Robocop scenes I witnessed in Greece, which involved the
police literally holding back desperate populations from
receiving the sort of the sanctity and security they
deserve under countless international agreements to
which we have signed up through the UN and the Geneva
Convention. They are all being broken by participation in
this police force. 21/07/2016D00200Deputy Clare Daly: We
are talking about updating and expanding the remit of
CEPOL, the European police training body. We are told that
the measure will succeed in improving EU security through
enhanced training and co-operation, particularly in the

areas of serious crime and terrorism. The idea of police

authorities working across borders to combat serious
crime is obviously welcome, but there is a certain irony in
that. When we went through the annual pantomime of
passing the Emergency Powers Act and the Offences
Against the State Act earlier this year, I made the point
that the Criminal Justice (Joint Investigation Teams) Act,
which has been on our Statute Book since 2004
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Garda Commissioner to engage in joint policing operations
with other members of the EU to combat serious crime,
but we have never invoked that measure. Instead, we
have repeatedly introduced violations of human rights by
signing up to the Offences Against the State Act and so on
and have continued to criminalise the victims of drug
abuse and poverty. Meanwhile, the people the measures
was supposed to target - the big boys - are living it up on
the Costa del Sol. Everybody would welcome any
measures involving co-operation across borders in dealing
with serious crime. However, the reality is that many
measures are already there and have not been invoked.
Whatever about a certain legitimacy in the area of serious
crime, where such measures really fall down is in areas
such as supposedly helping in the fight against terrorism.
Trying to fight terrorism through changed policing methods
and co-ordination is like holding back the sea with a
bucket. If we are really serious about tackling terrorism,
we have got to get to the roots of why people end up
engaging in terrorist activity. We should start by looking at
Europes seemingly endless supplying of arms to fuel wars
around the world. We should stop supporting those wars,
stop facilitating the use of Shannon Airport by the US
military and so on. We would deal with ghettoisation,
social exclusion and State-sanctioned racism. Look at the
slaughter unleashed in Iraq over the past two months
alone, with 69 people killed in Baghdad in May, 30 in June
and 300 in July. The instability exported to all corners of
the world through Western intervention is coming home to

roost. We have created a monster in that sense. The idea

that more police powers will deal with that is simply a
failed strategy, and we know that because that is what
experience has taught us. The more we try to use the
police to fight terrorism, the more terrorists we create,
because it is a failed strategy and we are not dealing with
the root causes. In that sense, I do not think CEPOL is
appropriate at all. It is a bit ironic that the stated
objective is emphasising the protection of human rights.
This is talked about a lot in terms of An Garda Sochna,
but it is a far cry from the reality of how An Garda
Sochna has operated. With regard to the announcement
in the past number of days of the barristers panel
commissioned by the Minister for Justice and Equality for
the review mechanism for cases of historical malpractice
and abuse by members of An Garda Sochna, which was
just a whitewash, the damage done to hundreds of Irish
citizens because of violations of human rights by members
of An Garda Sochna has never been properly tackled.
Increasing police powers and surveillance, which gives the
State huge powers to invade peoples privacy, as the
Minister has stated she intends to do, is not the answer to
this. We need to deal with proper Garda accountability.
Many of the European police forces have had similar or
worse problems, so when we sign up to joint co-operation
with these bodies, we should be careful what we are
signing up to. That said, there are areas from which we
can benefit. The incestuous or small-scale nature of An
Garda Sochna has been a particular problem, so a breath
of fresh air from outside the State would certainly assist in
that regard. However, the way in which this motion has
been presented is very one-sided and it will not do what it
says on the tin. 21/07/2016D00300Deputy Bernard J.
Durkan: I am glad to have an opportunity to speak on this
particularly important motion. I strongly support the
concept and have done so for many years. National and
international crime is becoming very sophisticated and
requires a co-ordinated effort on the part of police forces
globally. This means that they need to be able to
understand and speak to each other and have a common
concept of what policing is. Our police need to be up to
date on the procedures followed in these situations.

Reference has been made to the possibility of transfers

between police forces. This is a very good idea that should
be taken on board. There is provision under the Good
Friday Agreement for transfers up to a certain point
between Northern Ireland and here, and this should be
extended. There is great scope for people who have
experience in other police forces to transfer. I see no
reason they cannot transfer right across Europe under this
concept. It would benefit the country to which police
officers transfer and the country they leave, because
provision can be made for an exchange. We need common
intelligence. The intelligence methods used by police
forces must be standardised. If we do not have a
standardised system and similar procedures in every
country in the EU and globally, we will not have the same
advantage in fighting global crime. White-collar crime is
becoming very sophisticated nationally and internationally
and we must equip our police force with that in mind. We
also need to realise that the question of cybercrime is
coming more and more into focus. It cannot be done from
one country alone; policing methods in terms of detection
need to be standardised. Our police need to be able to
recognise and converse knowledgeably with their
colleagues right across the globe, not only throughout
Europe. This will
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have a beneficial effect in this country and on the
reduction in crime generally. To go back to the question of
police transfers, Deputy Clare Daly made an interesting
point that it is no harm to bring in somebody with outside
thinking and to have them on board in our territory as
well. That is a good idea. The day is gone when everybody
put up barriers and remained in their own cosy cocoon. It
is no longer acceptable. Particularly in fighting crime we
cannot do that and cannot do it effectively. If we look at
the extent to which major drug hauls have been identified
over the last ten years off our shores, very often police
from a long way away track by satellite. This is the kind of
sophistication we need to be familiar with, adapt to and

adopt for our benefit. There is also the question of

terrorism which is a fact of life nowadays. We have no
control over the things that happen outside our jurisdiction
but it is no harm to be alert to them and aware of the
methods used. If there are issues that are in violation of
human rights, of course we need to talk about them and
curtail them specifically. The purpose of the exercise is to
have a co-ordinated approach in the administration of
justice and law and order and to create a stronger force to
deal with the criminal elements that are becoming more
and more sophisticated in their operations as time goes
on. That can only be to the benefit of our society, our
police force and global peace. Recent events in France and
other countries have shown there is a necessity to be alert
to what is happening considerably in advance of it
happening. It gives us an insight and a warning. We need
to do that. We have always benefited from co-operation
with overseas police and that will remain the case.
21/07/2016E00200Minister of State at the Department of
Justice and Equality (Deputy David Stanton): I thank
Deputies for their valuable contributions and comments on
the work of CEPOL and the need to have continued
representation by An Garda Sochna at CEPOL. CEPOL
provides a cost-effective means of upskilling members of
An Garda Sochna and customs officials in critical policing
areas in times of restricted budgets. It provides a diversity
of training courses in areas where An Garda Sochna may
not have a national skill base. It also provides an
international context for understanding and learning new
crime trends in this increasingly transnational crime
environment. As I mentioned before, there is no cost to
the Exchequer here; CEPOL provides accommodation,
flights and meals under the terms of the framework
partnership grant system. This allows members of An
Garda Sochna to attend training in other European
countries without incurring costs. In 2015, CEPOL courses
were attended by members of An Garda Sochna and
customs officials on such varied issues as cybercrime,
urban violence and trafficking in human beings. These
courses are reflective of the diverse range of policing
topics facilitated by CEPOL, which are not part of the
normal training provided in police colleges. Deputy

OCallaghan mentioned three very important areas of

finance, crime against children and historic complaints. He
also made some very interesting points about the
professional development of An Garda Sochna,
recruitment into An Garda Sochna from other
jurisdictions, graduate recruitment and so on. An Garda
Sochna is undergoing a programme of change and
modernisation. The establishment of the policing authority
will play a key role in future Garda recruitment. Changes
will include greater levels of civilian recruitment and
specialist staff. There is a modernisation programme
under way there. There is also the need for continuous
professional development as Deputy OCallaghan
identified. Deputy Howlin spoke about the referendum in
the UK. This is at a very early stage and it has not yet
been determined what changes will be needed to the
various protocols and agreements during the exit
negotiations after Article 50 has been triggered. We are
monitoring the situation very closely. Deputy Howlin was
also correct when he said that in the normal course of
business, motions of this type would be discussed at
committee but the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality
has not been established fully yet. It was important to
move on with this motion and get it approved as I hope
Deputies will do today before the recess, as this regulation
came into effect on 1 July 2016. That was a reason for it.
Deputy Cullinane was concerned about human rights.
CEPOL regulations confirm all the criteria he mentions. It is
not a harmonising instrument and there is no transfer of
sovereignty of any sort. Ireland participates as we wish. An
Garda Sochna will be represented on the management
board and officers will attend courses of interest. To date,
more than 50 officials attend training courses each year.
The regulation strengthens the governance of CEPOL in
relation to the management of its resources and funding.
CEPOL is now subject to tighter controls. I want to allay
the Deputys concerns in that regard. On costs, it might
be worth mentioning the Garda College approach to
CEPOL. Each year, member states are invited to apply for
a grant agreement to facilitate the hosting of various
policing training
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courses. The Garda College is actively engaged in the
commitment to European police training and hosted a
number of training programmes each year. These have
included training programmes on language development,
human rights, community policing, confiscation of assets
and counterfeit medicines. Staff contribution through the
planning and organisation of courses means that the
college does not contribute payment directly towards the
costs of hosting the programmes. Two programmes will be
hosted in the Garda College in 2016. The awarded grant
agreements of approximately 65,000 per course provides
the payments to local restaurants, transport companies as
well as language experts fees to DCU and funding to the
Garda College for accommodation and meals. Deputy
Barry, Deputy Daly and others mentioned and had
concerns, which I acknowledge, about undercover policing
and Frontex and so on. However, I want to make clear that
CEPOL is simply a training academy. That is what it does;
it is just a training academy. All its courses respect the
principles set out in the European charter on human
rights. Deputy Daly was also concerned about terrorism. It
is vital that police forces across Europe learn from each
other and learn the best methods of dealing with any
emerging threat. I hope Deputies can support the motion.
Question put. 21/07/2016E00400An Leas-Cheann
Comhairle: In accordance with Standing Order 72, the
division is postponed until the weekly division time of
12.45 p.m. or later today, 21 July 2016.
21/07/2016E00500Appointment of Members of the Legal
Services Regulatory Authority: Motion
21/07/2016E00600Minister of State at the Department of
Justice and Equality (Deputy David Stanton): I move: That
Dil ireann, noting that the Government agreed on 13
July 2016 to propose, for the approval of Dil ireann, the
appointment of the persons concerned to be members of
the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, and pursuant to
section 9 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015,
approves the appointment, with effect from the
establishment day to be appointed by the Minister for

Justice and Equality in accordance with section 7 of that

Act, by the Government of the following persons to be
members of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, six of
whom shall hold office for a period not exceeding four
years from the date of his or her appointment as the
Government shall determine and five of whom shall hold
office for a period of three years from the date of their
appointment in accordance with section 10(2) of that Act:
Angela Black, Don Thornhill, Deirdre McHugh, Gerry
Whyte, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dermot Jewell, David
Barniville, Joan Crawford, Nicholas Kearns, Geraldine
Clarke and James MacGuill. I am taking this on behalf of
the Tnaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality who
regrets she cannot be present due to other official
commitments. In our consideration of the motion before us
today, we are preparing the way for the coming into
operation of the new legal services regulatory authority.
This is the new body charged with the oversight of legal
practitioners, legal services and a more transparent legal
costs regime in the State as provided under the Legal
Services Regulation Act 2015. At its meeting of 13 July
2016, the Government agreed to propose, for
consideration under todays motion, the appointment of
named persons to be members of the new authority.
Although the Government is the appointing authority for
the members of the new regulatory authority under the
Act, these appointments must first be approved by
resolutions of both Dil and Seanad. I am today, therefore,
seeking the approval of this House for those persons being
nominated under this motion to be appointed by the
Government as the members of the new authority. The
motion before the House today, therefore, follows the
similarly required motion that was passed by the Seanad
on 19 July. The persons named under todays motion are
the nominees of the nominating bodies which are set out
by name in the Act. Indeed, this is the sole process
whereby these names have been selected. The
independence of the statutory nominating process set out
in this reforming legislation will speak for itself, as I set it
out before the House. The Tnaiste and Minister for Justice
and Equality, earlier this week, signed a commencement
order in respect of certain provisions of Part 1 and Part 2

of the 2015 Legal Services Regulation Act. This has been

done as necessary to support the start-up of the new
Legal Services Regulatory Authority, including the
approval being sought from this House under todays
motion. Further parts of the Legal Services Regulation Act
will be commenced on a phased basis in the autumn as
the new authority gets up and running and ready to take
over key areas such as inspections, public complaints and
the new legal business models. The sequencing of these
further commencements is being planned carefully. Great
care will have to be taken to ensure that the various
commencements are correctly executed, including in
relation to each other, and that the replacement of
existing regulatory regimes leaves no unintended gaps.
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As Deputies will appreciate, the establishment of this new
regulatory authority and the assumption by it of regulatory
oversight of all legal practitioners in the State, including
the handling of complaints against them, and the
authoritys responsibility to oversee the operation and
opening up of the legal services market in Ireland, are
historical structural reforms of the regulatory architecture
in these areas. Under todays motion it is also being
proposed that the relevant appointments to the new Legal
Services Regulatory Authority, once approved, will be with
effect from the authoritys establishment day. Under
section 7 of the Legal Services Regulation Act, the Tnaiste
and Minister for Justice and Equality will shortly make the
required order to set 1 October 2016 as the establishment
day of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority. The setting
of 1 October 2016 as establishment day will give
momentum to the establishment and coming into
operation of the new Legal Services Regulatory Authority
and will trigger a number of specific measures under the
Act. It will provide greater focus and depth to the process
of modernisation and change that the new regulatory
regime is intended to deliver. Rather than considering the
nominees for approval under todays motion for
appointment to the new regulatory authority in isolation, it

is worth recalling the key levers of reform which are

contained in the 2015 Act and which will come under its
remit. These are a new and independent Legal Services
Regulatory Authority with responsibility for oversight of
both solicitors and barristers and an independent
complaints system dealing with legal professional
misconduct which will provide a first port of call for the
public in making complaints independent of the legal
professional bodies. There will also be a new and
independent legal practitioners disciplinary tribunal to
adjudicate on serious misconduct in relation to both
solicitors and barristers. Included also is an enhanced
legal costs regime bolstered by a set of legal costs
principles and which places more extensive obligations on
both solicitors and barristers to keep clients informed
about the details of their legal costs. Separately, the new
Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator will assume the role
of the existing Office of the Taxing-Master and keep a
public register of its legal costs determinations. There is
also a framework for new legal business models. These
new business structures will include public consultation
and the early introduction of legal partnerships between
barristers and solicitors or between barristers themselves.
Provision is also made for the introduction of limited
liability partnerships. Lawyers will now, as a matter of law,
be able to avail of the new legal business models and to
operate them freely. Of course, the more traditional forms
of legal practice will remain available to practitioners but
now as a matter of greater choice. A pathway is also
provided under the 2015 Act for the introduction, on foot
of formal research and public consultations, of
multidisciplinary practices whereby services can be
provided at a more competitive cost by legal and non-legal
service providers together. The new Act also opens up
other aspects of legal practice. For example, it allows
employed or corporate lawyers to act in proceedings on
behalf of their employers and for direct access to
barristers on non-contentious business. It also allows
barristers sharing a premises to advertise themselves as
such. These had all been prevented by existing codes. The
aim of opening up these areas is that there will be greater
choice in how legal services may be provided and in how

they can be accessed by consumers while also on a more

competitive basis for all concerned. To underpin the
independence of the new Legal Services Regulatory
Authority, the members of the authority are nominated to
the Government by ten nominating bodies specified in
section 9 of the 2015 Act. These bodies have been
purposely set in the legislation to represent a balance
between the interests of lawyers and those of consumers
and other stakeholders in our regulation of legal services
and of legal costs. Membership is also staggered by the
drawing of lots at the first meeting of the authority as a
result of which there will be four-year members and threeyear members. This ensures the continuity of expertise
and functions of the new regulatory authority. The
authority is to consist of 11 members of whom a majority,
that is, six members, including the chairperson, are to be
lay persons nominated by the six prescribed non-legal
bodies. The remaining five members are nominated by the
prescribed legal bodies. Each prescribed body, with the
exception of the Law Society which nominates two
members, has nominated one person for appointment as
members of the new authority. In the case of all the bodies
except the Law Society, each body was also required to
nominate a substitute nominee of the opposite gender to
their primary nominee to facilitate gender balance. The
authority must have no fewer than four members who are
women and no fewer than four who are men. The Law
Society has two nominees reflecting the fact that solicitors
outnumber barristers being regulated under the 2015 Act
by about five to one. There are around 10,000
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practising solicitors compared with around 2,000
practising barristers. The key requirement of the Legal
Services Regulation Act is that the nominees must have
knowledge and expertise in specified areas, for example,
in the provision of legal services, competition, legal
training and education, dealing with complaints against
members of regulated professions, the needs of
consumers of legal services, business and commercial

matters and professional standards regulation. The

nominees and their associated bodies are: Ms Angela
Black, the Citizens Information Board; Dr. Don Thornhill,
the Higher Education Authority; Ms Deirdre McHugh, the
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission;
Professor Gerry Whyte, the Irish Human Rights and
Equality Commission; Mr. Stephen Fitzpatrick, the Institute
of Legal Costs Accountants; Mr. Dermot Jewell, the
Consumers Association of Ireland; Mr. David Barniville, the
Bar Council; Ms Joan Crawford, the Legal Aid Board; Mr.
Justice Nicholas Kearns, the Honorable Society of Kings
Inns; and Ms Geraldine Clarke and Mr. James MacGuill, the
Law Society. The Government also agreed at its meeting of
13 July 2016 to appoint one of the nominees under todays
motion, Dr Don Thornhill, to be chairperson of the new
authority. The power is given to the Government under the
2015 Act to make that appointment but this is, of course,
subject to the candidate having been first approved as a
member of the authority by a motion of both Houses. Dr.
Thornhill is a respected public figure who has successfully
held several public leadership roles spanning different
sectors. I am confident he will bring much experience,
knowledge and clout to the role of chair. He has also led
the National Competitiveness Council in its campaign to
cut legal costs for consumers and enterprise. I think the
House will agree that, with these qualities, he is well
placed to provide the inaugural authority with the kind of
direction and vision needed to be a successful and highly
regarded independent regulator. The nomination and
appointment procedures for the regulatory authority,
which include seeking the necessary approval under
todays motion, are legislatively robust. This is no
accident. It is a model that was introduced by Government
amendment in direct response to independence concerns
that were raised in 2011 on initial publication of the Legal
Services Regulation Bill which had only used standard
public appointment provisions. Something more was
required in this instance. I am delighted that we have now
been able to avail of a nominating process in the 2015 Act
which draws from a group of prescribed nominating bodies
representing the balance of stakeholders concerned. The
nominating bodies have been able to put forward, as

named for approval under todays motion, a competent

team which can make a real contribution in real time to
the work of the new Legal Services Regulatory Authority. I
commend the motion to the House and the thank the
Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the extra time.
21/07/2016F00200Deputy Jim OCallaghan: I will start by
declaring an interest. I am a practising barrister and if this
motion is passed, I will be regulated by the authority
whose membership we are voting on today. I welcome the
fact that the Dil is being given an opportunity, under
section 9 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, to
vote on the membership of the Legal Services Regulatory
Authority. Fianna Fil will be supporting the membership
that has been put before the Dil today under the
chairmanship of Dr. Thornhill. We believe it is a wellbalanced board that will be suitable in terms of its
important role as being the inaugural board to regulate on
a statutory basis the solicitor and barrister professions in
Ireland. It is also important to look at the history and
progress of the legislation as it went through the previous
Dil. There has been a protracted development of this
legislation. Part of the reason for the protracted progress
of the legislation was because of the initial plan that the
previous Government put before the Dil in terms of the
first draft of the Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011. Under
that Bill, it was proposed that there would be 11 members
of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority but that seven
of those members would be appointed directly by the
Government. That proposal was met by shock by lawyers,
not only in Ireland but internationally. Unfortunately,
sometimes when lawyers speak out there is a belief that
they do so solely out of self-interest. That was not the case
in response to the initial proposal put forward by the
previous Government. The reason it caused shock was
because if the Government was in a position whereby it
could appoint the majority of the members of the
authority that would regulate lawyers in Ireland, it would
hand inordinate power and control over the legal
profession to the executive branch of the Oireachtas. The
reason that is dangerous is because it would put pressure
on lawyers to toe the line in respect of what Government
wished. It is a sign of an effective and successful

democracy that lawyers are able to take cases against

individuals and against the State without having the fear
that they may in some respect curry disfavour with
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the Government of the day. This concern was not
exclusively mentioned by lawyers in Ireland. It was also a
concern voiced by the International Bar Association, the
American Bar Association and the European bar and law
societies. In fact, the head of the International Bar
Association described the initial proposals put forward by
the previous Government in respect of how it proposed to
constitute the Legal Services Regulatory Authority as one
of the most extensive and far-reaching attempts by an
Executive to control the legal profession. 11 oclockHe
compared the original proposals to legal systems
operating in China, Gambia and Vietnam. Fortunately, the
previous Government saw the error of its ways and a new
system of selecting the membership of the regulatory
authority was established. It is an innovative mechanism
as under the statutory regime, certain nominating bodies
are given the entitlement to nominate individuals through
the board of the authority. The benefit is that although the
Government ultimately appoints these individuals, we can
see a process whereby they are appointed by nominating
bodies. It means the Executive branch of government does
not have control over the legal profession. It is bad for the
Government to have control over the legal profession
because it would interfere with and damage the rights of
citizens who wish to take cases against the State. The
State is a very significant defendant in cases, with citizens
taking cases against the State either through judicial
review, the criminal process or civil litigation. It would be
wrong if the impression was given to the Irish public that
prior to the enactment of this legislation there was no
regulation or soft-touch regulation in respect of lawyers in
Ireland. That is not the case. The Law Society, presided
over on a statutory basis by the President of the High
Court, has a very vigorous supervisory and disciplining
process, which has the effect of bringing solicitors who

deviate from good practice to account. Similarly, the Bar

Council disciplinary conduct tribunal, which has a majority
of lay members, disciplines barristers. The reason there
are more public complaints against solicitors is purely
because they have access to client funds, something that
barristers do not have. We support the motion before the
House and we welcome the membership of the board. We
wish the board well in its important future task.
21/07/2016G00200An Leas- Cheann Comhairle: I call
Deputy Clare Daly, who has five minutes.
21/07/2016G00300Deputy Clare Daly: I am just in the nick
of time. After years of delay and fierce resistance from the
bodies this legislation is supposed to regulate, and a
rewriting of that legislation largely by the bodies, we have
finally got to the point of appointing members to the board
of the new legal services regulatory authority. Some
change is desperately needed and I welcome that fact. To
be honest, the role played by the Law Society over the
past period has demonstrated it to be an organisation that
is absolutely not fit for purpose. It is as bad, if not worse,
as all the other organisations that have been set up to
regulate and investigate themselves. Even with the best
people in the world, that type of system would not work
but we know there is a litany of disaster when we consider
the Law Societys history. The idea that the Law Society
would operate as both a representative and a regulatory
body for solicitors is dysfunctional and unacceptable. The
new Act from which the body is being set up removes
some of the regulatory functions from the Law Society but
I argue it is certainly not enough. I am not happy with the
amount of power that the Law Society is keeping because
of its historic activity. I will deal with one or two cases, and
I assure the Leas-Cheann Comhairle that where I mention
names, they are in the public domain and have been the
subject of court cases. They are beyond dispute. People
like Mr. Fergus Appelbe are well known. He is a former
solicitor, currently practising under supervision, and he
was the subject of two Today Tonight investigations in
the late 1980s because of his conduct. He was ultimately
convicted of fraud. The hole left in accounts by this
individual and his various companies amount to
somewhere between 100 million and 200 million, and

that hole will probably have to be filled by the Irish

taxpayer, as the Minister of State knows. He is not allowed
to be a company director in the North but he has been
allowed to continue to practice under supervision here.
The Law Society failed utterly to investigate the large and
countless claims against him. It protected him and
appointed him to its conveyancing committee. An
individual who complained about this gentleman was Mr.
Colm Murphy. Probably as a result of those complaints - in
retaliation, in effect - a process was embarked upon,
supported by the Law Society, which saw Mr. Murphy
struck off, allegedly for breaching an undertaking he had
given in the High Court. A solicitor for the Law Society, Ms
Linda Kirwan, swore in an affidavit that she had witnessed
him giving this undertaking. After Mr. Murphy was struck
off, she acknowledged that she had not even been in court
on the day in which the alleged undertaking was given.
Not only that but there is no
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record of any such undertaking anyway. Nevertheless, Ms
Kirwan is now head of complaints and client relations at
the Law Society and was recently elected by the society to
represent complaint handler members on the executive
committee, despite her admitting to filing a false affidavit.
That is incredibly worrying. We also know the
documentation relied upon to strike off Mr. Murphy was a
forged document presented by an individual called Mr.
Frank Fallon, who subsequently received a seven-year jail
term for fraud and forgery. It was alleged and ultimately
proven that the document presented in the Murphy case
was a forgery and there is evidence to suggest the Law
Society was well aware of this but pursued this individual
anyway. The point is in this case and others, the Law
Societys barristers and external solicitors have
deliberately misled the courts. I am not saying it lightly as
these are facts. It was done to prevent this individual, Mr.
Murphy, from getting a full hearing and redress in his
case. Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns in the case spoke about
repeated skullduggery on the part of the Law Society.

The problem I have is that the Law Society has been

unaccountable and a law unto itself. It decided to go after
this individual but it did not decide to go after many others
whose actions will cost the taxpayer dear. The unchecked
role of the Law Society is something that should have
been challenged before now. I am not happy to say this
goes far enough and I am not happy with the role of the
nominees being put forward in the process. I am glad the
new authority is finally being set up, although it is not as
robust or independent as I would like.
21/07/2016G00400Deputy Catherine Murphy: The Legal
Services Bill lingered around both Houses for quite some
time. It changed hands from one justice Minister to
another and there were various controversies along the
way. We are all well aware of many issues from the time.
The process has not been straightforward and the
appointment of the board comes at a critical time in its life
stages. In 2014, the European Commission wrote to
Ireland via the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to
notify us that Ireland was in breach of the law by virtue of
current regulations regarding the advertising of solicitor
and barrister services. In 2014, the Commission outlined in
a very detailed list why we were in breach and our
Government replied that it would fix the breach in the
Legal Services Bill. According to Mr. Ken Murphys piece in
The Sunday Business Post, it transpires that the Law
Society of Ireland was never informed that it was breaking
the law, despite the Government being advised by the
European Commission that this was the case. At a
minimum we have had two full years where we have been
in breach of the EU legislation. Significantly, the State did
not remove consent from the Law Society for the current
practices despite knowing about the breach. It is
interesting that when it comes to other legislation or
European directives there is hell fire and brimstone but
this one was not addressed. The illegal advertising
regulations have stifled competition in the sector and
stopped any realistic option to reduce legal costs, which is
a significant factor in the inflated awards we see in the
courts, thus driving insurance prices higher and having an
impact on the cost of living. There is a direct impact on the
individuals practising as solicitors and barristers but there

is an indirect but major impact on so many other people in

society. It is interesting that the proposed chairperson was
involved in the National Competitiveness Council. One of
the big issues is the breach, which has not been
addressed. It is interesting to note that the EU Commission
wrote in recent weeks to the State again about the breach.
Is this why we are now seeing this back in the House and
why the board is being appointed? Is this why there is a
sudden rush to appoint the board? Has practical provision,
for example, a premises for board meetings, been made or
is that why the establishment date is in October? While
the State continues to hold the line until the Legal
Services Regulation Act is commenced, all solicitors are in
a position of being able to sue the State. More important,
we have lost two valuable years during which increased
competition in the market may well have driven down the
cost of living, for example, insurance costs. On foot of the
letter from the Commission and the article in The Sunday
Business Post, will the Minister of State immediately
withdraw consent from the current legal regulations in
order to promote enhanced competition and move
towards compliance with EU regulation? Will the new
board commit to acting upon the new regulations to
ensure fairness in the market? Are there potential fines for
being in breach? Has this methodology been worked
through with the European Commission as a response to
the letter received in terms of that breach?
21/07/2016H00200Deputy Mattie McGrath: I, too, am
delighted to avail of the opportunity to speak to this
motion on the last day before we break. I have been
asking on the Order of Business and during Question Time
when this board would be set up because it is long
overdue. I have a list of the names of those to be
appointed and I am glad to see it is
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happening. For too long, we have not had any real
regulation. There were promises but it has taken a long
time for it to be set up since the legislation was passed
through the House. It is the same as many situations

regarding the courts. I know there is a separation of duties

but we must have some accountability. We had a
referendum on the setting up of a Court of Appeal. I, for
one, was not clear about what its functions were going to
be at the time. It was just a new tier of judges with no
indication as to the workload that would be involved or the
number of cases to be held. We know there are massive
backlogs in the courts and justice delayed is justice
denied. I welcome the setting up of this authority. I do not
know how the people were selected. I am sure they are all
eminent people but I do not see the names of lay people
per se or, as I call them, ordinary folk. In many cases, they
would have as much to offer and would bring a different
perspective. The members need not all be former or
serving public servants or people who held public office. It
is important that we have a blend and balance on the
board. It is also important that the board would be subject
to timelines and have clearly laid out functions and
accountability. Above all, it is important that the report to
the Oireachtas would show that it is a functioning board
and doing what it says on the tin. The need for it was
there. We know that because we do not seem to have any
oversight of what goes on in the courts. With all due
respect to my eminent colleague on my right - I am not
barrister bashing - the courts are a difficult place for
ordinary people to get justice. Yesterday, a Deputy asked
about the special courts we are meant to set up to deal
with the backlog in repossessions. Nothing is happening.
There is a dangerous vibe out there and banks, receivers,
sheriffs, repossession agents and, God knows, that whole
army which has been set up are enjoying a lucrative
business. I would also include some county registrars on
that list. They are acting behind closed doors with no
oversight and, in some cases, are acting appallingly
against ordinary people. These are middle class people
who tried to house themselves and paid their way. They
paid for everything but ran into difficulties. All they want is
fair play and respect, a bit of relief and to renegotiate
terms. Some of them are dealing with vulture funds.
Others are dealing with the so-called pillar banks, the
banks we bailed out, but there is no redress. It is a
daunting place and very hard for lay litigants to get access

to justice in the courts. I hope this new board will have

teeth and will take up the cudgels for the ordinary, plain
people of Ireland who pass by the Four Courts on the
quays and do not know what goes on in there. I have been
there and stood with a good few of them. I had to move up
from the back of the courtroom by two, three, four or
perhaps five or six rows. I could not hear a thing. I sat
beside litigants who could not hear what was going on
either. I do not know the meaning of that. It is difficult
enough to understand the language but it is appalling if
we cannot hear what is being said. There must be a
radical overhaul of how justice is delivered and how it is
seen to be delivered. I have been through the system
myself. I have a fair idea of it and I know how prohibitively
expensive it is. I know the cost of doing business. I raised
that competitiveness issue yesterday. If a person has to go
anywhere near the legals, the money clocks up. It is a
cash cow and it needs to be regulated. The free legal aid
system also needs to be examined. I know of situations
where free legal aid was availed of but top-ups were also
being paid by those using it. They are in the business of
crime and getting away with it using the proceeds of
crime. We dealt with the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment)
Bill 2016 last night. We need deeper examination of these
issues. I wish the board well, but the jury is out on it and
how it will perform as far as I am concerned.
21/07/2016H00300Deputy David Cullinane: The Legal
Services Regulatory Authority is an independent statutory
regulator for all legal practitioners introduced by the Legal
Services Regulation Act 2015. The first point I will make is
that there was a delay in the text of the motion being
published. The Minister of State may not be aware of this,
but the Business Committee agreed to this motion being
tabled on 14 July. However, it took five days to get the text
of the motion. The process to appoint members to the
Legal Services Regulatory Authority has been ongoing
since last January. Why it took so long for all of this to
happen is puzzling. Perhaps the Minister of State, if he is
to return to the House later, will inform the House as to
why that was the case. That said, we welcome the motion.
Other Deputies have given the reasons we are supportive
of the authority getting off the ground. We will reserve

judgment for the moment on whether the Act and the new
regulatory body will be effective in lowering costs for
persons accessing the legal system, which is one of the
key challenges and tests for this new authority. We wish it
well and hope it has the powers and ability to meet that
high benchmark and high-level goal. We all believe that to
be of value and I hope that will be one of the positive
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outcomes of this new authority. The responsibility will be
on the authority to demonstrate its independence from the
legal professions to show that it is effective. We suggest
that the Oireachtas justice committee invite the members
of the authority to come before it at a later stage to
discuss its work. It would be good to have a relationship
between the sectoral committee and the authority and I
am sure that will happen as a matter of course. However,
it should be embedded in the work of both the sectoral
committee and the authority itself. It will be a further two
years before the authority is required to report back on its
work on its mandate and a midway discussion would be
useful in that regard. The more information we as
Oireachtas Members get on how the authority is working
and functioning, the sooner any positive or negative
issues that arise can be addressed. We are hopeful that
the new authority will address matters of codes of conflict,
admission requirements to the legal professions, conflicts
of interest and the long-standing need to address barriers
to public interest litigation that exists within this
jurisdiction. Conflicts of interest are a massive issue for
the public in the case of major firms and we know that one
individual, whom I will not name, secured many
Government contracts during both the Fianna Fil-Green
Party coalition and the Fine Gael- Labour Party coalition.
The same individual is very close to the Fianna Fil Party,
and while there might not be anything wrong in what
happened, it is very important that if there are potential
conflicts, the authority will be able to capture them in
order that people can have confidence when contracts are
being put in place. It was this individual who was

contracted by the NTMA to draft the NAMA legislation

despite many rightly thinking this should be done in-house
by the Office of the Chief State Solicitor. While this is a
step in the right direction, it is abundantly clear that real
change to the legal professions will take at least another
decade. We will allow the motion to proceed but urge the
Minister to heed the concerns which we have and which
our justice spokesperson has raised with the Department.
We also request that the authority engage on an ongoing
basis with the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and
Equality. 21/07/2016J00200Minister of State at the
Department of Justice and Equality (Deputy David
Stanton): I thank Deputies for their contributions which I
know will also be appreciated by the Tnaiste, on whose
behalf I am taking the motion. The motion, along with the
similar motion of approval that was agreed before the
Seanad on Tuesday, can enable the formal appointment of
the 11 nominated members of the new Legal Services
Regulatory Authority. Underlying the comments just made,
I sense an appreciation of the need to ensure that we will
now have an effective new regulatory framework for the
legal services sector. It is also important, with the
necessary agreement of this House to todays motion, that
the members of the new Legal Services Regulatory
Authority be able to set about the early recruitment of a
chief executive. Under section 24 of the Legal Services
Regulation Act, the holder of this important office will be
responsible for implementing the policies and decisions of
the authority and the managing and controlling generally
of its staff, administration and business while also being
responsible to the authority for the performance of his or
her functions. To minimise any delay in filling this pivotal
role, administrative preparations are being made in
support of the public recruitment by the new authority of a
suitably qualified person for that post. A start-up support
team is also being established and a suitable premises is
being identified from which the new authority can
commence its operations. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked
about that point. These are the initial steps that will
enable the chair, members and chief executive of the new
regulatory authority to oversee and drive the coming into
operation of the new legal services regulatory regime and

to shape it in the discharge of its powers and functions. It

is also planned that the stage we are now entering in the
setting up of the new authority will include the phased
commencement of parts of the Act such as those dealing
with legal costs, the new Office of the Legal Costs
Adjudicator, the roll of practising barristers and pre-action
protocols. Following establishment of the authority, its
appointment of a chief executive and the initial
commencement of parts of the Act along the lines that I
have just mentioned, the key provisions centred around
Part 6 of the 2015 Act will be commenced. These deal with
the new public complaints and professional conduct and
disciplinary procedures, and the appointment of the new
legal practitioners disciplinary tribunal. The managed rollout and commencement of these functions is planned for
the autumn. This is being done to allow adequate time and
preparation to ensure their effectiveness and success as
crucial components of the new regulatory framework. Let
us not lose sight of the fact that this new complaints
framework will be a regulatory watershed. For the first
time in the history of the State and under legislation,
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members of the public who are aggrieved with the
services they have received from a legal practitioner,
whether solicitor or barrister, will now make their
complaints to the independent Legal Services Regulatory
Authority. They will no longer do so through the legal
professional bodies as they do at present. The new legal
practitioners disciplinary tribunal being established under
the 2015 Act will deal with matters of serious misconduct
arising in relation to solicitors and to barristers. This single
and independent tribunal will, in time, replace the
respective and separately operating conduct tribunals that
deal with solicitors and barristers at the moment. Both the
legal professions and the public who avail of their services
will be served objectively by the new authority and
tribunal in the event that they come before the new
professional conduct and discipline regime. I also
emphasise that the new regulatory authority will not be a

static entity. The Legal Services Regulation Act has laid out
a future path for the new authority which its chair,
members and chief executive will have to drive and
manage. There is a substantial programme of work to be
undertaken in the initial years of the new authority. This, in
turn, can pave the way for future reforms under various
provisions of the Act. These reforms cover admission
policies of the legal professions, education and training for
legal practitioners, unification of the solicitors and
barristers professions, and public consultations on the
operation of legal partnerships and on multidisciplinary
practices as I have just mentioned, as well as on barristers
holding clients moneys and on barristers receiving direct
instructions from lay clients in contentious matters. By
way of responding to the concern that new regulators
should be set up in a more sustainable and publicly
accountable way, there will be periodic reviews of the
operation of the Legal Services Regulation Act. The first of
these is to take place 18 months after the establishment
of the new regulatory authority to allow it some time to
bed down in the discharge of its functions and to meet its
early working commitments. This and the subsequent
periodic reviews of the Act will be in addition to the normal
annual, strategic and business planning obligations of the
new body. Moreover, these reviews will include
consultation with the Competition and Consumer
Protection Commission, professional bodies and other
stakeholders. I think the House will agree that having an
inherent review mechanism within the Act should make
the new regulatory authority more focused and responsive
as an instrument of regulated change and reform. In
support of the planned and managed commencement of
the relevant parts of the 2015 Act between now and the
end of this year, an allocation of 1 million was made
under the Justice and Equality Vote for 2016 as set-up
support for the new regulatory authority. Any funding
advanced from this allocation will be provided on a
recoupable basis. Once in operation, the new regulatory
regime will be self-funding by means of a levy on the
regulated legal professions under the terms set out in Part
7 of the 2015 Act. The essential building blocks are now in
place for a modernised and reformed legal services

regulatory regime. What we need right now is the team to

make that regime come into being. This has been
reflected in Members contributions just now on this
motion to approve for appointment the members of the
new Legal Services Regulatory Authority. The Committee
on Justice and Equality is independent and will make its
own decisions. When I was Chairman of the committee in
the previous Dil, we carried out a comprehensive review
of this proposal and held hearings on the subject. Deputy
OCallaghan mentioned the initial draft and the committee
intervened in this to allow everyone to have their say,
which has had an impact on what is before us now. Deputy
Catherine Murphy asked about a couple of matters.
Section 218 of the Act will meet some of the concerns
when it is commenced. The infringement has not been
determined but formally notified and alleged by the
European Commission. We have made legislative repairs
in the Act. No fines arise and it was not rushed on account
of the directive, as might have been thought. In answer to
Deputy Clare Daly, the new Act puts far greater distance
between the regulatory and representative functions of
the Law Society and the Bar Council. It also puts an
objective distance between practitioners and consumers.
The independent disciplinary tribunal will also allow
redress through the High Court. The board will be totally
separate from the complaints handling and determination
functions, to ensure due process. Deputy Mattie McGrath
asked about the Irish Human Rights and Equality
Commission, the Citizens Information Board and the
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. These
are at the cutting edge of ordinary peoples concerns and
are all on the authority. They are totally independent
bodies and will take note of issues relating to the courts
and receivers etc., though this not a courts Act. The courts
will be dealt with in other areas of reform in the
administration of justice. We have had an election and a
change of Government
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and that has delayed the process but we are now pressing

on with the appointment of the authority. With the

approval of the House of todays motion there is no barrier
to a discussion between members of the committee and
the new authority. The enhanced provisions for the
oversight of State contracts will continue. Question put
and agreed to. 21/07/2016J00400Misuse of Drugs
(Amendment) Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Order for Report Stage
21/07/2016J00500Minister of State at the Department of
Health (Deputy Catherine Byrne): I move: That Report
Stage be taken now. Question put and agreed to.
21/07/2016K00100Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016
[Seanad]: Report Stage 21/07/2016K00200An LeasCheann Comhairle: Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 are related
and will be discussed together. 21/07/2016K00300Deputy
Mick Wallace: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, after
line 28, to insert the following: Amendment of section 3 of
Principal Act 3. Section 3 of the Principal Act is amended
by the insertion of the following subsection: (2A) That
possession of the substances listed in Part 1 and Part 2 of
the Schedule not be subject to prosecution for amounts
equating to personal use... This Bill is designed to
criminalise the illegal sale and possession of certain
prevalent prescription medicines. We would argue that
criminalising those with addictions is simply meting out a
further punishment on people who are already victims of
the regressive laws surrounding prohibition. As Senator
Lynn Ruane pointed out, as happened in Canada, this type
of legislation will just move people on to new drugs and
new ways of consuming them and when they are
outlawed, they will move on to newer ones and so on,
sometimes with devastating effect, even more on safe
practices and drugs being used in this cycle of misery and
punishment. When we debated the Bill a few weeks ago, I
spoke at length about the system in place in Switzerland
for more than 20 years. They have injection centres for
heroin addicts and the state provides clean, safe
prescription heroin to those who need it. The Swiss
programme has been a fantastic success. It has saved
countless lives and undermined and effectively destroyed
the power of the drug dealers. The United States has
chaos at the heart of its drugs war and has behind bars a
higher proportion of its population than any country on the

planet. Clearly, it is not working. In Switzerland, the gangs

have no power over the addict they addicted because the
state is caring for them. The average patient uses the
programme for three years, after which 85% have stopped
using every day. Crimes committed by those on heroin
have plummeted, there are 55% fewer car thefts, and 80%
fewer muggings and burglaries. That drop happened
almost immediately after the programme started. HIV
infections from heroin use have almost entirely
disappeared. The Swiss started caring for addicts over 20
years ago by abandoning the American style of a zero
tolerance approach and made heroin safe by taking it out
of the hands of the criminals. The benefits of the system
are crystal clear and the public have overwhelmingly
defended the law from conservatives in two national
referendums. Last year, the members of the Joint
Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality travelled to
Portugal to see first hand how the Portuguese
decriminalisation system is working and to talk to those
involved. In terms of the information the delegation
brought back, they were told that 15 years ago, before
they started, what was most feared was that this approach
would cause drug consumption to increase, the authorities
to be more tolerant towards drugs trafficking, allowing it
to also increase, that Portugal could become the destiny
for drug consumers from throughout Europe but especially
from Spain and that the number of crimes directly related
to drug addiction would rise, but that did not happen.
Fifteen years have passed and drug consumption has not
increased. The authorities kept at least the same level of
intolerance towards drug trafficking, both internal and
international. Portugal did not become a destination for
drug consumers and the number of crimes directly related
to drug addiction has decreased. At the same time, drug
consumers are no longer looked upon or treated as
criminals by the authorities but also by society, including
their own families. They have become less dependent on
traffickers and police discretion, being especially true
when it comes to people with fewer resources. There was
an end to thousands of criminal cases for drug
consumption that cost time and money with absolutely no
gain because if it is easier to know who is buying drugs, it

is easier to know who is selling them. Why are we passing

regressive laws today when nowhere has prohibition been
seen to work? Why are we so intent on punishing those
who need our care? Nothing but misery and waste will
result from criminalising in this manner. Given that we are
unlikely to get what we sought when we discussed the Bill
a few weeks ago, namely, all prohibition lifted around
these drugs, our amendment seeks to challenge the
notion of prosecutions for small amounts of drugs for
personal use. It is irrational to prosecute people for
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carrying something that is of a quantity that can only be
for personal use. If the Minister intends to continue with
her draconian prohibition laws around drugs, she should at
least use some commonsense and stop wasting State
money on arresting people who are not carrying enough to
sell but only enough for their own consumption. It costs
1,700 a week to put someone in prison here. The number
of people in prisons for drugs-related offences is ludicrous.
It is about time we copped on to ourselves in that regard.
Another amendment of ours was ruled out of order
because it could cost the State some money. My
amendment No. 1 will save the State money and it would
be a very good idea for the Minister to accept it.
21/07/2016K00400Deputy Brd Smith: In supporting the
amendment I want to reiterate the points that have been
made and say, as I did when the Bill first came before the
Dil, that it is very difficult to understand how a Bill
shaped by An Garda Sochna, which is responsible for the
area of justice, comes to the Department of Health. If the
Department of Health is proposing a measure the Garda
believe will help it in the war on crime or stop gangland
killings, it should come through the Department of Justice
and Equality, but this Bill is coming through the
Department of Health. When we consider the holistic
approach to drugs in this society, as stated by Deputy
Wallace, we are way behind the times when we compare
ourselves not just to modern countries like Switzerland
and Portugal but also to some of the Third World countries

like Uruguay and Paraguay, which have moved to legalise

and curtail the amount distributed to each individual who
requires it. I will move a Bill later to legalise cannabis for
medicinal purposes but this amendment acknowledges
that the personal use of drugs is rampant, particularly in
impoverished parts of our inner cities. It reflects not just
the availability of these drugs but, importantly, the
alienation and detachment felt by many people who have
no stake in society and who have been brought up to
believe they are worthless. They failed in education and in
employment, so why not fail at everything else? They are
on a housing list but they will never get a home. When
they seek to use the services that are put into
communities for projects that will help their addiction and
help them live better lives with their families, they find
that the funding for those projects has been cut. The
message those people get all the time is that they are
pretty much worthless, and the pain and historical
baggage they have in their lives is often inured by taking
drugs, many of which until now have been illegal. We are
now introducing a Bill to make it illegal to carry drugs that
are available on prescription. This Bill will make the
problem implode rather than address it because it is being
approached from a criminal rather than a health point of
view. As has been said, if we had our way we would be
costing the State money. We would say that, at the very
least, the Government should reverse all the nasty cuts
the previous Government imposed on the drugs projects,
the family projects and the youth projects throughout the
inner city. At the very least it should provide a decent
number of detoxification beds and facilities for people who
have issues with addiction. If the Minister will not do that,
she should stop criminalising those who have a health
problem and no way out of that other than through the
use of drugs, which takes their minds off the horrible lives
they live. The amendment is important because it
provides that those who carry prescription drugs for
personal use are not criminalised. If they are not
criminalised, then resources are freed because the courts
and prisons will not be so choked up, as well as Garda
time. It is quite a positive amendment in that regard. I
would throw the whole Bill out if I had my way, but clearly

this is what we have to live with. I will urge people to

support this amendment later. 21/07/2016L00200Deputy
Caoimhghn Caolin: I stand here today on behalf of my
colleague, Deputy Jonathan OBrien who, unfortunately, is
unable to attend the House. We support both amendment
No. 1 and amendment No. 2. The treatment of addicts and
users is first and foremost a health issue and not a
criminal justice issue. I have articulated this on many
occasions. Our focus in regard to the criminal justice
system and drug misuse must be concentrated on
suppliers and dealers. That is the area that needs to be
addressed. I sincerely hope that we will proceed with the
pilot injection centres, but it is a simple point of fact that if
we are to proceed successfully then we must adopt this
approach in law. To give credit where it is due, injection
centres were championed by the last Minister of State with
responsibility for drugs, the former Deputy Aodhn
Rordin, in the previous Dil. I commend him on his
openness and innovation and his correct stance on this
matter. I commend the second amendment in the name of
my colleague, Sinn Fins justice spokesperson, Deputy
Jonathan OBrien. I will be moving amendment No. 2,
which is an addendum to page 3 of the Bill. It proposes to
amend section 4 of the principal Act by inserting a new
subsection (4) stating: It shall be lawful
http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/Debates
%20Authoring/WebAtt...tructedKey)/dail~20160721/$File/
OireachtasMaster.xml?openelement Page 17 of 74
26/01/2017, 16)34
for any person, or a person of a class or description
specified in regulations under this section, to have in his
or her possession a reasonable amount of a controlled
drug specified therein, provided that it is for personal
use. This is a very reasonable position, as is the first
amendment which is being tabled in the names of
colleagues, two of whom have already spoken regarding
their amendment. The amendments largely reflect a
similar position. With regard to the purpose behind the
legislation now under our address, I refer back to the last
occasion on which such amending legislation was
presented, in March 2015. I stated then and I reiterate
now that we are on a hiding to nowhere if we address this

particular matter in this way. We are endeavouring to

catch up with the addition of different substances in the
hope that we will get to the point at which the legislation
is on a par with the criminal chemists. We are never going
to be able to catch up with the criminal chemists. They will
always be that one step - and many more steps - ahead of
the system. I do not want to be a party to criminalising
unfortunate people who find themselves caught up in
dependency and what is called substance abuse. I have
seen the tragedies in my own community, with the loss of
two young lives in my home town. With regard to
dependency on synthetic cannabinoids such as clockwork
orange and all the other little packs I have seen strewn
on the paths of my home town as if they were cigarette
butts, it is a frightening situation. As I have said on
previous occasions, two deaths is two too many. We also
face the prospect of further lives being lost, such is the
grip that this cohort of drugs is taking in my community. It
is a very serious problem indeed, which needs more than
just a criminal justice response. That applies to those who
are the suppliers and dealers. However, people who are
using on a daily basis and, because they are extremely
addictive, become dependent upon these drugs, need a
very different response from us, from society and from the
State. There may be some merit in taking a look at the
most recent British legislation regarding how they address
this matter. I have not had the opportunity to properly
evaluate it, as it is only relatively recent in terms of its
enactment. I believe the focus should not be on trying to
catch up with the criminal chemists. We should be looking
at addressing the impact or effect of the substances. It
should not be the Garda or the law enforcement agencies,
be they on this island or on the neighbouring island, who
must always try to establish what in heavens name is
involved in these substances at any given time. We should
be focusing wholly and solely on the suppliers and the
dealers and, if we are lucky internationally, with the
criminal chemists and those who are making huge profits
from this most unacceptable business. For those in my
own community who I know are users and are dependent,
I hope I am representing their voices. On their behalf and
to offer some hope of a change of course by these Houses

at some point in the not too distant future, I will be

supporting both amendments as tabled. I will also be
supporting the final passage of the legislation.
21/07/2016L00300Deputy Jack Chambers: Fianna Fil
supports the Bill, and while I respect Deputy Wallaces
arguments, I believe we do need to examine broader drug
reform and what has worked elsewhere. Making a specific
legislative amendment will not change the problem and
will not improve the lives of many users. We have seen the
impact of these drugs throughout our country. In fairness
to the Garda and to others who have called for this
legislation, I believe it is more of an interim measure to
actually tackle the dealers and, necessarily, the users. It
applies to dealers who are carrying very small amounts of
a drug. They abuse users by carrying such small quantities
and selling the drug on. Under the current legal situation
the Garda is powerless to tackle dealers. That is what the
Minister of State is trying to do here. We need to examine
the Stanton report and see what has worked well in other
countries. The UK Public Health Agency recently issued a
report on reform and how to deal with this as a health
matter. I spoke at the Oireachtas Committee on Health
about prevention and education. Many young people who
take various gateway drugs and increase their
consumption over years equate cannabis with tobacco
although it has a worse health outcome. Prevention,
education and a more holistic approach are important. As
part of the next national drugs strategy we need to focus
on those pillars and not punish end users. We also need to
focus on treatment. If this is to be addressed as a health
matter, it has to be properly addressed as such. Given the
crisis in the health service and the way it deals with many
problems, I have no confidence that it can manage many
of the users who are vulnerable and need that
intervention. We also need to help those who are in prison
by offering them the opportunity to be rehabilitated. I
have read widely in this area and the problem of abuse of
prescription medicines will not be solved by regulation
alone. It is a fair interim measure that will address a
lacuna in our legislation. The Garda has tried to deal with
this by punishing dealers.

Water laws could be changed

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Legislation protecting Irish Water from being privatised

could be over-ruled by a Dil majority and a referendum
on its public ownership overturned, a Department of
Environment official said.

However, the department disputes claims that most of

Irish Waters assets could be sold with the consent of the
minister of the day, therefore facilitating its privatisation.
The Oireachtas committee on future water services heard
from department assistant secretary Maria Graham
yesterday as part of its work to advise the Dil by March
on abolishing or keeping charges.
TDs and senators debated on whether constitutional
change is needed to ban the privatisation of water, an
idea the Government has says it is open to looking at.
Ms Graham confirmed to TD Paul Murphy that a majority
Dil vote could overturn legislation protecting water and
that any plebiscite could be reversed, potentially resulting
in services being privatised.
Ms Graham also outlined how a wording of a referendum
on public ownership of water, being considered by the
attorney general and an Oireachtas housing committee,
could also be problematic. This was due to the plurality
of water ownership, including the issue of private bore

holes or water schemes.

Some TDs homed in on whether selling off Irish Water
assets could result in privatisation.
Ms Graham said that, under current legislation, the
alienation of water assets would only be approved by the
minister of the day for ones that are no longer required.
Samas Tuathail, a barrister advising anti-water
campaigners, disagreed. He said there was widespread
concern about privatisation. But statutory rules could be
altered so the public have a right to make the decision.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/water-laws-could-bechanged-440805.html

91% Increase in homeless figures in two years. Simon

Coveney, a man with a plan but that's about it.
http://www.broadsheet.ie/2017/01/26/devastating-2/

Devastating
.@RBoydBarrett ' 91 % increase in homelessness in 2 years while
#Nama land being sold to vulture funds' #not1home #dail
#HomeSweetHome pic.twitter.com/x0TJ8H0t9v Mick Caul
(@caulmick) January 26,...

The number of people living in emergency accommodation

has surpassed 7,000 for the first time. The Department of
Housings latest homelessness figures show that at the
end of December 2016 a total of 7,148 people were living
in emergency accommodation, including 2,505 children.

Over 7,000 people living in emergency

accommodation
Latest Government figures show the Irish homelessness crisis is
getting worse
IRISHTIMES.COM

Wed, Jan 25, 2017,

The number of people living in emergency

accommodation has surpassed 7,000 for the first time.
The Department of Housings latest homelessness
figures show that at the end of December 2016 a total of
7,148 people were living in emergency accommodation,
including 2,505 children.
In November 2016, 6,985 people were living in
emergency accommodation, which was the first time
Irelands homelessness crisis had reached such a level.
Homelessness drastically increased throughout last year.
In January 2016, 5,715 people, including 1,830 children,
were in emergency accommodation.

Homeless reality check: Festive dinner in a tent off

OConnell St
Longfields Hotel to become homeless hostel after
ruling
Challenge to Fitzwilliam Street homeless hostel fails
in court

The figures for December 2016 show that the number of

adults in emergency accommodation increased by 207

on November.
The number of families in emergency accommodation
remained at 1,205 in December 2016, but the number of
children had dropped by 44 compared with the previous
month.
Social housing
Responding to the figures, Sinn Fin housing
spokesperson Eoin Broin called on Minister for
Housing Simon Coveney to speed up the delivery of
social housing to address the growing number of people
living in emergency accommodation.
This figure does not include adults and children in
Tusla-funded domestic violence emergency
accommodation, non-Irish nationals in emergency
accommodation funded by the New Communities Unit of
the Department of Social Protection, or the 400 families
trapped in Direct Provision despite having their Stamp 4
visas, he said.
Meanwhile, the Government refuses to fully fund the
purchase of up to 1,000 houses offered for sale by AIB
and PTSB.
To date, funding has only been approved for 200 of
these units and contracts signed on only 30, he said.
Mr Broin called on Mr Coveney to put his money
where is mouth is and buy these 1,000 units or explain
to the Dil the reasons why he has chosen not to take
families out of emergency accommodation and put them
into houses that tonight are lying empty.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/over-7-000-peopleliving-in-emergency-accommodation1.2951428#.WIlHxOmqOn4.facebook

Im blind, I need my cane'

- Footage shows blind
man and family evicted
from home in pyjamas
Clare Cullen Twitter
EMAIL
PUBLISHED
31/08/2015

Disabled couple and young son evicted from

home

A blind man, his wife and their ten-year-old

son were evicted last week from their
property in Kells, Co. Meath.
Photographs and a video of John Lloyd (43) being evicted
from his home have been viewed by over one million
people on Facebook since they were posted over the
weekend.
The family have lived in the house for 14 years and said
that they are 'traumatised' by the ordeal.
John, a former civil servant, told the Irish Sun that the
family 'have been treated worse than animals'.
"We were in our bare feet and nightclothes," he told the
Irish Sun.
"I pleaded, please don't do this to us. I begged and I
begged. But it's what the bank ordered.

"We're in despair. Our home has been taken from us".

The video shows a number of people congregated at the
door of the property. An argument can be heard coming
from inside.
John's wife Fiona (44) said the family had been 'making
repayments as best we could'.
John and Fiona's son is said to be 'distressed' since the
incident, which left the family cat 'Mittens' in the property.
The family lodged a motion in the High Court last
Wednesday to stop the bank selling the house.
In a statement, the National Land League of Ireland said
that 'the family that were evicted are being accommodated
by friends'.
"A recap of today's events is that a family comprising a
young boy, his mother and blind father were evicted from
their home without warning by the Sheriffs of Meath and
Louth and bailiffs and locksmiths," they said.
"Friends of the family come to support them through the
traumatic experience were denied access as were
numerous activists. One local NLLI activist did manage to
gain access and reported a terrible scene".
"The family has asked NLLI to thank the many people who
have offered both moral and practical support over the

day".
Stepstone Mortgages told the Irish Sun that they have a
"policy of not discussing the details of any individual
cases... out of respect for client confidentiality".
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/im-blind-i-need-my-cane-footageshows-blind-man-and-family-evicted-from-home-in-pyjamas-31490743.html

McGRATH SELLS OUT STARDUST SURVIVORS FOR

HIS MINISTERS SEAT BROUGHAN
Last night in Dil ireann, Deputy Broughans motion calling for the
immediate establishment of a Commission of Investigation into the
Stardust Tragedy of 1981 was debated and it will be voted on this
afternoon. Deputy Broughan brought forward this motion tabled in
the name of Independents4Change and People Before Profit and
the Anti-Austerity Alliance and it is also supported by Sinn Fin, the
Labour Party, the Social Democrats and other left Independents.
Deputy Broughan has supported the Stardust Relatives and
Victims Committee since the mid-1980s and continues to support
their fight for answers and justice throughout his time in Dil
ireann.
Last night, Deputy Broughan and those who spoke in support of
his call for the immediate establishment of a Commission of
Investigation passionately highlighted the myriad of reasons why
such a Commission is needed. The families and victims of the
worst fire disaster in the history of the state where 48 young
people tragically lost their lives and 214 others were injured have
had a continuous struggle for justice for almost 36 years now. The
infamous fire which took place in the early hours of Valentines Day
in 1981 has never been throughouly and properly investigated and
no-one has ever been held to account. This is despite the original
Keane Tribunal Report concluding that the owners showed
reckless disregard for the lives of the patrons and staff by locking
and chaining exits and that Dublin Corporation did not properly
inspect the converted jam factory and ensure that it was complying
with planning bye-laws and fire safety regulations. Most disturbing
of course was Keanes final conclusion that arson was the
probable cause of the fire despite earlier stating in the same report
that there was no way of knowing how the fire started.
This outrageous finding and slur on the victims was eventually
expunged from the public record 28 years after the inferno through
a Dil motion in February 2009 following an independent
examination by (now Mr Justice) Paul Coffey in 2008 (which
followed almost a decade of investigative work by local journalists

and researchers and a Prime Time Investigates anniversary

programme). Of course, the then Bertie Ahern-led Government
had originally appointed John Gallagher to head the examination
but when the Stardust Committee discovered that Mr Gallagher
had represented Garda in the original Keane Tribunal, they
campaigned to have him replaced. Again, through the Stardust
Relatives and Victims Committee and supporters own
investigative work, they discovered through an FOI that Mr Paul
Coffey had submitted his completed report to the Government on
the 10th of December 2008 which included the recommendation
for a new inquiry. This, and other significant changes, were not in
the Report presented to the House in January 2009.
Deputy Broughan says Up until Monday night of this week it
looked as if the motion calling for the immediate establishment of a
Commission of Investigation would be passed by the House. We
have a letter, dated the 27th of March 2014, from Deputy Michel
Martin to Antoinette Keegan of the Stardust Relatives and Victims
Committee stating that Fianna Fil would back the call for a
Commission. Antoinette had also been liaising with Deputies in the
lead-up to this motion calling on their support. Minister Finian
McGrath has also, of course, been a supporter of the Committees
campaign for justice and answers and as recently as the 31st Dil
we shared a Topical Issues Debate on the need for such a
Commission. Last week I received reports that the motion was
causing friction in Government as Minister McGrath wanted to
support it.
Yesterday I was extremely disappointed to learn that rather than
stick to his principles and his obligations to the families and
districts involved that he had instead agreed to an exercise which
is clearly a Coffey Mark 2. I, of course, 100% support the decision
of the Stardust Committee families but am concerned that this
option was put to them as their only way forward. Fianna Fil is
now also typically reneging on their promises and will support the
Governments amendment which is kicking the can down the road.
I am urging Minister McGrath to withdraw this amendment and to
support our motion to establish a quick, short Commission of
Investigation under the 2004 McDowell legislation. In the absence
of Fine Gael and Fianna Fil doing the right thing, then I sincerely
hope that the independent judges outcome is for a new
Commission of Investigation and that this leads finally to justice
and peace for these families and our community. If Minister
McGrath had shown any backbone, the Dil today would have
decided to immediately set up a Commission of Investigation

under the 2004 Act.

The transcripts of the speeches are available at:
http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates
%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/dail2017012500048?
opendocument

Thank God we have government ministers like Michael

Ring, the Mayo Blueshirt. Mr Ring who is our Regional
Development minister rode to the rescue when people in
Westport were bombarded with filthy dirty phone calls
linked to Babestation, a disgusting adult site for perverts
who talk about ... shhh ... you know ... that dirty ...
disgusting thing ... shhh... sex.
Michael 'RING RING' immediately contacted the garda and
the TV regulator and also advised his constituents to go to
confession.
Thank god for ministers like Michael 'RING RING'. He is
worth every cent of the 746,505 and 3 cents we - that's
you and me paid him from 2011 to 2015.

https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?
v=TL0EoXdpOqg

Transport Minister Ross

'not getting involved in
nitty gritty' of Bus
Eireann dispute and
unions threaten 'all out
strike'

26/01/2017

Transport Minister Ross 'not getting involved in nitty gritty'

of Bus Eireann dispute and unions threaten 'all out strike'"
A transport Minister not intervening in a semi-state
company in trouble? Say it ain't so.
Of course this is precisely the action a Minister would take
if they are continuing the privatisation agenda of all public
services.
There was a time when Bus Eireann or CIE was considered
a public service.
Here is some background from www.cie.ie...
"CI is a statutory body which provides bus and rail public
transport for passengers and rail freight services.
Currently CI is the national body with responsibility for
the provision of socially necessary public transport
services."
Socially necessary public transport services...
Yes, just like the health service before it became the HSE
and the Electricity and Gas semi-states too. They were set
up to provide socially necessary public services.
Today, of course, these semi-states are now considered

commercial companies and thus should stand on their own

and compete even though the markets that they
depended on were chopped up and handed to private
interests by past Ministers.
Now Bus Eireann is in the shitter for the same reason. That
the routes that it relied on to keep in business were
handed to private firms thus forcing a company that was
set up as a public service to try and survive as a
commercial entity and it is failing and failing hard.
The Minister not intervening and allowing this company to
go under is exactly what the neoliberal agenda demands
and pretty soon Bus Eireann will be no more and will be
carved up and bought out by the same private interests
that have carved up the routes....
How long do you think it will take before we see a Health
Minister say that he/she won't get involved in the nitty
gritty of public hospital disputes? Or a Housing Minister?
Or the Minister for Environment when it comes to Irish
Water?
Lock stock and barrel. Everything must go including the
"socially necessary public transport services".

Controversy over election

donations is
'embarrassing' for Fine
Gael
Niall O'Connor Twitter
EMAIL
PUBLISHED
26/01/2017

1
Tom Curran Picture: Mark Condren

Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran has

told his TDs and senators that the recent

controversy surrounding election donations
had proved "embarrassing" for the party.
Without singling out a member by name, Mr Curran told a
Fine Gael meeting such controversies must not dog the
party again in the future.
Earlier this month, it emerged the party's deputy leader,
James Reilly, was among 66 general election candidates to
be referred to garda by the Standards in Public Office
Commission.
Dr Reilly, the former health and children's minister,
accepted a 1,000 cash donation but failed to properly file
returns.
"I apologise. It is nobody else's fault but myself," Dr Reilly
said at the time. The senator was not present at the
meeting of the parliamentary party when the issue was
raised.
Mr Curran also revealed the membership fee for Fine Gael
was increasing from 15 to 20. He said it was not a
reflection on the party's finances.

1
Tom Curran Picture: Mark Condren

Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran has

told his TDs and senators that the recent
controversy surrounding election donations
had proved "embarrassing" for the party.
Without singling out a member by name, Mr Curran told a
Fine Gael meeting such controversies must not dog the
party again in the future.
Earlier this month, it emerged the party's deputy leader,
James Reilly, was among 66 general election candidates to
be referred to garda by the Standards in Public Office
Commission.
Dr Reilly, the former health and children's minister,
accepted a 1,000 cash donation but failed to properly file
returns.
"I apologise. It is nobody else's fault but myself," Dr Reilly

said at the time. The senator was not present at the

meeting of the parliamentary party when the issue was
raised.
Mr Curran also revealed the membership fee for Fine Gael
was increasing from 15 to 20. He said it was not a
reflection on the party's finances.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/controversy-overelection-donations-is-embarrassing-for-fine-gael-35399029.html

Defence department justifies

sale of Government jet for
418k
January 26, 17

THE DECISION TO sell the Government jet to an American

firm for 418,000 has been justified by the Defence
Department.
http://audgen.gov.ie/documents/annualreports/2015/repor
t/en/Chapter8.pdf
At a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing, Fine Gael
TD Noel Rock asked Secretary General of the Department of
Defence Maurice Quinn why the plane had sold for 418k
despite being valued somewhere in the region of 750,000.
It was bought in 1992 for 45 million.
Quinn said the buyer, which is based in Georgia, USA,
claimed it would have paid over 800,000 if the jet was sold
in a serviceable state. The Gulfstream IV needed
significant repairs and Quinn said he was not authorised
to order the work, which would have cost 1.34 million.
A report from the Auditor and Comptroller General
(C&AG) referred to the sales procedure. It stated: In early
December 2014, the Department received a letter of intent
through Gulfstream from a USA based company who offered
to buy the aircraft for 836,000 on condition that it was
brought back into a serviceable state.

The Department declined this offer as the aircraft was for

sale on an as seen basis and it had no ministerial or
Government sanction for any further expenditure on the
aircraft. The company then offered 418,000 to purchase
the aircraft as seen. This offer was accepted by the
Department in January 2015.
Addressing the PAC, Quinn said he was satisfied with the
value achieved in the sale of the aircraft as repair costs
would have been much higher than the original offer.
C&AG Samus McCarthy said it was difficult to determine
whether the department got the best value for the jet due to
the absence of a competitive sales process.
Disposal for salvage was considered to be the only viable
option, given the estimated cost of 1.34m to repair to a
serviceable condition, the absence of any guarantee of future
serviceability even after incurring repair costs of 1.34m,
Mr Quinn told the Public Accounts Committee.
The State's spending watchdog has said the Government
might have lost out on extra cash over the sale of the
government jet.
The Comptroller and Auditor General said there should have
been a tendering process when the jet was sold off last year.
The Gulfstream jet was sold for 418,000, with another
53,000 raised when spare parts were sold.
An informal valuation found the plane could have been worth
up to 750,000 while the spare parts were worth more than
400,000.

http://audgen.gov.ie/documents/annualreports/2015/repor
t/en/Chapter8.pdf

Two more Dil defeats

brings Government losses to
six
Coalition loses on tracker mortgages and Bill to divest
State of investments in fossil fuel
January 26, 17

Marie O'Halloran

The legislation concerning fossil fuel was introduced by Independent Donegal

TD Thomas Pringle. Photograph: Eric Luke

The Government has been defeated in the Dil twice in

votes on fossil fuels and on tracker mortgages.
It brings to six the number of Government defeats on
Private Members motions, including Bills, since the
Coalition was formed in May last year.
It avoided another defeat last year by not calling a vote
and conceding to a Fianna Fil motion for variable
mortgage interest rates.
The issues voted on in all previous defeats have been
referred to committees or for legal advice, but no
progress has been reported to date.
In the first vote on Thursday, the Government lost by 90
to 53 on the Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill, mustering the
support of the Governments coalition partners.
The legislation was introduced by Independent Donegal
TD Thomas Pringle and provides that the National
Treasury Management Agency divests itself of its
interests in fossil fuel companies.

Ardmore Studios site planning restrictions will

maintain it as film-only zone
Galway city and 23 towns to be added to 4% rent cap
list
Varadkar sees potential for Fianna Fil and Sinn Fin
sharing power - podcast

The Government was also defeated by 91 votes to 53 on

the Sinn Fin motion on tracker mortgages and the
Fianna Fil amendment on the issue was accepted by 97
votes to 46.

Tracker mortgage rates

Sinn Fin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty called for

the 15,000 people who were wrongly denied tracker
mortgage rates by banks to be given a date when the
correct rate would be reinstated. He also called for those
responsible to be held accountable and for stricter
legislation on white-collar crime.
Fianna Fil finance spokesman Michael McGrath, whose
amendment was accepted, focused on an early date for
reinstatement of tracker mortgage rates. He was also
highly critical of the Central Bank which he said had
shown a complete lack of urgency in dealing with the
issue.
In a separate division, the Dil accepted a Government
amendment by 94 votes to 50 to Independent TD
Tommy Broughans call for a commission of
investigation to be established into the Stardust fire in
1981 in which 48 people died.

NOTES: 1. All tokens are represented by '$' sign in the template. 2. You can
write your code only wherever mentioned. 3. All occurrences of existing tokens
will be replaced by their appropriate values. 4. Blank lines will be removed
automatically. 5. Remove unnecessary comments before creating your
template.

The Government amendment called for a legal person,

most likely a judge, to be appointed to review all the new
evidence from the families of the victims of the fire, and
for a commission of inquiry to be established if the judge
recommends it.
Mr Broughan described the move as kicking the can
down the road.

Collective bargaining

The Government first lost a vote in May last year on a

Labour motion on workers rights and collective

bargaining.
Its was defeated when an amendment from Sinn Fin TD
Imelda Munster to regulate rickshaws was accepted
against Government wishes, on the Road Traffic Bill. It
was not however implemented when the Act was passed
as Minister for Transport Shane Ross said he would refer
it for further advice to the Attorney General.
The Government was also defeated on a Sinn Fin
motion on pension equality, when a Fianna Fil
amendment removing the requirement for employees to
retire at 65 was accepted.
The Coalition lost out again last week in a vote on a
Fianna Fil motion calling for the implementation of a
compensation scheme for tillage farmers whose crops
were destroyed by heavy rain.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/twomore-dil-defeats-brings-government-losses-to-six1.2952351

Judge orders
Sligo soup
kitchen and
shop to close
January 26, 2017

A District Cout judge has ordered today that a

charity soup kitchen and shop in Sligo town be
closed down.
Its the Twist Soup Kitchen on High Street and a
charity shop in Quay Street which helps fund the
kitchen.
Judge Kevin Kilrane ordered both be closed as a
result of a prosecution brought by the Charities
Regulator.
Galway native Oliver Williams, who set up the soup
kitchen and shop, was prosecuted for allegedly
operating an unregistered charity.
Mr Williams has opened a number of Twist soup
kitchens in other parts of the country; they take
their name from Charles Dickenss child pauper
character Oliver Twist.
Solicior Mr Tom MacSharry, on behalf of Mr

Williams, asked that the case be adjourned.

Barrister Donal Keane, on behalf of the Charities
Regulatory Authority objected, saying his client had
serious concerns about the operation.
Mr MacSharry then pleaded for the soup kitchen be
left open.
He told the Judge it provides a much-needed service
for those who are less well off.
About 40 people visit the soup kitchen every day.
However, Judge Kilrane ordered both soup kitchen
and shop be closed immediately, and adjourned the
case to this day week.

Mr.Williams has opened a number of Twist soup kitchens in

other parts of the country; they take their name from
Charles Dickenss child pauper character Oliver Twist.

https://www.oceanfm.ie/2017/01/26/judge-orders-sligosoup-kitchen-and-shop-to-close/

Elvis Presley & Lisa Marie Presley "In the

Ghetto"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=hUlYONgjaoU
Enda Kenny invited to Washington for St
Patricks Day
25/01/2017

The White House says the Taoiseach has been formally

invited to Washington for St Patricks Day.

The Trump administration says Enda Kenny was invited

following the US presidential election.
Last week, TDs and anti-Trump campaigners appealed to Mr
Kenny to refuse the invitation.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer spoke to reporters
earlier.
"I was asked yesterday about the status of the invitation of
Prime Minister Kenny from Ireland to visit the United States on
St Patricks Day and Im pleased to announce the President
has extended that invitation."

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/enda-kenny-invited-to-washington-forst-patrickrsquos-day-774039.html

Barclays has tried to

downplay reports of a
post-Brexit EU
headquarters in Dublin

Several media outlets have said the

bank is preparing to expand its
operations in Ireland.

BY CONOR MCMAHON
REPORTER, FORA
JANUARY 26TH 2017 2 MIN READ

BARCLAYS BANK HAS tried to downplay

reports that it plans to open a post-Brexit EU
headquarters in Dublin.
A number of media outlets, including
Bloomberg and Reuters, have reported that
the bank is planning to establish a European
base in the Irish capital if Brexit negotiations
fail to secure continuing passporting rights for
British finance firms.
The company already employs 120 staff at an
office in the Dublin 2 area.
A spokesman for Barclays told Fora the
company has scouted for office space in the

Irish capital, but said its headquarters will be

very much in London.
He suggested the Bloomberg report was
based on a semantic argument over whether
Dublin could be considered the EU
headquarters after Britain leaves the bloc.
He added that the decision to look at Dublin as
a solution to a potential passporting
conundrum is consistent with what the bank
has been saying more or less since June
when we had the referendum.

We have made clear repeatedly that we

will plan for a range of Brexit
contingencies, including building greater
capacity into our existing operations in
Dublin, he said later in a written
statement.
Identifying available office space is a
necessary and predictable part of that
contingency planning process.
Bloomberg wrote that Barclays is planning to
add about 150 staff in Dublin. The bank said

that, according to chief executive Jes Staley,

the number of staff that could be added to the
Irish subsidiary will be very marginal.
Relocation
It has long been speculated that finance
companies based in Britain are looking to
move their operations to Dublin after Article 50
is triggered and Britain enters its two-year
negotiation with the EU.

Prime minister Theresa May indicated that a

so-called hard Brexit will be enacted at the
end of March, which would pull the UK out of
the single European market.
The chairman of HSBC, Douglas Flint, said
earlier this month that it was highly likely that
bank will move 1,000 jobs to a base
elsewhere in Europe and mentioned Ireland as

one of the possible locations.

Bloomberg has also previously reported that
Standard Chartered was also approached Irish
officials about making Dublin its legal base
inside the EU.
https://fora.ie/barclays-dublin-3206673-Jan2017/

Now, that is REAL efficiency for you! It seems they are in a

real hurry to jail Stephen. How many of us have been
penalised for NOT following the Court rules to the letter?
Yet Peter Mooney (the guy who we have PROVEN is
involved in perjury, fraud, defiance of a Court Order,

criminal damage, perverting justice etc etc) has just

bypassed all of the usual regulations to ensure that we get
'promptly dealt with' in Castlebar Circuit Court. A NOTICE
came to Stephen by registered post today - sent on
Tuesday - assigning the date of Friday Feb 10th for the
appeal before a single judge... Of course, it's just
happenstance that this sidestepping of the usual rules
(see below) will almost certainly prevent us from getting
the required papers into the pending Supreme Court
appeal next week.. where we have tried our best to get
the Supreme Court to step in and take action regarding all
of this criminal activity and harassment by agents of the
State..
District Court Rules:
[Form of notice, time for service]
1. Every appeal to the Circuit Court from a decision of the
District Court shall be by notice of appeal (Form 101.1 or
101.2 Schedule D) which shall be served upon every party
directly affected by the appeal within fourteen days from
the date on which the decision appealed from was given.
[Lodgment of notice]
2. The appellant shall, within the said period of fourteen
days, lodge the original of the notice of appeal, together
with a statutory declaration as to service thereof, with the
Clerk for the court area within which the case was heard.
Shamelessly, after Gerry Adams told him there were
survivors & relations in the gallery, Edna talked down the
clock, just stating facts about the Stardust tragedy,
somehow mentioning Northern Ireland! Gerry said it is
North Dublin! More Shame: no more mention of Orkambi &
now over 7k Homeless! Zero Hours Contracts in
Fishermans Co-op! Political Police state they saved lives
with arms find etc! They might not get thanks from those
they assault at peaceful protests & Eviction Courts they
clog up! Loyalist Header Humphries was a disgrace on
Prime Time, just repeating herself re Action Plan for rural
Ireland spoof! Caught out by Miriam O'Callaghan &
embarrassed by Peadar Toibin, SF! 'Plan' has no details!
Pre Election Bullshit? Mehole Healy Rae & his cap were on
Elaine show Tv3 (why?) & waffling re ticket touting on

Newstalk! Helen McEntee, FG, on RTE Radio 1 today

5.30pm+ re Mental Health! Tho her family was affected
she has done nothing! After interviewing her, Ray Darcy
said "same old, same old

Irish Parliament supports

historic fossil fuel
divestment bill
A majority vote was passed in the
Irish Parliament on first-of-its-kind
fossil fuel divestment legislation.
Ireland now has the historic
opportunity to become the first
country in the world to fully divest its
sovereign wealth fund from coal, oil
and gas.
January 26, 2017

Today marks an important moment in the history of

the divestment movement: A majority vote was
passed in the Irish Parliament on first-of-itskind fossil fuel divestment legislation.
Ireland now has the historic opportunity to become
the first country in the world to fully divest its
sovereign wealth fund, worth over 8 billion, from
coal, oil and gas.
Last Thursday in the Dil, all political parties,
with the exception of Fine Gael, indicated their
strong support for the Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill
a piece of legislation getting Irelands Strategic
Investment Fund to divest from fossil fuels.
Today, this bill has passed. The Fossil Fuel
Divestment Bill will now go to Committee stage in
the Irish Parliament.

This success is the result of fantastic campaigning

by our friends at Trcaire, key members of
parliament, and many people across Ireland taking
action on fossil fuel divestment.
With a climate-sceptic recently inaugurated into
the White House, this move by elected
representatives in Ireland will send out a powerful
message. The Irish political system is now finally
acknowledging what the overwhelming majority of
people already know: That to have a fighting
chance to combat catastrophic climate change we
must phase out fossil fuels and stop the growth of
the industry that is driving this crisis, said amonn
Meehan of Trcaire.
http://www.isif.ie/wpcontent/uploads/2016/03/EconomicImpactReport30June2
015.pdf

Genomics Medicine
Ireland Raises $40m in
Series A Funding
(This press release was issued by Genomics Medicine Ireland
(GMI) on Wednesday, 26 October 2016)
Dublin, October 26, 2016: Irish life-sciences startup, Genomics
Medicine Ireland (GMI) has secured Series A investment of $40
million (36M) from sovereign and international investors including
the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ARCH Venture Partners,
Polaris Partners, and GV (formerly Google Ventures). The
investment will be used to establish a world-class genomic
research and development programme in Dublin and to create 150
highly-skilled jobs focussed on advanced genomic research over
the next three years.
Making the announcement today Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD
said: Im delighted to welcome the announcement by Genomics
Medicine Ireland of a new world-class Genomic R&D Centre that

will involve the creation of 150 new highly-skilled jobs. Im

particularly pleased that the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund is
supporting this exciting endeavour. When the Government
established the ISIF, we wanted to encourage new investment and
job creation across Ireland in groundbreaking new sectors such as
next generation healthcare solutions. With the combination of
world-class talent backed by global investors, Ive no doubt that
the scientific platform developed by Genomics Medicine Ireland
will be leading the way on new prevention strategies and
treatments for diseases and rare conditions.
This investment will enable GMI to undertake comprehensive
population-scale genome studies. These will improve
understanding of the genetic and lifestyle factors involved in
disease, contributing to better diagnostics, more targeted
therapies, and more effective prevention and wellness. GMI
expects to announce its first collaboration with an Irish hospital in
the coming weeks and is actively engaged in talks with a number
of clinical collaborators island wide.
Daniel Crowley, acting CEO of GMI said, We look forward to
working closely with the Irish healthcare system to develop better
diagnostics and new means to optimise health and patient
outcomes. The size and characteristics of the Irish population can
powerfully advance scientific discovery as researchers are able to
pinpoint variations in DNA relevant to disease and useful for
improving medicine.
Genomics Medicine Ireland is creating a scientific platform to
examine the human genome in order to better understand the role
of genetics in disease and rare conditions, and to lead to new
prevention strategies and treatments. The company was founded
in Ireland last year by a group of leading life science
entrepreneurs, investors and researchers, and now includes,
among its founders, Amgen. The GMI platform is based on the
pioneering work of Amgens subsidiary, deCODE genetics, in
Iceland, widely recognised as the birthplace of population
genomics. deCODEs approach, led by its founder and CEO Dr.
Kri Stefnsson, has proven that population genome studies offer
an effective system for elucidating the underlying biology of major
diseases and identifying new drug targets. The application in
Ireland of the approach pioneered at deCODE will further broaden
the power of this model to make and validate such discoveries and
apply them to benefit patients.
The collection, management and analysis of genomic data will help
drive development of novel therapeutic drugs and diagnostics in

collaboration with leading academic and corporate partners.

Ireland has a large and thriving pharmaceuticals sector, and GMI
aims to apply and build on this expertise to open new avenues of
innovation and value creation. GMIs research has already been
met with great enthusiasm by potential pharmaceutical partners.
Paul Thurk, Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners
Europe and Founding Director of GMI said,
Weve seed-funded seminal genomics companies over the past
20 years, such as Illumina and deCODE genetics. GMIs strong
team and experienced partners, combined with Irelands very
singular setting, can uniquely build off that core work to enable
next generation medicine

Paul Saunders, Head of Innovation with the

Ireland Strategic Investment Fund said, We are
very proud to be able to support this exciting
opportunity alongside international co-investors of
the calibre of ARCH, Polaris and GV. GMI has the
potential to play a significant role, in collaboration
with the Irish healthcare system, in the identification
of transformative treatments for a range of diseases
that have eluded effective treatment to date. We
look forward to GMI developing into a company of
international significance and establishing Ireland
as a global leader in precision medicine and next
generation healthcare.

Notes to editor
About Genomics Medicine IrelandFounded in 2015, Genomics
Medicine Ireland (GMI) is an Irish life-sciences company leading
large-scale, population-based genome research studies on the
island of Ireland examining the relationship between genetics,
health and disease. It is building a preeminent disease-specific
database of population genomics. GMI works in collaboration with
clinicians, patients, academic researchers and global biotech and
pharmaceutical sectors to discover pathways to new treatments
and new diagnostics for people both here in Ireland and around
the world.
GMIs partners include founding investors ARCH Venture Partners,
Polaris Partners, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Maveron, and

corporate partner Amgen. GMI has also formed a strategic

partnership with global contract genomics organisation WuXi
NextCODE, a spinoff of deCODE genetics. Collectively, they bring
multi-decade experience in disease genomics to GMI.
www.genomicsmed.ie
About ARCH Venture PartnersARCH Venture Partners, one of
the largest early stage technology venture firms in the U.S., invests
in seed and early stage advanced technology companies. ARCH
enjoys special recognition as a leader in the commercialisation of
technologies developed at academic institutions, corporate
research labs and national laboratories. ARCH has earned a
reputation as one of the leading venture firms in early stage
biotechnology, advanced materials, alternative energy, and
specialty semiconductors, and is known for identifying and
capitalising early on fundamental trends in disruptive technology.
Now in its 30th year, ARCH has over $2.5 billion in committed
capital through nine venture funds, and has co-founded and
provided initial investments for over 200 companies, including
Illumina, Juno Therapeutics, Receptos, Kythera
Biopharmaceuticals, Ikaria, and Agios Pharmaceuticals.
www.archventure.com
About Polaris PartnersPolaris Partners invests in exceptional
technology and healthcare companies across all stages of their life
cycles. With offices in Boston, San Francisco, and Dublin, we
partner globally with an unparalleled network of repeat
entrepreneurs, top scientists and emerging innovators who are
making significant contributions in their fields and vastly improving
the way in which we live and work. www.polarispartners.com.
About The Ireland Strategic Investment FundThe Ireland
Strategic Investment Fund (8.1 billion at end Sept. 2016) has a
statutory mandate to invest on a commercial basis in a manner
designed to support economic activity and employment in Ireland.
The fund, which is controlled and managed by the National
Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), has made investment
commitments to date of 2.4 billion (including investments made
by its predecessor, the National Pensions Reserve Fund). For
more information about the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and
how it invests, visit www.isif.ie.
About GV (formerly Google Ventures)GV provides seed, venture
and growth stage funding to the most innovative and promising
entrepreneurs across a variety of industries. Founded in 2009, GV
has extensive entrepreneurial experience, deep technical
knowledge, and expertise in building high growth, scalable

products and companies. Among its 300+ investments are Uber,

Flatiron Health, DocuSign, and Blue Bottle Coffee. GV is
headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., with offices in Boston, New
York, and London. For more information, please visit
http://www.gv.com.
About deCODE geneticsBased in Reykjavik, Iceland, deCODE
genetics is a global leader in analysing and understanding the
human genome. Using its unique expertise and population
resources, deCODE genetics has discovered genetic risk factors
for dozens of common diseases. The purpose of understanding the
genetics of disease is to use that information to create new means
of diagnosing, treating and preventing disease. deCODE genetics
is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amgen. www.decode.com
About WuXi NextCODEWuXi NextCODE is a fully integrated
global contract genomics organisation. With offices in Shanghai;
Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Reykjavik,
Iceland, we offer comprehensive services that enable population,
precision medicine, diagnostics and wellness initiatives and
enterprises to use the genome to improve health around the world.
Our capabilities span study design, sequencing, secondary
analysis, storage, and interpretation and scalable analytics all
backed by the most proven and widely used technology for
organising, mining and sharing genome sequence data. WuXi
NextCODE is a subsidiary of WuXi AppTec.
www.wuxinextcode.com
The Study of GenomicsGenomics is the study of all of a persons
genes (the genome), including the interactions of those genes with
each other and the persons environment. Genomics has a critical
role to play in the identification, prevention and treatment of
disease and rare conditions, including the scientific study of
complex diseases such as heart disease, asthma, diabetes, and
cancer because these diseases are typically caused more by a
combination of genetic and environmental factors than by
individual genes.

http://www.isif.ie/news/press-releases/genomicsmedicine-ireland-raises-usd40-million/

Minister Eoghan Murphy to promote Irelands

financial sector in Hong Kong and Beijing
node-news.tpl
16.01.17

Minister Eoghan Murphy to promote Irelands financial sector

in Hong Kong and Beijing
Today (16-Jan-2017) in Hong Kong Eoghan Murphy TD, Minister of
State for Financial Services, begins an intensive 4-day programme
in Hong Kong and Beijing to promote Irelands international
financial services sector. Commenting on his programme Minister
Murphy noted,
I welcome the opportunity to return to Asia [1] to continue to
promote the growth and job creation potential from stronger
Ireland-China trade relations in financial services. Just as Hong
Kong is a gateway for Irish companies doing business in the wider
region, I am here to promote Ireland as the financial centre of
choice for Hong Kong and Chinese companies who want to do
business in Europe.
Minister Murphy will be the fourth Minister to travel to Hong Kong
since the Government opened a Consulate there in 2014 to
administer to its 5,000 strong Irish community. Central to the Hong
Kong leg of the Ministers programme is his speaking on Cybersecurity and Payment technologies at the 10th annual Asian
Financial Forum.
He will use this opportunity to draw attention to the strengths of
indigenous Irish financial technology companies particularly in the
areas cyber-security, risk modelling, data analytics and Blockchain.
He will also speak about the Governments IFS 2020 Strategy
which aims to continue to grow direct employment in the sector
beyond the current level of over 40,000.
Speaking on his wider Hong Kong programme , taking in a number
of bilateral and one-to-many engagements with and on behalf of

IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland client companies, Minister of

State Eoghan Murphy T.D. stated:
I am here to demonstrate the readiness and capability of our
financial services sector to meet the challenge of the year ahead.
Last years Brexit vote requires us to accelerate and intensify
market diversification beyond our traditional markets. The rapid
growth in Irelands trade with China over the last number of
years and the 20 plus Irish firms doing business in the region
illustrate the potential to attract further investment into Ireland.
Following last month's announcement of a 50 billion Renmimbi
institutional investment quota by Chinese authorities Minister
Murphy will speak to opportunities for increased investment at
Ireland-China investment conferences in both Hong Kong and
Beijing.
His Beijing programme will take in a round of official engagements
with counterparts in the Chinese Ministry of Finance, the Peoples
Bank of China, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB).
The Beijing leg will also include engagements to further promote
the IFS Ireland banner brand and highlight the Asian focus at next
weeks European Financial Forum in Dublin Castle. At the
upcoming European Financial Forum representatives from over
400 companies from 20 countries will hear from, amongst others,
the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) president Mr Jin
Liquan and Mr Qi Bin, executive vice-chairman of the China
Investment Corporation.
16 January 2017
ENDS
Further information from:
David Byrne - Press Officer - pressoffice@finance.gov.ie + 353 86
026 7978

Note to editors:
Minister Murphy led a trade delegation of Enterprise Ireland

financial services client companies as part of his programme to

Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo last September, further details at
www.finance.gov.ie/news-centre/press-releases/minister-eoghanmurphy-asia-promote-ireland%E2%80%99s-financial-servicesand-2017
Further detail on Irelands Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional
Investor quota is available here www.finance.gov.ie/newscentre/press-releases/ireland-improves-financial-links-china
This year, China is Irelands largest trade partner in Asia. Per CSO
figures for 2015, two-way trade in goods and services amounted to
some 11.1 billion. On current trend, Irelands two-way trade with
China could exceed 12 billion in 2016 and 14 billion in 2017 up
from just over 7 billion in 2013.
Further detail on the European Financial Forum on 24-Jan next
available at www.ifsireland.com/european-financial-forum.html
Information on the Governments IFS 2020 Strategy and action
plans is available here, www.finance.gov.ie/Ifs2020. The 2017
action plan will be published next week in advance of the
European Financial Forum in Dublin Castle.
The programme for the 10th Annual Asian Financial Forum is
available here
www.asianfinancialforum.com/en/info_programme.htm
Relevant links:
Embassy of Ireland, China www.dfa.ie/irish-embassy/china
Consulate General of Ireland, Hong Kong www.dfa.ie/irishconsulate/hong-kong
IDA Ireland, Asia Pacific www.idaireland.com/how-we-help/globalteams/asia-pacific
Enterprise Ireland, China www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/exportassistance/international-office-network-services-andcontacts/contact-details-for-enterprise-ireland-staff-servicingchina.html

http://www.finance.gov.ie/news-centre/pressreleases/minister-eoghan-murphy-promote-irelands-

financial-sector-hong-kong-and
Enterprise Ireland Trade Mission is ... Bank of Ireland is a
diversified Financial Services Group. A ... Client Services
Manager

https://www.scribd.com/document/239254009/Tradeand-Investment-Mission-to-China-2012-CompanyDirectory

Organised by IDA Ireland as part of

the IFS 2020 Strategy
Dublin, Tuesday 24th January 2017 - Leading
global financial institutions, policy makers,
entrepreneurs and innovators will participate
today in the European Financial Forum
(EFF) in Dublin Castle.
The Forum, organised by IDA Ireland in association with
the FT and IFS Ireland, which is to be opened by the
Taoiseach Enda Kenny T.D., is a European platform for
top decision-makers and influencers in the public,
private and regulatory fields of financial services to
explore the disruptive forces that are shaping the
financial sector into the future and discuss where
opportunities lie.
The European Financial Forum is an opportunity for
senior industry decision-makers, policy-makers and
academics to discuss how they see the European and
Global Financial Services industry evolving.
I expect the implications of a British exit from the
European Union will form a large part of our
discussions today. The outcome of the UK Brexit
referendum has created the need for companies to

reconsider their European footprint and IDA will be

explaining why Ireland is the most attractive location in
which to invest in a post-Brexit world.

I expect the implications of a British

exit from the European Union will
form a large part of our discussions
today. The outcome of the UK Brexit
referendum has created the need
for companies to reconsider their
European footprint and IDA will be
explaining why Ireland is the most
attractive location in which to invest
in a post-Brexit world.
Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland
Irelands proposition of EU market access, regulatory
passport, global product distribution, cost
effectiveness, deep domain knowledge, innovative
technology offerings and superior customer service
together with English language and a Common Law
system will continue to prove compelling to financial
services companies commented Martin Shanahan,
CEO, IDA Ireland.
Major themes to be explored this year include the
financial services landscape; Asia-Europe; and
Disruptive Innovation. The Forum will also focus on the
latest macroeconomic and regulatory scenarios, and
the impact of Brexit and implications for banking and
financial services. In addition to a strong European and
North American attendance, the forum has also

attracted a number of senior contributors and

attendees from Asia.
Speakers for EFF 2017 include: An Taoiseach Enda
Kenny; Eoghan Murphy T.D. (Minister of State with
responsibility for Financial Services); Philip Lane
(Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland); Jin Liqun
(President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank);
Philip Hildebrand (Vice President of Blackrock), Noreen
Doyle (Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of Credit
Suisse), Mary Mitchell OConnor T.D. (Minister for Jobs,
Enterprise and Innovation) Sean Berrigan (Deputy DG,
DG FISMA, European Commission); James Cowles (CEO,
Europe, Middle East and Africa, of Citi Group) and Qi
Bin (Executive Vice President of the China Investment
Corporation)
Ireland is a globally-recognised centre for specialist IFS.
Ireland is home to over 400 IFS companies, foreignowned and indigenous, spread throughout the country
employing over 40,000 people.

Snapshot of IFS in Ireland:

400 IFS companies
40,000 employees in the IFS Sector
No. 1 location worldwide for Alternative Investment
Funds
3.8trn of assets under administration over 13,000
funds, and 840+ promoters from 50 countries
17 of the top 20 global banks are based in Ireland.
8 of the top 10 global aviation lessors and over 60% of
the worlds leased commercial aircraft owned or

managed from Ireland.

Half of top 20 insurance companies have a presence in
Ireland
Ireland is home to some of the worlds largest IFS
companies in sub-sectors such as banking, funds, asset
management and investment, insurance and
reinsurance, FinTech and aircraft leasing.
http://www.idaireland.com/newsroom/annual-europeanfinancial/

International payments company

opens new offices as part of
significant investment by the
company in Ireland
Dublin, 20th January, 2017 - EVO Payments
International, a leading card payment
service provider operating throughout North
America and Europe, has announced the
creation of 50 new jobs and the opening of
a new Irish headquarters as part of a 9.1
million investment in the Irish market.
The new full-time positions, spanning sales and
marketing, customer support and
administration, will be based in the companys
new head office in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
EVO has begun recruiting for the new positions and
expects to fill all roles this year. With extensive
operations in North America and Europe, EVO employs
over 2,000 professionals today.
The announcement will be made by Minister for Jobs,
Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell OConnor at

an event in the companys new headquarters this

morning.
Operating under the BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA)
brand name in Ireland, EVO established a presence
here in 2014 and works in partnership with Bank of
Ireland in providing innovative card point of sale and
online payment solutions for Irish SME and corporate
businesses.
The company has played a central role in the
accelerated growth of card and contactless payment
adoption in the Irish market.
In just two years, the company has grown from five to
70 people. The addition of 50 new people will bring the
Irish workforce to 120 people in 2017.
In advance of announcing the new jobs and additional
investment in the company's new offices in Dun
Laoghaire, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation,
Mary Mitchell O'Connor warmly welcomed the
expansion, saying:
This is a great success story with a further 50 jobs
being announced today. The alliance between EVO
Payments International and Bank of Ireland brings
together a world leading international payments
technology company and a major Irish financial
institution, and the result is a great win for Ireland. I am
confident the company will get the required skills from
our talented workforce, and I look forward to the

business going from strength to strength in the future.

Debit card spend in Ireland last year was over 30
billion, a 20 per cent increase year-on-year. Total card
spend in Ireland is over 40 billion with an additional
13 billion spent online.
Speaking at the announcement today, Mr Brian Cleary,
Managing Director of BOI Payment Acceptance Ireland
and UK said:
Were delighted to announce our additional investment
and expansion in Ireland today. Weve experienced
rapid growth here over the past two years, driven
mostly by the increasing use of card payments by Irish
consumers, the adoption of new card payment
technologies by Irish businesses to meet that demand,
and a growing Irish economy. Equally, our strategic
partnership with Bank of Ireland means we continue to
deliver for more Irish businesses and consumers.
With over six million debit and credit cards in the
market, debit card spend on the increase year-on-year
and with over 35,000 Irish businesses offering
contactless payment facilities, this number continues to
grow. Our additional investment reinforces our
commitment to rapidly expanding our presence in both
the Irish and UK markets and will ensure we are well
positioned to meet the demand for new and innovative
payment solutions among consumers and businesses
in Ireland, he said.

Ireland is well positioned as a

payments hub within Europe and
todays expansion by EVO Payments
International further strengthens
this. There are huge opportunities
for growth in this area as
consumers continue to embrace
technology in their daily lives. IDA
Ireland is focussed on winning more
business in this area in the coming
months.
Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland
Congratulating the company on its expansion, Martin
Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland said: Ireland is well
positioned as a payments hub within Europe and
todays expansion by EVO Payments International
further strengthens this. There are huge opportunities
for growth in this area as consumers continue to
embrace technology in their daily lives. IDA Ireland is
focussed on winning more business in this area in the
coming months.
About BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA)
BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA) is a marketing
alliance between the Bank of Ireland and EVO
Payments International. It brings together Bank of
Irelands understanding of what Irish businesses need
and EVOs expertise in creating innovative payment
solutions. Headquartered in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, the
company employ 70 people in Ireland and are due to
add 50 new jobs in 2017.

About EVO Payments International

EVO Payments International is a leading payments
service provider of merchant acquiring and processing
solutions for merchants, financial institutions,
Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Independent
Sales Organizations (ISOs), government organizations
and multinational corporations located throughout
North America and Europe. A principal member of Visa
and MasterCard, EVO offers an array of innovative,
reliable and secure payments solutions and merchant
services, backed by an uncompromising commitment
to exceed the expectations of our customers and
partners. For more information, please visit
WWW.EVOPAYMENTS.COM.

Leading Financial Services company

to open Global Technology Campus
creating 200 jobs
Galway, 16 November 2016 Taoiseach Enda
Kenny TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and
Innovation Mary Mitchell OConnor TD and IDA
Ireland today welcomed the news that
MetLife is expanding its Irish operations with
the opening of a new Global Technology
Campus in Galway to support its customers
and technologists around the world. The new
Galway Global Technology Campus will be
home to more than 200 new, skilled IT roles.
The campus is expected to open in the first half of
2017, and recruitment will begin immediately.
The Taoiseach said, "I'm delighted to welcome these

200 high quality jobs associated with Metlife's

new Galway Global Technology Campus. This
investment is supported by the Government
and is in line with our Action Plan for Jobs to
expand our financial services and technology
industries across the country. The
Government's aim is to add 200,000 new jobs
to the economy by 2020 with 135,000 of those
jobs outside of Dublin. I want to commend
Metlife's commitment to Ireland and to
Galway and we look forward to working with
the company in the years to come to deliver
on this new investment."
Welcoming the announcement Minster for Jobs
Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O
Connor TD said Metlife announcing today that it is
expanding its Irish operations with the opening of a
new Global Technology Campus and creating 200 jobs
is tremendous news for Galway and the West Region. It
is a testament to the region and the skilled staff
available, that projects like this, requiring specialist IT
expertise, are being located here. All jobs created have
a wider knock on positive impact on the wider region
and communities. One of my priorities as Minister is
creating an environment where job growth can thrive,
particularly in rural Ireland. I welcome this
announcement which follows on from a momentum of
recent job announcements in our regions. I wish the
Metlife team the very best for the future.
Commenting on the announcement Martin

Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland said "Ireland is

uniquely positioned to become a leading global centre
for Fintech investment - where global multinationals
like MetLife can develop and implement their digital
capabilities to their customers worldwide. IDA Ireland
has increased its marketing activity to global financial
institutions. The scale of this investment in a regional
location is a strategic win for IDA Ireland. It
demonstrates the confidence a global leader such as
MetLife has in Irelands skills availability and business
infrastructure.

This investment by MetLife is also a

clear endorsement of the
Governments IFS2020 strategy to
increase investment and job
creation in this important sector.
IDA Ireland works with a strong
portfolio of companies in
International Financial Services and
we are targeting more investment
in this area.
Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland
This investment by MetLife is also a clear endorsement
of the Governments IFS2020 strategy to increase
investment and job creation in this important sector.
IDA Ireland works with a strong portfolio of companies
in International Financial Services and we are targeting
more investment in this area. I wish all the MetLife
team every success with this announcement and to
offer the continued support of IDA Ireland", he
concluded. New Limerick data centre

accommodates growing EMEA

demand for ACIs Universal
Payments solutions; also brings 50
new jobs
LIMERICK, IRELANDOctober 17, 2016 ACI
Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading
global provider of real-time electronic
payment and banking solutions, today
announced the opening of its new European
data centre. Located in Limerick, this stateof-the-art facility delivers the utmost in
reliability, security and data privacy, further
expanding world-class payments solution
capabilities and capacity for European
customers, comprising some of largest
merchants, intermediaries and financial
institutions, including the two biggest banks in
Ireland.
In order to accommodate growing EMEA demand, the
new fully redundant data centre was built and
launched in record time, and meets the most
stringent security and compliance standards.
Moreover, it further leverages ACIs product
investments to make its Universal Payments
solutions available to European companies
through ACIs private cloud.
The facility also brings job growth to the region. In
partnership with IDA Ireland, ACI will add 50 new
hires, on top of the current team of nearly
100. The company has had a presence in Limerick for

ten years, cultivating strong talent as part of its longstanding internship program and collaboration with the
University of Limerick.
To commemorate the data centre opening, ACI today
welcomed senior dignitaries from across the country to
visit the facility. Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and
Innovation Mary Mitchell O Connor T.D. warmly
welcomed the investment by ACI. "This new project,
involving the construction of a new data centre in
Limerick, is exactly the type of value added project we
are pursuing. Hosting a data centre is a commitment
for the long-term, given the scale of the capital
investment involved. Ireland has attracted data centres
from virtually all the major players over recent years
and this is testament to Ireland and our agencies
involved. ACI's commitment is a great vote of
confidence in both the infrastructure and skills
available in the region. I wish ACI and its team
continued success.
The Minister for Finance Michael Noonan T.D.
said: Im delighted to see ACI cementing its presence in
the Limerick region with the addition of this data
centre. A further 50 jobs and increased physical
infrastructure is testament to ACIs confidence in
Limerick and its highly skilled workforce. As Minister for
Finance, I have championed electronic payments and
have overseen a move in Ireland toward more efficient
and convenient uses of electronic payments. I am a
firm believer in the work that ACI is doing and I am
grateful to see that they are a firm believer in the
people of Limerick and the broader region.
Also speaking at the event, Minister for

Employment and Small Business Pat Breen

T.D. commented: "This is another very welcome
announcement for the region and follows on from
other recent significant announcements for Limerick.
All jobs created have a positive knock on effect on the
wider region. It is important that we continue to pursue
opportunities for investment and job creation across all
rural Ireland. Once again this investment is a
testament to the skilled workforce and the
attractiveness of the region. I wish the team at ACI
every success for the future.
IDA CEO Martin Shanahan said: It is great to see
this company, which has been extremely
successful in Ireland and across Europe,
continue to grow and develop its operations
here in Limerick. Supporting established
companies like ACI is a key focus for IDA. The
addition of this new data centre confirms ACIs
ongoing commitment to the region, and its
continued growth presents further
employment opportunities for the great pool
of talent in Limerick and the wider region. I
wish ACI continued success here.
We are very excited about our new European data
centre and the tremendous overall
opportunities for ACI in the region, which is
testament to our great team and our powerful
Universal Payments offerings, said Phil
Heasley, president and CEO, ACI
Worldwide. As more organizations embrace
private cloud solutions to gain a competitive
edge, theyre turning to ACI; our dedicated

cloud payments offerings provide the security,

privacy and reliability that customers need
and expect from mission-critical payment
solutions.

We are very excited about our new

European data centre and the
tremendous overall opportunities
for ACI in the region, which is
testament to our great team and
our powerful Universal Payments
offerings. As more organizations
embrace private cloud solutions to
gain a competitive edge, theyre
turning to ACI; our dedicated cloud
payments offerings provide the
security, privacy and reliability that
customers need and expect from
mission-critical payment solutions.
Phil Heasley, president and CEO, ACI Worldwide
ACI provides world-class electronic payments, banking,
and fraud protection solutions and services to more
than 4,600 financial institutions, retailers, and billers
around the world through a private cloud, processing
more than 35 million transactions per day.
About ACI Worldwide
ACI Worldwide, the Universal Payments (UP) company,
powers electronic payments for more than 5,100
organizations around the world. More than 1,000 of the
largest financial institutions and intermediaries as well
as thousands of global merchants rely on ACI to
execute $14 trillion each day in payments and

securities. In addition, myriad organizations utilize our

electronic bill presentment and payment services.
Through our comprehensive suite of software and
SaaS-based solutions, we deliver real-time, immediate
payments capabilities and enable the industrys most
complete omni-channel payments experience. To learn
more about ACI, please visit www.aciworldwide.com.
You can also find us on Twitter @ACI_Worldwide.
Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2016.
ACI, ACI Payment Systems, the ACI logo and all ACI
product names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its
subsidiaries, in the United States, other countries or
both. Other parties trademarks referenced are the
property of their respective owners.
Product roadmaps are for informational purposes only
and may not be incorporated into a contract or
agreement. The development release and timing of
future product releases remains at ACIs sole discretion.
ACI is providing the following information in
accordance with ACI's standard product
communication policies. Any resulting features,
functionality, and enhancements or timing of release of
such features, functionality, and enhancements are at
the sole discretion of ACI and may be modified without
notice. All product roadmap or other similar
information does not represent a commitment to
deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should
not be relied upon in making a purchasing decision.

OVERVIEW
The Financial Times in partnership with IDA Ireland
presents the second European Financial Forum, bringing
together international and Irish industry leaders, policy
makers, regulators and subject matter experts to explore
the various forces - political, social, economic and
technological - that are shaping the global financial
services industry. This years European Financial Forum
has added significance following the UK referendum on
EU membership and a new administration in the United
States.
The Forum will consider a broad agenda through a
combination of keynote address, on-stage
interviews and panel discussions moderated by a
team of the most respected journalists and
commentators from the Financial Times. Topics will
include: the impact and likely industry response to
Brexit, the view from the markets, investment

challenges and opportunities in a low interest rate

environment, identifying and managing risk and
the increasingly important role of innovation in
financial services. This years Forum will include
perspectives from China courtesy of senior
representatives from the China Investment
Corporation (CIC) and the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB).
Join us once again in Dublin to gain critical insights
on the latest industry trends and developments
from a group of internationally respected speakers
and industry leaders.
https://live.ft.com/Events/2017/European-FinancialForum2?
reference=twitter&utm_source=soc&utm_medium=twitter
&utm_campaign=2017peuropeanfinanceforumdublin

?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?

Ireland's inward investment promotion agency, the IDA, is

a non-commercial, semi-state body promoting Foreign
Direct Investment into Ireland through a wide range of
services. We partner with potential and existing investors
to help them establish or expand their operations in
Ireland.
http://www.idaireland.com/

Enterprise Ireland is the government organisation

responsible for the development and growth of Irish
enterprises in world markets. We work in partnership with
Irish enterprises to help them start, grow, innovate and win
export sales on global markets. In this way, we support
sustainable economic growth, regional development and
secure employment.
www.enterprise-ireland.com

Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA - Why Invest

in Ireland
Sep 5, 2016
It's not all about tax says Martin Shanahan CEO of IDA Ireland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PlR87MLiuM

Dublin courts post-Brexit business

Sep 29, 2016

Subscribe to France 24 now :
http://f24.my/youtubeEN
FRANCE 24 live news stream: all the latest news 24/7
http://f24.my/YTliveEN
Three months after the Brexit vote, the race to be Europe's
next financial hub is heating up. Paris, Frankfurt, and Dublin
are all vying for new business. We speak to Martin Shanahan,
Chief Executive of IDA Ireland, about how he's trying to sell
Dublin to prospective investors, and whether the Apple tax
ruling will discourage companies from setting up base there.
Visit our website :
http://www.france24.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel :

http://f24.my/youtubeEN
Like us on Facebook :
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.Eng...
Follow us on Twitter :
https://twitter.com/France24_en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkJxYmxjDTY

FRANCE 24 The Interview - THE

INTERVIEW - Brian Lenihan, Irish Finance
Minister
Nov 25, 2010
THE INTERVIEW - Brian Lenihan, Irish Finance Minister
EXCLUSIVE - Herv Amoric meets Irish Finance Minister Brian
Lenihan. Mr Lenihan discusses the debt crisis in Ireland, its
four-year recovery plan, and why he doesn't think the country's
economic woes will cause any serious damage to the eurozone
as a whole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aB4wsw-eLk

Crisis Inside the Cowen Government Part

1
Dec 8, 2012
The fall of Ireland's economy. Crisis inside the cowen
government.
Part 2... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TyG3I...
Unfortunately I can not find access to the follow-up. This is the
best i can find so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiiN--4hSjY

Messages of condolences on the passing

of former Minister Brian Lenihan
Jun 10, 2011
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, First Minister Peter Robinson and
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness express their
condolenes on the passing of former Finance Minister Brian
Lenihan. Recorded by MerrionStreet.ie, 10/06/2011.
Fianna Fail man Took His Treason Bank bailout Cover Up of His
crimes and Greed And Corruption to His grave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulFyD9RkW0s

TV3 news coverage of B. Lenihan's

cancer
He Got Cancer after He Robbed The Irish Citizens of Ireland
No Fucking Lost, The Bastrd Can go to Hell fir all I care
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlrqD6YyEOs

Brian Lenihan 'We All Partied' on Prime

Time 24/11/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK7w6fXoYxo

THESE BASTARDS LIED TO US ALL, ONE

IS DEAD A FEW MORE HOPEFULLY
FOLLOWS I HOPE THEY ALL DIE A
HORRIBLE DEATH FUANNA FAIL, FINE
GAEL, LABOUR, GREEN PARTY,
PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS AND A FEW
IND,
Cowen and Lenihan/Paxman on Irish
Bailout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBzR6M7SxlM

Save your banks at all costs"- ECB

President Trichet orders Irish Minister
Lenihan.
Nov 21, 2010
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan recounts that Jean -Claude
Trichet rang him with a message "You must save your banks at
all costs",after which Lenihan introduced the bank guarantee.
Lenihan @5.03

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDN7NiEdNJ0

Dermot Ahern Noel Dempsey

Ministers denying knowledge of an impending EU-IMF bailout in

November 2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19KotloFVxA

Bailout is Fiction" Dermot Ahern

14.11.2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GffDsPYi1Js

JONATHAN SUGARMAN - A
BANKER SPEAKS OUT
In Sept. 2007, fourteen months before Ireland's
bank bailout, I resigned from my position as the
Risk Manager of UniCredit Bank Ireland. I did that
in order not to incriminate myself. I have spent the
last 4 years seeking justice. On Feb. 23rd., 2010, I
was fortunate to have Senator David Norris raise
the matter in Seanad Eireann (the Irish Senate),
and request a response from the Minister of

Finance, Mr. Brian Lenihan. Senator Norris

concluded by stating that:
"...there is ministerial responsibility in this matter.
This is a grossly serious matter which has been
reported to the Financial Regulator. A man has lost
his job as a result. He honourably resigned. The
degree of breach was 40 times the accepted margin.
This is a disaster. If we are not prepared to
face the issue and investigate it when it has
been laid before the House, there is
absolutely no hope for the financial system
or its reputation worldwide...How can the
Financial Regulator investigate himself? He
was in breach of his responsibility."
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/seanad/2010/02/23/0
0012.asp
In Nov. 2011, Emma Alberici, Europe
correspondent for ABC TV, told my story as part of
her documentary 'Going Rogue' which featured Nick
Leeson and Sir John Vickers among other
interviewees. It is ironic that at a time when the
Irish tax-payer is bailing out un-secured bond
holders, my story which occurred in Dublin, is
deemed of interest to the Australian TV license
payer. Please click on 'play video' on the following
link:
JONATHAN SUGARMAN - A BANKER SPEAKS OUT
In Sept. 2007, fourteen months before Ireland's bank
bailout, I resigned from my position as the Risk Manager of
UniCredit Bank Ireland. I did that in order not to
incriminate myself. I have spent the last 4 years seeking
justice. On Feb. 23rd., 2010, I was fortunate to have
Senator David Norris raise the matter in Seanad Eireann
(the Irish Senate), and request a response from the
Minister of Finance, Mr. Brian Lenihan. Senator Norris
concluded by stating that:

"...there is ministerial responsibility in this matter. This is a

grossly serious matter which has been reported to the
Financial Regulator. A man has lost his job as a result. He
honourably resigned. The degree of breach was 40 times
the accepted margin. This is a disaster. If we are not
prepared to face the issue and investigate it when it has
been laid before the House, there is absolutely no hope for
the financial system or its reputation worldwide...How can
the Financial Regulator investigate himself? He was in
breach of his responsibility."
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/seanad/2010/02/23/00012.asp
In Nov. 2011, Emma Alberici, Europe correspondent for
ABC TV, told my story as part of her documentary 'Going
Rogue' which featured Nick Leeson and Sir John Vickers
among other interviewees. It is ironic that at a time when
the Irish tax-payer is bailing out un-secured bond holders,
my story which occurred in Dublin, is deemed of interest
to the Australian TV license payer. Please click on 'play
video' on the following link:
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2011/s3367080.htm
VRT, Belgian state-TV, aired this interview with me on
March 6th., 2013. My Interview begins in minute 27:
Het verdriet van Europa: Zeepbellen blazen (The sadness
of Europe: Bursting bubbles)
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/videozone/progra
mmas/hetverdrietvaneuropa/2.27204
VRT, Belgian state-TV, released extra footage of my
interview on March 8th., 2013. (in English):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKmr2u2P4OE
Whistleblower.IRL@gmail.com
Friday, 8 April 2011
Mr. Elderfield, I am impressed by your recent statements.
Will actions follow words?
I was greatly encouraged when I read these two recent
headlines, I wonder is this the dawn of a new era of
financial law-enforcement in Ireland?
Only time and actions will tell.
An open letter to the banker who contacted me:

Dear fellow banker,

I am responding publicly to your email to me as I believe
that the dilema you are facing is one that is probably
tormenting many others at the moment.
Only you can make a decision about what is the 'right
thing for you to do'. Ultimately only you can decide how to
negotiate the tension that you contend with daily
between the 'party line' and the REAL figures on the one
hand, and your obligations as a family man on the other.
If you decide to take action in view of the gap between
'the party line' and the REAL figures, there is no telling
what the future may hold for you. In my case, it took the
Financial Regulator 3.5 years to invite me to a meeting. I
doubt that meeting would ever have happened had it not
been for the fact that my issue was raised in the Austrian
parliament, especially so soon after our entire banking
system neared complete collapse and required bailout.
As you have probably noticed, not a single banker, nor a
single politician, has been held accountable for the
flagrant breaches of the law. 'It just broke, it wasn't me' is
the infantile excuse they all made, and we have allowed
them to get away with it.
You and I both know that the taxes that our families,
friends, and neighbours are paying, are disappearing into
a bottomless pit called banks. The schools and hospital
wards that are shutting down all around us are just part of
the 'Belt Tightening' that our Dear leaders are advocating.
Only you can decide what is the right thing for you to do.
As you and I both know, the consequences of taking
action, or not taking action, can be severe and farreaching.
I do advise you to read the blog post that I wrote following
my meeting at the Central Bank of Ireland:
http://whistleblowerirl.blogspot.com/2011/06/word-ofadvice-to-those-who-have.html

With my best wishes,

WhistleblowerIRL
February 26, 2016
Dear Shareholder,
While the price of most mining equities and commodities
continued to grind lower through 2015, as a result of the
relentless correction to the aggressive but brief bull run of
2009-2011 and the preceding 2001-2008 'super cycle', the
fall in prices is undeniably starting to flatten out. Not
unrelated to this, the long awaited asset sales, write-offs,
dividend cuts and deleveraging strategies of the major
mining houses and trading groups are also starting to
occur.
At Altus we do not believe this necessarily means that a
'recovery' is around the corner. The market correction
occurred for a reason; primarily it was due to the supply of
physical metals and minerals matching and then
surpassing their physical demand as the latter grew and
then subsided with equal vigour. While we may question
the reliability of GDP statistics, or whether demand was
real vs. strategic, or the dynamics of the wider credit
cycle, the mining sector quite simply got ahead of itself
and the rest in terms of its performance thereafter is
history. For now apparent economic activity in China, other
emerging markets and the West appears to remain
relatively weak and the outlook uncertain.
For mining equities to perform strongly, the demand for
commodities needs to outweigh their supply. Not
unrelated to this, there needs to be confidence in capital
markets so that the economic drivers to create wealth (be
they demographic or technological) are in the ascendency.
In the first instance the prices of commodities will find the
level at which mining companies can extract and process
sufficient ore profitably to meet current demand. For now

the currencies of the mineral rich countries look set to

continue to weaken against the US dollar whilst labour
costs continue to fall with further redundancies, pay cuts
and the increasing use of technology. Global energy and
steel prices are at levels not seen for over a decade, with
little sign of recovering in the near future. These
conditions suggest that mine supply will not abate
dramatically and that "absent a global inflationary shock"
we should not envisage a sharp snap-back in commodity
prices.
Even as recently as a year ago, a person who espoused
the concept of central banks enforcing negative interest
rates, or attempts to remove high value cash from
circulation, or the potential for sending newly printed
money directly to citizens to stimulate "demand", would
have been politely considered a bit radical. However, all
three of those levers are being openly discussed by
mainstream economists as either being inevitable or in
some way desirable in order to stoke inflation, devalue
currencies and avoid a deflationary bank-debt implosion.
Later on in this letter we take a more detailed look at the
macro environment and examine why inflation is a
prerequisite for the current monetary system.
In short, we believe that wealth preservation will remain a
key theme for the next five to ten years and to that end
we feel gold has a material part to play in the portfolios of
prudent investment managers. In order to address this
opportunity, Altus intends to launch a new income
generating precious metal fund in 2016 in which we will
invest and provide with investment management services.
I look forward to updating you on this initiative in due
course.
Sheltered from the market turmoil and expensive "general
and administrative" costs of our listed competitors, Altus
has maintained strong progress through 2015 with its
African project generation strategy. Further drilling has
been undertaken on our Tigray-Afar copper project in
northern Ethiopia and our Birsok bauxite project in central
Cameroon; both funded by our respective JV partners

JOGMEC and Canyon Resources. Results from both of these

programmes have been encouraging. Aside from these
projects we have made significant progress in our Morocco
venture for copper, gold and base metals and in Liberia
and Cameroon for gold. With an eye on the long term, we
have been quietly building our land bank across all of the
countries in which we currently operate whilst competition
remains low. Further details on these assets is provided
below and I look forward to keeping you updated with their
progress.
Last but not least and on behalf of all of the directors, I
pay tribute to my Altus colleagues for their relentless
endeavours during the year to create shareholder value.
They are bright, energetic, hard-working and perhaps
most important of all during difficult market conditions,
they are enthusiastic about the substantial opportunity we
have ahead of us.
I look forward to keeping you up to date with our progress
and in the meantime please do not hesitate to get in touch
for any further details you would welcome.
Yours faithfully,
Steven Poulton

Nobody Cares
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=qnZHMmCjpQ8
April 10, 2014

AIB and BoI owe over 100bn to foreign investors and

fear another run on deposits could destroy them
The Irish Central Bank is keeping them afloat after
ECB said: We wont lend you any more Collapse
would trigger 440bn bank guarantee... but IMF has
option of locking the banks doors

Banks in Ireland 'on

brink of collapse'
21 November 2010

Crisis: Insiders fear Brian Lenihan fails to grasp the

dangers
Ireland's biggest banks are facing collapse this week
unless an immediate international bail-out package can be
agreed, senior insiders have revealed.
Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland have each suffered
a multibillion-euro run as foreign investors withdraw their
cash amid fears that both institutions are effectively bust.
It was this secret run that brought the IMF and EU bailout teams to Ireland in an effort to prevent the banks
collapsing entirely. If they do, it would trigger Irelands
440bn blanket bank guarantee potentially leaving the
State unable to pay the debt.
One option available to the IMF would be to lock down
the Irish banks until a deal is agreed to recapitalise them.

In an IMF-led bail-out in Argentina in 2002, banks were

shut for 10 days to halt the flight of deposits.
The Government is desperate to play down the scale of
the banking crisis because even talking about it could
panic personal depositors into withdrawing their cash
even though it is guaranteed by the State.
But some bank insiders fear that ministers many of
whom spent the day canvassing in Donegal yesterday
have simply failed to grasp how close they are to the
abyss.
The Irish Mail on Sunday has learned that a colossal
18bn in deposits was withdrawn from Irish banks during
September alone.
On Friday, AIB admitted that since June, 12bn had been
withdrawn around a fifth of its entire deposit base. BoI
admitted it had lost 10bn in corporate deposits over the
August/September period, while Irish Life & Permanent
lost about 600m.
The secret run forced the banks to borrow tens of billions
from the ECB to stay afloat. When Frankfurt recently
refused to lend more cash, the Irish Central Bank stepped
in with loans of some 28bn to keep them afloat.
However, the ECB is now insisting on withdrawing these
loans which is why the IMF and EU are being asked to
step in and take their place.
A source in AIB told the MoS before the release of the
interim figures this week: Deposits have been withdrawn
in their droves. In the normal course of events, that would
be it the bank is going under. Consideration was given to
issuing a statement but it was decided against. Well see
what the IMF does.
It is understood that a number of drastic measures are on
the table to avoid a situation whereby cash machines
simply stop dispensing.
Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan said on Thursday
that Ireland was likely to accept a loan for tens of billions
of euro from the IMF and European Stability Fund.

One source said: He had to make the announcement to

try to alleviate the outflow of deposits. The Government
cant seem to grasp this. They dont seem to understand
even the basics of how banking works and their
incompetence is frightening.
But other insiders note that the Government had been
stressing all week that the IMF team was here to talk
about a banking bail-out, rather than a sovereign one
which shows that the real problem is the scale of debts
run up by the banks, rather than State spending.
However, as Brian Lenihan guaranteed all bank loans and
deposits in November 2008, their debts are effectively
State debts.
Neither AIB nor BoI would respond directly to questions
yesterday about their solvency.
A BoI spokeswoman said: We said at our trading update
that we lost some deposits in the capital markets area at
the end of August but that it had stabilised at the end of
September.
Asked if the bank was in a position to cover all of its
deposits, she said: We dont go outside of reporting times
in terms of what we say.
A spokesman for AIB said the bank could not comment
beyond this weeks interim statement. That said: Our
funding and liquidity positions have been positively
affected by specific recent events and will be further
positively impacted by events expected to occur over the
coming months.
Our previously announced planned equity capital raising is
expected to generate cash of 3.7bn. In the first half of
2011, we expect to receive 3.1bn in cash from the agreed
sale of our Polish business.
A spokesman for the Department of Finance said: The
whole banking issue is being looked at so one would have
to surmise that whatever agreement comes out of these
talks will result in a solution for the banks.
Asked about an Argentinian style solution of closing banks

doors he said: I dont think youll see that scenario no.

But in May, economist Morgan Kelly who predicted the
property crash said the scale of banking debt would drag
the country under.
He wrote: It is no longer a question of whether Ireland will
go bust but when. Unlike Greece, our woes do not stem
from Government debt but instead from the Governments
open-ended guarantee to cover the losses of the banking
system out of its citizens wallets. What will sink us,
unfortunately but inevitably, are the huge costs of the bank
bail-out.
And writing in todays MoS, leading analyst Megan Greene
who predicted the IMF/EU bail-out three weeks ago
said that while a bail-out would provide Ireland with a
couple of years breathing space, eventually the scale of
our debts would overwhelm our ability to repay.
The front doors of the Department of Finance on Merrion
Street closed at 5.30 last night. Asked if Brian Lenihan
was still inside, the doorman said: Yes, its going to be a
marathon.

Good morning from Dublin. We will be liveblogging

today from Ireland, where the growing political
unrest has spooked Europe and the markets.
Brian Cowen, the prime minister, is clinging to

power by his fingertips there is mutiny in the air,

with Fianna Fil backbenchers considering a noconfidence motion. A group of them are meeting
today to discuss "a strategy in relation to a motion
of no confidence."
"There's serious discontent within the
parliamentary party. I believe it's now up to those
who've spoken out to take soundings amongst their
colleagues to take action to remove that man
[Cowen] immediately," John McGuinness, who
represents Carlow in the Dil (parliament), said.
The political instability is horrifying Europe, which
is nervous that the December budget may not
even be passed. Olli Rehn, the EU's commissioner
for monetary affairs, has said he wants to stop the
"bush fire" in Ireland turning into a "forest fire"
across the eurozone. He has called Irish MEPs to a
meeting today.
The Irish Times is reporting that the embattled
Cowen phoned the leaders of the opposition
parties last night to try to secure their support for
the budget.
Mr Cowen phoned Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny
and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore late last
night to offer to make available to them the
financial advice underpinning the government's
proposed budget.
While the taoiseach made no direct request to Mr
Kenny or Mr Gilmore to help him get the budget
through the Dil on December 7th, his phone calls
to them signalled the first move in a strategy to
persuade the opposition to let the budget pass.
The cabinet meets later this morning for what will
be a particular tense meeting of Fianna Fil and
Green party, which bounced the taoiseach into
making his announcement that he would be

seeking a dissolution of the Dil following the

passing of the budget.
Meanwhile, the IMF is seeking a cut in Ireland's
minimum wage, a decrease in the long-term dole
and more tax relief for women. The measures were
published in a staff position paper note posted on
its website last night.
It recommends a "gradual decrease of benefits
over time of unemployment and stricter job search
requirements". In an effort to increase the number
of jobs it said public resources should be targeted
to the "knowledge-based economy" and it wants to
see more competition in energy and telecoms
services such as broadband.
The IMF paper is also seeking a reduction in the
cost of waste disposal and legal fees.
The most surprising measure, however, given the
austerity measures in the upcoming budget, is its
concession that women need more financial
encouragement to come back to work.
The report says that "cutting labour income taxes
paid by women by 5 percentage points" would
increase the GDP by 1.75 percentage points.
I'll be following all the day's developments live
today.
9.00am: Ireland's largest opposition party, Fine
Gael, is demanding an election before Christmas
and refusing to support a budget that it hasn't
been consulted on. The move will horrify Brussels,
which needs cross-party support for the budget
and the four-year plan, due to be published
tomorrow, as a condition of the IMF bail out.
Health spokesman James Reilly told RTE Morning
Ireland:
What's the point in preparing a four-year plan that
they're [Fianna Fil] not going to preside over and

they're not there to implement and they haven't

consulted the people on? If we have an election
tomorrow, it can all be done and dusted in 18 days,
we all have an opportunity to put forward ... our
respective plans for the country and people can
vote on that and have their say and that
government would have a mandate for the next
four years to do what's necessary.
His remarks come just hours after the embattled
Cowen telephoned opposition leaders requesting
their support.
Last night Fintan O'Toole, the author and Irish
Times columnist, said it was unthinkable that the
electorate should go to the polls on the basis of a
"secret deal" between the IMF and Fianna Fil.
9.12am: One of the most bizarre spectacles in this
morning's papers is the photo of a sombre-looking
Green party TDs (MPs) lined up behind a desk in
Leinster House yesterday.
Letter from the Chief Executive

It was the most important press conference the

Irish Greens have ever called and second from the
left was one "bizarre" guest. Lise Hand in the
Independent explains:
When the line of Greens walked into the room,
there was a gasp from the gobsmacked press.
For Paul Gogarty had managed to upstage his
party leader's most dramatic ever announcement
by arriving into the press conference with his 18month-old daughter Daisy in his arms.
The camera went berserk as the curly-headed
poppet blinked in surprise as she clutched her
teddy bear.
It was truly the most bizarre sights of a most
surreal day. One impressed observer muttered:
"That's the first time I've seen a politician kiss a
baby before the election begins."

As well as reporter David Grossman's amusing

explanation of why nobody wants to buy Irish
bonds (14 minutes in) "I'll give you this piece of
paper, right, and then you give me 50, now, and
then in a year's time I'll meet you back here and I'll
give you 55" the programme also featured a
round-table discussion with Will Hutton of the
Observer, Irwin Stelzer, the American economist
often seen as "Rupert Murdoch's right-hand man",
and Gillian Tett of the Financial Times (18 minutes
in).
Stelzer was asked if the Irish bailout would work: "It
will certainly calm things down for a bit," he said.
"But in the long run if you mean: 'Will it work in the
sense of saving Portugal for example from a similar
experience?' the answer's no."
Hutton said, however, that the bailout would "sort
out" Ireland: "The money is huge. Ireland is small.
Effectively the banking system is going to be quasinationalised and taken over by the Europeans and
Ireland's going to pay a very high price."
Most interesting was presenter Jeremy Paxman's
final question: will the euro survive?
Tett: "Whether it survives with all its members
intact is a pretty open question."
Stelzer: "I think you're going to get a euro north
and a euro south, so that the troubled periphery
countries can essentially devalue and then come
back in ... " For these purposes, he said, Ireland
belonged in the "euro south" or "euro periphery"
group.
Hutton: "If the euro breaks up that will be one of
the triggers of a wider crisis ... The augers don't
look good."

10.10am: An Irish member of the European

parliament has just stormed out of a "closed door"
meeting of Irish MEPs in Brussels after the EU's
commissioner for monetary affairs, Olli Rehn (left),
told him the content of the meeting was to remain
secret. He walked out after two minutes.
"What he said was: 'I could give the party line or
share the real info,'" said Socialist MEP Joe Higgins,
adding that Rehn spoke with a forked tongue one
for the media and one for MEPs.
The Irish MEPs had been invited to a meeting with
Rehn following growing unease about the political
unrest in Ireland.
Earlier this month Rehn flew to Ireland to urge
opposition parties to put national interest first and
support the upcoming budget.
10.23am: Here is a video of Brian Cowen talking
about the bailout and calling on TDs (MPs) to pass
the budget on 7 December:
As the resource sector heads towards its third year of
largely self-inflicted stagnation, your Company has
pressed on and made strong progress across a number of
fronts. This report contains a summary of our activities
during the financial year and a more detailed operational
update for each of our Group companies. Between the two
we take the opportunity to reflect on some of the macroeconomic developments that have been unfolding, and
specifically why the continued debasement of currencies
during 2013 did not lead to a stronger gold price. We then
discuss the reasons why we believe this trend will

probably not continue through 2014.

The political and financial stability of the state

requires no less ... The biggest statement of
confidence that can be given by this country at
this time is to pass this budget. And this budget is
the context in which we're having discussions to
ensure that we have the necessary funding going
forward.
The government has relied on the backing of
several independent TDs and the Green party in
the Dil. The decision of the Greens to pull out of
the government after the budget precipitated this
week's political crisis.
With a precarious majority in the Dil, Cowen's
government has been resisting holding a string of
long overdue byelections that would have
undermined its hold on office.
We feel confident that the almost tectonic forces of the
increasing global population, supercharged by increasing
wealth and living standards, have the capacity to maintain
an insatiable demand for commodities and gold. After
decades of under-investment in exploration it is difficult to
envisage this demand being satisfied by the current
resource inventory while also seeing prices fall
dramatically. We therefore recognise the incredible
opportunities which exist to create value from our
prospect generation model. Our strategy is three pronged:
to take the first risks, to make discoveries highly efficiently
and to partner with respected mining and investment
groups to develop these assets alongside us.

The first of those elections, in Donegal South-West,

is taking place on Thursday and will reveal the
state of the parties. Sinn Fin, which has courted
the opposition vote in the border constituency, is
expected to win. Fianna Fil's support has plunged.
10.51am: Opposition parties in Ireland are trying to
derail Brian Cowen's government completely by
calling for an election before Christmas.

The Labour party has today joined Fine Gael in

calling for a general election in the next four weeks
despite immense pressure from Brussels for the
four-year fiscal plan and the 6bn (5.11bn)
budget to be passed as a condition of the IMF bail
out.
Health spokeswoman Jan O'Sullivan told RTE's Pat
Kenny show that "there was time for an election
before Christmas". She added:
If I were the IMF and I was another EU country I
would far far prefer the stability of a new
government than what is on offer now.
But Fianna Fil has hit back, branding this political
posturing and calling on opposition to put the
national interest first. Peter Power, the overseas
development minister, said:
It is impractical to contemplate. The fact that we
can do four things have a general election,
negotiate a programme for government, bring in
the budget, bring in the four-year plan and do all
those things in four weeks is unreasonable ...
Every member of Dil ireann [the lower house of
parliament] are going to have to reflect on this
now.
My colleague Graeme Wearden has worrying
reports for Ireland the bailout still isn't impressing
the financial markets:
The next generation of mine-finders most likely graduated
from university in the last five to ten years. They have
forty or more years ahead of them, containing many
cycles no doubt. Like Altus, they are sharp and hungry to
learn, and those who are part of the Altus team are in the
best possible environment. They are honed to appreciate
that it is not the market size of a company that is the best
metric of success, but the net asset value attributable to
each share which has already been issued. We apply
strategic thinking on a daily basis as to what is required to

create value, rather than to make a discovery at any cost.

This 'Altus DNA' should differentiate them from the pack
as they become the future leaders in their field. We look
forward to backing them every step of the way.

In the City today, investors are continuing to

demand a higher return for investing in Irish debt
following yesterday's drama.
The yield on Ireland's ten-year government bond
jumped to 8.43% this morning, up from 7.971%
moving back to the 9% levels that sparked such
panic earlier this month.
The cost of insuring Irish debt against default has
also risen sharply with the five-year credit default
swap up by 26 basis points to 555bp. That's still
half the level of Greece (which some analysts are
convinced will default), but a sign that the financial
markets are losing faith in Ireland's ability to repay
its borrowings.
The political instability in Ireland helped to spark a
share sell-off across Europe this morning, with the
military clash between North and South Korea
adding to nerves in the City. The FTSE 100 fell by
1.2% at one state, and there were similar falls in
Spain, Portugal and Ireland itself with Dublin's
ISEQ index dropping by 1.9%.
11.06am: My colleague Henry McDonald is hearing
that Fianna Fil backbench anger is being directed
as much at Brian Lenihan, the finance minister, as
it is to the embattled Brian Cowen. This chimes
with reports in today's Irish Independent, which
said the "bare-knuckled fighting over the past few
weeks has damaged his cause":
Party sources are furious that the finance minister
had given them assurances last week not to worry
about the fiscal crisis or claims that the IMF and
the ECB would have to come to Ireland's rescue,
one Fianna Fil veteran said today.

Cowen's strategy meanwhile is to persuade the EU

to in turn put pressure on the main opposition
parties to allow the 7 December budget to pass.
One senior Fianna Fil member told the Guardian
he party was not confident that all of its TDs (MPs)
will get behind the government and back the
budget in the Dil.
"If a few Fine Gael or Labour TDs go missing on the
day it may pass but there are some in our own
party who won't support it," he said.
The prospect of the government being unable to
pass their budget would further "spook" the
international bond markets, he added.
11.22am: Olli Rehn has fired a warning shot across
the bows of Ireland's opposition parties, and one of
the candidates in a key byelection has withdrawn,
calling on voters to boycott the election.
Brussels has issued a clear warning to rowing Irish
opposition parties to get behind Fianna Fil and
approve the upcoming draconian budget.
In a bid to contain the Irish disarray, Rehn, the EU's
commissioner for monetary affairs, told MEPs in
Strasbourg this morning that the provision of
emergency aid to Ireland was "critical" for the
preservation of stability in the euro area
Following the confidential meeting he said: "Every
day lost increases uncertainty" and Ireland needed
to get the budget "out of the way and move on".
The two British banks with the biggest exposure to
Ireland saw their shares fall again in London this
morning. Lloyds Banking Group lost 2% to 62p,
while Royal Bank of Scotland dipped by 0.6% to
39.6p.
Both companies have fallen sharply since the Irish
crisis blew up RBS has lent 53bn to Irish

companies and individuals, while Lloyds is on the

hook for 27bn.
City analyst Arturo de Frias of Evolution Securities
believes this is a great buying opportunity unless
the European single currency collapses, of course
(see 9.52am). De Frias said: "If the euro is going to
be abandoned, then the banking sector has to fall
much more. We simply don't believe the euro can
be undone without triggering a decade-long
recession in Europe (again the Argentinean case
comes to mind).
"But we still don't believe the European
governments will let the euro collapse, and hence
we reiterate our view that the sector looks
extremely cheap, and also very oversold recently."
Ireland's central bank governor, Patrick Honohan,
also tried to drum up interest in the Irish troubled
banking sector saying the nation's banks were all
"up for sale".
"They are up for sale as far as I am concerned,"
Honohan said this morning. "I have been an
advocate for a number of years for small countries
to have foreign owners for their banks."
12.11pm: There were more minor incidents of
social unrest in Ireland today.
The constituency office of one of the country's
government ministers was attacked last night.
Windows were smashed at transport minister Noel
Dempsey's office and the word "traitors" was
sprayed on the building.
Police are investigating the attack, which is
believed to have happened between 2.30am and
7.30am.
12.13pm: Here is some audio of the EU
commissioner Olli Rehn on the Irish crisis and the
upcoming budget vote:
Rehn has warned it is "essential" that opposition

parties put electioneering behind them and pass

the budget in order to get the IMF bailout Ireland
so desperately needs (see 11.22am). Rehn said:
It is essential that Ireland will pass the budget in
the timeline foreseen and certainly sooner rather
than later because every day that is lost increases
uncertainty. Let's adopt the budget, let's get it out
of the way, and let's move on.
Rehn was speaking after a summit of Irish MEPs in
Strasbourg this morning.
The Irish cabinet is meeting now to finally sign off
on the four-year plan that forms the basis of the
December budget.
Opposition parties, who smell blood, and rebel
Fianna Fil TDs (MPs) are threatening not to
support it.
1.01pm: Pressure is growing on Brian Cowen to
stand down as leader of the Fianna Fil party as the
cabinet meets to pass its crucial four-year
economic plan.
Rebel TD (MP) Noel O'Flynn has warned that there
would be a "bare-knuckle" fight within the party
after Cowen's handling of the financial crisis, which
has left Fianna Fil's reputation in tatters.
He is one of a number of backbench TDs who are
planning to meet tonight ahead of a parliamentary
party meeting to discuss a motion of no
confidence. Dublin TD Chris Andrews may also be
at the meeting he has called on Cowen to stand
down "in light of developments this week".
There is now a sense of growing mutiny within the
party Cowen loyalists are insisting that he will
lead the party into the next general election, but
there is widespread feeling that he will have to fall
on his sword.
One unnamed Cowen loyalist is quoted in the Irish

Times as saying: "I just believe that for Brian

Cowen the game is over, and I don't say that
easily." The deputy added: "The parliamentary
party will not accept going to the country with the
present leadership."
The chances of Brian Lenihan becoming leader now
appear to have waned. The reputation of the
finance minister and one-time favourite for the
post has been badly scarred by the events of last
week, when the government sent out justice
minister Dermot Ahern to dismiss press reports of a
bailout as "fiction".
Lenihan, Ahern (probably mortally wounded by
"fictiongate"), foreign affairs minister Michael
Martin, transport minister Noel Dempsey and
culture minister Mary Hanafin are being touted as
the forerunners.
Hanafin was first out of the traps. She has already
indicated she would put her name forward "if the
leadership became available".
1.07pm: Here is a lunchtime summary:
Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner for monetary
affairs, has warned dissenting opposition parties
Fine Gael and Labour they need to put politics
aside and support the government's four-year
economic plan and the budget in exchange for the
IMF bailout (see 11.22am). Rehn said:
It is essential that Ireland will pass the budget in
the timeline foreseen and certainly sooner rather
than later because every day that is lost increases
uncertainty. Let's adopt the budget, let's get it out
of the way, and let's move on.
Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole said the
difference between "farce and tragedy" in Ireland
was now "indistinguishable".

Anger continues over the Green party's decision

to pull out of the government and call for a January
election. An independent TD in Thursday's Donegal
byelection announced on local radio today she was
withdrawing from the race and called on voters to
"boycott" the election in protest against the
Greens' supposed treachery (see 11.22am).
The Labour party and Fine Gael are calling for an
election in the next four weeks (see 10.51am). A
minister has called this "impractical". Pressure is
growing on Brian Cowen to stand down (see
1.01pm).
The two British banks with the biggest exposure
to Ireland saw their shares fall again in London this
morning (see 11.26am).
There is growing concern that the euro is now
under serious threat and some predictions that
peripheral countries such as Ireland may be able to
withdraw, devalue and then return at a later date
(see 9.52am).
1.22pm: Here's more from rebel Fianna Fil TD (MP)
Noel O'Flynn:

There are no excuses acceptable to me for your

government being in denial all of last week. I feel
betrayed and humiliated as do my own supporters
and citizens of the state by you, taoiseach, as
leader of the state. The public are living in fear of
the unknown; they are deeply disappointed, angry
and fearful of the future for themselves and their
families.
1.22pm: On his way into the cabinet meeting
today, Brian Lenihan, the finance minister,
reiterated his party's commitment to tough it out:

A glazier works on the damage to Fianna Fail transport minister Noel

Dempsey TD's constituency office in Trim, Meath, today. The word 'Traitors'
was sprayed on it overnight. Photograph: Julien Behal/PA

1.37pm: First pictures of the vandalisation of minister Noel

Dempsey's constituency home have emerged
screenshots can be seen here.
The damage is quite a spectacle.
Patrick Honohan, the governor of the central bank, has
quipped that the Irish banks are for sale. It's the second
time he has indicated this; two weeks ago he said he
would welcome Chinese owners in response to a question
from the Financial Times's Gillian Tett.
Local wags reckon it would be great news because it
would mean the banks would actually be open for
business early morning and on Saturdays. Banks in
Ireland don't open until 10am.
2.45pm: And here's an update on the Irish banking sector:
Irish bank shares fell again today 24 hours after the

government announced restructuring was on the way and

the governor of the central bank confirming the Irish banks
are "for sale".
Shares in 36%-state owned Bank of Ireland fell
23% to 30c giving it a market capitalisation of
around 1.77bn (1.5bn), half what it was a month
ago. Allied Irish Banks, whose government
ownership will rise to around 95% after a planned
rights issue, traded down 13% to 35c.
Irish Life & Permanent, the only Irish-owned bank
to so far not have received any state aid, fell 4.5%
to 0.80, following a 27% drop yesterday.
"The market is on its way to deciding there is no
equity left in the banks," said Gary McCarthy, head
of Quest, the quantitative research unit of broker
Collins Stewart.
He said "the best thing could be to remove one big
bank, such as AIB, from the state balance sheet".
2.53pm: My colleague Graeme Wearden sends this
from the business desk:
Spain and Portugal came under more pressure from
the financial markets today, despite the EU's best
efforts to prevent the contagion spreading from
Dublin and Athens.
The difference between the yield (or rate of return)
on Spanish 10-year government debt and the
German equivalent hit its highest level since the
euro was created rising to 233 basis points.
That's a sign that Spanish debt is seen as a riskier
bet. The spread between 10-year Portuguese and
German debt also widened, to 444 basis points, as
traders paid little heed to the words of the EU
president, Herman Van Rompuy.
Van Rompuy insisted today that Portugal (seen as
the next weak link in the eurozone chain) did not
need financial help, pointing out that it had not

experienced a Irish-style housing boom.

But Jim O'Neill, Goldman Sachs' highly regarded
chairman of Asset Management, warned that Spain
and Portugal were lurking in the background of the
current crisis. O'Neill warned that the rescue
package being created for Ireland is flawed
because it does not fix the problems at the heart of
the single currency.
"Unless there's an underlying solution to not just
the debt challenge, but also to ... how European
monetary union sits together involving all these
domestic political partners, how can we forget
about the problems lurking with Portugal and
Spain," O'Neill said on Bloomberg TV this morning.
2.56pm: A bit of a sideshow going on here on RTE's
ever-popular phone-in with Joe Duffy.
Green TD Paul Gogarty is being mauled for taking
his 18-month-old daughter Daisy (left) into the
bombshell press conference yesterday at which the
party called for a general election (see 9.12am).
He said he had behaved entirely "professional" and
had been unable to get childcare for his daughter
for the 25-minute press conference.
He said the conference was called at short notice
and his normal childcare arrangements weren't
available, adding:
If I wanted to show her off the telly there were
plenty of other opportunities.
My child was more comfortable sitting on my knee
and I wanted to show solidarity with my leader
John Gormley.
I would rather my child be comfortable sitting on
my knee than be uncomfortable. I had to be there.
There was an important message to send.
But listeners were having none of it. Paul Carroll
fumed: "For him to think it's acceptable to come

into an international media conference with a

young child on his lap ... "
Carroll said if he had brought a child into an
important presentation he probably would lose the
business.
Gogarty says he worked seven days a week and
was just stuck without childcare. "give me four out
of 10 for politics but 10 out of 10 for being a
father."
He said he didn't parade his child in front of the
media normally and didn't use his family in
promotional literature.
3.05pm: My colleague Ian Traynor sends this from
Brussels, which he says has gone strangely silent on the
Irish and the euro, perhaps because many of the top
people involved are out of town.
[if IE 9]><video style="display: none;"><![endif] [if IE
9]></video><![endif]

Olli Rehn, the key European commissioner dealing with

the crisis, has been five hours down the road in
Strasbourg, where the European parliament is sitting,
along with another central figure, Jean-Claude Trichet, the
head of the European central bank.
In Dublin a couple of weeks ago, Rehn took time to try to
cultivate opposition MPs in the Dil. In retrospect, given
the madness of the past 48 hours, Rehn may have been
on to something first that the Cowen government would
be on its last legs as soon as the bailout went public and
that opposition tolerance would be needed to get Brian
Lenihan's crucial budget through.

Rehn was at it again in Strasbourg today, trying to soothe

Irish MEPs of all political stripes.
But perhaps we should be thankful for the peace and quiet
in Brussels since feet in mouth have been a recurring
problem when the eurocrats and the politicians seek to
out-argue the markets.
Luke Baker at Reuters Brussels bureau has been
highlighting the politicians' hamfisted attempts to talk their
way out of trouble today. Joshua Chaffin at the FT in
Brussels also pointed up the problem last week.
Rehn lamented the problems of "communicating properly"
on the crisis, voicing muted exasperation with the blunders
of his superiors.
Chief among these is Herman Van Rompuy, the president
of the European council, who last week made a bad
situation worse by observing that the EU was fighting for
its survival. He might have succeeded in getting his name
in the papers, but for all the wrong reasons.
A few days before that in a speech in Berlin, he drew an
asinine connection between Euroscepticism and war,
suggesting that anyone but a true believer in the
"European project" was a troublemaker.
Van Rompuy has been in Stockholm today where the
Swedes, like the Brits outside the euro but unlike the Brits
eschewing any Schadenfreude at the euro's travails, are
keen to help the Irish, to help the euro, and will take part in
the bailout.
Van Rompuy kept his feet strictly out of his mouth, sticking
to the bland formulation: "We look forward to the rapid
conclusion of the ongoing negotiations for a programme."

4.02pm: So as Ian says Europe is strangely silent.

What about this grim assessment I've just spotted
deep in one of Landon Thomas Jr's pieces in the
New York Times?
"It will be the same story with all these countries
[Spain, Portugal] Ireland is just ahead of the
game," said Desmond Lachman, a former policy
executive from the International Monetary Fund
who is now with the American Enterprise Institute
in Washington. "They all have a fixed exchange
rate and have to make these massive adjustments,
so people are asking whether they are on the right
path."
4.13pm: Expecting the taoiseach to announce the
cabinet has agreed the four-year plan within the
next half hour.
Brian Cowen has been taking regular questions in
the Dil and will return shortly to take more
questions on the financial crisis. We'll keep you
posted.
4.22pm: Cowen has arrived in the house.
4.22pm: Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is addressing
the house. He says people have watched in horror
as the IMF, ECB and EU have arrived in Dublin and
within three days the government has asked for a
formal bailout. And there is "an ongoing attempt to
cling to power at all costs", he says. People need
confidence and stability, he adds.
4.24pm: Kenny says:
There are two dates that are within your grasp that
can restore stability and confidence. The first is the
budget ... Tomorrow the four-year fiscal plan will be
announced. What I want to do know in the
interests of certainty and confidence will you tell

the Dil now that you'll bring forward the budget

for next week?
Kenny says he will facilitate bringing forward the
budget.
4.25pm: Brian Cowen says he is not trying to cling
to power. He says it is "very important that we
proceed with the budget as we have set out and
that timeline has been agreed with the
commissioner when he came here".
Cowen, who appears serene but may simply be
worn down by the events of the last two weeks, is
now defending his government's denial that a
bailout preparation was under way 10 days ago.
4.31pm: Enda Kenny now notices the absence of
the Green party and asks the taoiseach whether
"they've been sacked or about to be sacked". He
reiterates his offer to facilitate the sitting of the
house outside normal Dil hours to facilitate a
budget next week.
4.34pm: Cowen is on his feet again. He says he
can't bring forward the budget until the tax take for
November is in at the end of next week.
(November is a big tax month.)
4.36pm: Is this a different Brian Cowen in the
house today? Gone is the angry, defensive
taoiseach, replaced by a conciliatory, calm Cowen.
"I'm not questioning your attempt to be
constructive or your offer to be constructive," he
says gently to Kenny, the Fine Gael leader.
4.42pm: Enda Kenny holds a clenched hand to his
mouth and looks impatient as Cowen reiterates
that the four-year plan and the budget are part of
the process of achieving the bailout.
"It is a matter of responsibility for us all whether
this budget goes through or not," says Cowen.
4.44pm: Labour leader Eamon Gilmore is anxious
to nail Cowen on his election timetable. He is

concerned that the budgetary process won't be

finished until March and an election won't be held
till April. The budgetary process isn't completed
until the finance bill is passed by the Dil.
4.47pm: So if it's Cowen's timetable, there won't
be an election until the end of February or March.
That's because the taoiseach says he hopes it
would be February when the budgetary process will
be completed.
That's it for leaders' questions today.
So the general election may not be held until
February or March.
5.00pm: The Press Association news agency has
just filed a story on the debate in the Dil. Here's
the top of it:
Irish taoiseach Brian Cowen tonight denied he was
clinging to power as the opposition directly
demanded he bring forward next month's budget.
Under enormous pressure from within the
parliament and his own party to resign, a subdued
Cowen dismissed calls to revise a timetable to
strike a deal on the 90bn (76.1bn) bailout from
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Europe.
"There is no question, the characterisation of
clinging to office, being my motivation. That is not
my motivation," the taoiseach told the Dil
(parliament).
"My sole motivation is to ensure that the four-year
plan is published, as agreed with the people with
whom we are dealing, and that a budget is passed
by the house, put to the house."
The four-year plan setting out 15bn savings will
be published tomorrow afternoon in Dublin.
5.05pm: Bloomberg news agency is reporting
alarming comments from Mohamed A El-Erian of
Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco).

According to the financial news agency, El-Erian

said:
What you advise your sister in Ireland now is that
you'd say take your money out of an Irish bank and
put it in another bank headquartered elsewhere.
That's what happened in Argentina and in
emerging economies. People worry about their
savings.
5.11pm: The euro dropped to a two-month low
against sterling today, presumably due to fears
that the eurozone's debt crisis could spread further
afield from Ireland. Reuters news agency is
reporting:
His long career in politics, which reached its zenith
when he succeeded Bertie Ahern as taoiseach, is
going to end in ignominious failure. He will go
down in history as the premier whose government
had to go with begging bowl in hand to the
international community for an emergency dig-out.
He is also going to held responsible for perhaps the
greatest defeat to be sustained by Fianna Fil in its
long history.
His defenders will say that Cowen is an intelligent
man with a grasp of economics and business. And
that he is only pushing the country's four-year
economic plan and the forthcoming cost-cutting
budget forward in the national interest. What they
tend to forget is that during the years of the fake
boom he was in charge of the country's finances
and failed to heed the warnings from various
economists and opposition politicians that it was all
built on shifting sands.
Whether Cowen is felled in an internal party coup
before the budget or limps on as a lame-duck
leader until Fianna Fil's inevitable defeat in a new
year election, the 50-year-old former Gaelic

football player can comfort himself with one

thought. That those who will replace him in Fine
Gael and Labour will have to carry out the same
round of brutal cost-cutting in terms of jobs, wages
and services in order to keep the IMF and the ECB
happy.
5.22pm: In this special edition of the Guardian's
Business podcast, our experts examine how
Ireland's once booming economy has come to this
humiliating pass.
5.37pm: My colleague Ian Traynor has sent some
more from Brussels:
The euro fell 1% on the day against sterling to a
low of 84.46p, its weakest since late September,
having earlier dropped below its 100-day moving
average around 84.70p.
It started the day at 86.25p.
In the Bundestag in Berlin, Germany's formidable
finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, has just
been steering his budget for next year through (it
passed). Hard times mean hard decisions, he
argued, putting deficit reduction (80bn in
spending cuts over the next four years) at the
heart of the Merkel government's policy.
Pre-empting or trying to stifle the grumbling about
Germany having to dig deep to help Ireland at a
time of budget cuts (if it's 90bn for Dublin,
Germany could face a bill of 25bn), Schaeuble
pledged that Berlin had no option but to accept "its
responsibility."
He appeared to be buttering up the tabloids, the
TV, and public opinion for the inevitable.
"Our common currency is at stake," Schaeuble
warned. "Ireland's request to come under Europe's
rescue shield shows that this financial and
economic crisis is still having an impact and that
we have to continue to do everything to get on top

of it."
Before Ireland was rescued, the European
Commission, the European Central Bank and the
IMF would need to rule that the situation in Ireland
could destabilise the entire eurozone.
"We have to take on our responsibility. The
consequences would be incalculable."
As for Germany's own fiscal and budget situation,
the envy of most in Europe, Schaeuble was stern:
"We're not swimming in money, but we're drowning
in debt."
5.39pm: Here is an evening summary:
Attempts to force a snap general election in
Ireland appear to have failed today with taoiseach
Brian Cowen indicating he won't be going to the
polls until February at the earliest (see 4.47pm).
The taoiseach denied accusations by opposition
leader Enda Kenny of Fine Gael that he was trying
"to cling to power", rejected a bid to have the
budget brought forward to next week and said the
long-awaited four year fiscal plan for the country
would be published tomorrow.
"My sole motivation is that the four-year plan is
published and a budget is passed by the house,"
he said.
Under persistent questioning by Labour leader
Eamon Gilmore in the Dil, he conceded the
election couldn't happen until February, or possibly
April, because of the length of time it takes for
legislation associated with the budget to be
passed.
Feuding opposition parties were warned by EU
commissioner Olli Rehn that the passing of the
four-year plan and the budget were a critical part
of the process of getting a bail out from the
International Monetary Fund (see 11.22am).
However, Cowen's leadership remains in the

balance with continued unrest on the backbenches.

A handful of TDs are meeting tonight ahead of a
parliamentary party meeting to discuss the
possibility of a vote of no confidence. Cork TD Noel
O'Keefe, who is leading the dissidents, warned of a
"bare-knuckle affair" at tonight's meeting (see
1.01pm).
The political turbulence in Ireland and elsewhere
continued to infect the already-jittery markets (see
5.05pm).
One of the world's biggest bond dealers and former
deputy director of the IMF said there could be a run
on Irish banks. And he predicted ordinary deposit
holders would take flight soon.
"What you advise your sister in Ireland now is that
you'd say take your money out of an Irish bank and
put it in another bank headquartered elsewhere,"
said Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco)'s
Mohamed A El-Elrian. "That's what happened in
Argentina and in emerging countries. People worry
about their savings."
"The numbers so far have shown that the Irish
banking system has been bleeding deposits," he
told Bloomberg Radio. "It will seriously undermine
the prosperity of this country for a generation. The
first thing they must do is execute on what they
announced this weekend which is a big external
aid package and steps by the Irish government."
Bank shares in Ireland tumbled today with AIB
and Bank of Ireland taking significant hits.
Although some calm appeared to be restored to
the political stage this afternoon, the country
remains on a knife-edge.
We need to pass this budget. We need to publish
our plan tomorrow, which we will be doing; the
plan has been finalised, the budget will be
introduced, and the necessary funding for the

budget will be obtained. They are the priorities for

this country at present.
http://www.bis.org/review/r150415a.pdf

Stabilising and Healing the Irish

Banking System: Policy Lessons
http://www.imf.org/external/np/seminars/eng/2014/i
reland/pdf/Schoenmaker_IrishBanking.pdf
Scenting blood, opposition parties are calling for a
snap general election and are refusing to be
slapped down by Brussels, which is watching the
political disarray with horror.
His warning come as one of the candidates in
Thursday's byelection in Donegal announced she
was withdrawing. Independent candidate Ann
Sweeney urged voters to "boycott" the election in
protest at the Green party's decision yesterday to
pull the plug on Brian Cowen's government.
11.26am: Graeme Wearden has more news from
the City: banking stocks are worth buying.
In the meantime, the world continues to shrink in terms of
the areas that are yet to be explored for world class
projects and which do not require expensive technologies
or the temptation of geological 'arm-waving' to find them,
and which are also located in jurisdictions amenable to
investment from traditional exploration companies. We
strongly believe that now is the time to build the
businesses of the future, to exploit the convergence of all
these opportunities and to apply our accumulated
expertise in discovering and monetising projects.

Finansiel Stabilitet sells off assets it has taken

over
Finansiel Stabilitet offers activities and
exposures taken over from banks in distress:
Private and commercial properties
throughout Denmark

Exposure portfolios comprising loan

agreements and guarantees for private
individuals and commerce throughout
Denmark
Financial assets such as shares, bonds,
mortgages and financial instruments with a
broad range of classes and categories
Finansiel Stabilitet trades under market
conditions and offers the shares through
open, transparent sales processes.
The Danish section of our website contains
information regarding the activities and
exposures offered to investors. Foreign
investors interested in finding out more
about the activities and exposures we offer
are welcome to get in contact directly.
Individual government guarantees
Finansiel Stabilitet also administers, on
behalf of the Danish Government, the
scheme for individual government
guarantees to monetary institutions and
mortgage banks under the Credit package.
The scheme means that financial businesses
can issue corporate bonds with government
guarantees upon payment of guarantee
commission.
https://www.finansielstabilitet.dk/Default.aspx?ID=752

Announcements
20 November 2013

Q3 interim report of Finansiel Stabilitet

Q3 interim report of Finansiel Stabilitet
Finansiel Stabilitet posted a profit of DKK 24 million for the third quarter
of 2013. This means that Finansiel Stabilitet reported a loss of DKK 169
million for the first nine months, which could mainly be ascribed to
expenses related to lawsuits and impairment losses on properties and the
portfolio of mortgage deeds.
The performance was mainly driven by the winding up of the banks taken
over under the Bank Package, including Roskilde Bank, in the period
20082010.
Finansiel Stabilitet reduced total consolidated assets by DKK 13.5 billion to
DKK 36.5 billion in the first nine months. About 900 group customers were
wound up, leaving Financial Stabilitet with some 2,000 remaining group
customers.
Finansiel Stabilitet wound up loans with cash flow effect in the amount of
DKK 7.0 billion and financial assets in the amount of DKK 2.8 billion, due
in part to the sale of the mortgage deed activities in the summer of 2013.
141 properties were sold at a total of DKK 0.4 billion. After the end of the
quarter, Finansiel Stabilitet has signed two agreements for the sale of
properties in a total amount of DKK 1.3 billion.
Finansiel Stabilitet maintains its expectations of a loss for the full year
2013. The financial performance will rely primarily on developments in the
activities being wound up under the Bank Package.
For further information, please contact:Henrik Bjerre-Nielsen, CEO,
tel. +45 21 14 21 11 or Jesper Larsen-Ledet, Head of Communications,
tel. +45 40 15 86 58.

Our goal is to create real and long term value for

shareholders regardless of market conditions, and our
vision is for Altus to be a pre-eminent resource company
builder and asset management group. During the year we
have made strides across our portfolio of exploration
properties and incubated a number of new ventures. The
headline achievements are summarised below, with more
detail provided in the operational update section.
Cameroon: Iron ore drilling defines a substantial project
Our 95% owned subsidiary, Aluvance plc, is focussed on
Cameroon. In the south of the country a first phase drill
programme was concluded on the 20km long Bikoula iron
ore project. This delivered consistent high grade iron
intersections and defined a substantial colluvial blanket of
weathered iron ore along a 5km section of the 17km long
Libi Hills prospect. A maiden resource statement and bulk
sample testwork are currently underway. Bikoula is
strategically well located, being directly on the local road
network and within 30km of a proposed iron ore rail line to

a deep water port which is already in advanced

construction. The Altus team have a strong track record of
operating in Cameroon since 2007. Through African Aura,
our team was behind the discovery of the Nkout iron ore
deposit which was advanced by Afferro Mining until it was
successfully acquired in December 2013 by AIM listed
International Mining & Infrastructure Corporation for
approximately US$200M in cash and scrip.
Cameroon: Bauxite exploration, JV signed
Also within Aluvance, and in central Cameroon,
exploration of the contiguous Birsok and Mandoum
bauxite licences during 2013 defined four priority bauxite
plateau targets, covering approximately 200km2, from
which rock chip sampling returned grades up to 68.2%
Al2O3. In December 2013 a joint venture agreement was
signed with Australian listed Canyon Resources Limited
(www.canyonresources. com.au), whereby Canyon can
earn up to a 75% interest in the project through funding
A$6M in exploration over the next five years in two stages.
Altus will also receive 8M shares in Canyon, representing
approximately 10% of the share capital of Canyon at the
time of the agreement, along with A$150,000 in cash. Our
Chairman, David Netherway, will join the board of Canyon
to represent our interests. Completion of the deal is
contingent on the receipt of the renewal document for the
Birsok licence, which is currently pending while Cameroon
reorganises its licence cadastre.
Cameroon: Gold exploration, defining a new province
Staying with Aluvance, in north eastern Cameroon, a
programme of reconnaissance trenching is underway over
the 7.5km long and 4.5km wide Golden Lion prospect
shear zone target within the Laboum licence.
Approximately 2,000m of trenching is planned across the
1km long Kalardje zone and the 2.5km long Landou zone.
Gold flakes up to 3mm long have already been recovered
from panning of trench material, delivering 'proof of
concept' and highlighting the substantial potential of this
project. The trenching programme is expected to be
followed by a systematic licence-wide soil campaign and
thereafter additional and extensive trenching. We consider

that Laboum licence has the potential to host a multimillion ounce gold resource.
Aluvance: Asset development and restructuring
Looking ahead, to ensure that each of our discoveries are
developed to their fullest extent, most likely through joint
ventures with larger entities, Aluvance plc is expected to
be restructured. Specifically, the Birsok and Mandoum
bauxite licences are planned to be moved into a new
100% owned company, Alures Mining Limited, while
Aluvance's Laboum gold project will be transferred to
Auramin Limited (also 100% owned) and developed
alongside the Bella Yella gold project in Liberia, creating a
new West African gold exploration vehicle. Thereafter we
plan for Aluvance to be renamed Accretion Iron plc,
reflecting its sole focus on progressing the Bikoula DSO
iron ore project towards production.
Ethiopia: Manto-style copper resource potential
In Ethiopia our 100% owned subsidiary, Altau Resources
Plc, has been advancing its Afar-Tigray exploration project
which contains at least three highly mineralised copper
zones and one large scale historical open pit working. The
Slater, Agamat and Dera prospects occur along more than
23km of discontinuous and prospective strike, with grades
of up to 22% Cu and 107 g/t Ag from the Slater prospect,
8.7% Cu and 99.4 g/t Ag from the Agamat prospect and
observations of outcropping copper mineralisation at Dera.
There are significant similarities between the Afar- Tigray
project and the large scale, structurally controlled, Mantostyle copper-silver deposits commonly found in South
America. The Company anticipates attracting a strong JV
partner to further develop the project during the course of
2014. With the end of the licence moratorium, Altus also
anticipates the award of further exploration licences
covering prospective areas which it has applied for in
northern Ethiopia.
Morocco: Targeting silver, tin & zinc in a new frontier
The most recent venture within the Altus group is Aterian
Resources, which has been formed to focus on the
discovery of silver, tin and zinc deposits in Morocco. The

geology of Morocco is prospective and yet under-explored

using modern techniques. A senior expatriate geologist
has been recruited and is now based in Morocco, heading
up the local technical team. Preliminary data gathering
and interpretation has been completed by the Company
and this has been followed up by selected ground-truthing.
After the financial year end, the Company received its first
mineral exploration licence blocks at Agdz and Sidi Ifini,
covering a total of 121.7km2 within the Anti-Atlas region.
This area is considered prospective for silver and hosts the
Imiter silver mine and numerous other historic mine
workings. A number of further applications are being
submitted over priority targets and are expected to be
granted and explored during 2014.
Liberia: A new gold property in a prolific artisanal gold belt
The Bella Yella licence was granted to our 100% owned
subsidiary Auramin Limited In November 2013. The
640km2 licence is located 150km northeast of Monrovia,
in an area where numerous artisanal workings are found.
Two initial priority targets exist, namely the 7.5km long
Glubai Hills and 1.4km long Tenkeh Hills prospects. Both
were defined following an internal review of previous
exploration data, and work is currently underway to
develop drill targets on the underlying primary mineralised
areas. The Altus team have a strong track record of
operating in Liberia since 1998. Through Mano River and
latterly African Aura, members of the Altus team were
behind the discovery of the New Liberty, Weaju, Gondoja
and other gold deposits in western Liberia. These are
currently being advanced by AIM and TSE listed Aureus
Mining Inc. Aureus is presently undertaking mine
construction at New Liberty to the highest international
standards. When completed in Q1 2015, New Liberty will
be Liberia's first commercial hard rock gold mine.
Asset management
Through our FCA registered subsidiary Altus Capital, we
manage two resource funds. Both funds have fallen during
the year, in line with their peers, reflecting the dismal
capital markets for resource companies and particularly
gold equities.

Given the current opportunities in the sector we remain

confident that our experienced asset management team
will continue to out-perform the sector in difficult market
conditions.
Altus Resource Capital Limited ('ARC') is a closed-ended
investment company focused on junior resource equities.
The fund listed on the Specialist Fund Market of the LSE
[LSE: ARCL] in June 2009 and the Channel Islands
Securities Exchange [CISX:ARC] in December 2009. As at
31st December 2013 the net asset value of ARC was
29.0M representing a NAV of 0.73 per ARC share,
down 49.5% on the year and 23.1% since launch. Altus
Capital earns an annual management fee of 0.85% of
ARC's NAV and receives 16% of any increase in the NAV
above a 10% per annum straight-line hurdle, assuming the
high water mark is breeched.
Altus Global Gold Limited ('AGG') is an open-ended
investment company focused on mid-cap gold equities.
This fund listed on the Channel Islands Securities
Exchange [CISX:AGGL] in November 2011. As at 31st
December 2013 the net asset value of AGG was 3.9M
representing a NAV of 0.41 per AGG share, down
50.5% on the year and down 59.0% since launch. Altus
Capital earns an annual management
fee of 1.5% of AGG's NAV subject to a capped total
expense ratio of 2%, and will receive a performance fee of
20% of any increase in the NAV above a 10% straight-line
hurdle and a high water mark.
Shareholder Communication
Quarterly progress updates are distributed to all
shareholders, and regular news releases made on the
Altus website and the websites of each subsidiary
company. Detailed financial information and market
commentary is made available within the secure area of
the website, to which all shareholders have access. If you
require confirmation of your access details please contact
the Company.

On behalf of all of the team at Altus, I convey our

gratitude for your continued support and we look forward
to keeping you informed of our progress throughout the
coming year.
Yours faithfully,
..............................
Steven Poulton
Chief Executive

The $100 billion-plus bailout of Ireland, which

followed the $100 billion-plus bailout of Greece,
seems at first to validate the standard U.S. view of
Europe - that it's a bunch of backward, socialist
countries that will be washed away by the tide of
history.
According to this view, one European country after
another will succumb to the "Greek disease," until
the continent ultimately runs out of bailout money.
The conventional wisdom is that U.S. investors
should just avoid the European Union (EU) in its
entirety. But U.S. investors who embrace this view
- and ignore the economic muscle that exists in
key European market economies - will end up
leaving an awful lot of money on the table.

Ireland and Greece: A Tale of Two

Divergent Economies
The average public-sector deficit in the 15
countries that use the European euro currency will
be 6.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) this
year, The Economist magazine's team of
forecasters concluded recently. That's lower than
the 9% ratio for the United States, the 10.1% ratio
for Great Britain, or even the 7.5% ratio for Japan.
So why would an investor who was worried about

public-sector finances run away from the EU? The

reality is that as you go through the 27 countries
of the EU - from worst to first - the concerns about
public-sector finances are concentrated in less than
a third of the European continent.
Greece is a basket case - no question about it.
Ireland, on the other hand, has merely been
foolish about its banking and housing policies - and
can actually boast an overall national economic
policy that was put together in a highly intelligent
manner.
Ireland's low corporate tax rate of 12.5% has
generated strong inbound investments. That has
developed Ireland's economy and its national skill
set - while admittedly also fostering the formation
of a sector of dodgy aircraft-leasing companies. It
will be very unjust if Ireland is forced to jettison
that excellent national economic policy to get a
bailout from the EU - but tough choices must
sometimes be made.

Finansiel Stabilitet launches process to sell

property company exposures
Finansiel Stabilitet initiates an open and transparent sales process
targeting qualified investors with the aim of divesting a customer loan
portfolio consisting of exposures with 76 property companies with loans
and credit facilities totalling approximately DKK 1 billion. The property
companies are owned by Danish investors and were founded as limited
partnerships (kommanditselskaber (K/S)).
Finansiel Stabilitet is a state-owned public limited company charged with
winding up exposures and activities taken over from distressed banks,
including by offering portfolios of long-term assets for sale at market
price.
Finansiel Stabilitet aims to complete number of segmented tenders for
the Group's assets in 2014. We will start with inviting tenders for the K/S
exposures, said Henrik Bjerre-Nielsen, CEO of Finansiel Stabilitet A/S.
In accordance with principles of EU law, tenders for the customer portfolio

will be invited in an open and transparent process in which prospective

buyers will be treated equally and in which a potential sale will be
completed at the highest possible price.
Finansiel Stabilitet has reviewed the possibility of offering the loan and
credit facilities to the individual borrowers at a price below par value. The
case has been presented to the Legal Advisor to the Danish Government
and on the basis hereof Finansiel Stabilitet concludes that such a process
cannot be carried out within the existing legal framework.
Finansiel Stabilitet took over the property company exposures in the
customer portfolio tendered from the distressed banks Roskilde Bank,
Fionia Bank, EBH Bank, Eik Bank Danmark, Amagerbanken, Fjordbank
Mors, Max Bank and Sparekassen stjylland. Individually, these property
companies have made direct investments in various types of rental
property in Denmark, Germany, the UK and Sweden. Prospective buyers
are not required to hold a banking license to acquire the customer
portfolio tendered. A potential buyer must however accept to adhere to
the Executive Order on Good Business Practice for Financial Undertakings.
Finansiel Stabilitet expects to enter into an agreement to sell the portfolio
in May 2014. In order to receive additional information about the sales
process, prospective investors should contact Finansiel Stabilitet not later
than Friday, 14 March 2014.
For further information, please contact:
Investors
Prospective investors with an interest in acquiring the portfolio are invited
to contact Senior Project Manager Morten Davidsen, tel. +45 21 14 62 23,
e-mail: mda@finansielstabilitet.dk.
The Press
CEO Henrik Bjerre-Nielsen, tel. +45 21 14 21 11
or via press contact, tel. +45 24 76 35 90.

Current facts and key figures

Facts about Finansiel Stabilitet in line with current key figures as

of 30 June 2013:
Took over 12 banks in distress in accordance with the government's
banking packages since its foundation in October 2008
State company owned by the Danish Ministry of Business and Growth
Works to wind up as quickly as possible the activities taken over, in a
financially secure manner and in accordance with the group's fundamental
values
Head office at Kalvebod Brygge 43, Copenhagen
App. 300 employees (full-time equivalent) at end 2012. Around
200 employees were in continuing employment.
Total balance sheet of approx. DKK 40 billion
Loans and guarantees of approx. DKK 16 billion
Serves approx. 2,200 principle customers and 3,700 individual customers
Property portfolio with around 270 private and commercial properties with
an estimated market value of approx. DKK 3 billion

Shareholdings, bond holdings and other financial assets of an estimated

market value of app. DKK 2.7 billion
Outstanding individual government guarantees to credit institutions
outside Finansiel Stabilitet of DKK 5.2 billion
Allocated around DKK 1.2 billion to losses for legal disputes. The Finansiel
Stabilitet Group is party to cases representing a total amount of
approximately DKK 7 billion at 30 June 2013.
If you need anything, you are welcome to contact us via the
Communications Department (kommunikation@finansielstabilitet.dk).

Legal framework

The business activities of Finansiel Stabilitet are governed and defined by

a number of acts adopted for the purposes of securing financial stability in
Denmark.
Download the relevant acts here:
Act on Financial StabilityAct no. 273 of 27 March 2012 on change of
the Act of Guarantee Fund for Depositors and Investors, Financial
Business Act, Act on Securities Trading etc., Act of Financial Stability and
Tax Assessment Act
Act no. 619 of 14 June 2011 on change of the Act of Guarantee Fund for
Depositors and Investors, Financial Business Act and Tax Assessment Act
Consolidated Act No. 875 of 15 September 2009 on Financial Stability
Act no. 1556 of 21 December 2010 on change of the Financial Business
Act, Act on Measures to Prevent Money Laundering and Financing of
Terrorism, Act on Securities Trading etc., Mint Act and other acts
Act no. 721 of 25 June 2010 on change of the Financial Business Act, Act
of a Guarantee Fund for Depositors and Investors, and Assessment of
Income Tax to the State (only in Danish)
Act no. 1273 of 16 December 2009 on change of the Annual Accounts Act,
the Act of Financial Stability and other acts (only in Danish)
Translation of an unauthorised consolidated version of the Act on Financial
Stability with all subsequent changes hereto
Act No. 338 of 1 May 2009 to amend the Act on the Guarantee Fund for
Depositors and Investors, Act on Financial Stability, and Act on StateFunded Capital Injections into Credit Institutions
Act No. 516 of 12 June 2009 to amend the Financial Statements Act, the
Financial Business Act and various other Acts
Executive Orders
Executive Order No. 702 of 27 June 2012 on change of Executive Order on
Winding-Up of Subsidiaries of the Financial Stability Company and other

acts (only in Danish)

Executive Order No. 617 of 12 June 2012 on Application for Individual
Government Guarantee in connection with a merger between banks (only
in Danish)
Executive Order No. 141 of 16 February 2012 on change of Executive
Order on Winding-Up of Subsidiaries of the Financial Stability Company
and other acts (only in Danish)
Executive Order No. 1135 of 29 September 2010 on readiness for
Winding-up
Executive Order No. 1139 of 28 September 2010 on Winding-Up of
Subsidiaries of the Financial Stability Company and other acts
Executive Order No. 682 of 18 June 2010 on change of Executive Order of
Application for Individual State Guarantee as per Act of Financial Stability
Executive Order No. 186 of 24 February 2010 on partially entry into force
of Act on change of the Danish Financial Statements Act, Financial
Business Act and other acts (only in Danish)
Executive Order No. 51 of 18 January 2010 on entry into force of 3, no.
2, and 7 and 9 of Act on change of the Financial Business Act, Act on
Securities Trading etc., Act on Financial Stability and other acts (only in
Danish)
Executive Order No. 13 of 13 January 2009 on the Risks that may be
assumed by Banks comprised by the Guarantee Scheme
Executive Order No. 231 of 26 March 2009 on Application for Individual
Government Guarantee under the Act on Financial Stability
Executive Order No. 792 of 17 August 2009 to amend the Executive Order
on Application for Individual Government Guarantee under the Act on
Financial Stability
Bills
Bill L 81 2011 to the Act of the change of the Act on the Guarantee Fund
for Depositors and Investors, Financial Business Act, Act on Securities
Trading etc., Act of Financial Stability and Tax Assessment Act
Bill L 206 2010 to the Act of the change of the Act on the Guarantee Fund
for Depositors and Investors, Financial Business Act and Tax Assessment
Act
Bill L 49 2010 to the Act of the change of the Financial Business Act, Act
on Measures to Prevent Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, Act
on Securities Trading etc., Mint Act and other acts
Bill L 11 2009 to the Act of the change of the Financial Business Act and

other Acts
Bill L 207 2009 Bill to the Act of change of the Act of Financial Stability,
the Financial Business Act, the Act of Guarantee Fund for Depositors and
Investors and Act of Assessment of Income Taxes to the State
Bill L 171 2008 09 to the Act of change of the Annual Accounts Act, The
Financial Business Act and other Acts
Bill on Financial Stability, L 33 2008-09
Bill to amend Act on Financial Stability, L 103 2008-09
Bill to amend the Act on the Guarantee Fund for Depositors and Investors,
Act on Financial Stability, and Act on Governmental Capital Injections into
Credit Institutions, L 176 2008-09
Other Acts
Consolidated Act No. 705 of 25 June 2012, The Financial Business Act
Act No. 1061 of 22 November 2011 on the change of the Act on the
Guarantee Fund for Depositors and Investors and Tax Assessment Act.
Consolidated Act No. 1125 of 23 September 2010, The Financial Business
Act
Guidelines
Guidelines for State-Owned Public Companies issued by the Danish
Commerce and Companies Agency, May 2010. (only in Danish)
Other
Appropriation Application No. 51 decided on 22 March 2012 (only in
Danish)
Appropriation Application No. 181 decided on 7 September 2011

Finansiel Stabilitet launching process to sell

FS Property Finance loan and credit
exposures
FS Property Finance was established in July 2012 as a wholly owned
subsidiary of Finansiel Stabilitet, which acquired a portfolio of loan
exposures secured against property from FIH Erhvervsbank. The loan
portfolio of FS Property Finance is currently administered by FIH
Erhvervsbank.
Finansiel Stabilitet is now initiating, on behalf of FS Property Finance, a
sales process targeting qualified investors for the purpose of divesting the
credit risk exposures of some 80 group customers totaling approximately
DKK 3.5 billion, which make up most of the customer loan portfolio of FS
Property Finance. The customers are primarily Danish corporates whose
loans and credit facilities are secured by property. Approximately 40% of

the portfolio consists of loans associated with property companies founded

as limited partnerships (kommanditselskaber (K/S) and owned by Danish
investors.
Finansiel Stabilitet expects to wind-up most of the remaining activities in
FS Property Finance in this sales process.
Finansiel Stabilitet is a state-owned public limited company charged with
winding up exposures and activities taken over from distressed banks by
offering portfolios of long-term assets for sale at market price.
In accordance with principles of EU law, tenders for the customer portfolio
will be invited in an open and transparent process in which prospective
buyers will be treated equally and in which a potential transaction will be
completed at the highest possible price.
Prospective buyers are not required to hold a banking license to acquire
the customer portfolio tendered. However, prospective buyers must
undertake to comply with the Executive Order on Good Business Practice
regulations applicable to Financial Undertakings.
Finansiel Stabilitet expects to enter into an agreement to sell the portfolio
in June 2015. Prospective investors seeking further information about the
sales process are invited to contact Finansiel Stabilitet not later than 30
April 2015.
For further information, please contact:
Investors
Prospective investors interested in acquiring the portfolio are invited to
contact Senior Project Manager Morten Davidsen, tel. +45 21 14 62 23, email: mda@finansielstabilitet.dk.
The Press
CEO Henrik Bjerre-Nielsen, tel. +45 21 14 21 11
or via press contact, tel. +45 24 76 35 90.

Finansiel Stabilitet presents 2014 annual

report
Finansiel Stabilitet posted a profit of DKK 966 million in 2014. The
performance was driven in particular by loans being wound up at higher
amounts than the carrying amount, low interest expenses, lower salary
costs and administrative expenses and a reversal of payroll tax.
Total assets were reduced by DKK 7 billion in 2014 to stand at DKK 22
billion. Total assets will be further reduced by the loans sold in December
2014 to Promontoria Holding 111 B.V., but this transaction will not feed
through to the balance sheet until in the first half of 2015.
Loans and guarantees of DKK 4.1 billion and financial assets and
properties of DKK 1.4 billion, net were wound up in 2014.

At end-2014, Finansiel Stabilitet effectively had no remaining direct,

customer-related exposures, except for the portfolio consolidated in FS
Property Finance and outsourced leasing activities.
However, there are still tasks to be performed as a result of the takeover
of distressed banks, including winding up of guarantees, divestment of
properties and securities, handling of estates in bankruptcy and lawsuits.
I believe that the Board of Directors has every reason to be satisfied with
the efforts of Finansiel Stabilitet's employees. Their focused and dedicated
efforts over a number of years have brought us to such an advanced stage
of the winding-up process that we are now ready to take on our new role
as a resolution authority. In other words, the cleaning-up role of the
Danish State is currently no longer required, and we are pleased to note
that the winding-up process was completed quickly and in a financially
prudent manner. This is definitely something to be pleased with, said
Jakob Brogaard, outgoing Chairman of Finansiel Stabilitet.
Finansiel Stabilitet recommends to the annual general meeting that
dividend in the amount of DKK 5.3 billion be distributed to the Danish
State. This amount equals the amount of Finansiel Stabilitet's receivable
regarding losses on individual government guarantees of DKK 3.5 billion
and a reduction of the loss guarantee relating to Roskilde Bank of DKK 1.8
billion. After the distribution, Finansiel Stabilitet will still have equity in
excess of the Danish State's remaining loss guarantee relating to Roskilde
Bank of DKK 2.5 billion.
At 31 December 2014, individual government guarantees had been issued
to credit institutions for a total amount of DKK 0.8 billion. These
guarantees have subsequently been repaid. As a result, the scheme was
settled in the 2014 financial statements as per agreement with the Danish
State. The settlement has been preliminarily calculated at a profit of DKK
0.1 billion to the Danish State.
The financial results for 2015 are subject to considerable uncertainty. The
uncertainty is related in particular to the outcomes of lawsuits and to the
effect of the expected two new departments, the Resolution Department
and the Depositor and Investor Guarantee Scheme.
For further information, please contact:
Henrik Bjerre-Nielsen, CEO, on tel. +45 21 14 21 11, or alternatively via
the press contact, on tel. +45 24 76 35 90, mail:
mail@finansielstabilitet.dk.

Debt pyramid scheme

To keep the system intact after the sub-prime property
induced banking crisis of 2008, central banks, with
encouragement from governments, have acted in concert
to intervene in markets in an unprecedented manner.
Through the purchase of government and other debt we

believe they intend to manipulate the value of assets (up)

and the cost of debt (down).
Any sense the economy is not 'growing' is now taken to be
excellent news by the stock market: government will be
more likely to intervene and inject further 'liquidity' from
buying debt with money created on an electronic balance
sheet. This is money borrowed from the future. That the
unborn will suffer a lower quality of life than they may
otherwise deserve, as their capital and labour is siphoned
away to repay the accumulated debts and compounded
interest, rarely gets mentioned. It is all about the short
term benefits. Conversely, if the economy posts positive
numbers, regarded by 'Main Street' as meaning 'growth'
(rather than eroded living standards from real currency
devaluation) then investors start to look for the exit. Good
economic news, even if massaged, is bad news for the
market. A perverse Jekyll and Hyde 'risk-on risk-off'
psychology has now itself become a major trade. Since
2008, the value, profitability and yield of the underlying
companies are no longer a primary consideration for all
investors.
You don't get me, I'm part of the (banking) union
With no sense of irony the un-elected powers behind the
central banks of the US, UK and Europe are fixing interest
rates at historic lows and giving 'forward guidance' on the
actions they expect to take in markets in the future. It is
no longer the preserve of free (i.e. capitalist) markets to
dictate the value of currencies through natural supply and
demand for them. In manipulating the price of money
central banks have pulled capital into blue-chip indices,
into real estate and into collectables. Since December
2009 the S&P 500 index is up 65.8%, the Nasdaq is up
84.1% and the FTSE100 is up 24.7%1 . In London high end
property prices are up around 10% in the year to
December 2013 alone2 , by comparison gold is up 9.9%3 .
Ever improving technologies, which increase the speed
and volumes of production, transportation and transaction
are all deflationary. In a free market it can be argued that
capital should therefore have a higher value in the future

and that people should naturally save for tomorrow, rather

than borrow more (from the bank) and pay interest (to the
bank) to buy things today. Living within one's means and
saving should be de rigueur. Savings can then be used for
investment, a system formerly termed 'Capitalism'.
Unfortunately deflation is the metaphorical 'kryptonite' to
the banking industry and is equally loathed by
governments. If money naturally increases in value each
year, then while a nation's GDP may grow in real terms, it
may shrink nominally. Being unable to show a nominally
larger GDP than the previous administration seriously
damages re-election prospects in a democratic system.
We believe that electorates are now fairly well conditioned
to ignore real changes, and to only think nominally. "Are
my wages bigger or smaller", "is my house worth more or
less", rather than "will this buy me greater or fewer goods
and services".
Meanwhile in the banking system, as currently structured,
banks leverage their capital by a factor of 20 to 1,
meaning that typically just 5% or less of a bank's balance
sheet will be covered by assets (and with little
specification as to the quality of those assets). Individual
banks are therefore highly sensitive to deflation (or any
perceived risk of it) as it means their debt would grow in
real value over time and be more difficult to repay. As
global banks and nations borrow from each other, any one
institution going bankrupt now risks triggering a chain
reaction of bankruptcies, between banks and ultimately
between nations; each unable to simply service the
interest on their liabilities, let alone borrow to repay the
principal. The wafer-thin capital base of each bank would
quickly be wiped out, meaning any cash held on deposit
would be 'bailed in' i.e. depositors would lose the money
they had lent to their banks (which they have been
conditioned to believe is 'saved' with the bank) and the
bank's bond holders would own a claim on a vast liability,
incapable of repaying its debts, let alone generating a
yield. If not the entire collapse of the system, vast swathes
of bank bond holders would be annihilated.

Boom, boom, boom...

At Altus we see that deflation is not a predicament that
central banks, nor elected politicians, can possibly allow to
occur if they wish to stay in the club. Artificially low
interest rates are designed to devalue money and create
inflation to encourage borrowing and spending. After 15
years of falling consumer prices the hyper-easy monetary
policies of Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with the
support of bank governor Haruhiko Kuroda, have put their
country quite some way ahead of the rest of the world in
terms of debt addiction. The country is 'expanding its
monetary base' by 60 to 70 trillion yen per year (US$675
billion) in order to generate 2% inflation in prices. The
inflation has yet to materialise in a significant way.
However, investors in the Nikkei stock index have done
very well. The market leapt 57% in 2013, putting in its
best performance in four decades and profoundly
underscoring how central bank money flows fastest to
market speculators.
Japan's debt load of around US$10.5tr (or over a
quadrillion yen) is equivalent to $80,000 per citizen and
over 200% of the country's GDP. In 1980 the country's
debt to GDP was 50%. Most recently Governor Kuroda
stated "we will adjust policy without hesitation if achieving
2% inflation becomes problematic or if smooth progress
isn't made toward the goal". We consider that the
stagnation of Japan, compounded with an ageing
population demographic and large current account deficit
(importing more than it is exporting) is a prelude to what
awaits Europe. Such a notion is only reinforced by the
similarity of the attempted inflation stoking remarks of
Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, who
committed to "do whatever it takes to fight excessive
borrowing costs" by buying government debt (using debt).
No less emphatically expressed by Janet Yellen governor of
the Federal Reserve that "I consider it imperative that we
do what we can to promote a very strong recovery."
We detect a symbiotic alliance, between governments and
their central banks moving in tandem, fiscally and
monetarily, to protect the banking system, or more

accurately to protect bondholders, and the established

political system. Having called the bluff of their associates
in the political establishment in 2008, we believe that the
banks now know (if they were seriously ever in any doubt)
that they have implicit state, or rather tax payer, support
should they appear to risk failing.
Moral hazard abounds, banks that are deemed 'too big to
fail' are being encouraged to leverage-up and lend more
recklessly (again), consumers are encouraged to borrow
and spend more than they can afford (again) to ensure
asset and stock prices go up and create a feel good factor,
but which is just a bubble (again). Loss making banks and
those which pay meagre dividends can continue to pay
obscene bonuses and the politicians can claim to have
steered the economy into 'recovery'. Governments can
even make special provisions to tax the bonuses, to send
a moral but utterly deceitful message to their electorate in
exchange for their votes, that they are somehow clamping
down on the 'excesses of capitalism'. These are the same
excesses they supported the creation of, or at least
allowed to form in order to keep the whole inglorious debtridden edifice from crashing down around them on their
watch.
Buy now, kids pay later
Saving rates are unsurprisingly at all-time lows and this is
just what politicians want. Yet it is this lack of capital, so
desperately required to make real investments in
productive pursuits, which is the elephant in the room in
the neo-Keynesian state-interventionist view of the world.
The situation where more and more debt and interest is
created to generate 'growth' through stimulating
consumer spending, but which simply sucks productive
capital out of the future is perilous. Few in the mainstream
media seem to understand the implications. That said, the
situation has been entertainingly articulated by Rick
Santelli of CNBC from the floor of the NYSE, which can be
seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XThI1PzylfQ.
In a sense we consider that democracy, and indeed
society as structured, is predicated on financial repression

from a debt based monetary system which has constant

inflation and where markets are dominated by a few large
banks. The current situation we see in Japan, Europe and
the US where elected governments will not dare risk
letting major financial institutions fail or inflation to fall,
has arguably not been arrived at unwittingly. The dynamic
has become increasingly apparent over the last few
tumultuous years, but it has its origins firmly in the
removal of the dollar from the gold standard by President
Nixon in 1971 followed by the various rules and
regulations introduced regarding banking derivatives and
the fractional formation of credit which gave birth to the
'casino' investment bank.
In their populist attempts to address income inequality,
the actions of the political class have dramatically
worsened the predicament of the poorest, enriched those
with assets in the market and marginalized if not outright
criticized the wealth and job creating entrepreneurs
prepared to risk their capital and more. The next weapons
in the armoury of the central banks and government to
create inflation will be the imposition of negative rates on
bank depositors and intervention in the employment
market to guarantee wages always go up in nominal
amounts, regardless of the real worth of the electorate's
income. In the meantime people work harder and harder
to repay astonishing loans on their baked clay and glass,
which are their homes, with money that is continuingly
going down in value.
Fed-speak, market-listen
"It certainly would be helpful going forward for deficit
reduction efforts to focus on the medium term while not
subtracting from the impetus we need to keep a fragile
economy moving forward..." Janet Yellen, Governor of the
Federal Reserve 2014.
We therefore understand how the repressive forces of debt
dependency and inflation of the money supply to devalue
those debts are the means by which governments are able
to continually spend more money than they earn, at least
until now. In 2013 US tax revenues covered approximately

75% of its government expenditure (US$2.7tr vs.

US$3.5tr4 ), leaving debt to fund the deficit of over $800M
per year. The total 'on balance sheet' debt pile in the US
now stands at US$17.5tr and has been increasing at
US$2.7bn per day since late 2012. Assuming an interest
rate of 2.5% pa, approximately US$430bn will be spent
servicing that debt each year. Should the cost of
borrowing increase to 5%, the interest cost would grow to
US$875bn per year, equating to almost 30% of all US tax
revenues. None of this takes into account the vast
unfunded liabilities of social and health care, which are
estimated in the US to be approximately US$70tr5 . It is
fairly safe to assume that despite any rhetoric to the
contrary, interest rates will remain relatively low and 'easy
money' readily available for a while longer yet.
Prior to 2008 the Federal Reserve held less than US$800M
of Treasury notes on its balance sheet, due to its policy of
'Quantitative Easing' ('QE') it now holds an estimated
US$2tr6 . Introduced in 2012, the Federal reserve's 'QE3'
programme required the monthly purchase of US$40bn of
'MBS' (mortgage backed securities) and under 'Operation
Twist' a further US$45bn of longer-dated US government
debt. Buying MBS ultimately has the effect of propping up
real estate prices, while Operation Twist is designed to
keep longer term interest rates low. These, together with a
number of other bamboozles designed to stimulate
spending, have conspired to keep the US government (and
many banks) solvent and the dollar weaker to help
exporters.
In December 2013, the Fed announced 'tapering' of their
bond purchases would occur, reducing them to a still
massive US$65bn a month subject to 'continued positive
economic and jobs data'. The Fed also suggested that if
inflation remained at 2% and unemployment decreased to
6.5%, it would even consider raising interest rates. Shortly
afterwards gold hit a 3 year low of $1,188/oz7 .
The potential withdrawal of QE has clear and profound
implications for the currencies of emerging markets.
Following the December 2013 announcement, 'hot money'

started to flow out of Argentina, Brazil, Turkey and South

Africa resulting in various mini crises. Against the dollar,
within the first two months of 2014, the Argentinean Peso
fell 19.4%, the Brazilian Real lost 3.7%, the Turkish Lira
8.9% and the RSA Rand 7.4%8 . Their import costs for
commodities and other goods rose and locally held asset
were devalued in an instant. The risk for heightened social
tensions escalating into widespread riots in emerging
markets is a real risk should there be substantial further
tapering9 . Perhaps it is therefore not so counter-intuitive
that the gold price has risen 10.7% to around $1,350 as at
March 2014 since the tapering announcement was made.
Gold: Warning, prices may go up as well as down
The commonly held image of the world gold market is
perhaps that of central bank vaults full of bars. In fact only
12% of gold is held by central banks and 50% exists as
jewellery. The balance is held as bars and coins by private
investors. It is precious because its supply is limited. The
total stock of gold increases at approximately 1.5% pa, a
figure that is roughly in line with current global population
growth. Meanwhile the trade in gold is very liquid with
contracts for approximately one million tonnes passing
through the market each year, equivalent to 500 times
annual gold production, or put another way, around eight
times all the gold ever produced. As a broadly held
fungible asset, supposedly with no counter- party risk, the
price of gold is often regarded as a bellwether for inflation
expectations and financial risk.
We have described how the 2008 market collapse risked
an implosion of the banking system, as rising counterparty risks caused the flow of credit to freeze. We have
also discussed how society's reliance on the banking
sector meant re- inflation of these markets (through an
explosive expansion in money supply) was the primary
mission of government and central banks. Money supply
had of course already increased dramatically since the US
dollar came off the gold standard.
In the 37 years prior to 2008, its monetary base ballooned
from US$67bn to US$900bn. However, in the five years

since 2008 a further US$1.8tr was added, taking the total

to around US$2.7tn10 . The move to debase currencies
and the apparent safety of ETF gold instruments
motivated investors to increase their holdings by
approximately 170%, from 31Moz (964t) in September
2008 to more than 84Moz (2,612t) by January 201311 .
The holdings of paper gold in ETFs increased broadly in
line with the price of gold from 2004 until 2011 when it hit
an all-time high of US$1,921.50/oz on 6th September.
After this gold was range bound between US$1,600/oz to
US$1,800/oz until the beginning of 2013.
The gold price fell 28% during 2013, hitting a low of
$1,188/ oz in December. ETF gold holdings fell in line with
the price, with up to 600t being sold, hitting 56.1Moz12
(1,741t) in January 2014. The aggressive and counterintuitive nature of the fall, given the on-going currency
debasement, has drawn attention to the short term and
potentially illegal trading activities of major institutions
who participate in the market. On 12th and 14th April
2013, the price fell over 10% from $1,565/oz to $1,395/oz,
crashing through $1,540/ oz which was regarded as a
psychological 'support level' by the market. The fall was
triggered by a sell order of 400t of gold in the New York
futures market13 . The order represented over 15% of
annual mine production and exceeded the entire COMEX
physical gold inventory. In placing such a trade the seller
would be aware they would not get the best price and
indeed that it would trigger a self-fulfilling cascade of stop
loss selling that would push the price firmly lower. We
believe that only a short seller would place such a trade
and given its scale most likely one using significant
leverage. Market regulations permit short traders to sell
20t of gold for each 1t they hold as collateral. If the impact
of this trade and the next four largest intra-day falls [12th
April (-US$78 / -5%), 20th June (-US$66 / -4.9%), 26th June
(-US$51 / -4%) and 12th September (-US$43 / -3.2%)14 ]
are removed from the annual performance data, gold
would have ended the year down just -5.9% at
US$1,575/oz, rather than down -28% at US$1,205/oz.
Given its 370% rise from a low of $255/oz in April 200115

and the market's fall in 2013, many generalist investors

and commentators consider gold is heading down. While
gold's performance has been excellent, it is rarely put into
context. Between October 1990 and December 1999 the
NASDAQ moved from 325 to 4,069 (+1,252%) and from
1982-2000 the S&P moved from 102 to 1,469
(+1,440%)16 . Critically these performances are for
indices which blend good stocks with bad stocks. A single
asset class such as gold, with its precious metal attributes
and no balance sheet risk, should have the capacity to
significantly outperform an index. In a similar fashion the
selling in the paper gold market, reducing the physical
holdings of gold ETFs, is also put forward as a sign that the
bull market for gold is over. The rotation out of gold in
2013 no doubt reflected the sentiment of investors looking
to reduce their exposure as well as those concerned with
the counter-party risk from holding on the underlying gold
in an ETF, as opposed to holding other assets. What is also
not often highlighted is how small the ETF holdings are (at
around 2,100t) in the scheme of global holdings of
175,000t, or that ETFs account for only 6.5% of annual
demand (compared to consumer demand, which accounts
for around 73%). While the gold price and ETF volumes
may have fallen, these events can be reconciled with
gold's strong performance in previous years and the
growth in the generalist short term gold investors and
institutional short sellers which has occurred since 2008.
We do not believe that either of these developments has a
material bearing on the long term supply demand dynamic
for gold, which remains incredibly supportive for higher
prices.
Gold: Transfer of wealth, hidden in plain sight
The fixation on the moves in paper ETF gold holdings
misses the paradigm shift which has occurred over the last
thirty years on the demand side for physical gold. In 1980
Europe and the US reportedly accounted for approximately
70% of gold demand. Today that figure is closer to 25%
with the emerging markets now dominant, reflecting their
growing wealth and a not unrelated desire to protect that
wealth from erosion by negative real interest rates due to
currency devaluation and consequent inflation. Nearly half

of the 2012 global gold demand of 3,756t17 was from

China (18%, or 676t) and India (27%, or 1,014t). The latter
is despite the introduction of a 10% import duty and
requirement to re-export 20% of all gold imports,
specifically designed to weaken demand. China's move
into gold is unprecedented. Not only has the country
grown to be the largest producer of gold with 437t per
year, none of which is believed to be exported, but net
imports through Hong Kong have grown from 35t per year
in 2001 to approximately 1,200t per year by 201318 . On
the supply side, those buying physical gold are
increasingly aware that the rate of discovery is not just
falling, but the grades of new discoveries are also falling.
This has a direct impact on the profitability of new mines,
which require more energy to crush and process yet more
tonnes of ore to produce the same amount of gold. Since
2002 only 1,250t of reserves have been discovered per
year and yet 2,500t have on average been produced.
Compare this to the 1970s when 3,500t of reserves were
being discovered per year versus only 1,370t produced19 .
To stay still, each year the top ten gold producers need to
replace more than 40Moz of reserves (equivalent to
1,200t, or 50% of annual production). As finding low cost
ounces is becoming less common, it is quickly apparent
that a squeeze in either production or price must occur at
some point.
Gold: Let's get physical, I wanna get physical
At the start of 2013 the German Bundesbank announced
their intention to repatriate 674t of gold to Germany. Of
this 300t is held with the Federal Reserve in New York and
the Banque de France in Paris holds a further 374t. The
repatriation was attributed to the change in geopolitical
outlook following the end of the Cold War, meaning there
was less reason for its gold to be stored outside Germany.
The 674t represents approximately 20% of Germany's
total gold reserves of 3,390.6t20 , the majority of which
continues to be held oversees. The Federal Reserve and
the Bundesbank agreed that the transfer should be
completed within seven years. By contrast China imported
834t of physical gold via open market purchases in 2013.

The drawn out delivery schedule from New York to Berlin

lends support to a conclusion drawn by many, that the
process of hypothecation (and re-hypothecation) of gold,
where it is legally lent out and then traded in the paper
market, but never delivered, has created a shortage for
physical delivery. Put simply, there are more legitimate
owners of it than there is gold to go around21 . This is
sustainable as long as claims for a material amount of
physical gold are not called at any one time. The delivery
of physical gold to Germany will only serve to increase the
ratio of claims against stored bars. In turn this could cause
gold prices to strengthen as delivery occurs and if this
price move is dramatic it could lead to further calls for
repatriation. It may also make calls for auditing of gold
holdings and trades to grow louder, as a wide segment of
the population which hitherto has been disinterested are
increasingly shocked to find that some international
markets and prices have been widely manipulated by
banks acting in concert or individually. Exactly in this vein,
at the end of 2013 Germany's financial regulator 'BaFin'
started an investigation in to the mechanism of the twice
daily London Gold fix (which has existed since 1919). Very
shortly thereafter Deutsche Bank, one of the 5 participants
of the fix, withdrew from the process22 . It is also notable
how publications such as the Financial Times have very
recently moved from a perma-bearish stance on gold to
one which highlights valid concerns regarding potential
market manipulation and the fungibility of paper gold
contracts.
Resource sector: The big clean up
In tandem with the falls in metal prices the capital
investment flows we witnessed leaving the mining sector
in 2012 only accelerated through 2013. The stock prices of
senior mining companies suffered, with the indices falling
yet further. The FTSE 350 Mining Index lost -16.3%, the
Toronto Stock Exchange Venture market lost -23.7% and
the ASX Small Cap Resources index lost -42.5%23 . The
HUI (index of unhedged gold producers) traded the year at
an average price/earnings ratio of 16.424 , down from 100
in 2004 when the price of gold averaged nearer $400/oz.

Some of the falls in mining equities has been self-inflicted.

The market is rightfully wary of the past 'super-cycle'
fuelled hubris, profound incompetence in actually creating
shareholder value and a dismal record in paying dividends
verses paying high salaries and advisor fees when
commodity prices rose. During the course of 2013 senior
mining companies attempted to re-ignite investor
confidence with a collective apology for their past
misdemeanours, conveniently often made by 'former
management'. Broadly summarised, we think they
followed the advice of the banking and brokerage
community way too closely, took on excessive debt,
launched 'ambitious' but value destructive M&A
campaigns and perhaps most shamefully of all, overstated
the actual profitability of their mines.
The misrepresentations were most acute in the gold
sector, which for years had typically been applying a 'cash
cost' per ounce of production rather than all in cost. The
cash cost excluded many of the sustaining, corporate and
other costs required to sustain their mines. As inflation in
the sector took hold it became clear that cash cost was a
woefully inadequate metric for representing the actual
mining costs and thereby profitability. An unintended
consequence was that it prompted a tightening of mining
codes globally, as countries introduced higher royalties
and production taxes25 . The new non-GAAP metrics, and
in particular the 'all in sustaining cost' (AISC) per ounce,
are now being widely employed by gold mining
companies, providing a more transparent and realistic
analysis of their cost base26 . Harmonising reporting
methods has also allowed investors to compare and
contrast the profitability of mines and companies much
more rapidly and efficiently, much to the distress of those
companies with the most marginal assets. Altus recently
undertook some research on this topic which can be
viewed here: http://www. altusstrategies.com/s/PortfolioNews.asp?ReportID=642760.
The larger companies have seen a modest return of
investor appetite. At the bottom of the food chain, many
junior companies find themselves unable to undertake

even highly dilutive equity financings. The capital pool

remains dry and the consequences have been stark for
the brokers, lawyers, consultants and other advisors who
in the boom years managed unwittingly to siphon away
material amounts of shareholder cash from those boards
either least interested in, or simply incompetent at,
preserving it. The rise of the Equity Distribution
Agreements ('EDA') has assured the survival of some
juniors in London, at least to the point where salaries
(many of which befit leaders of countries, rather than loss
making micro-cap companies) can continue to be paid out.
Often directors of these firms have invested very little (if
any) material cash alongside their shareholders. During
the first quarter of 2013, close to 40% of all equity issued
on the London AIM market to junior resource companies
was via an EDA scheme or similar style of agreement27 .
Absent a material rebound in market sentiment and
arguably the return of indiscriminate, impatient and illinformed investors, or a dramatic turn around on the part
of their board to stump up capital, we believe that few of
these stocks will create value.
Outlook
Substantial downside risks remain in the resource sector.
The devaluation of emerging market currencies as the US
'tapers' its 'asset purchases', the risk of further sovereign
debt and related social crisis in Europe, geopolitical
skirmishes and a potential banking collapse in China all
have the means to destabilise. However, the real wealth
creation in the middle classes of the emerging markets,
specifically in Asia, and returning demand for resources in
the developed world should act as a counterweight to
these risks.
Gold is perhaps best positioned, benefiting as it will from
either tumultuous markets or the creation of wealth. We
have seen how the owners of equities, high end real
estate, art and classic cars have been the largest
benefactors to date from the money printing of the last
few years. However, since the announcement of tapering
by the Federal Reserve the price of gold has risen by
almost $130/oz, up more than 10%. Its properties as a

safe haven against inflation, against market corrections

and as a store of value in times of volatility are perceptibly
coming back to the fore. Combined with the record
physical demand for gold, diminishing new supply and
potential shortages of physical metal due to its continued
paper hypothecation, we will not be surprised to see gold
significantly outperform the wider market's rather
fashionably bearish expectations for it in 2014.
The macro picture therefore generally bodes well for gold
mining equities. After two years of cutting overheads, the
fire sale of certain assets and optimising mine plans using
realistic price and cost assumptions, the new leaner and
cost driven companies are much better positioned to
deliver substantial returns. However, it is important to
remain cognisant that large numbers of junior resource
companies which are undertaking little or no exploration
of merit will remain a drag on the sector's performance.
These companies need to be cleared away before investor
confidence can rightfully return; a process which will cause
exploration costs to fall further, all to the benefit of the
shareholders of the surviving group.
Looking ahead we feel there will be tremendous
opportunities for those teams and companies in the junior
resource sector who survive the next phase of correction
and who have discoveries which mining companies,
private equity groups, metal traders and sovereign
investors must acquire interests in. With our highly
talented and dedicated team and a growing diversified
portfolio of exploration projects, the conditions for Altus
are more exciting than ever.
References:
Preceding percentage changes for period 31 Dec 2009 to
31 December 2013. Data: Bloomberg Professional, March
2014.
Source: "Alert over rhetoric on high-end London property
market", Financial Times, December 26 2013.
Data: Bloomberg Professional, March 2014
Data: Calculated from figures contained within:

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-pjeffrey/2472542000000-record-taxation-through-augustdeficit-still-755b
Source: Sprott Inc "Why the Resource Supercycle Is Still
Intact" by Rick Rule - February 25 2014.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis,
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/TREAST, March
2014.
Data: Bloomberg Professional, March 2014.
Data: http://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/, March
2014.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-23/argentinepeso-leads-emerging-market-currency-rout-as-lirasinks.html
Data: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis:
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/BASE/, March
2014.
Source: Bloomberg Professional, March 2014.
Data: Preceding paragraph all price & ETF holding data
from Bloomberg Professional, March 2014
Source: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-15/goldcrush-started-400-ton-friday-forced-sale-comex
Source: Bloomberg Professional, March 2014.
Data: Bloomberg Professional, March 2014
Data: Preceding paragraph all data from Bloomberg
Professional, March 2014
Data: World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends 2013, 18th
February 2014.
Source: Casey Research. October 2013 via
http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/china-imports110-tonnes-of-gold-through-hong-kong-in-august.
Source: Erste Bank, Special Report -- 11 July 2012 'In Gold
We Trust'
Data: World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends 2013, 18th
February 2014.
Source: http://goldchat.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/fractionalreserve-bullion-banking-and_14.html
Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/17/deutsche-goldfix-idUSL5N0KR19G20140117
Source: Bloomberg Professional, March 2014.
Source: Bloomberg Professional, March 2014

Source:
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/minewebgold-analysis?oid=156348&sn=Detail
Source:
http://www.gold.org/media/press_releases/archive/2013/06
/ guidance_note_on_non_gaap_metrics_pr/
Source: Altus Research: Aim Statistics
April 22, 2013
Dear Shareholder,
It has been another challenging year with volatile
commodity and resource equity markets. In the first part
of this report we review the progress of your Company and
in the second part we look at some of the macro themes
that drive risk and commodity appetite and thereby our
intuition on how best to position the firm for the long term.
In the period we were pleased to welcome Resource
Capital Investment Corporation (a subsidiary of Sprott Inc.)
as a significant shareholder of the Company, following a
private placement of new shares in July 2012. In
connection with the placement, the board also welcomed
Neil Adshead as a director of the Company. An Investment
Strategist for Sprott, Neil brings a wealth of sector
expertise and resource investing to our team.
Furthermore, turning the current calamity into opportunity,
we have recruited a number of talented and enthusiastic
geologists to the team, augmenting our project incubation
and development capabilities.
Operations review
Our principal exploration subsidiaries, Aluvance plc
('Aluvance') and Altau Resources plc ('Altau') enjoyed good
exploration results in Cameroon and northern Ethiopia
respectively. Drilling at the Bikoula iron ore project in
southern Cameroon is returning encouragingly high grades
and intersections from surface. Approximately 4,000m are
being drilled in the first phase programme, targeting 4km
of a potential 25km of strike extent of the ore body.
Separately Aluvance's Mandoum and Birsok bauxite
projects have returned excellent grades from surface

prospecting, while structural interpretations on the

Laboum gold project have indicated significant strike
potential for the mineralised system of up to 20km. In light
of the exploration results, Aluvance is being restructured
into three separate entities focussed on iron, gold and
bauxite accordingly.
In the prospective terrain of the Arabian-Nubian shield of
northern Ethiopia, Altau has defined the Slater and
Agamat copper-gold prospects within the Afar-Tigray
licence. The mapped strike length of the Slater Prospect
has now doubled to over 8km of discontinuous copper
mineralisation, with rock chips grading up to 6.7% Cu &
74.3 g/t Ag while at the Agamat Prospect mineralisation
has been mapped for over 800m with grades up to 5.4%
Cu, 31.6g/t Ag and 9.5 g/t Au.
Sector review
The resource sector has had a torrid couple of years,
despite generally supportive commodity and rising equity
markets. In the 'Great Reflation' of 2009 and 2010 buyers
outnumbered sellers and share prices rebounded from
their 2008 shattered valuations. However, the most
important risk in the junior sector is the failure to find a
commercial deposit. The issue was conveniently
overlooked as speculative capital flowed back into the
industry looking for quick returns. With hindsight many
junior companies may recognise that a large amount of
their money served only to inflate the costs of their
advisors (brokers, consultants, lawyers, technical
consultants etc) and retaining or recruiting their own staff.
Insufficient money ended up where the underlying
investors may have expected and intended it to go; in the
ground. As money flowed into the sector, management
could contract out responsibility for decisions to
increasingly expensive experts, and as long as stock
prices moved higher and new money was available it was
not a pressing concern. However, the inevitable sell off
has become indiscriminate. Non-specialist investors,
perhaps some with leverage or under redemption pressure
sold out; many being unable or unwilling to differentiate

between those companies with good assets and

management, trading at a discount to fair value, from
those with a zero or negative NPV. Unfortunately while the
self-fulfilling bear market may succeed in removing
companies with no viable properties and the lifestyle
management teams, firms with good assets and aligned
management teams have been forced to undertake overly
dilutive capital raises at the expense of existing
shareholders and have exposed themselves to
opportunistic take-overs.
Over the last decade broadly speaking, gold is up 400%,
silver 600%, copper 450%, lead 500%, zinc 150%, and
nickel 100%. However, the TSX Venture exchange which is
home to 1,300 junior resource companies which comprise
more than 50% of the market, is up just 1% over the same
period, while de-listings are now outnumbering IPOs. The
current introspection at all levels in the mining sector is
encouraging, albeit in many cases a degree of shareholder
activism or dire cash balance having being required to
catalyse boards into action. Heeding the understandably
ego-boosting siren calls from money lenders or brokers to
'grow' through burdensome leveraged acquisitions, or
dilutive equity issues is now as unfashionable as it is
impossible. Unworkable grades, complex metallurgy,
remote locations and other causes for absurd capex
requirements are no longer as quickly glossed over by
those boards or advisors wishing to keep their integrity.
Unfortunately for those junior stocks with little to offer,
their penance will come too little, too late.
Outlook
A key factor in first driving the bounce up and then the
pull back in the resource sector has been both optimism
and uncertainty over China's economic growth outlook
(2012, + 7.8% pa). As a major driver of global commodity
demand over the last decade (currently accounting for
between 40% to 50% of copper, aluminium and coal
imports and as much as 65% of the seaborne iron market),
China has increasingly acted as the metaphoric rudder,
sail and keel to the resource sector (ref 1). Outside China,
direct state intervention in bond markets has subverted

the price of risk and encouraged investors to move away

from commodities into the apparently central bank
underwritten returns of bonds and treasuries. Such
unprecedented conditions, on top of the natural pull back
in the sector unfortunately impacted on the performance
of the two resource investment funds we manage, namely,
Altus Resource Capital and Altus Global Gold, albeit
outperforming the majority of their peer group.
Looking ahead we expect the slow-default easy money,
low interest rate and interventionist policies of western
central banks, to continue for the next few years, with
strong political support, if not outright collusion. While
designed to stave off a systemic banking collapse and with
the fear of a potential social collapse, the unintended
consequence of such financial repression may be the
devastation of the wealth of next generation. However,
this may be imperceptible as there will be no reference
points to what might have been, had relationships
between banks and government been less
accommodating and stock and bond holders had
experienced real losses.
In the short term the 'growth' windfall from the current
inflationary policies, assuming no significant rise in
interest rates, will underscore a degree of demand for gold
from western investors and central banks. We also expect
the demographic and technology driven demand for goods
and services, real or reported, in the emerging economies
to continue to grow. As a result we expect commodities to
outperform paper currencies and for equity markets to
continue to hit new highs until the stimulus is withdrawn.
There is growing awareness that despite the boom in
exploration finance over the last decade there has been
an alarming paucity of new discoveries of large high
quality ore bodies across the spectrum of metals and
minerals. Coincident with this, the number of non-western
strategic industry investors seeking to acquire direct
product and the associated mining expertise is on the
increase. Therefore we continue to see deep value in the
sector and expect companies with genuinely commercial

mines, quality development stage assets or highly

prospective exploration portfolios, to perform strongly on
the back of increasing M&A activity and the associated
speculation which may build. Time will tell.
In the meantime and on behalf of the Board I convey our
gratitude for your continued support to our team and I
look forward to keeping you informed of our progress.
Yours faithfully,
Steven Poulton
Chief Executive
Part 1 -- Progress Update
Part 2 -- Democratic Deficits
PART 1
Progress Update
Altus was founded to provide its shareholders with
exposure to a portfolio of exceptional opportunities within
the resource sector. The Company's activities encompass
specialist asset management services, a diversified
portfolio of internally generated and managed exploration
projects and direct holdings in a number of special
situation opportunities. Regular progress updates are
made on the Altus website and those of the related
subsidiary companies.
Exploration Ventures
Altau Resources plc (www.altau-resources.com)
Altau is focused on the 1,042km2 Afar-Tigray copper-gold
licence in northern Ethiopia, targeting a 30km long
regional north south trending structural corridor. The
licence is located approximately 580km north of the
capital Addis Ababa and 45km north of the regional centre
of Mekele and targets prospective Proterozoic terrains that
form part of the Arabian Nubian Shield. The shield hosts a
number of notable mineral deposits, including the Bisha

and Asmara copper-gold deposits in Eritrea, the Sukari

gold deposit in Egypt and the Jabal Sayid copper-gold
project in Saudi Arabia. Afar-Tigray was selected after the
analysis of exploration data generated in the 1980's by
the Ethiopian Geological Survey. This work identified a
major regional shear zone, coincident with anomalous
copper occurrences and to date Altau has defined two
distinct priority targets, the Slater prospect & the Agamat
prospect.
The Slater Prospect
This prospect hosts a zone of discontinuously outcropping
copper mineralisation that has now been mapped for more
than 8km and remains open along strike, with rock chip
samples grading up to 10.4% Cu and 74.3g/t Ag. Near its
centre, the prospect hosts the 'Italian Pit', a hard rock
copper mine that reportedly dates back to the 1930s. The
pit measures approximately 80m long and 10m wide and
defines a westerly dipping orebody along the eastern limb
of a north south striking synform. The Company is
encouraged by the potentially strata-bound dip of the
orebody, indicating a potentially low stripping ratio to any
future mining operation. Prospecting by the Company's
geologists along the prospect has discovered significant
quantities of barite float, with associated breccia and
copper oxides. While the genesis and morphology of the
deposit is not yet determined, these assemblages may be
considered to be characteristic of a volcanogenic massive
sulphide system.
The Agamat Prospect
The Agamat prospect rests on the western limb of the
above mentioned synform, approximately 10km north east
and across the valley from the eastern limb which hosts
the Slater prospect. Sampling along a zone of shearing at
Agamat has returned grades up to 8.7% Cu, 9.5 g/t Au &
99.4 g/t Ag, along an initial 800m strike and up to 20m
wide. An associated VTEM (Variable Time-domain ElectroMagnetic) geophysical anomaly suggests the prospect has
a potential strike length of over 5km.
Exploration in 2013 will focus on defining drill targets at

both of these prospects, though systematic, stream, soil

and rock chipping programmes followed by trenching and
drilling across the priority zones identified.
Aluvance plc (www.aluvance.com)
Aluvance is advancing a number of geologically
prospective licences in Cameroon for iron ore, bauxite and
gold. Due to the exploration success to date Altus is in the
process of restructuring these assets into dedicated
companies in order to effectively develop each of them as
stand alone ventures.
Bikoula Project -- Direct Shipping Iron Ore
Bikoula is an 808.9km2 licence that hosts significant
quantities of high grade iron ore. The project is
strategically well located within an emerging iron ore
province in southern Cameroon, the scale and potential of
which is of global significance. Bikoula is 6km north of the
Nkout deposit (2.5Bt + 25Mt DSO), 160km northwest of
the Mbalam (2.4Bt + 500Mt DSO) deposit and sits within
30km of a proposed iron ore rail line to the deep water
port which is under construction 270km to the west. The
project is also located on a major timber export route with
multiple trucks passing the project every hour. The road is
presently being upgraded to an all sealed surface which
means Bikoula, subject to the necessary tonnages,
feasibility studies and finance, has the potential to be one
of the first high grade iron ore producers in Cameroon.
This would be independent of the planned rail
infrastructure and therefore gives the project a significant
strategic advantage in respect of the time frames and
costs to get into production.
A high resolution airborne geophysical survey
commissioned by the Company has defined a western
prospect ('Libi Hills'), a central prospect ('Nkout North'),
and an eastern prospect ('Avebe') which together are the
focus of initial exploration work. Libi Hills comprises 8km
of discontinuously mapped BIF, coincident with a 14km
long magnetic anomaly, Nkout North comprises a 10km
long magnetic anomaly and Avebe comprises 5.7km of
discontinuously BRGM mapped BIF coincident with an 8km

long geophysical anomaly.

The first phase drill programme, which completed after the
end of the period, centred on the Libi Hills prospect largely
due to ease of access. The programme comprised 44 holes
and targeted the weathered and iron enriched cap for a
potential direct shipping ore mining operation. The holes
were typically inclined at 50 degrees and drilled to 85m
depth, for a total of approximately 4,000 metres. Assay
results from the first holes received to date have been
very encouraging, including high grades up to 64.9% Fe
and long intersections. These include 64.0m at 50.4% Fe,
90.3m at 39.3%, 30.8m at 57.9% Fe, 24.0m at 56.2% and
several highly enriched zones grading above 60% Fe
typically over 10m wide. The results also suggest
encouragingly low levels of phosphorous and Al2O3.
Beyond the enriched iron ore, the Company has been
positively surprised by the presence of significant
intersects of high grade canga material above and down
the flanks of the surrounding ground and up to 300m wide
in places. Typically the canga is unconsolidated or
cemented by a clay rich matrix which the Company
considers to be potentially amenable to DSO shipping,
following a straightforward crush, screen and wash
process.
More generally, the phase one programme has defined the
presence of an enriched high grade haematite weathered
cap including canga material, grading higher than 55%,
categorised as DSO. This sits above less oxidised banded
and laminated Banded Iron Formations ('BIF') grading
above 40%, categorised as potential DSO with
beneficiation. This in turn sits above unweathered BIF
grading above 30% Fe. Metallurgical test work, mapping of
the additional prospect areas and desk based viability
studies will be undertaken in 2013 on receipt of all data.
Mandoum & Birsok Projects -- Bauxite
The 476km2 Mandoum and the 986km2 Birsok licences
are located in the Adamawa region of northern Cameroon,
approximately 30km west of the town of Ngaoundr,
450km north of Yaound the capital city and strategically

located between the Minim-Martap and Ngaoundal bauxite

occurrences.
The geology, elevated topography and tropical climate of
the Adamawa plateau make it highly prospective for the
formation of large and potentially economic bauxite
deposits. The Minim-Martap and Ngaoundal deposits are
subject to exploration and development by Cameroon
Alumina Ltd; a joint venture between Hydromine Inc,
Hindalco Industries Ltd and Dubai Aluminium Co. As part
of the joint venture a feasibility study will be undertaken
for the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the nearby
Sanaga river enabling bauxite ores to be processed locally.
At Edea in the south west of Cameroon, Societe
Camrounaise d'Aluminium (Alucam) a joint venture
between Rio Tinto and the government of Cameroon,
operates a 90,000 t/y aluminium smelter which currently
processes bauxite imported from Guinea.
Detailed exploration across the primary prospect areas
has resulted in the delineation of three initial bauxite
targets: Djombi (72km2), Beka (123km2) and Mbon
(4.5km2). The three plateaux have a total combined area
of 199km2, of which 11% has been sampled to date. Each
plateau area is surrounded by a potential detrital bauxite
target, providing an additional cumulative area estimated
at 140km2. Assays results from a programme of rock chip
sampling at Beka have returned grades up to 68.2% Al2O3
and increased the average grade of the project such that
83% of all samples taken to date have graded over 40%
Al2O3. Further detailed mapping, sampling and pitting will
be undertaken in 2013, with a scout drilling programme
planned to test the bauxite grades at depth.
Being adjacent to a world class bauxite project under
development by a multinational consortium, a potential
hydro electric power supply and with a rail line to the
coast running directly past it, the Mandoum & Birsok
project is strategically well located. With the forecast
demand for aluminium remaining relatively robust and
Cameroon being well endowed with bauxite ores and
abundant renewable and gas energy, we believe the

country will shortly be recognised as a potentially globally

significant source of aluminium ore and refined product.
Laboum Project -- Gold
The 761km2 Laboum licence targets a 30km long regional
shear zone in north eastern Cameroon. The project is
located approximately 110km southeast of the provincial
capital of Garoua, and 600km northeast of the capital
Yaound. Year round access to the licence area is
provided by a network of maintained laterite roads. The
licence area is dominated by a significant northeastsouthwest striking shear zone, which is a splay off the
Central African Shear Zone. The geology of the region is
considered to be Birimian age and comprises
metavolcanics, schists and gneisses intruded by
synkinematic late Pan-African granites. Dilational
structures which appear to exist along the shear zone are
considered to be excellent targets to be explored for
mesothermal gold deposits.
Previous exploration in the area was undertaken by the
BRGM in the 1990s which included mapping, drainage,
soil, termite mound and rock sampling which successfully
identified several prospective areas. A reconnaissance
exploration programme undertaken by the Company,
focussed in the north east portion of the Laboum project
and returned grades up to 1.3 g/t Au and identified areas
of hard rock artisanal mining, coincident with the major
shear structure that transects the project area. Aerial
photo interpretation of the licence area undertaken by the
Company indicates that this shear zone has a strike length
of at least 27km within the licence, of which 20km is
coincident with historic gold and arsenic anomalies.
Historic soil data has defined an initial 1km long
geochemical gold anomaly co-incident with the shear zone
as identified from the photo interpretation.
Arabian Gold Corporation plc (www.arabian-gold.com)
Our Arabian shield focussed gold exploration company
Arabian Gold Corporation plc ('AGC') is a 50:50 joint
venture company with a 'first mover' strategy focused on
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, due to its rich mineral

wealth, favourable mining code and limited competition

for ground. Over 1,000 mapped ancient gold and coppergold workings attest to the prospectivity and provide a
useful guide to the key districts on a craton which is
comparable in size to that of Western Australia. Our joint
venture partner is a highly respected mining and
exploration service provider, with over sixteen years of
operating experience in the Kingdom. With their support
AGC has submitted a number of highly prospective licence
applications and a shield-wide geographic information
system (GIS) has been compiled in order to define
additional target areas. Our team are on standby to
commence exploration as soon as the first licences are
granted.
Altus Capital Ltd (www.altus-cap.com)
Altus Capital Limited provides specialist fund management
services for investors in the resources sector and is
responsible for the management of two Guernsey
incorporated investment companies:
Altus Resource Capital (www.altrescap.com)
Altus Resource Capital Limited ("ARC") is a closed ended
investment company which listed on the Specialist Fund
Market of the LSE (LSE: ARCL) and the Channel Islands
Stock Exchange (CISX:ARC) in June 2009. ARC aims to
realise significant shareholder value through investments
in a concentrated portfolio of junior resource equities. As
at 31 December 2012 the net asset value of ARC was
57.5M representing a NAV of 1.45 per ARC share,
down 19.0% on the year and up 52.4% since launch. Altus
Capital earns an annual management fee of 0.85% of
ARC's NAV and receives 16% of any increase in the NAV
above a 10% per annum straight-line hurdle, assuming the
high water mark is breached.
Altus Global Gold (www.altusglobalgold.com)
Altus Global Gold Limited ('AGG') is an open-ended
investment company which listed on the Channel Islands
Stock Exchange (CISX:AGGL) in November 2011. AGG was
established to realise significant shareholder value
through investments in a concentrated portfolio of mid-tier

and major gold and precious metals companies with a

focus on mid-tier producers. As at 31 December 2012 the
net asset value of AGG was 7.8M representing a NAV of
0.83 per AGG share, down 12.0% on the year and down
17.2% since launch. Altus Capital earns an annual
management fee of 1.5% of AGG's NAV subject to a 2%
TER, and will receive a performance fee of 20% of any
increase in the NAV above a 10% straight-line hurdle and a
high water mark. Altus Capital earns no management or
performance fee in AGG on monies invested by ARC.

PART 2
1. Democratic Deficits
The accumulated promises and largesse of past
governments have created a veritable Hobson's choice for
the now unwittingly bourgeois political classes, of most
persuasions, who have come to dominate western
democracies; gloss over profound economic realities, or
lose votes.
In order to keep borrowing costs at sustainable levels in
the short term, governments have had to focus on
convincing markets, the electorate and the self appointed
and often conflicted international rating agencies, that
they are solvent albeit with recourse to 'do whatever it
takes' with the printing presses to wipe out bond holders
and savers. These are the same rating agencies who
missed the 2008 crash and somehow maintain credibility;
Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch all maintained at
least an A rating on AIG and Lehmans immediately before
their collapse. With interest rates in many countries at
multi-century lows, and 'official' inflation data seemingly
no cause for alarm, the impression could rightly be that
governments, assisted by their central banks, have pulled
it off.
The hot air effect
Or it could indicate something altogether less remarkable;
that openly creating $12 trillion in new money to buy

sovereign debts, to avoid a natural deflationary implosion

in asset prices, causes interest rates for government
bonds that directly compensate the risk of ownership to
fall. Similarly it is unsurprising for stock markets to hit all
time highs, insolvent banks to remain trading who
otherwise have insufficient capital if forced to mark loan
books to market, equity markets and real estate prices to
remain over valued by any commonsense metric and junk
grade debt to boom. Non-investment grade Asian
companies are 6,000% more in demand than last year (ref
1a). Institutions selling government or corporate bonds
back to the government, investors looking for yield and
depositors seeking to avoid bail-in risks, have to speculate
and put the cash to work somewhere, even if it means
buying already over-valued assets. All the while the
fractional banking system causes what could be described
as the popcorn effect - rapidly increasing the amount of
credit to expand and seemingly multiply. Albeit like
popcorn (which expands around 42 fold, similar to a banks
balance sheet), the expansion in credit is pure hot air with
no actual increase in underlying money.
In the forty years since the end of the gold standard of the
Bretton Woods accord, western governments have been
out and out monetarist, inflating bubble after bubble while
relying upon the corrosive power of inflation from
increasing the debt-money supply, to give the benign
appearance of economic growth through higher wages and
asset prices. Using the retail price index Sterling has lost
approximately 90% of its purchasing power since 1960;
18 of value has been eroded to 1 (ref 2). However, the
interest paid by banks to reimburse their depositors for
the cost of inflation, plus depositor risk, provided savers
with sham comfort that they were somehow receiving
'income' to assist with their saving and retirement plans.
"The modern theory of the perpetuation of debt has
drenched the earth with blood, and crushed its inhabitants
under burdens ever accumulating."
Thomas Jefferson
Together with the inflationary erosion of their currencies

and negative real interest rates, governments enjoyed a

number of developments that boosted productivity, wealth
and tax receipts. These included the growth in dual
income households, the discovery of cheap energy across
new oil fields, the expansion of mortgage and other
consumer credit products due to the multiplier effect of
fractional banking allowing all credit to balloon (from $3tr
in the early 1970s to $56tr in the US), the deflationary
impact on consumer prices from the boom in low-wage
emerging market manufacturing, half a century of
technological improvements accelerating under Moore's
Law (a doubling of capacity broadly every two years) and
the demand for buying the treasuries and bonds of reserve
currencies from an increasingly wealthy and trading world.
All have driven business and social change as never
before, as people and nations felt and indeed become
materially better off.
Growing pains
Western economies have gone ex-growth. In 1980, the pro
forma EU was 34% of the world economy and by 2020 it is
estimated that it will be just 15 % (ref 3). Many of the late
20th Century panaceas are exhausted or even in
demographic reverse, with money being pulled out of
markets to cover living costs. While median household
incomes have grown in the US from $40.8k to $51.4k since
2000, taking into account inflation they have effectively
gone down in real terms from $56.1k to $51.4k (ref 4).
With an ageing population, crumbling infrastructure and
globally uncompetitive labour market the models of the
now retired bureaucrats and economists who assumed
straight line growth in GDP, and company profits, leave
present day governments facing ballooning unfounded
welfare liabilities, combined with falling real GDP.
"The economy depends about as much on economists as
the weather does on weather forecasters."
Jean-Paul Kauffmann
A growing proportion of the economy is now government
itself and large swathes of the electorate are ill prepared
financially and psychologically to face up to the previously

hidden economic realities. The decline is respective to the

rapidly growing emerging markets with their more
competitive workforces. In the US average hourly wages
have increased from $2/hr to $20/hr since 1964 (ref 5) and
the UK the average wage is now 12.50/hr ($18.5/hr).
This compares to workers in Foxconn's factory in China,
where salaries have doubled to $700 per month (ref 6), or
around $2/hr.
Sustained compound economic growth in a finite world is a
mathematical fantasy. Bond markets have always
understood this, just as much as how money printing
reduces the risk of default towards zero at the cost of
future relative value. To illustrate the immense power of
compounding, if the UK experienced a 4% pa population
growth rate then within 75 years the UKs population would
have grown from 62 million to be as large as China's, with
1.3 billion. Carrying this forward after 150 years some 21
billion people would live in the UK, more than three times
the current global population and after 250 years it would
be over 1 trillion. Growth of all kinds is finite on a finite
planet.
Law and green order
With increases in prosperity there have been increases in
litigation and law. The number of practicing solicitors in
the UK has tripled since 1980, from 38,000 to 118,000 (ref
7). Those trained in law are the ones making the laws of
the land, a cosy relationship for their colleagues in
industry, but increasingly leading to 'rule by lawyers'. Of
435 U.S. Representatives and 100 Senators, lawyers
comprise the biggest industry voting block, making up
43% of Congress and 60% of the Senate. The US with
1,143,358 lawyers now has one for every 265 citizens,
slightly more than the number of soldiers (1.1m) and
doctors (0.9m) or police (0.8m) (ref 8). A trend which looks
likely to continue as undergraduates follow the money and
power. There are 200 accredited law schools in the US and
law graduates now outnumber medical graduates 3 to 1
and engineering graduates 41:1 (ref 9).
Assisted by government subsidies designed to meet once

vote winning 'green' obligations, that now suddenly look

somewhat 'credit-boom-market-feel-good' and very much
out of kilter with the real world, suggests the era of cheap
energy is coming to an end, although shale gas
technologies gas may yet extend this if affordable.
According to the World Resources Institute approximately
1,200 coal plants generating 1,400,000MW are currently
being planned around the world in 59 countries; 455 of
these are in India and 363 in China. In the meantime the
UK are closing a coal and oil fired power station at Didcot
(the Oxfordshire town where Altus is based) and Fawley
near Southampton. These generate 3,000MW of energy
(ref 9b), roughly 7% of UK demand and 0.2% of the
planned global increases from coal generated power. In
the meantime, gas super tankers each carrying 12 hours
of national gas demand, are mooring up off the UK.
As the world gets wealthier and healthier, the futility of
turning off a couple of power stations in the UK is laid bare
considering that the entire population of the world as it
was in 1960 (i.e. 3.0 billion) will be added to the current
population of 7.0 billion within the next thirty five years
alone. The expected population of the world will be over 9
billion by the mid 2040s (ref 10). The population of Nigeria
alone is modelled to rise from its current 158 million to
258 million in the next twenty years. Food for thought for
those convinced to buy family hybrid or electric cars. A
study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that
battery-powered vehicles charged with electricity made
from coal, produces as much in the way of greenhouse
gases as a conventional car that averages 30mpg.
Average emission are currently in the region of 34 mpg
(ref 11).
The populist nature of the environmental debate, where
scepticism over the motivations of the corporate, political
and media and other vested interests, is derided by those
same influential groups, has startling parallels with the
debate over the 'consensus' on the need for
unprecedented money printing and the promotion of 'too
big to fail' beliefs.

2. Debt de-based money

Encouraged by parties of all political persuasions large
numbers of families in the western world are currently
burdened by large mortgage and consumer debts. Debts
have increased in the UK from 43% of GDP in 1973 to over
a 100% of GDP by 2012 (ref 12). Citizens are also
experiencing how inflating the money supply, coincident
with demand competition from the emerging markets, is
surreptitiously eroding living standards through rising
prices, increased energy costs and stagnant wages.
Without a major financial correction, the aversion to any
form of 'austerity' and the stunning complacency over
current debt levels may revolt future generations who
consequently suffer a lower quality of life than they
otherwise deserved for their labour.
Social imbalance sheets
Parents are working to maintain living standards, rather
than improve them for their children, as they themselves
once benefited. To keep the system going the State is
increasingly intervening in the banking sector to
encourage banks to lend more, in the mortgage markets
to encourage people to borrow more in support of
unaffordable house prices, in the private childcare market
to encourage people to work more to pay more tax and
ultimately through low nominal interest rates to shop
(rather than save) more. The propaganda is clear,
spending money you have yet to earn and buying things
will rescue the nation; do your part.
"It is well enough that people of the nation do not
understand our banking and money system, for if they did,
I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow
morning."
Henry Ford
US tax revenues in 2011 covered approximately 65% of US
expenditure ($2.4tr income vs $3.7tr outgoings). The
current US debt of $16.8tr will hit $17.8tr in 2013.
Approximately 40% of the debt is held by overseas
investors and would buy 12.9 billion ounces (at $1,375/oz)
or 402,000t of gold. In other words more than twice all the

gold ever mined and approximately 140 years of current

mine supply (at 2,850t pa). Servicing the interest on the
debt in 2012 cost $360b (ref 13). If the blended interest
rate to service the US debt moved to 5% (considered to be
the long term historical average), the interest cost would
grow to $1tr pa. This would consume 45% of all US tax
revenues.
The Congressional Budget Office ('CBO') have estimated
that the US will spend over $5tr on interest payments over
the next decade, assuming the yields on 10-year Treasury
would rise from 2.3% to 5% and the 3-month T-bill would
rise from 0.1% to 3.8% (ref 14). An increase of just 1%
above their projections causes that interest bill to rise by
$1tr. However, as a measure of their ability to
underestimate the current economic predicament, in 2010
the CBO predicted that within 15 years the total revenues
from tax would be exceeded by entitlement and debt
interest service payments. However, this alarming
situation happened the very next year. Revenue was
$2.3tr, debt interest was $0.45tr and mandatory welfare
spending was $2tr (ref 15). Defence, education and all
other services were effectively put on the US tax payers
credit card. As the baby boomer generation start to retire,
taxes will have to rise dramatically to cover the healthcare
and other social entitlements, as 57% of U.S. workers
reportedly have less than $25,000 in total household
savings (ref 16)
The time value of promissory notes
Governments clearly understand that meaningfully
reducing their national debt is impossible without major
reforms to how tax is raised and spent. However, being
elected democratically only requires securing the majority
of votes of an often time-poor, sometimes disinterested
and occasionally economically ill-informed electorate. Not
unrelated, it assists if the mainstream media reflects the
electorates disinterest in basic economic concepts
regarding the supply of money, how a debt based
monetary system operates, the power of exponential
function, the time value of money, the difference between
real and nominal, the benefits of a balance of trade

surplus and how government statistics are created.

"When a government is dependent upon bankers for
money, they and not the leaders of the government
control the situation, since the hand that gives is above
the hand that takes... Money has no motherland;
financiers are without patriotism and without decency;
their sole object is gain."
Napoleon Bonaparte
The focus is on the business 'mood' and the 'health' of the
economy. The long term soundness of the monetary and
fiscal foundation upon which the whole economic model
rests are not up for discussion. Commitments are made to
end 'austerity', be more 'Keynesian', increase 'security',
'tackle' climate change, 'invest' in infrastructure, 'create'
more jobs, stimulate 'demand' and have an ethereal
pursuit of 'growth'. The i-zombies are confounded in order
to believe a country can live beyond its means, if it only
prints enough IoUs. All this without somehow destroying
the value of the currency in which they receive and make
their payments, while conversely making those who
receive or deal in the IoUs doing best of all.
By fortunate coincidence for the elites, the majority of
citizens do not follow the machinations of bond markets,
the history of fiat money regimes or the mechanics of debt
based monetary systems. However, with stagnant nominal
wage growth they feel inflation eating into their cost of
living with an overall effect of real wages continuing to
decrease by around 3% pa.
Everyone's a winner
As a further injustice to the next generation, modern
politics has created a fiat academic system. Inflating the
supply and thereby devaluing the merit of paper based
qualifications as opposed to practical skills. Academic
grade inflation is now recognised across the western
world, in 2012 62% of Yale students received A's,
compared to 10% in 1972 (ref 17). Despite the increase in
'excellence' there are no more jobs or more wealth to
share than before. Small comfort that everyone feels

happier, prouder, until the first few years of doing a job for
which often no degree was intellectually required and the
promises of great prosperity and choice are overshadowed
by the prospects of repaying debts for their 'priceless'
education and which in turn will delay many from affording
their first home; unlike like their parents before them.
Taxing issues
An ever increasing proportion of western electorates
derive some kind of material benefit from the perpetuation
of the status quo. In 2011 49% of Americans lived in a
household where at least one member received a direct
federal benefit (including pensions). In the UK 20.3m
people, representing 64% of all families receive some form
of benefit (ref 18). To many, the services provided by the
State in health, education, welfare and defence are
essentially free, or at least are very cheap, while others
depend on direct or indirect employment through
government contracts.
"No one is rich whose expenditures exceed his means, and
no one is poor whose incomings exceed his outgoings."
Thomas C Haliburton
Democracy is not a system where an electorate's vote is
weighted by the amount of net tax they contribute to
funding state services. Those who contribute the most in
taxation to maintaining the welfarism of the State call
least upon its services. In the UK 6.5% of the school-age
population are privately educated and 10% of families pay
for private healthcare (ref 19). However, this group is
increasingly maligned for having the means, through hard
work, savings and prudence in their spending, to avoid
calling upon the State's resources. The top 1% of tax
payers in the UK contributes 25% of all income tax (ref
20). The unintended consequence of pushing many of that
1% bracket overseas, or otherwise causing them to reduce
their labour, would create a very dramatic shortfall that
would need to be met by from the pockets of all the
remaining tax payers.
An unintended consequence of debasing the currency is

that envy and 'victimhood' are increasingly on the agenda.

In some segments wealth is no longer considered an
aspiration, but evidence of a somehow hidden past social
injustice which merits redistribution. Those who create
wealth may soon expect the State with populist support to
inspect, value and if deemed in the interest of society
have assets seized or taxed to fund the public account
deficit. The personal sacrifices, savings risked and the
inordinate direct and indirect taxes they and their
businesses may have contributed to funding the State are
not part of the agenda. There appears to be only one
logical outcome from such a disenchanted view on private
property rights, democratic principles and the role of the
state. It is one which has fewer job creators, smaller tax
receipts, fewer consumers, more entitlements, an ever
larger state and ultimately less wealth created for the
services which people demand.
The current debate about the legacy of Margaret Thatcher
in the UK is a useful illustration of how populist narratives
can form. She has been derided by segments of the UK
population for 'destroying industry' in the early 1980s,
having won the election of 1979. Her victory came at a
time when militant, communist-style unions had, through
the threat of strike action, secured control of the nation's
industries, power supplies and public services. In the
1950s the recently nationalised coal industry had
employed 700,000 people through the 'National Coal
Board' (ref 21). By the time Margaret Thatcher took office
465,000 of these jobs had been lost under previous
governments in line with the de-industrialisation of
western Europe. Her government reportedly caused the
closure of 160 pits, on the removal of subsidies, whereas
the government of Harold Wilson prior to 1979 caused 290
to close. Ironically burning coal is now met with distain by
the politics of the green agenda.
"Pennies don't fall from heaven -- they have to be earned
here on earth."
Margaret Thatcher
In the meantime the oligopoly of firms in finance, energy

and services who, through their contribution to taxation

and employment, hold the ear of government will continue
to receive implicit protection, at the expense of smaller
more agile firms and entrepreneurs.
3. Much more than a Greek Tragedy
As with much of the US electorates, many Europeans
believe they can reject cuts and efficiencies in public
spending. It is the future generations who will have to
repay the national debts, either through the creation of
exceptional businesses exporting profitably or by receiving
less for their increased tax burden and uncompetitive
industries.
Mutually assured destruction
Herein rests an uncomfortable conundrum for modern
democracies, an omnipresent State unable to reform as
swathes of the electorate rely upon its largesse.
Governments will fail to meet the false expectations of
voters who have been mis-sold capitalism. As the basic
requirement of living within your means comes to the fore
splits may start to emerge as the elites are discarded in
favour of populist (but not always liberally minded)
political parties. The deficit between what is popular and
what must be done in the long term interest of the next
generation has never been wider.
Many Eurozone countries were unable for electioneering
reasons to adhere to the budget deficit caps and questions
are growing over Germany's appetite (or ability) to
mutualise the accumulated debts (8.7tr of sovereign
debts, equivalent to 55,000 per Eurozone citizen) to
backstop the Euro. Recent events in Cyprus, where the
stock market has fallen 98% since 2007, have
underscored the flawed nature of this Euro construct. As in
many countries across the Eurozone, deposits from
Russian and other sources swelled the banking sector and,
given the potentially lucrative nature of the fractional
reserve system, fuelled the expansion of holdings in many
other assets - including Greek bonds (owned by Cypriot
banks) that were subsequently forcibly impaired by the
EU, ECB and IMF.

Not copper bottomed

The unintended consequence of the proposed 'tax' of 60%
or more of Cypriot deposits (above 100,000, including
$30b of Russian funds) and the implementation of capital
controls may be pre-emptive bank runs in other Eurozone
countries who get into similar difficulties. Cyprus looks set
to go into depression. International investors will no longer
trust its banks, the banks will not have sufficient capital to
lend and the country has no way to devalue its currency.
With the Euro in place, the country will struggle to
compete in the production of goods, services or even
vacations. To ensure the continued support of the German
electorate, Cyprus's predicament may fall upon Portugal,
Spain, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Solvenia and indeed France.
"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate
inversion: the stage where the government is free to do
anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by
permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of
human history, the stage of rule by brute force."
Ayn Rand
The suffering Greek government is now reportedly
threatening the demand of WWII reparations from
Germany. However, an ECB organised survey into median
household wealth from 2010, has found that the Germans
are the poorest in Europe having 51,400 which is half
the median wealth of the whole Eurozone. In April 2013,
Bloomberg reported that new car sales fell 17% in
Germany, on rising unemployment and falling confidence.
It is no surprise that the 'Alternative for Germany' party is
starting to gain traction.
In France, President Hollande has sought to requisition
vacant buildings, double corporate taxes (to 62%) and
introduce a two year 75% income tax for high earners.
This latter measure was declared unconstitutional in
December 2012, followed shortly by announcement of a
possible lower rate remaining in force over five years.
Unemployment is 11% and rising while youth
unemployment now stands at over 25%. These figures
present a volatile risk to internal stability for the nation

and ultimately should calls for the Franc grow, the

Eurozone. Similarly in Greece, where the economy has
contracted 25% since the start of the depression,
unemployment is now over 27% and over 60% among
those under 25. While in Spain the government has now
invested 97% of its social security for pensions into its
own Spanish government debt, up from 50% in 2007.
The implications are substantial and Eurozone citizens
may come to despise the money in which they are paid
and make payments, as a symbol of their financial
repression, causing the unemployment of their children
and growing inequality as well as interdependency among
their nations.
4. Increasingly Central Banks
The central bank of the un-elected central banks is the
Bank for International Settlements ('BIS'). The Basel based
BIS was established in 1930 to facilitate German WW1
reparations and its board comprises governors selected
from its 60 central bank members. The bank provides
services to central banks, monetary authorities and
international financial institutions in the management of
foreign exchange and gold reserves (including purchases,
sales, swaps and options). Its accounting currency is the
Special Drawing Right of the IMF. SDRs are currently a
blend of 41.9% US$, 37.4% , 9.4% and 11.3% . One
SDR presently has the blended value of US$1.50. The
bank's gold and gold on loan account was worth 37.8b
SDRs ($56b) close to its holding in Treasury Bills of 48.4b
SDRs. Accounts in March 2012 showed that the Bank holds
116 tonnes of gold, currently worth $5.2b (ref 22). The BIS
provides the 17-member secretariat to the Basel
Committee on Banking Supervision, which creates from
time to time accords with recommendations on banking
supervision. One of the primary recommendation of the
recent Basel III accord, in the wake of the 2008 finance
crisis was that investment banks should hold mandatory
capital, plus conservation buffers, of 10.5% by 2019. A
number of firms on Wall Street and Europe have
suggested such prudence, could be bad for the
profitability of their tax payer subsidised lending activities,

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my

country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its
system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The
growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in
the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the
worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and
dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a
Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by
conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government
by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant
men."
Woodrow Wilson
Signatory of the 1913 Federal Reserve Act
Money For Nothing
While money is not physically printed, the repurchase of
government and other debts by western Central banks
since 2008 to create 'liquidity' is simplistically the same in
all but name. In the 37 years prior to 2008, the US
monetary base rose from $67b to $900b. Almost twice
that increase occurred again in the last four years alone.
All major western central banks are focussed, as if in
concert, on inflating the money supply; linking their
capacity to hold rates down, through bond purchases,
directly to hit arbitrary growth and unemployment targets.
"The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of
the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary
prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the
refuge of political and economic opportunists."
Ernest Hemingway
The managed market economy is a paradox. Attempts to
sustain wealth through inflating the money supply,
provision of credit or seigniorage have all ended the same
way over the last two millennia, although some more
disastrous than others. Most recently in Zimbabwe, before
it undertook to peg its currency. By July 2008 inflation had
reached an annualised rate of approximately 24,000%. In
Japan, Finance Minister Akira Amrai less surreptitiously
stated he wanted fiscal policies to drive the Nikkei up 20%

(to 13,000). The Nikkei-225 has already risen from 10,000

to 13,331.39 (its highest level since August 2008) since
his election victory in December 2012. Why not? It is just a
number linked to the amount of money in the system and
it avoids having to create real wealth through labour. The
money is flowing somewhere as the country reported the
most Ferrari registrations for 12 years, up 46% on 2012 to
558 cars.
Money, what is it good for?
Ultimately central banks cannot create 'things' that new
money can buy and as the faith in the money is reduced,
'things', including stocks, bonds, precious metals, houses,
wine, art etc, become more in demand than holding
'money', and therefore go up in price.
"All the perplexities, confusion, and distress in America
arise, not from want of honor or virtue, but from the
downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and
circulation."
John Adams
August 25, 1787
Bubbles are a natural consequence and the human
expectation of future inflation becomes self fulfilling. The
costs of goods rise, as do wage demands and in turn the
prices of the goods and services provided. As set out by
Adam Ferguson's 1975 book 'When Money Dies'
concerning the hyperinflation experienced in the 1920s
Weimer republic, money printing caused price rises up to a
point after which it was less clear which was the cause
and which the consequence. What was clear is that due to
the immense power of compounding, negative real
interest rates and human nature, more and more cash
must be put into circulation to enable goods to be
purchased and labour to be paid for. In 1913 four German
Marks would buy one dollar, by 1923 it required
4,200,000,000,000 marks (4.2 trillion) to buy one dollar.
Devaluing cash by printing money and suppressing
interest rates is a short term elixir that prevents the
healthy corrective deflationary free market forces from

dictating prices, unemployment rates and investment

levels. For politicians and central banks to take these
actions when the vast majority of citizens have justifiably
little grasp of the underlying false assumptions, bogus
forecasts and the likely outcomes from removing moral
hazard in how capital is allocated is perilous. The poor
may be kept poor, encouraged to take on debt and go
shopping, rather than save and invest. The middle classes
will be squeezed, between surreptitious inflation and
stagnant wages, while the plutocrats who have done so
well over the last two decades from leverage and
monetary expansion, who have a seat at the table and a
nod from the croupier, can speculate on making further
fortunes.
"The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing
press (or today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to
produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at no cost."
Ben Bernanke
All the money in the world cannot make a society any
wealthier but it can create substantial divisions in society.
In Greece the far right Golden Dawn have become the
third party with 22% support (ref 23), meanwhile there is
the growth of the far right in Spain through Espana-2000,
the National Front in France and other such groups are
growing in Italy, Germany, Norway and Hungary.
American dreams
In the US half the population now reportedly earn less than
US$510 per week, with 146 million people regarded as
poor or low income. 120 million people receive federal
benefits and a similar number have less than US$500 in
savings. The cult of the consumer, driven by easy credit
and fractional banking, means the debt to income ratio of
the average American family has ballooned, from 58% in
1989 to 154% today. Student debts have been inflating
too, propagated by the availability of debt and the
demand for graduate level qualifications of the aspiring
young. In the US median tuition fees at private schools
were $50,000, for medical schools the figure has gone up
twelve fold in nominal terms and more than tripled in real

terms since 1978 from $13,469 to $170,000 (ref 24).

Interest rates on the student loans are steep, despite
record low interest rates, with the Education Department
fixing rates at 6.8% since 2006 (ref 25). At $1.1tr The
Federal Reserve is starting to recognise that these
accumulated debts in the young are now a potential
inhibiter to growth. Income will be spent servicing debts
and interests to financial institutions rather than buying
homes and consumer goods.
Money bubble (CTRL P)
It is no wonder the potential for minting a US$1 trillion
coin to deal with the deficit actually gained traction with
elements of mainstream US media, the 'commentariat'
and easy money economists. The US hit its US US$16.4tr
debt ceiling and unable to negotiate a debt reduction plan,
automatic sequesters have been triggered to cut 2.4%
from federal net outgoings in 2013 which are expected to
impact the US economy and equity markets. That DJIA and
S&P returned 7.3% and 13.4% respectively in 2012,
reflecting the surreptitious efficiency of the transfer
mechanisms of newly printed money from the Fed, who
are currently buying $85b of mortgage backed securities a
month, to the top 1% who play the big tables on Wall
Street and can buy real estate in the debt inflated bubble
markets.
"I am afraid the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that
the banks can and do create money. And they who control
the credit of the nation direct the policy of Governments
and hold in the hollow of their hand the destiny of the
people."
Reginald McKenna
Chairman of the Midland Bank, 1924
Recently the head of what was the FSA stated "we must
tell people that if necessary, QE will turn out to be
permanent". In a similarly encouragingly honest move the
Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England have
stated that equity markets are not reflecting the
underlying economic situation and warned investors that
they may be underestimating risks in the financial system,

stating in respect of gains by equities since mid 2012 that

these "in part reflected exceptionally accommodative
monetary policies by many central banks" adding that
"...market sentiment may be taking too rosy a view of the
underlying stresses".
Hostile foreign exchanges
The G8 unilaterally agreed that there will be no currency
war among themselves, the occasional 'accommodative'
incursion and manipulative 'easing' skirmish, but certainly
no proliferation of monetary debasement. An agreement
not to out compete is all it means as members have to
regain the competitive edge over the emerging markets.
However, the post-modern post-growth debt based
democratic system we have, must continue to inflate
bubbles, tax the related windfalls and spend beyond its
means to keep the system alive, in concert with their
supportive central banks, as with any other Ponzi scheme.
The bond markets are happy to go along with it for now,
but one day may demand higher, crippling, interest rates
to compensate them for the risks being taken among an
ocean of sellers.
The Bank of Japan was the first to break the most recent
economic peace treaty, with their nuclear monetary
expansion in April, in a move that may seriously threaten
currency and trade stability in the Asia Pacific region. The
bank stated its intention to fully double money supply by
almost $1.4tr within two years, printing approximately
$60b a month, with most being used to buy government
bonds, in order to trigger lending and 'secure 2% price
inflation within two years', after two decades of
stagnation. Keeping always in mind that inflation simply
erodes the wealth of citizen, putting the scale of the Bank
of Japan's move into context to the size of its economy it is
the equivalent to the Fed printing $200b a month. TOCOM
gold reacted by putting on almost 10% in the following
five trading days and went on to touch a 33 year high,
while trade in the bond market had to be repeatedly
halted due to excess volatility. If governments took to
paying workers in government debt, we would see the true
market value in holding that debt. The Bank of Japan has

thrown down a flaming gauntlet to the Fed, ECB and BoE,

with the latter having already injected (printed) 375b/
$575b.
The IMF was conceived at Bretton Woods in July 1944.
Forty four governments came together to build a
framework for economic cooperation in order to avoid a
repetition of the vicious circle of competitive devaluations
that had contributed to the Great Depression of the
1930s'. In an apparent diversion from its founding
principles, Christian Lagarde welcomed the aggressive
currency move by the Bank of Japan and the IMF noted
that any "temporary over stimulation of the economy
would have only small effects on inflation while
conversely, the costs of ongoing high unemployment were
likely to be much greater" (ref 25b).
Moves by the governments of the BRICS to create a rival
to the World Bank for funding projects and facilitating
trade may with hindsight be seen as a watershed moment
in how global trade is organised. Being the largest
consumers and producers of certain resources, such as
Platinum, an arrangement which is outside the hegemony
of the US dollar could be mutually beneficial for prices to
those involved and detrimental to those outside.
5. Gold - encouragingly unfashionable
To many mainstream economists, the news channels who
dotingly follow them and some investment banks and
hedge-funds still running pre-2008 crash models, the price
of gold as measured in US dollars, or the amount of money
flowing in and out of gold ETFs, is seen as a barometer on
how well the 'global recovery' is doing; an amusing flight
to, or from, a barbaric relic. In doing so they perhaps fail to
understand the fundamental macro causes for the -70%
move in gold from $850/oz to $252/oz between January
1980 and July 1999 and its subsequent 662% rise to
$1,921/oz in September 2011.
"For in every country of the world, I believe, the avarice
and injustice of princes and sovereign states, abusing the
confidence of their subjects, have by degrees diminished

the real quantity of metal, which had been originally

contained in their coins."
Adam Smith
Many see the gold bull market as an anathema, reflecting
one off economic circumstance that are no longer relevant
and anyhow 'how long can a bull market run?'.
Down but not out
The price of gold is presently close to a two year low,
trading around $1,325/oz. On 12th April the price fell by
over $100, when approximately 400t of gold was sold in
the first 30 minutes of New York trade. Rather than a sign
of long term holders suddenly choosing to exit, we think it
is likely that the gold was 'sold short', where borrowed
gold is sold with the aim of repurchasing it back at a lower
price. The regulations allow gold to be borrowed 'on
margin of 20:1'. Put simply if you can put up the money to
buy 20t of gold you can place an order to sell 400t. The
scale of the sell orders prompted further and self fulfilling
stop loss selling.
The recent price move is significant however, having
largely and consistently failed to call the gold bull market
every year so far, with the current pull back in prices, the
bears are seeking out leveraged trades to out-short each
other. What the paper-bugs appear unwilling to consider,
perhaps a function of their own lifestyles, is that perhaps
the West is no longer as relevant to gold demand (or
indeed to many other assets and commodities). However,
and in tune with the investment banking model of the last
decade, there is safety in numbers when getting the big
calls wrong.
"The study of money, above all other fields in economics,
is one in which complexity is used to disguise truth or to
evade truth, not to reveal it. The process by which banks
create money is so simple the mind is repelled. With
something so important, a deeper mystery seems only
decent."
John Kenneth Galbraith

Albeit divergent from the accepted economic narrative,

gold's bull market to date is rather straightforward to
explain. Principally it relates to inflation in the supply of
money, increases in real global wealth on an
unprecedented scale and the risks of sovereign default
(either hard or soft). Those bearish on gold are comforted
by the absence of rampant inflation in the US while the
statistics suggest economic growth is rising and this will
cause interest rates to break out of their thirty year
downtrend and in so doing reintroduce the marginal
opportunity cost for holding gold, versus having money on
deposit. However, what they do not seem to consider is
that the balance sheets of western democracies would
struggle to tolerate any meaningful interest rate rise to
their current liabilities, compounded by daunting
demographics, in some case war related legacy
entitlement costs and the disinflation from any eventual
central bank tightening. Also the potential for rising rates,
to tackle inflation, as a bear case scenario for gold,
ignores the fact that the gold bull market of the late 70s
and early 80s coincided with rising interest rates. This is
because the real rate still remained negative.
"Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by
washing away from it all that is not gold."
Leo Tolstoy
Since 2000 central bank monetary expansion has
averaged 15.2% per year, while the price of gold has
increased at 14% (ref 25c). In the meantime data from the
World Gold Council indicates that annual gold demand, on
a value basis, hit an all time record in 2012 of $236.4b
(roughly equivalent to one months increase in the US
national debt). The figure is 15% higher in tonnage terms
than the average of the previous five years driven by
commercial demand for investment bars and from central
banks. Demand from the bar and coin segment of the
sector has continued to increase from $3.6b in 2003 more
than twenty fold to $76.6b by 2011 and pulled back in
2012 to $67.4b. Around 50% of global gold is held as
jewellery, 19% is in private holdings and a further 12% is
held central banks.

India and China - game changers

In 1980 Europe and the US accounted for 70% of global
gold demand, now they account for 20%, whereas the
emerging markets now account for close to 70%. Half of
the emerging market demand is from China and India
(18% and 27% respectively) of which 56% is for jewellery.
The cause is simple, increasing wealth. China's luxury
goods market is reportedly growing at 35% per year, while
the average net GDP per capita in India has risen, from a
low base, by over 200% in the past decade from $450 to
$1,500. In China it has grown from $1,135 to $5,445 in the
same period (ref 26). There is significant room for
substantial further growth in these numbers. The US has a
per capita GDP of $48,000, whilst Gabon is at $11,000. In
terms of personal wealth the numbers are equally as
considerable. In 2001 193,000 (+15%) and 28,000 (+20%)
new millionaires were created in China and India
respectively bringing their totals to 1,432,000 and
162,000, The US lost 130,000 in the year (-2%) to
5,134,000 (ref 27).
In terms of urbanisation, nine out of the top ten cities
based on GDP growth are in China and all of the top
twenty are in either China or India (ref 28). By 2025 China
is expected to have around 130 cities with over one
million inhabitants. The US currently has 9 and Europe 36.
Of those 130 in China, around 90 are expected to have
over five million residents. New York and London are the
only cities in the US and Europe combined which have
over five million inhabitants (8.2m and 7.2m respectively).
Such a growth profile harbours risks, in that relatively
small changes in the economy, can be substantially
amplified. Specifically the banking sector is a concern,
both the regulated and the shadow lending industry, as
the credit market has ballooned from $9tr in 2009 to $23tr
today (198% of GDP).
Emerging demand
The increased purchasing power in China and India means
that current gold prices are, in real terms, much lower

than they were when the gold price peaked in 1980. Not
only is gold more affordable but as both countries have
negative real interest rates, with rising inflation, it is more
desirable too. It is not surprising therefore that India and
China are the biggest and second biggest gold consumers
respectively. In 2012 Indian retail consumers purchased
864t of gold, representing 75% of the country's demand.
The figure in India for 2012 was higher than the five year
average of 850t, yet there was a 21% increase in the
average rupee gold price over the year. Chinese
consumers purchased 776t in the same period. In
perspective the ECB holds 502t of gold (ref 29) and there
is only a total of approximately 2,500t in all paper-backed
gold ETFs around the world.
To underscore the macro direction, China reported the
fourth highest ever monthly net import of gold in February
2013, up 211% month on month to 61t. In 2012 China
imported 512t of gold (10t more than that held by the
ECB). Back of the envelope calculations, based on
reported production of around 400t per year and reported
imports of 500t to 600t indicate that since its 2009
reported gold holdings of 1,054t (or 1.5% of $3.3t in
reported foreign reserves), China's holdings could be well
over 4,000t (ref 30) or 5.8% of reserves. This if
announced, would reflect an acute awareness by China of
the likely outcomes for currencies from the current
incarnation of warped version of capitalism playing out in
the west.
Perfect storm, Central Banks turn bullish
In 1999 the UK government of the day elected, for reason
yet to be disclosed, to sell (and advertise in advance its
intention to sell) half its gold holdings when the price was
$282.4/oz. The UK sold a total of 395t (12.7Moz) over 17
auctions and realised an average price of $275/oz, raising
approximately $3.5b. At current prices ($1,400/oz), the
gold sold by the UK would now be worth $18b.
After having been net sellers, Central banks became net
buyers of gold in the second quarter of 2009. In 2012 they
purchased a net 534.6t which was the most since 1964.

The buying has been dominated by developing economies

seeking to diversify their growing financial reserves.
Selling under the third Central Bank Gold Agreement (or
Washington Accord as it sometimes known), implemented
to provide an orderly market when mostly European
central banks and later the IMF were net sellers, saw just
5.5t of gold sold out of a capacity for 400t.
Where's the gold?
In the wake of the fixing of the LIBOR interbank interest
rate, by the constituent banks, concerns exist that the
gold price fix is, fixed between the trading banks. There is
a great deal of opacity regarding the amount of gold held
on deposit, the amount out on loan and the amount which
has been re-hypothecated by central and investment
banks. Hypothecation occurs where the gold on account is
lent out on margin, for investors to trade with and use as
their own collateral for further margin. Re-hypothecation
of gold occurs where the beneficial owner of the gold
lends out the same gold multiple times.
The SEC allows re-hypothecation of up to 140% of the
underlying asset. The group who have borrowed the gold
may enter contracts to sell or lend that gold to other
groups and so forth. Ultimately the amount of original gold
is unchanged, but the claims on that gold have multiplied.
Should those claims all be redeemed at once, on an
accelerated basis, due to some form of crisis, there would
be insufficient physical gold to meet all the claims on it.
The outstanding claims would rest against the
hypothecating bank. The process is essentially similar to
how money (or rather credit) is created in a fractional
reserve fiat monetary system and how in a bank run, the
bank can never have sufficient physical cash to meet all
the claims on the money it has created.
As picked up by Casey Research (ref 31), in the late 90s
the IMF sought to clarify how the world's central banks
accounted for their assets and specifically to distinguish
between gold reserves, gold on loan and on gold swapped.
The banks, which reportedly included the BIS, ECB, Bank
of England, Bundesbank, Bank of France and other

European central banks advised that they would not

provide the information as it would be "Highly marketsensitive". A spokesman for the Bank of England
reportedly advised that such disclosure 'would harm the
interests of both the British government and the bank's
private customers', to whom the bank owed 'a duty of
confidentiality'. Unsurprisingly calls are growing for an
audit of the US gold reserves at Fort Knox and specifically
any overriding paper contracts and claims on that gold.
The last full audit of Fort Knox occurred in 1934 (ref 32).
Gold my cash
Against this backdrop it came as no great surprise, in the
footsteps of Venezuela, Iran, Libya and perhaps shortly
Texas and other US states seeking to use gold as currency,
that Germany made the strategic move in January 2013 to
repatriate approximately US$90b worth of gold, being 50%
of its 3,396t stored oversees from Fort Knox and Paris. The
Bundesbank stated that the move was not due to any
known counter-party risk. However, a spokesman did state
that the repatriation was undertaken 'in case of a future
currency crises'. Germany has provided seven years for
delivery of three hours of London volume, which raises
questions about how available the physical gold is for
delivery.
In a similar vein, in March 2013 the Swiss People's Party
secured the necessary 100,000 signatures to secure a
referendum on prohibiting any future sales of gold by the
Swiss National Bank. The bank holds 1,040t, worth
approximately $50b and representing approximately 10%
of the banks total assets. The vote may take years to
come and may well not be successful. However, the
sentiment is an indicator on the increasing general
awareness about the implications of money printing, the
soundness of banks and the real value of gold.
Forced sellers
While developing nations may be accumulating gold,
renewed selling pressure may be apparent over the next
few years from Eurozone members to contribute to their
bail outs and fund on going deficits. Gold is sold as well as

bought in times of crisis, as it gives the liquidity to cash it

was originally purchased for. It is as true for countries as it
is for hedge funds who suffer losses on their non-gold
positions and seek safety in US treasuries.
In the draft policy of the European Commission for
resolving the banking crisis in Cyprus, it was suggested
that the country may be required to sell 10t (being 75%)
of its 'excess' gold reserves and 62% of all its financial
reserves to raise 400m. This figure is only 3% of the
13b that Cyprus is required to find in order to receive a
further 10b loan from the EU and IMF, for a total bail
out/in cost to Cyprus of 23b with an economy worth
18b. While for now the commission may step away from
enforcing this action, the implications for the gold holdings
of other indebted Euro-zone members could be significant.
Italy, France, the ECB, Portugal, Spain and Greece have a
cumulative 6,100t of gold, equating to three years mine
supply and worth $275b at current prices. Or to put this in
context, $100b less than the market capitalisation of
Apple Inc.
Gold reserves of ECB members:
Gold Reserves Value
Financial
(t) ($Bn)*
(%) (%)
Germany 3,391.3 152.66
73
Italy 2,451.8 110.37
72 23
France
2,435.4 109.63
71
N'lands 612.5
27.57
60
ECB 502.1
22.60
33 5
Portugal 382.5
17.22
90
Spain
281.6
12.68
30
Austria
280.0
12.60
55
Belgium 227.5
10.24
39
Greece
111.9
5.04 82 1
Finland
49.1 2.21 25 0
46
Slovakia 31.8 1.43 68 0
53
Cyprus
13.9 0.63 58 0
59
Ireland
6.0 0.27 15 0
74
Slovenia 3.2 0.14 16 0
81
L'bourg 2.2 0.10 11 0
86

Eurozone Global Rank

31
4
23
6
12
4
3
3
2
33

2
5
10
14
20
21
22

Malta
0.2 0.01 2
Total 10,783.0 537.4

107

Liquid gold
Gold has a highly liquid market. Approximately 1.3 million
tonnes worth $65tr, equivalent to 500 times annual
production or roughly 8 times all the gold ever mined
trades each year on The London Bullion Market alone. Only
a small percentage of the above ground gold is consumed
in industry (20,800t or 12%). The majority of all gold is
held as jewellery (84,300t or 50%), thereafter central
banks (29,500t, 17%) and then investment bars and coins
(33,000t or 19%) (ref 33). New mine supply of 2,500t has
only a marginal (1.5%) impact on the global stock of
approximately 170,000t. This increase is roughly in line
with global population growth of 1.1% pa (ref 34).
Gold is often misrepresented as being volatile, but due to
the small net impact of supply, to total stock and total
population, over the last decade gold's volatility as a
single asset class compares very favourably against major
indices. Based on 30 day numbers the Dow, S&P and FTSE
have all been slightly more volatile than gold over either 5
or 20 year periods. Indices by definition comprise multiple
constituents which should dampen out the volatility
experienced by a single asset class, but this is not the
case for gold.
Bubble likely
Gold is insurance against the fall in purchasing power of
your chosen currency. The price of gold is presently underperforming against expectations. Markets in general have,
in response to the unprecedented money printing by all
the major central banks moved into a 'risk-off' mode.
Equities are rallying with new highs being hit in Tokyo,
New York and London, assisted by earnings forecasts
which, if correct, give the impression that equities are
relatively cheap. Several of the major investment banks
have tempered their gold price expectations accordingly.
While most bull markets follow the Pareto rule, with 80%
of the movement occurring in the last 20% of their life,

after a going sidewise, for a year many are starting to

believe that gold was a bubble that has peaked. In terms
of price performance since entering a bull market in 2001,
gold has done well being up 500% nominally.
"But apart from that, [Law] misunderstood the real
character of metallic money, and it is this that makes him
so representative of all the currency cranks. He ignored
the function of money as a means of storing value in a
world where men are so anxious to preserve the product
of their labour and their saving from price fluctuations and
vicissitudes of all kinds. It is that which ruined [Law's]
System. That metallic money is not an ideal instrument of
circulation, and that it can be conveniently replaced in this
respect by all sorts of circulating credits has been known
from the earliest times. But nobody has yet shown that
circulating credits can replace the precious metals in their
function as a store of value. None of the monetary
systems yet know to us, even the most advanced, has
dispensed with the precious metals, that ultima ratio of
trade."
Charles Rist, Bank of France official (1938)
However, the Nasdaq in the 1980s and 1990s did five
times as much putting on 2,595% nominally, while the
DJIA did 1,716% nominally, or three times better than gold
to date, in its bull market from 1982 to 2007. Indeed crude
oil, house builders and many other sectors have
experienced much stronger bull market performances than
gold to date.
Bull markets tend to end with volatile, manic, buying and
selling as waves of speculation intensify. It is interesting to
note that of the 20 largest up and down one day moves in
the price of gold, all except 4 and 2 of them respectively,
occurred in the previous gold cycle (ref 35). Again this
indicates that gold is presently not in bubble territory. Our
assertion is that gold is under-owned but also that
substantial corrections should naturally occur in a secular
bull market the median length of which is almost 17 years
(ref 36). Gold could fall naturally to $1,000, for an almost
50% fall from its current high of $1,921/oz and still remain

very much on track to create new highs over the next

decade. Indeed for gold to perform as well as the Nasdaq
index of the 1990s it would have to rise to around
$3,200/oz.
Historic ranking of largest intra-day gold price movements:
RankDate $/oz Up
(%)
(%)
1
03/01/1980
2
18/01/1980
3
16/01/1980
9.1
4
03/09/1982
5
21/02/1980
6
19/03/1980
7
02/01/1980
8
08/04/1980
9
20/08/1982
10 28/12/1979
11 29/01/1980
12 07/01/1980
13 28/09/1999
14 19/03/2009
15 10/10/1979
16 25/04/1980
17 18/09/1979
18 21/05/2001
19 07/02/2000
20 20/03/1980

Date $/oz Down

634 13.3 22/01/1980
835 11.3 28/02/1983
760 11.1 15/04/2011

737 -13.2
408 -12.1
1,395
-

455
665
527
559
528
386
512
674
633
301
956
413
551
357
291
312
561

831
484
507
588
606
668
624
421
525
410
497
651
523
379
370
695
596

11.0
9.7
9.4
9.2
8.7
8.4
8.2
8.1
7.7
7.3
7.1
7.1
6.9
6.8
6.7
6.5
6.5

13/10/2008
17/03/1980
26/03/1980
04/01/1980
20/02/1980
25/01/1980
28/01/1980
28/09/1981
21/03/1980
01/06/1983
15/04/1980
19/05/2006
14/03/1980
17/01/1991
26/03/1990
23/01/1980
07/11/1980

-7.7
-7.5
-7.3
-7.3
-7.1
-6.8
-6.6
-6.5
-6.4
-6.3
-6.1
-6.1
-6.0
-6.0
-5.9
-5.8
-5.7

Gold miners still struggling

Over the last decade mine output for most base and
precious metals rose between 10% and 80%. Despite the
five fold increase in prices, gold output rose just 2%. The
World Gold Council reported that mine output grew by just
0.4% in 2012 to 2,848t (ref 37). Gold mines cannot be
expanded rapidly and new discoverers take many years to
bring on stream. Each year the top ten producers have to
replace more than 40Moz /pa of their reserves (1,200t, or
close to 50% of annual production).

Since 2002 only 1,250t of reserve have been have been

discovered each year, while 2,500t have been mined. In
the 1970s 3,500t of reserves were being discovered while
1,400t were being produced. The gold mining sector has
gone from a position where discovery was outpacing
supply by a ratio of more than two tonnes discovered for
each tonne mined to a position now where for each tonne
mined only half a tonne of gold is being discovered to
replace it. Grades have also fallen substantially over this
period. Projects have become larger as has capex and
operating expenses. This is due in part to the natural
distribution of gold deposits, the exhaustion of existing
mines and close to two decades of under investment in
exploration.
In the meantime the failure to control inflation in the
primary input drivers in the industry, most notably energy
which typically accounts for 30% of costs, as well as steel
and labour, have kept margins tight. The costs of the top
ten global gold producers have risen 14% pa over the last
three years (ref 38) or effectively 50% since 2009. The HUI
now trades on a PE of 13 as it did in 2000 when the gold
price was $300/oz. Its EV/EBITDA ratio is at its lowest for
20 years and its combined market cap is about $200b,
equivalent to one months deficit in America, or half of the
capitalisation of Apple Inc.
6. Remaining bullish on gold and bullish on resources
In this shareholder letter we have covered a wide range of
subjects revolving around the debt based money system
and human psychology, which exert gravitational effects
on currency and equity markets. The key issue that which
has come to the fore is how western democracies are
doing all they can to repress the unpleasant and
unpopular reversionary economic forces that would
otherwise burst existing bubbles, expose counter-party
fragilities, destroy excess credit and prevent government
deficit spending. These economies are dependent upon
seemingly unlimited intravenous soft money printing to
monetise debts concurrent with central bank intervention
to artificially keep real interest rates negative.

"We all know what to do, we just don't know how to get reelected after we've done it."
Jean-Claude Juncker
We have described how the inflation of the money supply
and the subversion of risk is likely to lead to a protracted
period of economic stagnation over the coming decade as
prices continue to rise. Capital will be misallocated into
'safe havens' on the one hand, as confidence in currency
reduces, and risky unproductive or speculative assets on
the other hand to generate yield. The financial sector and
equity markets could perform very well in this 'fiscally
stimulated' environment, but with little trickle down to
society. Inflationary, economic and geopolitical risks have
been amplified as, despite assertions to the contrary,
nations are overtly engaged in an international currency
debasement battle. We have also considered the dramatic
and potentially volatile influence that China, India and
other BRIC nations may exert on the demand for gold and
other resources.
Ultimately we have shown how the current inflationist
global macro environment should prove bullish for gold,
other hard assets and equity markets. However, and most
poignantly, if our analysis is incorrect and money printing
can create wealth, if we are missing an as yet unseen
catalyst such as abundant cheap shale gas energy, or if
we have mistimed our prognosis for the bursting of asset
bubbles, then Altus remains very well positioned to
benefit. Absent inflation, with real growth in the US
economy and real positive interest rates and
strengthening currencies then investor appetite for
resources and specifically junior resource equities should
return in force.
Disclaimer This material is provided for informational
purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes investment,
legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to
buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice
is being given as to whether any investment or strategy is
suitable for a particular investor. Information is obtained

from sources deemed reliable, but there is no

representation or warranty as to its accuracy,
completeness or reliability. All information is current as of
the date of this material and is subject to change without
notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect
those of Altus Strategies Ltd as a whole.
References:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2012/wp12115.pdf
a. http://hereisthecity.com/2013/04/02/the-next-lehman/
http://www.data360.org
http://www.publicserviceEurope.com/article/2577/economi
c-growth-in-Europe-may-flatline-for-25-years
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1030981-medianhousehold-incomes-the-real-story
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/china/iphone-manufacturerfoxconn-to-double-worker-salaries-by-2013/438
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732363960
4578368823406398606.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/apr/04/number-ofsolicitors-uk
http://www.examiner.com/article/more-lawyers-thandoctors-more-lawyers-than-soldiers
http://www.tullettprebon.com/Documents/strategyinsights/
TPSI_009_Perfect_Storm_009.pdf
b.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/a
ttachment_data/file/82879/5950-dukes-2012-internet.pdf
http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/04/electric
-cars
http://www.capitalsynthesis.com/why-a-tax-haven-now/
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/ir/ir_expense.ht
m
http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/05/news/economy/nationaldebt-interest/index.htm
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-06/it-doesntmatter
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?
page=statistical_summaries
http://www.thehoya.com/news/amid-yale-grade-inflationgu-examines-gpas-1.3010281#.UWAR3zfJJQI

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/06/welfarebritain-facts-myths
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jul/19/healthinsurance-slumps
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/taxstatistics/liabilities.pdf
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/researchguides/mines-and-mining.htm
http://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2012e7.pdf#page=46
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/Europe/returnof-the-far-right-greeces-financial-crisis-has-led-to-a-rise-inviolent-attacks-on-refugees-8551798.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-11/medicalschool-at-278-000-means-even-bernanke-son-carriesdebt.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/10/student-debtfederal-reserve_n_3053153.html?utm_hp_ref=business
b.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2013/RES04
0913B.htm
c. Erste Group Research 2012: "In GOLD we TRUST"
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
https://www.bcgperspectives.com/Images/BCG_The_Battle
_to_Regain_Strength_May_2012_tcm80-106998.pdf
http://www.thewealthreport.net/The-Wealth-Report2012.pdf
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-21/chinese-goldimports-through-august-surpass-total-ecb-holdingsimports-australia-sur
Altus research with data from chart published on
sharelynx.com and data released by Hong Kong
http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/secret-imfreport-hide-gold-loans-and-swaps-market-manipulation/
http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-gold-reserve-auditshow/5326810
http://www.gold.org/investment/why_how_and_where/why_
invest/demand_and_supply/
http://www.census.gov/population/international/
http://www.gold.org/download/value/stats/statistics/xls/gol
d_prices.xls
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/02/25/thecomplete-illustrated-guide-to-secular-markets.aspx

Thomson Reuters GFMS, Gold demand trends (Q4 2012)

SBG Securities, Gold Price Review, 09 April 2013
April 23, 2012
Please use the link below to download a PDF version of the
letter below.
Letter from the Chief Executive, April 2012.
PART I: PROGRESS UPDATE
Dear Shareholder,
It has been another roller coaster year with volatile equity
markets, impending sovereign crises and the eruption of
numerous geopolitical flashpoints. However, I am able to
report notable progress by the Altus team in growing
shareholder value during the period. It is a pleasure to
update you on these activities in part I below, and in part
II I make some observations on the geopolitical economic
environment, the evolution of which is deeply integral to
our value creation as well as value preservation strategies.
Progress update
Altus Capital Ltd, www.altus-cap.com Altus Capital, the
100% owned resource investment manager currently has
two clients; Altus Resource Capital Ltd ('ARC') and Altus
Global Gold Ltd ('AGG').
ARC (www.altrescap.com), is a Guernsey registered closed
ended investment company. The shares of ARC were listed
on the Specialist Fund Market of the London Stock
Exchange (LSE: ARCL) on 30 June 2009 and also trade on
the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX: ARC). As at 31
December 2011, the net asset value of ARC was 71.0
million representing 1.79 per ARC share, an increase of
88% since launch. Altus Capital earns an annual
management fee of 0.85% of ARC's net asset value and
receives a performance fee of 16% of increases in the ARC
net asset value per share subject to a 10% per annum
hurdle rate from the launch price of 1.00 per share and a
high water mark. The high water mark for the period

ending 30 June 2012 is a net asset value of 1.93 per ARC

share.
AGG (www.altusglobalgold.com), is a Guernsey registered
open ended investment company with monthly liquidity.
The Company was launched and its shares listed on the
Channel Island Stock Exchange (CISX: AGGL) on 01
November 2011. As at 31 December 2011, the net asset
value of AGG was 5.2 million representing 94 pence per
AGG share, a decrease of 6% since launch. Altus Capital
earns an annual management fee of 1.5% of AGG's net
asset value and will receive 20% of any increase in the
AGG net asset value subject to a 10% per annum hurdle
rate from the launch price of 1.00 per share and a high
water mark.
Asterion AV Ltd, www.asterionav.com
Asterion was launched by the Company as a platform to
incubate new exploration ventures and to manage their
technical and corporate growth. During the period Asterion
announced its intention to divest its minority holdings in
third party companies to a new business outside the Altus
Strategies group (Altus Active Value Ltd). Below is a
summary of our exploration activities.
Aluvance Plc, www.aluvance.com
Aluvance was 90% owned by Asterion as at 31 December
2011 and in the first quarter of 2012 this increased to
95%. Through its subsidiary companies Aluvance's
activities are focused on Cameroon, where the Company is
currently exploring a number of prospective licence areas
for iron ore, bauxite and gold.
Aluvance -- Bikoula Iron Ore Project
The Company's flagship project is the Bikoula iron ore
deposit in Southern Cameroon, where a detailed
exploration programme is underway within the 808.9km2
licence area. To date three prospects have been defined: a
western prospect ('Libi'), a central prospect ('Nkout
North'), and an eastern prospect ('Avebe') which together
are the focus of initial exploration work. Libi comprises
8km of discontinuously mapped banded iron formation

('BIF'), coincident with a 14km long magnetic anomaly,

Nkout North comprises a 10km long magnetic anomaly
and Avebe comprises 5.7km of discontinuously mapped
BIF coincident with an 8km geophysical anomaly.
Served by a laterite road network, Bikoula is strategically
situated within a significant regional iron ore province in
South Cameroon comprising a sequence of Archaean age
supracrustal rocks, located on the northern extent of the
Congo Craton. The region hosts the 2.4Bt Mbalam deposit
(located 160km southeast, being advanced by Sundance
Resources Ltd) and the 2.0Bt Nkout deposit (47km
southeast, being advanced by Afferro Mining Inc). The
Bikoula licence is located within 30km of the proposed rail
line that will transport iron ore mined at Mbalam, and
potentially other deposits along its route, to the Atlantic
deep water port which is under construction South of the
coastal town of Kribi (270km West of Bikoula).
A preliminary exploration programme of mapping and grab
sampling commenced at Bikoula in June 2011, in tandem
with ongoing remote sensing activities. In September 2011
Aluvance contracted New Resolution Geophysics of South
Africa to undertake an 10,968 line kilometre airborne
geophysical survey (magnetics & radiometrics) at 50m
and 100m line spacing over the Bikoula iron ore project.
After the Period a 5,000m diamond core drilling contract
has been signed with E Global Drilling Corporation in
February 2012, with a 75 hole direct shipping ore ('DSO')
focussed programme planned to commence in June 2012.
Aluvance - Mandoum and Birsok Bauxite Project
The Mandoum and Birsok licence areas are located in the
Adamawa region of central Cameroon, approximately
30km West of the town of Ngaoundr and 450km north
of the capital city Yaound. The licences are strategically
located between the established Minim-Martap (466Mt @
46.2% Al2O3 & 1.8% SiO2) and Ngaoundal bauxite
occurrences. The geology, elevated topography and
tropical climate of the Adamawa plateau make it highly
prospective for the formation of large economic bauxite
deposits.

Exploration undertaken by the Company has returned grab

and rock chip samples from a 20km2 area in the northern
portion of the Birsok licence area. The samples were
analysed for multi element analysis by OMAC Laboratories,
grades of up to 63.79% Al2O3 and low levels of
contaminants were detected, indicating high quality
bauxite potential. In addition, bauxite prospecting
activities to date have verified portions of known plateaux
style targets covering an area of 158km2 within the Birsok
& Mandoum licences. Recent targeting has also identified
the potential for detrital targets covering a cumulative
area of 140km2. Assays are pending from the most recent
field work.
The Minim-Martap and Ngaoundal deposits are subject to
exploration and development by Cameroon Alumina Ltd; a
joint venture between Hydromine Inc, Hindalco Industries
Ltd and Dubai Aluminium Co. As part of the joint venture a
feasibility study has recently been completed by
Hydromine Inc, in partnership with Italian engineering
firms Lombardi and Impregilo -- who have constructed 5
hydroelectric plants in Cameroon and more than 255
worldwide. The feasibility study envisages the
construction of a 300MW hydroelectric dam on the nearby
Sanaga river. The plant will have a catchment of over
20,200km2 from Lake Mbakaou andt is expected to run at
75-85% efficiency (compared to a 50% hydroelectric
industry benchmark) with associated power costs of
$0.03/kwh. The construction of the plant will allow bauxite
ores to be processed locally. In addition, in the south west
of Cameroon, Societe Camrounaise d'Aluminium
('Alucam') a joint venture between Rio Tinto Alcan and the
government of Cameroon, operates a 90,000 t/y
aluminium smelter processing bauxite, much of which is
imported from Guinea.
Aluvance - Laboum Gold Project
The Laboum licence in North East Cameroon was selected
on the basis of a major regional shear zone, coincident
with numerous gold anomalies defined by reconnaissance
exploration undertaken by the Bureau de Recherches

Gologiques et Minires ('BRGM') in the 1990s. Laboum

is located approximately 110km southeast of the
provincial capital of Garoua which is served by a regional
airport, and 600km North East of the Cameroonian capital
Yaound. Year round access to the licence area is
provided by a network of maintained laterite roads.
The area is dominated by the northeast-southwest striking
Tchollire-Banyo shear zone, thought to be a splay off the
Central African Shear Zone. The geology of the region is
considered to be Birimian age (2.1 billion years) and
comprises metavolcanics, schists and gneisses intruded by
synkinematic late Pan-African granites. Dilational
structures which appear to exist along the shear zone are
considered to be excellent targets to explore for
mesothermal gold deposits.
In tandem with ongoing remote sensing activities
including analysis of aerial photos the Company has
commenced its phase one field exploration programme of
mapping and grab sampling, which has identified several
artisanal workings and anomalous gold showings. Subject
to positive field results a programme of regional and
prospect soil sampling will be undertaken to identify
prospective areas for follow up trenching.
Altau Gold Plc, www.altaugold.com
Altau is 100% owned by Asterion as at 31 December 2011.
Altau established operations in Ethiopia during 2010,
following a period of data collection and target selection.
During 2011 the Company implemented its exploration
strategy and further strengthened its in-country technical
team. To date, Altau has focussed on two licences in
Ethiopia; the Afar-Tigray licence in Tigray province in
northern Ethiopia and the Wombere licence in western
Ethiopia. Both the Afar-Tigray and Wombere licences target
the prospective Proterozoic volcanic and volcaniclastic
terranes that form part of the Arabian Nubian Shield.
These rocks host a number of substantial deposits in the
region, including Bisha and Asmara copper-gold deposits
in Eritrea, approximately 250km north of the Afar-Tigray
licence as well as the Sukari gold deposit in Egypt and the

Jabal Sayid copper project in Saudi Arabia.

Altau - Afar-Tigray VMS Project
Afar-Tigray is located in the Tigray province of northern
Ethiopia, approximately 580km north of the capital, Addis
Ababa. It is approximately 45km north of the regional
centre of Mekele and 35km South of the Eritrean border.
Altau has undertaken a comprehensive target selection
programme over the licence combining data from remote
sensing, ground reconnaissance and aerial photography as
well as analysis of historical geochemical anomalies
compiled by the BRGM. Two primary zones have been
identified which together comprise over 30km of major
structural zones that transect the property. In January
2011, Altau commenced fieldwork on the licence with
initial reconnaissance and prospecting focused on
anomalous historical copper occurrences.
During this programme, an old pit believed to be mined by
the Italians was identified with anomalous copper. Values
up to 6.7% Cu and 74.2g/t Ag and extensive malachite
mineralisation have been sampled at surface from the
prospect. Further rock chip sampling was undertaken over
this area and along strike for 4km within a North - South
trending structural zone ('Slater Zone'), hosting vein and
gossan targets. In total over 80 rock chip samples were
taken during this programme.
In December 2011 the Company contracted Geotech
Airborne Limited to undertake a VTEM (Variable Timedomain Electro-Magnetic) airborne geophysical survey at
between 150m and 75m line spacing. The survey was
completed on the 2nd April and final data is currently
being processed. The geophysical targets generated will
be subject to detailed surface follow up exploration,
including geological mapping, systematic rock chip and/ or
soil sampling and potentially high resolution ground
gravity surveys. The objective of this work will be to define
potential prospects for drill testing.
Altau - Wombere Gold Project

Wombere is located within the Benishangul-Gumuz

Regional State in Western Ethiopia, approximately 350km
northeast of the capital, Addis Ababa. It is approximately
55km East of the Sudanese border and 160km north of the
town of Gimbi. The Wombere licence is situated within a
region of elevated topography, typically above 2,500m.
In April 2011 the Company's technical team undertook a
phase two exploration programme at the Wombere
project. This work consisted of a Bulk Leach Extractable
Gold ('BLEG') stream sediment sampling programme
covering an area of >280km2 with over 130 samples
collected to define additional target areas. This initial
programme discovered a number of prospective structures
within a 5km long zone which includes areas of artisanal
alluvial gold workings. A number of BLEG samples from
the licence have returned more than 100ppb Au (with a
high of >600ppb Au) with rock chips as high as 1g/t.
Arabian Gold Corporation Plc, www.arabian-gold.com
Arabian Gold is 50% owned by Asterion as at 31 December
2011. The Company is focussed on the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, due to its rich mineral wealth, favourable mining
code and limited competition for ground. Over 1,000
mapped ancient gold and copper-gold workings attest to
the prospectivity and provide a useful guide to the key
districts on a craton which is comparable in size to that of
Western Australia.
The Company's joint venture partner and 50% shareholder
is a highly respected mining and exploration service
provider, with over seventeen years of operating
experience in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With their
support the Company has submitted a number of highly
prospective licence applications. A geographic information
system ('GIS'), employing the latest satellite-borne and
geological remote sensing datasets, has been compiled in
order to define additional target areas. This strategy
provides the Company's shareholders with the highest
chance of discovering those gold deposits which crop-out
at surface. Historically, these deposits are discovered
fastest for the lowest exploration cost and are the first to

be developed into mines

Looking Ahead
In this era of emerging market wealth creation and
widespread currency debasement, our belief in gold and
gold companies as stores of value is only stronger. This is
just as true for high quality base metals and energy
mineral projects that can supply the strategic demands of
the rapidly developing nations. We will therefore continue
to play to our strengths in the year ahead; blending the
strong competence of our team members with the agility
to move on opportunities where we see value and to
discard those where we do not. With all the team, I look
forward to keeping you updated on our progress.
Yours sincerely,
Steven Poulton
Chief Executive
PART II: REVIEWING THE BUSINESS CASE
1. The Price of Debt
2. The Great Realisation
3. The Monetary Value of Time
4. Doublethink about Money
1. The Price of Debt
The year 2011 was volatile for markets with political
instability and the solvency of nations continuing to
dictate risk appetite. The unmasking of the economic
incompetence practiced over the last few years if not
decades, should come to be recognised as a turning point;
the moment when the promises of politicians and schemes
of money lenders were interrogated and found wanting.
New regulations and laws should now be ushered in to
ensure excellent governance in these fields, simplification
in place of obscuration in taxation and mass public
recognition of the challenges and sacrifices needed to
succeed in a highly competitive global market for goods,
services and quality of life. All of this hand in hand with a
system built on sound money. However, there are arguably
too many vested interests in derailing the current system

that sees each generation repress and burden the

subsequent one with debts and spending commitments.
The ongoing Arab Spring led to the downfall of a number
of regimes, while Syria slid towards civil war and the
rhetoric between Israel and Iran heightened. Greece has
had a perilous year, evidently insolvent by any metric but
apparently unable to be ejected from the Eurozone for fear
of tumultuous repercussions; the narrative being that if
ejected the country would have insufficient hard currency
income to pay the debt reparations of a consequentially
stronger Euro. The new Drachma economy would likely
suffer a hyper-inflation episode as a result, causing further
social unrest and poverty that on a best case scenario
would culminate in an Argentinean style default.
Furthermore with a country ejection precedent set, the
bond markets would turn to the bonds of the next weakest
Eurozone nation to force similar expulsions. The dictatorial
emplacement of an un-elected technocrat Prime Minister
in Greece (and now Italy) while negotiating orderly
defaults with bond holders has so far proved the most
palatable way forward. The ratings agencies, remaining
somewhat behind the curve, declared that the debt
burdens and low growth rates of France, Italy, US and
other major economies meant their debt was riskier in
2011 than it was in 2010 and a number of countries
suffered rating downgrades as a consequence. To avert a
major credit crunch as inter-bank lending almost seized
up, the ECB lent out close to 0.5 trillion of 1% yielding
paper. The buyers quickly reinvested the proceeds in to
the higher yielding paper of the riskier periphery nations
reducing the yields on the debts for these countries to
more serviceable levels.
The earthquake, tsunami and related human tragedy in
Japan in early March, compounded by fears of a meltdown
at the Fukushima nuclear plant caused a flight in capital
markets. As investors moved towards the debt markets,
further intervention was required to hold back a
strengthening Yen. The Japanese economy remains at
early 1990s levels while the story in China continues to
evolve. The economy reportedly continues to grow at

around 8-9% pa, the lowest rate since Q2 2009, but

significantly outperforming the West. Measures to control
inflation were implemented in 2011, including interest
rates rises and increasing the capital reserve requirements
of banks. Many of these measures have subsequently
been loosened to avert a possible 'hard-landing'.
The US hit its $14.3Tn debt ceiling and finally passed a bill
to increase it to $16.7Tn, but with the caveat of including
plans for $2.1Tn in savings over 10 years. The outlook
remains occluded -- while US GDP growth appears to be
faster than that of the Eurozone, it is not clear how much
is a result of currency debasement, as retail sales were
down almost 3.5% on 2010 and house prices are forecast
to decline further. At the end of 2011, there were over
680,000 homes reportedly owned by banks and a further
715,000 in some stage of foreclosure in the US.
2. The Great Realisation
The 'Occupy' protests that started in the US expressed
public disdain of the inequitable distribution of the rewards
and costs from the short term debt-based monetary and
political systems. The now retiring baby-boomer
demographic drove significant economic expansion
between the 1960s and 1990s, largely due to the
increased spending and borrowing capacity that came
with dual income households. However, the inflationary
pressures on living standards which may have been
expected were masked by the deflationary affects of low
cost [low wage] imports from the emerging markets. Asset
valuations were not immune, and the real wealth created
through house price rises provided a nirvana for banks to
create lucrative credit books, households to take on debt
and spend it and politicians to make reserve-currencybacked election wining pledges based on a 'growing'
economy; all the while masking the fact that the
purchasing power of people's money was steadily being
eroded.
The inevitable day of reckoning came in 2008. Interest
rates are now as low as they can go to prop up the
housing market while remaining 'credible', consumers are

struggling to pay off their accumulated debts while being

encouraged to take on yet more, governments are seeking
to tax hard-earned wealth as well as income, and there is
consequently little incentive for companies or
entrepreneurs to risk their capital further and provide any
stimulus for economic growth.
Standards of living and the thresholds which constitute
genuine poverty must now surely fall too. But the general
public is increasingly bewildered. Why is the economy not
recovering as it seemingly has after all previous busts?
The subjects of fractional reserve banking, the inherent
cost to tax payers of a lending based monetary system
and the control (and risks of subversion) of a nation's
money supply should be core to the debate. That people
are so disinterested by the subject speaks volume of how
well the understanding of money has itself been eroded
and debased, coincidentally or not to the great benefit of
those who control its supply.
Many banks have imposed relative wage restraints to
provide a return to shareholders or simply remain solvent,
others have been forced to re-capitalise and those close to
the edge have either been rescued by tax payer funded
bail-outs or, if they were not big enough, gone under. The
industry has moved from being a substantial driver of
direct as well as indirect tax income for governments to a
substantial direct and indirect financial liability for tax
payers.
3. The Monetary Value of Time
In the light of the higher taxes, eroded savings, wage
stagnation, falling employment opportunities, rising living
costs, perilous negative home equity positions,
deteriorating infrastructure and little if any cost-efficient
improvements to public services or educational standards,
the established economic (inflationary) doctrine is now
under the spotlight. Central banks have turned to money
printing and bending the long end of the yield curve to
resuscitate the economy, while elegantly blaming the
markets and speculator for inflating oil and other
commodity prices. The objectives are simple; devalue

their liabilities, weaken their currency to keep exports

competitive and stimulate economic activity by 'injecting
liquidity' into markets. If the equity markets where the
(high voter turn out) baby-boomers pensions are invested
are inadvertently subsidised too, well then that is good as
well. On the fiscal side, governments are being forced to
unwind their evidently profligate un-fundable spending
commitments and let compounded inflation do its worst to
erode value over the next few years, ideally without too
many people noticing. The change in circumstance is
causing many commentators to consider that we are
entering a period of austerity, when arguably we are
simply returning to normality.
4. Doublethink about Money
"Money was intended to be used in exchange, but not to
increase at interest. And this term interest, which means
the birth of money from money, is applied to the breeding
of money because the offspring resembles the parent.
Wherefore of all modes of getting wealth this is the most
unnatural..." Aristotle, 325 BC.
Given the apparent apathy of the general public and
vested political, commercial and media interests, a new
paradigm centred around sound sovereign money, not
debt money, and fiscal accountability where governments
spend what they earn and not the income of the unborn,
but a tax regime which promotes and rewards aspiration
such that job creators invest in people and other resource
to grow economic productivity, may struggle to find
sufficient support. Although the result of the French
election and rising voter protests across Europe suggest
anti-establishment far right sentiment is on the rise.
However, the gap in productivity, skills, educational ability
and economic output with the emerging market
economies, who are aggressively competing for limited
raw materials, energy and wealth creating opportunities,
is likely to close faster still.
The underlying macro-theme of the transfer of wealth
across the globe, from the zombified and complacent to
the dynamic and ambitious is intact, as is our five year

outlook for commodities and specifically gold. With the

potential for further rounds of money printing, the spectre
of competitive currency devaluation, further turbulence in
the Eurozone, demographically accelerated wealth
creation in the emerging markets and quite simply too few
quality new mines in the supply pipeline our prognosis for
its price, in Dollars, Sterling and Euros remains bullish.

This material is provided for informational purposes only.

Nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting
or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a
security. No recommendation or advice is being given as
to whether any investment or strategy is suitable for a
particular investor. Information is obtained from sources
deemed reliable, but there is no representation or
warranty as to its accuracy, completeness or reliability. All
information is current as of the date of this material and is
subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions
expressed may not reflect those of Altus Strategies Ltd as
a whole.
December 02, 2010
PART I: PROGRESS UPDATE
Dear Shareholder,
In the letter from the Chief Executive at the turn of the
year (available on our website) I took the opportunity to
examine the hegemony of the US dollar, the causes and
ramifications of inflation and deflation, the macroeconomic
outlook in the backdrop of the much vaunted urbanisation
and wealth creation in China, India and Brazil, potential
currency tensions, protectionism and the likely blended
impact of all this on gold and general commodities. Not a
small undertaking, but the conclusions were bullish,
forecasting that they would be the best asset classes in
2010.
Western economies are clearly still suffering a macro-

economic trauma. State intervention over the last two

years, in money markets and the banking sector, are
prolonging the ramifications of an era of an over reliance
on debt and growing deficits from a demise in domestic
manufacturing. The consequences, coincident with the
powerful emergence of the exporting nations, are likely to
prove inflationary and could push nations as well as
individuals toward insolvency. While much of what I wrote
last year still holds, I take the opportunity below to review
our activities and revisit the key themes which support our
current strategies.
Progress update
We launched ALTUS in 2007 with a 'Company of
Companies' strategy, to provide our shareholders with
exposure to a spectrum of well managed investment
opportunities in the natural resource sector, with a strong
emphasis on gold. We have structured our activities into
two entities, namely Asterion AV Ltd and ALTUS Capital
Ltd, which we have management service agreements with.
In addition to this update on our progress, further
information such as our annual report, news releases and
media features, can be accessed from the ALTUS website.
Asterion AV Ltd (www.asterionav.com)
Asterion was launched in July 2009 as a platform from
which we could grow our incubated exploration
subsidiaries, while also opportunistically identifying and
investing in third party special situations. The incubated
exploration ventures, namely, Aluvance plc (Cameroon),
Altau Gold plc (Ethiopia) and Arabian Gold Corp plc (Saudi
Arabia 50 / 50 JV) were formally transferred from ALTUS to
Asterion in September 2010. Our special situation
investments have performed strongly in 2010, in line with
the anticipated return in market confidence, the strong
performance of gold and the wider recognition of the
underlying asset value of the companies in which we have
invested.
In September 2010 Asterion completed a private
placement of one million pounds at a price of 0.085 per
share in which ALTUS participated. The financing was

undertaken at the deemed NAV of Asterion. Subsequent to

the financing, conversion of debts and acquisition of
minority holdings at the placement price, ALTUS holds a
76% interest in Asterion. The placement funds will
primarily be applied to growing Asterion's incubated
exploration subsidiaries, before those companies directly
raise working capital themselves. Asterion is under the
stewardship of its CEO and ALTUS director Matthew
Grainger, supported by Will Slater (our VP Geologist) and
Richard Dallwig (Senior Consultant Geologist).
Altau Gold plc (www.altaugold.com)
Formerly Asian Gold Corporation, we have renamed the
Company and moved its focus from Central Asia to the
Arabian-Nubian geology of Ethiopia. Exploration licences
covering approximately 4,300km2 have been applied for
by ALTUS, in the Afar region (East), Tigray (North) and
Wombera (West) regions. Initial targets have been defined
from a comprehensive remote sensing programme,
employing Landsat and ASTER technologies alongside
geological and structural mapping. The Company's field
teams are presently undertaking reconnaissance level
exploration and reporting encouraging early results.
Aluvance plc (www.aluvance.com)
We have renamed our Cameroon focused company
Aluvance with its two bauxite exploration licence (each
approximately 1,000km2) located in the Adamawa region
of northern Cameroon, strategically located between the
Minim-Martap and Ngaoundal deposits. The geology,
elevated topography and tropical climate of the Adamawa
plateau make it highly prospective for the formation of
large-scale bauxite deposits. The Minim-Martap and
Ngaoundal deposits are subject to exploration and
development by Cameroon Alumina Ltd; a joint venture
between Hydromine Inc, Hindalco Industries Ltd and Dubai
Aluminium Co. As part of the joint venture a feasibility
study will be undertaken for the construction of a
hydroelectric dam on the nearby Sanaga river enabling
bauxite ores to be processed locally. Energy typically
accounts for 40% of the cost of aluminium production. At
Edea in the south west of Cameroon, Societe

Camrounaise d'Aluminium (Alucam), a joint venture

between Rio Tinto Alcan and the government of
Cameroon, operates a 90,000 t/y aluminium smelter
currently processing bauxite imported from Guinea.
Aluvance has undertaken reconnaissance exploration of its
licence areas combined with an ASTER study of the area
and has located a number of potential bauxite occurrences
at surface for follow up drilling.
Arabian Gold Corporation plc (www.arabian-gold.com)
Our Arabian shield focused gold exploration company
Arabian Gold Corporation plc ('AGC') has submitted licence
applications over areas which we consider to have high
geological potential to host gold and copper gold deposits.
AGC is a 50:50 joint venture company with a 'first mover'
strategy focused on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, due to
its rich mineral wealth, favourable mining code and limited
competition for ground. Over 1,000 mapped ancient gold
and copper-gold workings attest to the prospectivity and
provide a useful guide to the key districts on a craton
which is comparable in size to that of Western Australia.
Our joint venture partner is a highly respected mining and
exploration service provider, with over sixteen years of
operating experience in the Kingdom. With their support
we have submitted a number of highly prospective licence
applications and a shield-wide geographic information
system (GIS) has been compiled in order to define
additional target areas. Our team are on standby to
commence exploration as soon as the first licences are
granted.
ALTUS Capital Ltd (www.altus-cap.com)
ALTUS Capital is the FSA authorised investment manager
of ALTUS Resource Capital Ltd ('ARC', www.altrescap.com),
a Guernsey registered closed ended investment company.
The shares of ARC listed on Specialist Fund Market of the
London Stock Exchange (LSE: ARCL) on 30th June 2009
and also trade on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange
(CISX: ARC). As at 31 October 2010, the net asset value of
ARC was 72.1m representing a NAV of 1.81 per ARC
share, up 5.4% on the month and 91.2% since launch
(listing at 0.95 per share).

ALTUS Capital earns an annual management fee of 0.85%

of ARC's NAV (increased from 0.5% as of 01 July 2010) and
will receive 16% of any increase in the NAV above 1.20
per share, as recorded on 30 July 2011. ALTUS Capital is
headed up by ALTUS director Ed Bowie, supported by our
VP Analyst Jay Jungers. ALTUS Capital is owned 100% by
ALTUS Strategies Ltd, with an appropriate performance
related bonus pool set aside to remunerate and incentivise
its team.
Looking Ahead
Markets are presently buoyant and we shall continue to
remain opportunity driven and seek out value in the sector
in order to capitalise on the anticipated real value
appreciation of gold and other commodities. However, we
will remain cognisant of the risks of a macro economic
shock, as well as the propensity for valuations to lose sight
of reality as markets mature. As an experienced resource
investor recently coined the phrase when discussing the
current rush of companies to make production promises
for old mined out deposits, 'the definition of a mine is now
a hole in the ground, with a liar at the bottom'. In Part II of
this letter is a more detailed assessment of the current
markets and the macro economic outlook for gold and
commodities.
In what has been a volatile, challenging and productive
three years since inception the Board are pleased with the
progress your Company is making. The Board are sincerely
grateful to you for your past and continued support and to
the dedication of our talented and entrepreneurial team
and look forward to keeping you advised of our progress.
Yours faithfully,

Steven Poulton
Chief Executive

PART II: REVIEWING THE BUSINESS CASE

1. Commodities take the limelight, hinting at inflation to
come
2. Long term consequences from a short term culture
3. Tax payers told they have to pay for banking failures
4. Crisis of confidence in currencies
5. Gold outlook
1. Commodities take the limelight, hinting at inflation to
come
Gold started the year at around $1,100 and at ALTUS we
forecasted a rise of around 30% to close the year at
$1,450. The primary driver being further demand for
gold's safe haven properties in an era of money printing
induced real inflation designed to debase currencies,
devalue sovereign deficits and counterbalance the
rampant real asset deflation from the bursting of the
credit and housing bubbles.
With gold having made highs above $1,400/oz, the metal
is performing in line with our expectations. However, its
rise is only in line with many other metals (copper is up
37% and silver is up 36% in the last twelve months). Even
with these volatile rises though, the main story is that
metals have largely underperformed soft commodities
(pork bellies are up 60%, cotton is up 66% and wheat is up
74% in the same period). As year on year increases go,
these are phenomenal and indicate that consumers in
western economies can expect an uncomfortable squeeze
in their living standards in the next couple of years. Real
costs of goods, energy and services are likely to rise, while
earnings are likely to stagnate, or even fall, as employers
grapple with falling margins in challenging and highly
competitive markets.
2. Long term consequences from a short term culture
Gold's accelerating ascension must be put into context of
the calamitous equity market collapse of 2008 which
marked the end of a mutli-decade period of economic

growth in the west. Fuelled in its later stages (and

arguably from its start) by a low real cost of capital and
acceptable levels of currency depreciation through
inflation. Central bankers of the G8 understandably tended
toward relatively short term goals of perpetuating the
sensation of growth and ensuring minimal
underemployment. The cult of (and eventual reliance on)
the consumer was intensified, until at its height the US
consumer reportedly accounted for more than 15% of
global GDP.
The late 90s gave birth to the 'new economy' exemplified
by central bankers selling their nation's physical 'oldeconomy' gold and buying into the Euro and other
promissory backed products. Gold mining companies
reinforced the downward price pressure, hedging their
already marginal production forward into a disinterested
market, in order to satisfy their lenders' price-risk averse
repayment demands. Sentiment and price hit an all time
low with gold touching $251/oz in 1999.
Coincidently or otherwise, the repeal in 1999 of the 66
year old US Glass--Steagall Act perhaps represented the
ultimate triumph of the new economic order. The political
and capitalist elites came together in a somewhat
unhealthy symbiotic alliance, each depending in some
form on the other to deliver profits or votes respectively.
Glass-Steagall was originally introduced in response to the
banking collapse in the Great Depression, a product of
speculative investment banks lending out their client's
monies during the 'Roaring Twenties'.
Consequences of the repeal of Glass-Steagall were rapid
and far reaching. With fresh collateral on their balance
sheets and a herd like mentality, investment banks
contemplated ever riskier lending activities, aware of an
unspoken and highly valuable implicit state underwriting
in their trades. Swollen further by the highly lucrative 'low
risk' Yen borrow / US$ lend wholesale carry trade, cheap
leverage ensured bank profits, earnings, forecasts and
stock prices surged. As greed trounced fear, yet more
capital flowed into already artificially inflated real estate

and equity markets as well as ill-conceived (but surely

highly lucrative for the advising investment banks) M&A
activity. Eventually up to 80% of all banking debts in the
US were secured against real estate. To complete the
equation consumers were encouraged to take on what
would become unacceptable levels of seemingly zero
percent risk mortgages and other personal debt.
Governments mirrored their electorates, content that they
would personally be well off in the future, focused on the
allure and kudos from driving the 'green agenda' which
roundly missed the point on two fronts. China, India and
the other emerging powerhouses industrialised at an
unprecedented pace, while the economies of African
nations and their people suffered, from the effects of EU
and US protectionist subsidies on home-grown agricultural
production and related surpluses.
Loose monetary policies inflated nominal asset values at
the expense of the savings and future pensions of the
majority. As Keynes is reported to have said:
"There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the
existing basis of society than to debauch the currency -The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law
on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which
not one man in a million can diagnose."
The distasteful destruction of real wealth was conveniently
disguised by the sweet deflationary effects of ever
cheaper goods imported from the rapidly emerging low
wage mass-producing economies. The world entered an
apparent virtuous financially engineered economic growth
cycle - a new paradigm of ever higher GDP, employment
and tax receipts. The State's surreptitious growth
plastered over growing structural inefficiencies and
wastage in the economy and conceivably also funded
interventionist military policies that would not have been
fundable through direct taxation.
3. Tax payers told they have to pay for banking failures
The self perpetuating credit fuelled merry-go-round came
to a dramatic halt once the huge disparity between the

real value of assets and the future obligation of the

western economies were laid bare. The sharpest investors
had already gone long cash and short real estate,
financials and equities in general. In the flight to safety
investors redeemed en mass to cover their short cash
position or margin calls, causing markets and confidence
to disintegrate still faster.
Faced with a Hobsons choice, for those who would not
consider gold, investors ploughed more capital into the
dollar as a safety-in-numbers reserve currency haven,
irrespective of the underlying flaws in the US economy.
Using the tax payers money, politicians intervened to bail
out the creditors of banks (mostly other banks), which had
self-purportedly become 'too big to fail' and underwrote
the interests of banks' shareholders and deposit holders.
Private sector banking debts were monetised and became
public debts. This action prompted the Governor of the
Bank of England to recently remark that:
"of all the many ways of organising banking, the worst is
the one we have today."
The credit cycle moves on and since the market collapse
there has been substantial and natural deflation in asset
values, with real estate prices falling towards affordable
levels from their over leveraged highs. With the housing
market in backwardation, banks are overtly unwilling to
lend at competitive rates to anyone without the highest
credit rating, concerned over the risk of future default on
the principal due to continued recessionary conditions.
Real growth remains anaemic but markets in general are
performing well, in some cases back above pre-crisis
levels. This is a paradox which reflects the inflationary
effects of two trillion dollars of new money which has been
printed globally, corporate results that could only improve
on an atrocious 2009, optimistic remarking to market of
bad debt provisions and the pull of sustained growth in
demand from the emerging market economies.
While banks and markets appear to be moving on, the
political establishment will in all likelihood be dealing with
the austere consequences of their collective negligence of

economic history for much of the next decade.

Notwithstanding the diplomatic words to the contrary, we
can expect some G20 members to continue to pursue
loose policies which exert further downward pressure on
their currencies in order to remain competitive, while
attempting to increase tax revenues from an already
stretched public. Recent comments by the German finance
minister on the back of a further $600b of US money
printing that US economic policy is 'clueless' are perhaps
wide of the mark. The unspoken socio-economic
alternatives from the US not depreciating, of becoming
insolvent as a nation, are perhaps too perilous to be
considered.
4. Crisis of confidence in currencies
Eurozone members with large deficits, but without the
luxury of controlling their monetary policy face growing
yields on their debts as the prospect of default looms.
Currency speculation could rapidly evolve in to contagion
with credit ratings agencies downgrading sovereign debts,
bond yields spiking and the ECB and IMF being forced to
intercede once again. Investment into refurbishing aging
infrastructure as a job creation strategy may start to form
a significant component of future growth and stability
plans for many western governments.
In the meantime the Irish have been encouraged to
borrow more in order to repay their debts, largely created
by private banks, 'a rob Peter to pay Paul' approach in
which Charles Ponzi would have seen much irony.
However, to bail out a country is perhaps more
presentable to 'the people', than to directly bail out those
UK and European banks who are simply owed cash by the
Irish banks, as this is where much of the cash will
eventually accumulate.
In the UK interest rates are still at a 300 year low despite
visible inflation in the costs of goods which suggest
counter balancing rate rises in the Euro, Dollar and
Sterling should be on the horizon. However, there are
reasons why this seems unlikely to transpire in the next
twelve months. Firstly prices are rising due to commodity

and currency price push as emerging markets increase

their demand, rather than local demand pull due to the
relatively low cost of credit. Secondly private individuals
remain highly leveraged to house prices and with wages
increasing below the rate of real inflation they have very
limited capacity to increase their expenditure on servicing
debts. Finally governments are running substantial deficits
and have taken the debts of private investment banks on
to the public balance sheet. It is imperative for them to
devalue their liabilities, through depreciating the value of
their currency; inflation is what they want.
Considerable risks of a sovereign debt-induced credit or
inflation shock, with or without a sovereign crisis, to the
current benign sentiment clearly exist. Ratings agencies
are still playing catch up, warning about the solvency of
companies and countries well after investors became
aware of their financial issues. In the short term further
deflation and devaluation of asset values can be expected
to offset the inflationary effects of money printing to
debase currencies. Once asset prices have largely deflated
back to affordable values, the inflationary pressures are
likely to come to the fore which would have highly
unpleasant economic consequence for citizens as the
spending power of their cash is stripped away. As Alan
Greenspan, who ironically oversaw a low interest rate
period at the Fed, which helped fuel the real estate
bubble, is reported to have stated:
"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to
protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There
is no safe store of value".
Looking at China, which is now the world's largest
producer of natural resource by value ($700bn pa), it is
starting to take pre-emptive tightening measures to curb
the potential for an inflation driven asset bubble,
increasing the reserve requirements of its banks while
keeping its currency at a level which ensures continued
export revenues. However, inflation in China is already
underway and it will eventually flow through in to prices in
western goods, increasing the real cost (and reducing
standards) of living as wealth is surreptitiously transferred

from west to east.

5. Gold outlook
As an asset, gold has only been freely tradable since 1971,
with the repeal after 27 years of the gold standard
implemented at Bretton Woods, which fixed the price at
$35/oz. With a floating currency the US$ incurred
progressive devaluations and gold rapidly hit an inflation
induced high of $873/oz in 1980 (equating to over $2,000
in 'today's money'). The price fell back rapidly as capital
markets came in to the ascendancy, the DJIA returned
1,277% in the 20 years to 2000 while gold lost 66% in the
same period.
Since hitting its low, and in the backdrop of a paucity of
major discoveries from a decade or more of under
investment in exploration, in 1999 gold started its
inauspicious rise and over a ten year period quietly
outshone all other asset classes globally. In the last
decade national and private buyers of currencies have had
few alternatives outside gold to hedge their investments
from the effects of nations going short their own
currencies. This has been a major factor in pushing the
metal's price higher.
With their minds perhaps casting back to previous
devastating episodes of inflation, German households
reportedly now hold more gold than the Bundesbank -- the
world's second largest central bank (with 3,407t
representing 67.4% of the country's financial reserves or
1.4oz per capita). On a gold reserve basis, US citizens are
backed by 0.84oz per capita (8,133t or 72% of US financial
reserves), UK citizens are backed by 0.16oz per capita
(310t or 15% of financial reserves) while China (1,054t /
1.5% of reserves) and India (557t or 7.4% of reserves)
have just 0.03oz and 0.02oz per capita respectively.
India which has one of the highest savings rates in the
world at around 30% of total income, of which 10% is held
in gold, remains a major force in the gold market. The
country accounts for 15% (US$19b) of the global gold
market, increasing on average at 15% per year; outpacing

GDP, inflation and population growth. The World Gold

Council estimates the nation owns over 18,000 tonnes of
above ground gold stocks (worth US$800 billion, with
165,000t having been mined in history) representing
approximately 11% of global reserves. In the meantime
China, the largest producer and consumer of gold and with
foreign reserves in excess of $2.6tr, is further increasing
domestic production (set to hit 327 tonnes this year) in
order to meet rising demand (up 4% pa to 430t in 2010).
These statistics suggest substantial future natural growth
in the demand for gold and other resources, in line with
rising prosperity and wealth diversification.
On the downside for gold is a potential reinstatement of a
fixed price, alongside currency exchange controls and
duties. The President of the World Bank has already
suggesting a global monetary system is required which he
remarked:
"the world should consider employing gold as an
international reference point of market expectations about
inflation, deflation and future currency values."
A future fix in the price of gold and the implementation of
controls on the flow of capital no longer seem as
outrageous as perhaps ten years ago, but such a
mechanism is only likely to be agreeable once currencies
and sovereign debts have been debased still lower. In the
meantime highly rated, often contrarian, investors such as
Paulson, Soros and Touradji continue to hold and increase
their holdings in gold (accounting for 2,088 tonnes
between them, equivalent to twice the holding of
Switzerland). But they are not alone; over 50% of global
gold reserves are now estimated to be held by private
investors seeking to preserve their wealth.
Mindful always for the potential of a second market
collapse, we continue to see further upside potential for
the real as well as nominal dollar price of gold and other
metals and for that reason we shall maintain our current
investment strategies in 2011.
This material is provided for informational purposes only.

Nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting

or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a
security. No recommendation or advice is being given as
to whether any investment or strategy is suitable for a
particular investor. Information is obtained from sources
deemed reliable, but there is no representation or
warranty as to its accuracy, completeness or reliability. All
information is current as of the date of this material and is
subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions
expressed may not reflect those of Altus Strategies Ltd as
a whole.
December 31, 2009
Dear Shareholder,
Despite the market turmoil of the last eighteen months
ALTUS has done well to preserve cash and tactically
position itself with a number of deals designed to benefit
from the positive market outlook for gold and other
selected commodities. I am pleased to seize the moment
here and provide you with an update on our progress on
these ventures and our outlook for 2010 and beyond.
In last year's letter we reaffirmed our thesis of increasing
demand for gold as a reserve asset, combined with lower
mine supplies and de-hedging to drive prices higher. We
also made a case for stronger commodity prices in
general, as concerns over inflation and future supply with
the insulated domestic demand from emerging
(manufacturing based) economies being less impacted
than the decline of the US and other developed consumer
driven nations. Finally we witnessed the widening
disconnect between the equity value of companies and
their underlying assets, as leveraged shareholders
unwound their speculative positions in the backdrop of
rising demand for commodities.
So far so good; it has been reported that 2009 was the
best year for commodity prices since 1976 with significant
increases for copper (+140%), oil (+80%) and gold
performing well also (+27%). Much of these returns reflect

the scale of deleveraging and forced selling of speculative

positions which occurred in 2008, but an element also
reflects the real demand, current or future and strategic or
otherwise, being driven by the advancing economies.
Progress update
Altus Asset Management Ltd Investment manager to Altus
Resource Capital Ltd (www.altrescap.com)
In 2009 we established ALTUS Asset Management Ltd
('AAM') as a 100% subsidiary of, and investment manager
to, Altus Resource Capital Ltd ('ARC'), a closed-ended
investment company incorporated in Guernsey. Despite
atrocious markets and with the assistance of Nimrod
Capital LLP, ARC listed on the Specialists Fund Market of
the LSE on 30th June 2009 raising 26m from institutional
investors. ARC has a strong and experienced board of
directors, including our own Chairman, David Netherway
and the company has made selected investments to
create a concentrated portfolio of junior resource equities,
with a focus on gold producers and developers. In the four
months to 30th of November the net asset value per share
of ARC had increased 38.7% from 0.95 at listing to 1.31.
AAM earns a modest annual management fee of 0.5% of
NAV and will receive performance of 16% of gains above
an annual hurdle of 10% from the 1.00 issue price and
payable after the audit of the second year's accounts.
Evidencing our commitment to the value opportunity for
ARC, we invested our anticipated first year management
fee (150k) into the company. In December ARC concluded
a secondary placing, raising a further 14.6m taking the
assets under management close to 50m.
Asterion AV Ltd (www.asterionav.com)
In order to organise our other ventures and interests under
one roof we have established Asterion AV Ltd. The
company is an active value investor in fledgling and
special situation resources companies. Asterion is
focussed on proactively supporting the management
teams of companies it is engaged with, in order to grow
and deliver returns to all shareholders. In addition to

capital, we provide strategic guidance, technical

assistance, flexibility to reduce overheads and increased
market awareness. We are vending in the interests of our
subsidiary fledgling portfolio companies; Avance Gold plc,
Arabian Gold Corporation plc and Asian Gold Corporation
plc. The company is also undertaking selected stock swaps
and principal investments in other fledgling resource
companies, including a 3% investment in Serabi Mining
plc, a gold producer which is listed on London's AIM
market. We shall continue to fund our subsidiary ventures
through Asterion AV, alongside new investors who we
invite to participate in their growth. Some situations will
remain private in the long term while others will benefit
from going public on a recognized exchange in the next
couple of years.
Avance Gold plc (www.avancegold.com)
Our Cameroon focussed bauxite and gold exploration
company Avance Gold plc has made good progress in
2009. In April the company's 100% owned subsidiary
Aucam SARL was granted the Mandoum mineral
exploration licence (approximately 1,000km2) located in
the Adamawa region of northern Cameroon, strategically
located between the Minim-Martap and Ngaoundal bauxite
occurrences. The geology, elevated topography and
tropical climate of the Adamawa plateau make it highly
prospective for the formation of large-scale bauxite
deposits. The Minim-Martap and Ngaoundal deposits are
subject to exploration and development by Cameroon
Alumina Ltd; a joint venture between Hydromine Inc,
Hindalco Industries Ltd and Dubai Aluminium Co. As part
of the joint venture a feasibility study will be undertaken
for the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the nearby
Sanaga river enabling bauxite ores to be processed locally.
At Edea in the south west of Cameroon, Societe
Camrounaise d'Aluminium (Alucam), a joint venture
between Rio Tinto Alcan and the government of
Cameroon, operates a 90,000 t/y aluminium smelter
currently processing bauxite imported from Guinea.
Arabian Gold Corporation plc (www.arabian-gold.com)
Our Arabian shield focussed gold exploration company;

Arabian Gold Corporation plc ('AGC') has submitted licence

applications over areas which we consider to have high
geological potential to host gold and copper gold deposits.
AGC is a 50:50 joint venture company with a 'first mover'
strategy focused on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, due to
its rich mineral wealth, favourable mining code and limited
competition for ground. Over 1,000 mapped ancient gold
and copper-gold workings attest to the prospectivity and
provide a useful guide to the key districts on a craton
which is comparable in size to that of Western Australia.
Our joint venture partner is a highly respected mining and
exploration service provider, with over sixteen years of
operating experience in the Kingdom. With their support
we have submitted a number of highly prospective licence
applications and a shield-wide geographic information
system (GIS) has been compiled in order to define
additional target areas. Our team are on standby to
commence exploration as soon as the first licences are
granted.
Asian Gold Corporation plc (www.asiangoldcorp.com)
We established Asian Gold Corporation plc to develop
opportunities in Central Asia. Having undertaken a
preliminary fact finding visit to Kazakhstan we remain
opportunistic in our approach to developing new
opportunities as they occur. The company has recently
been granted a preliminary business licence to operate in
Pakistan.
Focus on gold
Financial commentators sometime look down their nose at
it and until recently portfolio managers would not be too
bashful to openly admit not understanding its purpose,
and less still, its fair value. But now as one of the best
performing asset classes over the last ten years, people
are paying it increasing attention. Indeed, few now will
have not noticed gold's stealth-like courting and eventual
breakout above the US$1,000/oz level, having traded at
US$253/oz a decade ago. Times have changed and the
sight of armoured trucks laden with gold leaving the vaults
on Wall Street as HSBC moved institutional clients up the

waiting list to store their gold, may have been a point of

realisation to many that gold is still in demand in the 21st
century.
In 2009 we witnessed a broad based equity market rally.
The S&P 500 has risen 67.1% since March 6th, when it hit
a twelve year low of 666 and the Dow Jones Industrial
Average is up 62.3% since March 6th when it hit a low of
6,469. Equity investor's appetite has been buoyed by
expectation of positive earnings news and cash pumped in
from fiscal expansion. Gold tends to correlate inversely
with the market's confidence in the fiat characteristics of
paper money, but has also continued its rise, having
averaged US$968 /oz in 2009, 11% up from 2008
(US$872/oz) and 38.9% up from 2007 (US$697/oz). The
post credit-bubble market data is inconclusive and market
participants are attempting to forecast scenarios ranging
from deflation or stagflation to hyper inflation, and from
prolonged recession to imminent and sustained economic
recovery.
Despite the high opportunity cost (of having zero yield)
and in the backdrop of a broad based equity market rally,
gold is in demand from central banks, institutions and
retail investors as a safe haven 'hard asset' investment
and natural hedge against potential money-supply
induced inflation, corporate defaults, potential exchange
controls and currency debasement. Gold hit a high of
US$1,226.6 on December 3rd 2009, buoyed by news on
3rd November that India had purchased 200 tonnes of the
IMF's previously announced gold sales for US$6.8 billion
(equating to about 2.6% of India's financial reserves).
Other central bank buying includes Sri Lanka and
Mauritius, and the Chinese (who are now the world's
largest gold producer) are believed to be increasing their
reserves. Longer term encouragement has come from
Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold producer, which
raised over US$5 billion in equity and debt to close out its
gold hedge book. Highly regarded investors are also
making moves into the gold sector, including John Paulson
whose has built a 12% stake in the world's 3rd largest
producer Anglogold Ashanti.

Notwithstanding short term increases from the secondary

scrap market, the physical gold market continues to
experience supply side pressures. Production is falling
year-on-year and there has been a paucity of world-class
discoveries in recent years. The number of discoveries of
new deposits containing more than three million ounces of
gold has fallen from around 10 per year in 1997 to around
2 or 3 per year now. Average grades are also falling and
this is impacting on the economics for the major mining
firms, which typically each need to replenish around five
to seven million ounces per year. In turn this is driving
merger and acquisition activity into new geographic
frontiers. Recent deals include the proposed US$1.4 billion
takeover offer of Sino Gold, which has gold assets in
China, by Eldorado Gold, and the combined take over by
Anglogold Ashanti and Randgold of Moto Goldmines which
has assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The global gold equity market is not large. The top six gold
mining companies (estimated to produce 22.7Moz or 28%
of global production) in 2009 with a current value of
approximately US$22.7 billion) have a combined
capitalisation of US$132 billion, which is approximately
half that of Microsoft. As the price of gold has increased,
institutional money has flowed in to these large and the
mid cap gold stocks for immediate leverage and they have
performed strongly. However, junior gold mining equities
continue to remain significantly undervalued and they
provide the highest leverage to gold's recent and future
performance. This is where Altus sees the best
opportunities for significant risk adjusted returns.
The junior gold sector was sold-off particularly heavily
during the deleveraging and forced selling of 2008, with
many junior gold miners losing over 80% of their market
value, against a US$ fall in the gold price of only 30%. Our
analysis suggests that the junior gold market as a whole
needs to almost double to simply return to past trading
ratios. There will be leaders and laggards but those with
the best quality assets and management teams will
become acquisition targets as larger tier companies take

advantage of the depressed valuations to replenish their

ever-depleting resource bases.
With an inflation-adjusted high of over US$2,200/oz
(US$873/oz in 1980) we do not consider the gold price
which is presently US$1,110/oz (or up 27% since 1980) to
be in uncharted territory. To put the price in context the
DJIA is up almost 800% since 1980, having hit 14,164 in
October 2007. A savings account bearing interest of 4%
would be up 210% in the same period. A further driver of
the gold price going forward would be the introduction of a
'super sovereign' Keynesian style international reserve
currency with special drawing rights, which would include
gold, although this is not expected within the next five
years. The reintroduction of a gold standard in the US, to
provide temporary economic stability, is not anticipated as
it would not be fiscally or politically desirable and would
require a gold price of at least US$6,500/oz, assuming a
US monetary base of around US$1.7 trillion and US
reserves of 261.5Moz.
As the macro picture evolves during 2010, rapid swings in
market sentiment may be expected which will induce
volatility for gold within a range of US$950 to US$1,450 /
oz as the dollar intermittently strengthens and shorter
term speculators take profits and switch to where they see
highest risk adjusted returns. However, we anticipate that
gold will continue to outperform other asset classes in real
terms over the next couple of years with falling supply and
continued demand from governments, institutions and
private investors alike.
To ensure we retain a leading edge by employing optimal
strategies over the coming years, I take the time in the
second part of this letter to pay some attention to the
detail of the macro-economic interplay of demographics,
politics and currencies and how it may evolve and impact
on the gold and the resource sector.
Although very much in its formative stages of growth, your
company is increasingly being recognised as an innovator,
investor and valued partner and we shall continue to seek

out and create value in this tremendously exciting sector.

Last but not least I take this opportunity to pay tribute to
the inspiration, enthusiasm and vision of all the ALTUS
team who are striving to create value. As always, we
welcome and value your advice and support and look
forward to keeping you updated with your company's
progress over the coming year.
Yours faithfully,

Steven Poulton
Chief Executive
This material is provided for informational purposes only.
Nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting
or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a
security. No recommendation or advice is being given as
to whether any investment or strategy is suitable for a
particular investor. Information is obtained from sources
deemed reliable, but there is no representation or
warranty as to its accuracy, completeness or reliability. All
information is current as of the date of this material and is
subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions
expressed may not reflect those of Altus Strategies Ltd as
a whole.

PART II
1.
Economic outlook: an occluded front
The economic climate is changing, and the cause is
undoubtedly manmade. In last year's letter we highlighted
some of the impressive statistics in respect of China's
industrial revolution and consequent increasing
purchasing power of its consumers, which have
implications for the price of gold and other commodities
through real demand and strategic stock piling. The
country's foreign reserves are increasing at approximately

US$50b per month and are now above US$2tr (UK's

reserves are US$53b while US stated reserves are
US$140b). This year and for the first time on record, the
Chinese stock market traded more in value than New York,
London and Tokyo combined. Car consumption in China is
hurtling forward at a rate of 12 million new cars per year
(from current ownership of 30 million cars) and over the
next ten years approximately 16,000km of new high speed
rail line will be laid.
Such credit filled blue skies are in contrast to the debt
inflated storm clouds that cover much of the West. The
Dubai skyline is a testimony to speed at which wealth was
created and then destroyed. With US$90 billion of
liabilities its bonds have been marked to junk while
repayments are rescheduled until such time that new
money from the East fills the vacuum. Once the lenders
take their losses on the mortgages, these new owners will
see value re-created with time.
Excluding dividend income and bear market rallies aside,
stock markets have performed terribly since they hit their
tech and dotcom boom fuelled highs a decade ago; the
FTSE and the S&P are both down around 20% (to 5,397
and 1,123 respectively). Investors in these markets
enjoyed 500% and 800% returns respectively between
1984 and 1999. UK pension funds returned just 2.25% pa
on average during the period. The turn-around in fortunes
has perhaps less to do with the financial engineering skills
of Wall Street or the City but demographics and
socioeconomic change.
Seventy-six million Americans were born between 1946
and 1960, and formed a post-war wave of hard working,
multiple income households and consumers, the benefits
of which swept through goods, services and ultimately
stock markets. The volatile decade of market decline
(1999-2009) coincides with the gradual passing of this
wave, its impetus sustained by the deflationary effects of
cheaper imports and nominal asset inflation as credit
markets became bloated on the yen-dollar carry between
2004 and 2007. For the next decade market direction may

be dominated by how this financial liability is funded. It

has been estimated that the total unfunded obligations for
social security and medicare in the US amounts to US$41tr
(public debt is up tenfold since 1982, at US$12.1tr).
Buoyed by the equity market rally of 2009, the realisation
that China's growth has not been derailed and the impact
of central bank economic stimulus programmes, some
western governments, rating agencies and other experts
have been quick off the mark to suggest we are seeing the
green shoots of recovery. Perhaps they are the same ones
who seemingly failed to see, comprehend or prepare for
the colossal market crash, despite most laymen predicting
that real estate was due for a crash. The IMF are also
concerned that there is a risk of asset bubbles forming.
However, a return to buy-to-let property make-over TV
shows seems a long way off for as long as governments
feel the need to fuel demand by subsidising car scrapage
schemes. In the meantime the BRIC economies (with
financial reserves of around US$3 trillion) now account for
40% of global demand.
The long term economic climate is certainly changing,
cooling in the leveraged developed world and warming in
the cashed up advancing countries. How these two
systems react on meeting will be played out in the
currency markets throughout 2010.
2.
Dragflation, it's mostly in the price
In steady state economics, inflation and deflation tend to
converge, as the market ensures goods and services are
purchased at their lowest real cost (imports verses
domestic production); neither inflation nor deflation can
intrinsically cause an economy to grow; they represent the
adjustments to prices to take account of the demand for
money.
In last year's letter we suggested the advanced economies
could be entering a period of value and fiscal debilitating
stagflation, with increasing oil prices and real inflation in
the cost of other goods and commodities, with demand-

push from the relatively cash rich advancing economies,

causing the real devaluation of assets. While there has
been further deflation in costs, rather than inflation, the
stagflation forecast remains intact for 2010, albeit
dragged out by government propping up of the banking
sector --resulting in dragflation.
3.
Inflation, when more is less
The extent to which people can afford goods and service is
a function of cost and spending power. The latter is a
function of the real value of their income against the cost
to produce those goods and services. Safe-haven rallies
aside, exchange rates should reflect a country's ability to
pay off its liabilities and grow the value of its assets
through productivity. The rate reflects the relative
desirability of holding a currency, plus interest received
over time. The yield reimburses lenders for their
opportunity cost from holding an asset that otherwise
gradually devalues in real terms, referred to as the time
value of money, or put better a preference for 'jam today'.
While the principal loan is considered to physically exist in
the money market, the interest on the loan has yet to be
created. By printing money to cover interest payments the
value of all money is devalued through the increased
supply to bring the total cost of the loans outstanding
back to parity. The two extremes of economies are
hyperinflation and deflationary spirals.
Inflation occurs in financial systems when the volume of
money supply exceeds the supply of goods. This causes a
currency to depreciate in value, due to increased risk of a
real term loss from holding it. In order to maintain
investment in the currency, the downside risk of losing
money on the principal is compensated by increasing the
interest yield. Currency devaluations cause the cost of
imports to rise which can trigger higher wage demands
requiring further money supply for the same level of
output. As money becomes cheaper, banks are quicker to
lend in volume. Bubbles start to form in assets which due
to leverage can create gains for investors faster than
interest on savings. With human nature causing people to

believe they are on to a good thing since all the risks have
been mitigated away by 'sophisticated' financial
engineering and simply because 'this time it is different',
increasingly speculative loans are made by banks on the
basis that the never ending rise in asset values will
underwrite the repayment of the principal and any
interest. In so doing inflation can create wild fluctuations
in the value of the transfer of assets; from savers to
borrowers or from one generation to another. It effectively
confiscates property from the private sector (the
seignorage of money) effectively taxing the holders of
cash and redistributing it across society.
By operating fiat currency systems governments are able
to borrow through their central banks to fund their fiscal
deficits. When the economy needs cash to fund those
commitments central banks have the capacity to print
new money. Doing this without having to increasing the
value of a nation's net physical assets, is used to increase
nominal prosperity, fund military ambitions which would
not be supported by dedicated ad hoc tax rises, move
voters into higher tax bands over time and devalue
liabilities. In essence this is why inflation rather than
deflation is the steady state of the economic cycle,
punctuated by occasional deflationary crises from the
implosion of debt inflated asset bubbles.
4.
100,000,000,000,000,000,000...is the magic number
Much like a run on a bank, hyperinflation is a run on a
currency, and it occurs when there is a loss of confidence
in the value of money when its supply is rapidly exceeding
the growth of goods and services due to excessive debt
monetisation. This leads to hoarding of food and the
implementation of price and wage controls, which if
currency continues to be debased through printing
ultimately serve no purpose and lead to abject poverty.
China was one of the first countries to experience
hyperinflation, when between 1273-1276 the Yuan dynasty
(1271-1368) turned on the printing presses in order to
fund its successful war with the southern Song Dynasty

(960 and 1279): during the three year period the currency
(ding) inflated tenfold. China again experienced
hyperinflation between 1948-49 after the defeat of Japan
by the Second United Front of China, a loose coalition of
the previously civil warring (since 1927) democratic
Nationalist Party (eventually US supported) and China
Communist Party (Soviet backed). The civil war is
estimated to have cost over 10 million lives. The
Nationalists of the Republic of China retreated to the
Island of Taiwan while the Communists of the People's
Republic of China took control of the mainland. It is a
fascinating example of the interplay of politics, money
printing and war. Neither party has signed a treaty ending
the war. The highest denomination note exploded from
50,000 Yuan to an effective 30,000,000,000,000 Yuan.
With the end of hostilities, and therefore money printing,
the Renminbi was created in 1955 to end hyperinflation
and was pushed through on a 1,000,000 to 100
consolidation.
The debt laden Weimar Republic of Germany experienced
hyperinflation after the allies of WWI repatriated gold and
industrial heartlands. The aptly named Papiermark
suffered rampant devaluation and was eventually replaced
in 1924 with the Reichsmark on a 1 for
100,000,000,000,000 redenomination (100 trillionth of its
original gold backed value) basis, after a brief interim
Rentenmark currency backed by land. The Reichsmark
(1924-1948) was backed by gold at the same rate as the
poignantly named Goldmark (1873 to 1914) of 1 mark to
0.35g of gold (today a Reichsmark would be worth about
US$12.68 (using US$1,100/oz). In 1913 when the Federal
Reserve came to be one Reichsmark was worth US$0.23.
This 98% appreciation of the Reichsmark is in line with the
96% devaluation of the dollar (based on purchasing power
of US$100 in 1913 equating to US$2,250 today) which has
occurred in the same period. The largest ever bank note
issued was for 100 quintillion
(100,000,000,000,000,000,000) in 1946 Hungary, where
prices had a half life of just thirteen hours. Other nations
to suffer hyper inflation episodes include Bolivia, Argentina
and most recently Zimbabwe.

5.
What goes up must...deflating expectations
The rapid fall in demand and deleveraging that occurs
after a financial shock, such as the bursting of an asset
bubble, results in deflation. A classic example being a run
on the banking sector where debtors and shareholders
lose money that has been lent out but will not be repaid
and the subsequent reaction of the sector to increase
borrowing costs and limit the availability of credit in case
of further defaults.
Deflation is therefore an excess of capacity in the system,
as the supply of goods outpaces the supply of money.
Money is removed from a system as the value of assets
(real estate, equities etc) fall in line with demand. In
becoming scarcer money increases in value relative to
goods, causing those goods to fall in price and the
demand for cash to increase. In an environment of falling
prices, human nature dictates that cash outlays are
delayed, in the belief that prices will be lower in future
which further reduces the level of demand for goods and
increasing the amount of money in savings. As more firms
and people go bust so deflation continues, borrowing dries
up and a bull market in cash forms. In the meantime the
currency will be in increasing demand from speculators,
also betting that it will be more valuable in future. The
effects of deflation are being seen in the US where coupon
schemes are being used within communities, in place of
dollars, to ensure that discretionary 'money' spending
remains within the local market.
Less money in circulation for consumption and lending
effectively causes over capacity in the supply of goods,
which serves to further decrease prices. With the cost of
living falling, the number of firms going bust (unable to
innovate and remain competitive) and resulting high
unemployment the nation's wage bill is reduced which
further restricts the amount of cash circulating in the
economy. In such an environment of dwindling tax receipts
for governments and margins for businesses, they start to
struggle to repay the loans they incurred when their

currency was less expensive. Banks with heavy

counterparty exposure, deemed at risk of bankruptcy, are
likely to experience runs on their deposits as savers rush
to secure title over their cash. Those which fail take
further money out of the system as shareholders lose their
investment and depositors their cash. Without intervention
a fear driven deflationary spiral can risk a currency
implosion.
6.
Government XXL
Of the two economic scenarios it could be argued that
deflation is the natural path for an advancing economy, as
technological innovation cuts the costs of goods and
services. But this assumes governments retain tight fiscal
policies to ensure inflation and speculation remain under
control and unable to create financial shocks. This should
be achievable as government ought to be a zero sum
game, where tax receipts are used to fund public services
and make provisions for social welfare programmes,
supplemented by occasional and very modest borrowing
to keep the financial system flexible as receipts ebb and
flow. Inflation would thus be avoided as this would only
serve to reduce the real value of future tax receipts.
This is not however, how most governments elect to run
their budgets. The bottom line is that increasing spending,
without increasing taxes, wins votes. Unfortunately as we
have seen inflation destroys value, effectively mortgaging
current assets (including cash) to cover future public
expenditure. However, the electorate can tolerate a
modest amount of inflation, if they feel the economy is
growing on sound fundamentals and that the opportunities
for themselves and their family are improving with the
value of their assets and wages increasing in real terms.
However, while standards of living tend to improve over
time due to the deflationary effects of cheaper modern
technologies, the increases in wages and assets is
generally only nominal. Using the retail price index over
the last thirty years the value of a pound for buying goods
has been cut by 91% by an annualised inflation rate of
6.62%; what cost 100 to buy in 1969 now costs 1,230.

The US dollar has also suffered, but not as badly, with an

83% fall in value with US$100 then buying what US$587
buys today with an annualised inflation rate of 4.66%. In
the same period the S&P returned 5.9% pa, an investment
of US$100 would have grown to US$938 if placed in short
term deposits, US$1,280 if invested in the DJIA, US$2,168
if invested in gold and US$2,331 if put into longer term
deposits.
7.
Sterling effort
For more than two centuries Sterling was the world's
primary reserve currency; a role which was lost during the
twentieth century by war, economic shocks and the preeminence of the US dollar. The UK economy now only
accounts for 4% of the US$60.9 trillion global GDP,
compared to 24% for the US. UK GDP is down to 22% from
US$45k to US$35k per person, the same as Italy, 10%
below France and Germany and 23% below the US. On top
of this Sterling's AAA credibility now looks at risk of being
downgraded after its costly (315 billion) and arguably
protectionist bank rescue policies and potentially overoptimistic growth predictions from its central bank.
Including all guarantees the potential liability to UK tax
payers from the bank 'rescue' is 850 billion. Sterling, with
a borrowing cost of 4% now on its 10yr gilts, is considered
to have a risk of inflation and default which is above Italy
and Spain.
Notwithstanding the above, the City of London contributes
4% of the UK's GDP and dominates global bond markets,
accounting for over 34% of the US$4 trillion daily turnover;
more than New York and Tokyo combined (16% and 6%
respectively). From 2010 to 2020 the UK will be running a
deficit of some 200 billion, which is more than the total
annual income tax (147b pa) and corporation tax (43b
pa) receipts combined. In the meantime the elephant in
the corner is the public sector pension liability of 85% of
GDP (1.18 trillion v GDP of 1.4 trillion); the figures in the
US & Canada are 28% and 27% respectively. No surprise
that sterling investors, who hold approximately 30% of UK
liabilities, are increasingly expecting a premium for the

risk of default and the fastest moving investors are

speculating on a fiscal crisis in 2010. Like the consumers
using the 'cash for gold' companies, the UK may have to
look to sell national asset or delay spending plans in order
to sustain the lifestyle choices of the last decade. It is
fortunate that the UK has kept out of the Euro and its
flexibility to devalue in the markets and keep the country
competitive could yet prove to be the saviour of its
reserve currency status.
8.
Markets freeze over in Iceland
After its September 2008 banking collapse, Iceland with a
population of 320,000, external debt of US$50b and
shrinking GDP (down circa 10% pa) is perhaps at highest
risk from entering a deflationary depression. Its three
largest banks (Glitnir, Landsbanki (est 1885) and
Kaupthing) went into receivership and now account for
80% of the countries liabilities. Markets unwound violently;
the OMX Iceland All Share Index had 95% of its value
wiped out, hitting 380 in March 2009 from its high of 7,597
in July 2007. The six years leading up to the crash saw the
exchange return 750% from 1,005 in August 2001 .The
Krna also fell by 70% against the Euro, moving from 90 to
the Euro in January 2008 to 305 by October 2008. The
slide was only stopped when Iceland's government
intervened in the market and allowed the central bank to
introduce foreign exchange controls. Desperately in need
of financial support, Iceland voted to join the EU in July
2009.
The country, which earns 40% of its GDP from fishing, has
received loans in 2008 and 2009 of US$10.1 billion, from
the IMF (US$2.1b), Nordic states (US$2.5b) and the UK,
Holland and Germany (US$6.5b) in order for the country to
remain solvent. Interest rates are now at 11.5%, down
from 21% (December 2008) and consumer prices are still
rising at a rate of 7.5% pa, down from 18% as the
currency devalues. Funds will be applied amongst shoring
up the country's finances to paying back 2.3 billion over
fifteen years to the UK for its 7.5bn bail out of 320,000
savers with Icesave, including several UK Local Authorities

who are thought to have deposited 1b to get the

seemingly risk free high interest rates. But perhaps with
such belief in the system, auditors and rating agencies
could not comprehend that the yield actually reflected the
market's view on the chance of default. The amount to be
paid back by Iceland on behalf of its banks equates to 40%
of Iceland's annual GDP or about 11k per person. No
surprise that vast numbers of Icelandic voters have signed
a petition against it.
9.
Japan - surprisingly ahead of the curve
Japan's experience of inflation and then deflation is a good
case study in the mechanics of free market economics.
Having accumulated significant trade surpluses with a
strong and innovative manufacturing base, spare cash
started to move into assets causing them to increase in
price at a time of high demand. As prices continued to rise
through the 1980s, the newly created money in the
system fuelled casino style banking practices to provide
excessive leverage, without consideration to the risk of
default, which chased stocks and in turn real estate even
higher. People spent fortunes on small properties distant
from their jobs, just to get on the ladder.
On 29th December 1989 the Nikkei hit an all time high of
38,957.44, by October 2008 the same market had hit a 26
year low of 6,994.9, a fall of 82%. By 1991 when the
market had peaked, Japan's real estate was reportedly on
the books at US$18 trillion, approximately four times the
value of all property in the US. Prices nearly twenty years
later are still less than half their price at the peak. The
rapid deleveraging and asset sales in the flight to cash
was extenuated by the government's rapid (15 month)
increase of interest rates from 2.5% to 6% to shore up
confidence in the Yen; this resulted in the infamous
Japanese lost 1990s decade of deflation. With its currency
increasing in value, hitting exporters and the price for
goods falling at home, many of the banks which survived
the rout or which had received state support, sleepwalked
like zombies unable to make money. There were simply
too few firms to lend money to, even despite the low

borrowing rates, which would be likely to return a profit

capable of repaying the original loan. No wonder that from
1994 to 2003, the number of personal bankruptcies
reportedly rose six-fold in Japan. After over 15 years Japan,
with its large foreign reserves, is only now showing
glimpses of inflation.
10. The dollar paradox
Around 65% of global currency reserves are now held in
US$ and it is the default currency for pricing commodities.
In 1966 Alan Greenspan is reported to have commented
that in decoupling from the gold standard, there would be
no way to protect US savings from confiscation of their
buying power (through inflation & money supply). Freed
from the gold standard in 1971 the US dollar was no
longer an asset-backed security on that nation's capital,
but a leveraged mortgage-backed promissory note on its
ability to repay current and future liabilities. With low
national saving rates, the US has balanced its budget
deficit by issuing new interest yielding securities. The
present debt level is around US$11.2tr (or 79% of GDP
based on US$14.2tr), excluding real estate obligations
(circa US$5tr for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae), healthcare
and other social obligations. By 2019 US debt is projected
to hit US$18.4tr or approximately 148% of current GDP. A
quadrillion dollar's debt no longer seems like a remarkable
milestone.
Around 43% (US$4.8tr) of this debt is held by US
institutions which form part of the federal reserve and
12% is held roughly 50/50 through mutual funds and other
investors, 5% is held by US state and local governments
and a further 4% is held by private and local government
pension funds. A balance of around 30% (US$3.4tr) is
owed overseas. China, which is the largest and fastest
growing holder of foreign exchange reserves (totalling
US$1.4tr) reportedly accounts for around US$800b (23%)
of the foreign held US debt, or around 7% of total US
debts. Over 50% of China's foreign exchange reserves are
held in US$. Japan accounts for a further US$750b (21%)
of foreign owned US debt.

As the percentage of foreign ownership of US debt has

increased so has the relative amount of interest payments
leaving the US monetary system. Interest is causing the
debt to increase at a rate of over US$1 billion per day,
compared to tax receipts of approximately US$5.5 billion
per day. Of that approximately 1% of US taxpayers with
incomes above US$388k account for 40% of all income tax
collected. These high earners, many in the banking sector,
have had a difficult couple of years and their contribution
is falling.
At present it costs the US US$430 billion or about 15% of
budgeted total spending to service the interest on its
debts. Medicare and Social Security account for about 40%
of expenditure. Over the next ten years it has been
projected that, of the further US$9 trillion of additional
projected debt to be incurred, half of it will be to fund
interest obligations alone. Taking in new money to pay off
creditors has awkward parallels with Madoff's US$45b
Ponzi scheme. As anticipated in last year's letter, auditors
who failed to spot such practices are being summoned.
One is reportedly the subject of a US$2bn claim for signing
off a feeder fund, which turned out to be fully US$7.2b
short of its purported US$7.2b in assets. AIG a global
insurance company with operations in 130 countries with
74m customers was saved from collapse by a US$150b
bailout from the US tax payer who, to prevent a global
financial contagion, took a 77% stake in the firm. The
company announced the largest corporate loss in history
of US$61.7b for the year (equating to US$28m / hour) on
the back of insuring toxic 'AAA' credit default swaps. Its
AAA stock fell 99.5% from a 52 week high of US$70 hit a
low of US$0.35c capitalising it at just US$1b.
GM Mirage, the largest casino operator in Vegas, is
thought to be as much as US$14 billion in debt. In the
meantime Deutsche Bank is muscling in on the strip and
taking Casino banking to the next level by taking
ownership of the billion dollar 3,000 room Cosmopolitan
Resort & Casino in Las Vegas after its previous owner
could no longer service its US$760m debt. Vegas has gone

from boom to near bust, with 70% of homes now in

negative equity as house prices have crashed 50% from
their 2006 levels.
California, with a population of 36.7 milllion, accounts for
around 13% / US$1.8 trillion of US GDP (US$14.4 trillion),
placing it 8th in the World GDP rankings if it were a
country, above Russia (US$1.7 trillion), Brazil (US$1.6
trillion) and India (US$1.2 trillion). Despite a debt to GDP
ratio of just 4% falling tax receipts and rising
unemployment and other social costs pushed the state to
the edge, until it was unable to pay tax refunds. California
was forced to issue 37,000 IOU 'registered warrants' worth
approximately US$2b to individuals and companies. The
governor in his 2009 address stated 'Now it is time to act
decisively to bring our state back from the brink of
financial catastrophe'. The state took drastic action and
made service cuts of US$15 billion.
However, despite an inability to repay borrowings without
borrowing further the dollar continues to enjoy reserve
currency status and is a safe haven for cash on any sign of
deterioration in the global economic climate. To
understand why this is and how it might change is perhaps
the most crucial element to forming a view on how the
macro picture is going to evolve in the next twenty years,
and to better understand where the dollar may head in the
next ten to twenty years it is critical to understand the
history of the currency.
After thirty years of pre-eminence the US dollar is now in a
delicate post cold-war position, with the ability of the US
to return real value in principal and to continue to
refinance with lenders at such competitive rates by
sufficiently growing its economy, through higher taxes and
lower spending, coming into question. The purchasing
power of the net-creditor advancing economies is growing
and appetite to diversify exposure to a potential real term
fall in the value of their US dollar holdings must be
increasing while speculators benefit from the current US$
carry trade, borrowing higher yielding currencies 'risk
free'. A strong case can be made that a longer term

controlled real term depreciation of the dollar would be in

America's financial interest and may actually already be
under way.
Therefore while stock markets might flat line in the short
to medium term, with the value of earnings undermined
and as business cope with a higher cost of capital, the
trade deficit ought to improve as US goods become more
attractive to the increasing number of foreign buyers and
internal productivity is boosted as the economy adjusts to
the uncompetitive cost of imports. The BigMac index,
which uses this basic consumer staple to compare relative
purchasing power in different countries, may prove one of
the better measures of the US currency over the next few
years.
11. Beyond redemption, the end of the gold standard
The Federal Reserve was created in 1913, after runs on US
banks in 1907, as a guarantor of last resort to an
otherwise fragmented banking system and to help ensure
stable economic growth of the nation. The Federal Reserve
has the right to lend money but it is not owned by the
public nor the government but by its bank members.
However, during the depression of the 1930s, close to
40% / 3,000 US commercial banks went bust, or were
closed by regulators, and their capital reserve deficiencies
drained money out of the system. The Federal Reserve
had failed to prevent a major asset boom and the
subsequent deflationary spiral. In April 1933 the US
banned all private ownership of gold with mandatory sale
of anything over US$100 worth (approximately 5 ounces)
to be sold to the state at a value of US$20.67/oz. In 1934
the US effectively devalued their dollar by 50% by making
an ounce of gold worth US$35. Private ownership of gold
was not made legal again in the US for another 41 years
(December 1974).
In 1944 representatives from the US and 44 allied nations
gathered at Bretton Woods to agree a new monetary
order, with many of their economies strained by war and
teetering on financial collapse. The objective of the

meeting was to prevent future trade blockades, anticompetitive state subsidies, the manipulation of
currencies and the development of trade imbalances
which, in combination, could trigger economic depressions
or indeed fund future conflict. The IMF (essentially a fixed
pool of member currencies and gold), International Bank of
Reconstruction & Development and GATT (General
Agreement on Tariffs & Trade) were created as the first
global financial institutions, responsible for ensuring
adherence to the accords and with flexibility to intercede
and control revaluations and provide short term loans to
members in risk of default.
Under Bretton Woods, the value of the dollar was fixed to
gold, having accumulated significant quantities from the
forced expropriation of the 1930s and in exchange for
supplies to allied nations at that time. The dollar was
made convertible into gold, a globally recognized form of
currency, at a price of US$35.20/oz. This made the dollar
effectively as good as gold, indeed better as it paid
interest and was incredibly liquid. Other currencies were
then pegged (subject to IMF controlled revaluations) to the
dollar, effectively leveraging the amount of physical gold
backing the dollar. The gold standard was designed to be
deflationary, by preventing excessive money supply in the
system. However, there was no control on the Federal
Reserve to not create new money -- a blank cheque to
fund much of the post war prosperity. Nor did Bretton
Woods take into account that real asset value will be
created in a growing global economy, faster than gold can
be produced. It was only a matter of time before the US
had insufficient gold reserves to satisfy the conversion of
all printed and value created dollars.
The market price for gold was controlled through the
London market, where almost 80% of the world's gold was
traded. A theoretical window existed for countries to sell
their dollars for gold at US$35/oz under the fix and then
sell the gold on the open market for dollars at a higher
price. However, with gold buying and selling activities, the
market price for gold rarely moved away from the dollar
fix. This was until speculation grew that the deteriorating

US balance of payments from exporting large amounts of

printed dollars for goods and services meant its future
ability to fund all of the Put option of dollar owners for gold
in its vaults and would result in devaluation of the dollar
and a move to a higher fix for gold. During the late 1950's
the US gold reserves started to decrease as dollars were
exchanged for gold and in 1960 the market price of gold
surged to US$40/oz. In response in 1961 a gold price pool
of Central Banks was formed (US, England, West Germany,
France, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and
Luxembourg) to supply gold into the market on demand
and buy up any weakness, in order to normalize the price
at US$35.20/oz.
Sterling's forced devaluation in 1967 triggered further
demand for gold which put unbearable pressure on the
gold pool. In light of the cold war-era, the US provided
implicit military protection to ensure its members
supported and maintained the fix. In 1967 France
redeemed US$3 billion of gold and moved it to Paris.
Further increases in money supply, to fund the War in
Vietnam, put pressures on the sustainability of the gold
fix. West Germany was the first to leave the pool which
was wound up in early 1968 at great cost to its members
who had shorted gold to suppress its market price. In
August 1971 the US announced they would take the US
dollar off of the gold standard, in 1973 all currencies were
effectively free floating and from January 1975, after 42
years, gold ownership in the US was legalised.
With the subsequent explosion in money by 1980 the gold
price had rallied 2,300% from its 35$/oz fix to 850$/oz and
US interest rates had hit 20% to tackle the dollar exodus.
The US does not recognize the current market price of
gold for its 8,133 tonnes of gold (261 million ounces) in its
balance sheet. They are on the books at US$42/oz
equating to US$11 billion or 8% of the nations reserves by
value. Should the US mark-to-market, its gold would be
worth US$287 billion (assuming they have not been short
gold), and gold would constitute 70% by value of total
financial reserves of US$412 billion. Despite the closure of
the gold pool 30 years earlier the UK government

remained short gold and sold half its reserves at around

US$260/oz in 1999.
12. The currency macro picture, can you guess what it is
yet?
We are now in the eye of a financial storm of our own
making. Assets and currencies are being re-valued in
tandem, despite each impacting negatively on the other;
gold being a perfect example. The US is no longer a hyperpower but is jostling with the Euro and ASEAN trading
blocks, to remain competitive,
Notwithstanding the rhetoric, it has been critical for the
US, Eurozone and UK to devalue their state and private
liabilities and re-inflate asset values in order to bring price
stability, provoke banks to lend, companies to borrow and
consumers to spend (rather than save) cash they might
otherwise not have had. This is being achieved by
weakening the external purchasing power of their
currency, through moderate real inflation beyond the
normal growth of the economy. The cash infusion of fresh
money (150-200 billion in the UK and over US$1 trillion in
the US) and low interest rates are a dual pronged preemptive strike to stave off a Japanese style deflationary
spiral in credit markets. Interest levels in the US and UK
are presently near zero in nominal terms and negative in
real terms, failing as they are to keep pace with inflation in
the general cost of living (fuel, food etc). Interest rates are
used by central banks to discourage or encourage saving
and lending practices as their economies swing from
increasing prices (increased money supply) to decreasing
prices (growth in productivity causing a growth in net
imports).
Stock markets responded strongly in 2009 with the swing
from deflation to inflation. Even house prices are showing
nominal gains. In the US they have increased in price for
five months in a row, to the end of December 2009, taking
them back to 2003 levels. In the UK prices fell just 0.3%
during 2009. Real term rises in real estate and commercial
properties seems incredibly unlikely. The US and UK are

vocally dismissing the likelihood of significant inflation

from their 'quantitive easing' actions, pointing to the
rampant deflation of 2008 and 2009 in the value of assets
and making the case that a lost decade of deflation is a
bigger risk. However, deflation is a normal short term
post-crisis reaction, as companies cut margins and costs in
order to remain competitive and private individuals pay
down debts.
There have now been six successive quarters of net
mortgage repayments in the UK. The low-inflation outlook
does not square with actions of the administrators for the
Bank of England's pension scheme either. Reportedly it is
out of equities and heavily invested in inflation tracking
index linked gilts. The federal reserve have also recently
announced they are considering their 'exit strategy'
options from the monetary easing undertaken in 2009.
Capital flows are still heading eastward. With 50% of its
foreign exchange reserves and over 30% of its revenues
from exports to the US, China (which joined the WTO in
2001) has the largest exposure by value of any nation to a
weakening US dollar. However, as one of the most liquid
bond markets, China's holding of US treasuries equates to
just one day's average trading volume. Unfortunately the
risk of creating a fear driven 'run on the dollar' from any
statement or public act to reduce its treasury holdings
would only serve to devalue any remain holdings and the
subsequent rate rises required to install confidence in the
dollar would severely weaken the purchasing power of US
consumers to import Chinese goods. It is in China's best
interest to continue to support the dollar and the current
peg. This position is likely to change as China reaches
various inflection points where non-US demand takes preeminence over dollar downside risk.
In the three years following the ending of its fixed
exchange rate system in 2005, China allowed the / US$
exchange rate to appreciate by 21%. Since 2008 China
has kept the ratio relatively fixed (around 6.83 Yuan to the
dollar) and is under increasing pressure from the US and

other trading blocks to relax the exchange controls to

allow the Renminbi to appreciate. This would serve to
increase the competitiveness of their own economies,
without having to further debase their own currencies. A
case for appreciation of the Yuan does exist, with parallels
in how the low interests rates helped fuel real estate
bubble in Ireland with how China's rapidly growing albeit
fragile, predominately low wage, non-militant and savings
based economy is out of sync with its cost of capital from
having a cheap currency compared to the US dollar.
However, despite China's 9.6% pa GDP growth (2008: 9%)
it has resisted further revaluation, as the credit crisis
significantly reduced its volume of export (down 16.5%
over 2008, but still representing 9% of global exports, just
behind Germany at 9.1%). The exchange controls have
undoubtedly kept China competitive; by comparison since
March the free floating Brazilian Real and the South
Korean Won have gained 42% and 36% respectively
against the Yuan. A free floating Yuan would conversely
cause a foreign exchange stampede.
With over US$70 billion in sales in 2008 (US$19 billion in
2001), China was the third largest market for US
exporters. Any significant (+25%) appreciation in the
value of the Yuan will make US exports increasingly cost
competitive and conversely be harmful to Chinese
exporters. Protectionist exchange controls, trade sanctions
and copyright policies are perhaps the greatest risk to
redressing global trade imbalances in the coming years. In
the meantime China has established currency swaps with
Brazil, Argentina and several African nations as part of
their trade agreements.
There has been speculation that after just 12 years in
existence the politically driven (to avoid future
dictatorships, and their military ambitions) Euro could
replace the U.S. dollar as the world's primary reserve
currency. However, while sterling and the dollar can float
(or rather sink) competitively, to devalue their liabilities
and avoid potentially contagious sovereign-debt
implosions, the Euro with its own emerging market
liabilities, represents a blended basket of sixteen

economies and cycles.

The Euro may strengthen in the short term in relative and
real terms against other currencies, as a safe haven
investment hedge on any dollar weaknesses. However, if
the Euro appreciates significantly then the ECB will have
to be very sensitive that if misjudged its interest rate
raising policies may risk spilling over on to the streets of
Athens, Madrid, Paris, Dublin and other countries unable to
remain competitive while coping with spiralling
unemployment. In Spain unemployment has reached
19.3% (42% in the 16-24 age group). Youth unemployment
is also a major concern in Ireland, Italy and Greece at
28.4% 26.9% and 25% respectively. The fiscal shortfall in
Greece is projected to be 120% of annual GDP in 2010,
with debts of 300 billion.
With an aging population and debt levels across the
Eurozone forecast to hit 84% of GDP in 2010, well above
the 60% limit of the members 'stability pack', the Euro has
its own risks to deal with. The Euro therefore has a
systemic 'risk of collapse' factor that the dollar does not;
the richer Eurozone members may simply lose appetite at
some point to continue to bail out the poorer and perhaps
less well managed PIGS (Portugal, Ireland Greece and
Spain).
After the current volatile period, where markets became
almost dysfunctional, the major advancing creditor nations
may seek to reverse the trade of the last thirty years and
diversify their US$ exposure, possibly through a Keynesian
style global IMF managed reserve currency backed by a
basket of currencies (including gold) with special drawing
rights. In the meantime it is likely that those countries with
significant natural energy and industrial resources, and
therefore relatively shielded from the banking crisis will
have the best performing currencies in 2010. Russia,
which has the world's third largest currency reserves
(US$443b), has almost 50% in US$, 40% in Euro, 10% in
Sterling and 2% in Yen, and has announced its intention to
diversify some of its portfolio into Canadian dollars.

The next fifty years may be dominated by the growth of

trading block currencies to work alongside the dollar. With
40% of the world's proven oil reserves the gulf states of
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar have recently
announced their intention to launch and operate a new
single petro-block currency, which may be pegged to a
basket of currencies. Effectively backed by oil, the
currency could potentially reduce the region's perceived
dependence on the dollar. In 2010 the ASEAN Economic
Community (China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand, Brunei and the Philippines (to be joined by
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Burma over the next five
years) will form a free trade zone covering 1.9 billion
people which perhaps one day will also welcome Japan,
Korea and Australia.
It is no wonder the risk of default is rising and the value of
currencies is falling, as the real (going down) and nominal
(going up) value of goods and services return to parity,
and hence why we are witnessing the price of gold and
equity markets 'going up' in tandem.
13. Back to basics...and gold
In this letter we have taken the time to study the
philosophical battle between paperbugs and goldbugs and
explored how range of different factors impact markets
and governments. Specifically how human self-interest has
a tendency to encourage inflationary asset bubbles, which
culminate in currency debasement and occasional periods
of rapid asset and currency deflation. Examining their
interplay during the 20th & 21st Century has hopefully
helped provided further context to the calamitous market
crash of 2008, the rebound of 2009 and how the economic
cycle may develop over the next five to ten years.
Clearly despite the market rebound of 2009, fuelled by
confidence that the supply of new money and emergency
support of selected banks would prevent a deflationary
crash, corporate and personal balance sheets remain in a
perilous state. The US, UK AND Euro zone face a similar
quandary to those of Japan when its banks were caught in

a liquidity trap. Banks are finding it increasingly difficult to

find firms to lend to who will make resilient profits in 2010,
while also trying to build up their own capital reserves.
Default risks have gone up, which would normally equate
to higher loan premiums, however, the deleveraging of
2008 and early 2009 has caused firms and individuals to
be unable or unwilling to take on additional expensive
debts for the foreseeable future.
Based on our analysis above a hyper inflationary spiral in
the US and UK does not look likely, due to the continued
deflationary effects of business failures and debt
repayment, which is reducing the amount of money in free
circulation. Additionally the 'reserve currency' X factor, will
continue to absorb large amounts of the excessive money
printing of Dollars, Euros and Sterling.
Devaluation and the rebalancing of global growth are
likely to continue to remain core themes for 2010. The
Dollar, Euro and Sterling will fight to remain globally
competitive by reducing their debt burdens. As output
continues to fall in these areas, as companies adapt to
falling order books, the real cost of living looks set to rise
with inflation in energy and the potential upward
revaluation of exporter nations, primarily China. Wage
inflation may follow driven by falling consumer purchasing
power in. This will perhaps only be counterbalanced by an
environment of rising unemployment and pension costs,
dwindling corporate and income tax receipts and the
effects of industrial inaction.
After the self-perpetuating capital markets bull market of
1980 to 2000 and the pull back of the last decade, in the
presence of low yielding cash and bonds, stock markets
have recouped a significant amount of their losses and
seem likely to continue to maintain their current levels
albeit with increased volatility through 2010. Further
significant rises seem unlikely, as the easiest money has
now been made. Global growth propelled by the
demographics, industrialisation and liberalisation of the
ASEAN economic area as well as India, Brazil and Russia
should cause the dollar to strengthen during the year,

certainly against Sterling and the Euro, the latter having

major internal structural issues to work through. However,
the dollar is likely to fall in relative value against
currencies heavily backed by commodities, such as
Canada and Australia and an upward revaluation of the
renminbi against the dollar of perhaps 10-15% should also
not be ruled out. Yields on Sovereign debts will need to
increase, to take account of their latent domestic
economic issues and likely debasement against the value
of physical assets.
The IT revolution of the last twenty years and increasingly
flexible movement of goods and labour will ensure
opportunities are developed faster and more cost
effectively; causing the advanced and advancing
economies to develop faster than during previous cycles
touched on in this letter. However, in the absence of price,
wage or currency exchange controls, central banks are
likely to face major dilemmas in 2010 and 2011.
Specifically, how to raise interest rates in 2010 or 2011 in
order to tackle self-imposed loose-monetary policy
induced inflation in the backdrop of real rising energy and
other import costs as the advancing economies continue
to increases in consumption and wealth, without
bankrupting their already over indebted treasuries and
mortgage paying citizens. Cuts in public spending will not
be warmly received by many of the electorate, escpecially
those who rely directly or indirectly on the state for their
income. Therefore we continue to see potential risks
through 2010-2011 for swift and severe currency shocks,
as safe haven cash positions are unwound chaotically
amplifying market supply. Short term defensive rate rise
strategies may trigger a wave of new bankruptcies and job
losses.
What does this mean for gold? In the most basic terms the
supply of currencies is exceeding the supply of new gold,
with producers struggling to make new major discoveries
and significant returns on capital from existing operations.
Meanwhile, as China encourages its people to buy gold
and silver, governments of advanced economies are trying
to get their citizens to increase their consumption and

take on debts. This all suggests that the nominal price of

gold will continue to rise. The media have yet to fully buy
into the current gold bull market or understand that gold is
a form of currency, which can be used to measure real
value. The public and many in the market who have only
experienced the money printing driven asset inflation era
since 1971, see gold rise and the Cash-My-Gold adverts as
a curious oddity to be greeted with light-hearted cynicism.
As a barometer this suggests the gold price has further to
go, albeit with short term volatility, before coming under
classical market deleveraging and speculative selling
pressure.
While recognising that a gold bubble could (and perhaps is
likely to) eventually develop on further economic
calamities, speculation fuelled by central bank buying or
recognition that most other assets are trending down in
real terms, as a general rule so long as people who
consider that the stock market will rise are termed
'investors' and those that gold will rise are 'bugs' we will
remain positive on the outlook for gold and junior gold
mining equities.
The world has entered the China-growth era and
commodities in general are likely to remain one of the
best asset classes in 2010, as a hedge on real dollar
debasement and for their exposure to the rampant
conventional economic growth and increased spending on
infrastructure of the advancing economies. This theme
looks likely to continue through 2011 and 2012. Platinum,
palladium and rhodium markets should do well, on the
back of increasing autocatalytic demand and given that
some 60-70% of these metals comes from South Africa,
which is heavily reliant on labour and energy giving rise to
potentially significant supply side risks. Demand for
industrial metals and minerals will also benefit as similar
supply side constraints are quietly building up. With
demand for clean energy increasing, the price of uranium
should also perform well in 2010 and 2011. To ensure
continued competitive domestic supply, the advancing
economies seem likely to impose tariffs on the import and
export of commodities. India has already imposed of a 5%

duty on iron ore exports.

In terms of macro-economics, the events of the last
twenty four months have proven a fascinating and
perhaps once in a lifetime experience, indeed the events
are still far from played out. We shall continue to seek to
position Altus Strategies to create and seize the highest
quality opportunities in the resources sector.
End

This material is provided for informational purposes only.

Nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting
or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a
security. No recommendation or advice is being given as
to whether any investment or strategy is suitable for a
particular investor. Information is obtained from sources
deemed reliable, but there is no representation or
warranty as to its accuracy, completeness or reliability. All
information is current as of the date of this material and is
subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions
expressed may not reflect those of Altus Strategies Ltd as
a whole.
October 01, 2008
Updated: October 2008

Dear Shareholder, This is my second annual letter to you

and I am pleased to report that your Company has made
strong progress in its first year. We founded ALTUS to
incubate, grow and invest in opportunities in the natural
resource sector, through a 'Company of Companies'
strategy; providing our subsidiaries with finance,
operational and technical expertise, strategic direction as
well as corporate and administrative support all under one
roof.
Progress Update
Commodity Cycle - still on track?

Debit Opportunity
The next big thing: Stagflation
Gold BRIC Road
Return of the GOLDBACK
Progress update
Our decision to establish ALTUS reflected the strong
outlook in demand for metals, in particular gold as an
asset, in tandem with a paucity of significant economic
discoveries in recent years. Our team has grown, with the
appointment of a number of talented professionals and
senior advisers, with wide ranging experience which puts
us in a strong position in what has become a very weak
market.
Our model is to create value from making economic
discoveries in emerging markets and to invest in junior
resource companies that are undervalued by the market.
We have evaluated numerous projects in the last twelve
months and selected those opportunities which we
consider have the optimum risk / reward ratio for
shareholders funds.
Four subsidiary companies have been established in the
last year; namely, Arabian Gold Corporation plc, Avance
Gold plc, Asian Gold Corporation plc and ALTUS Resource
Capital Ltd.
Arabian Gold plc(www.arabian-gold.com)
Arabian Gold is a 50:50 Joint Venture company with a 'first
mover' strategy for the discovery of economic gold
deposits in the under explored Achaean age Arabian
Shield. The Company is focussed on the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, due to its highly prospective geology, favourable
mining code (2005) and limited competition for ground.
Over 1,000 mapped ancient gold and copper-gold
workings attest to the prospectivity and provide a useful
guide to the key districts on a fragment of craton which is

comparable in size to that of western Australia.

Our joint venture partner is a highly respected mining and
exploration service provider, with over sixteen years of
operating experience in the Kingdom. With their support
and under the stewardship of Drew Craig (ALTUS's
Principal Geologist and COO of Arabian Gold) we have
commenced reconnaissance exploration with encouraging
initial results.
A shield-wide geographic information system (GIS) has
been compiled in order to define additional target areas.
Within the next six months, Arabian Gold intends to have
completed first-pass exploration across its licences and to
have submitted further licence applications on the basis of
the GIS driven target generation.
Avance Gold plc (www.avancegold.com)
Avance has been established to explore for gold and base
metals in sub Saharan West Africa. Local companies have
been incorporated and licence applications have been
submitted in Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Nigeria. We
consider that these countries offer significant discovery
potential.
Asian Gold Corporation plc (www.asiangoldcorp.com)
We have established Asian Gold to develop opportunities
in Central Asia, initially focussed on Kazakhstan. We are in
discussions with a number of companies in respect of
developing opportunities there.
The next twelve months
We intend to remain private, unless or until the merits in a
public listing become convincing. However, we recognise
that the shares of our subsidiaries may need to be listed in
due course, in order to provide them with the rigour of
market accountability and a platform from which their
management teams can independently finance and grow
the businesses. As discussed in my letter last year, we feel

that London's PLUS market has the most appropriate

balance of costs and benefits for an initial public listing for
mineral exploration companies capitalised at less than
20m.
We look forward to updating you on the progress of our
subsidiaries through our quarterly shareholder newsletter.
Commodity Cycle - still on track?
Despite strong growth in the last five years, commodity
prices remain relatively low in real terms as they emerge
from a 20 year bear market that ended in 2002. We see
the fundamentals for most commodities remaining strong
as they return to fair value driven by a number of factors.
The most significant factor is the demand for raw
materials and energy from the emerging economies,
which represent over 50% of the world's population and
which are, while exposed, somewhat more insulated to the
current financial crisis than the developed world. Growth
of the emerging markets has helped drive crude oil and
copper consumption to record levels, while the paucity of
new world-class mines coming on stream has created a
supply side vacuum. In the meantime there is growing
demand for gold, as a reserve asset against inflation of
western currencies and destruction of equity.
Last year we predicted that greed would overtake fear as
the cycle matures, resulting in higher valuations for well
managed juniors. We are clearly not there yet. Against the
backdrop of strong fundamentals, junior resource equities
(defined as being capitalised at less than 50m) are
suffering a vicious and protracted bear market with
redemption and fear driven selling by institutional and
private investors respectively, with little regard to
underlying asset value. This could be seen as a natural
pull back by investment managers who bought over priced
mining stocks as a proxy to the commodity 'boom', but
with little regard to, or understanding of, their underlying
asset value.

The S&P GSCI commodity index gained more than 40

percent in the first half of 2008. However, the July and
August sell off left the top 20 mining equities globally
US$700 billion smaller in value. The Reuters-Jeffries CRB
index of 19 raw materials posted its best first half since
1973, but has retraced and is down 22% since June,
approaching its biggest quarterly loss since 1956. The
GSCI recently enjoyed its biggest ever 3 day gain, up
8.4%, as short selling speculators perhaps exit the sector.
The number of junior companies trading at substantial
discounts to their fundamental value and facing cash-flow
difficulties is, we expect, set to increase through 2009 and
into 2010. These companies will have little option but to
undertake highly discounted equity or unattractive
convertible issues in order to stay afloat. There are already
60 companies suspended on the TSX-V, the highest
number since 2002 and average TSX-V financing has
reportedly shrunk year on year from CA$1.8m to $0.48m;
cash is most certainly now king.
On the bright side, the bull market for resource equities
only started in early 2000 and the shortest bull market for
commodities reportedly lasted 15 years. The current
indiscriminate market conditions therefore represent an
opportune window to buy the future 'winners' at knock
down prices. However, not all stocks which are down 80%
over the last year are 'buys'. The first stage of the
resource "super-cycle" saturated markets with a number
of speculative Cinderella companies; typically headed up
by teams who gave a whole new meaning to the term
'cash burn'. We believe that successful companies will be
recognised and re-rated, and perhaps aggressively
consolidated. It is from buying these companies during the
next twelve months where potential for the largest gains
exists.
Debit Opportunity
In last year's letter we agreed with predictions of a
reversal in economic fortunes for 2008 and 2009,
catalysing a hyper inflationary environment, where oil

would trade well above $100 (high of US$147.27 reached

on July 11th) with rising food and other living costs, coincident with a bursting of the real estate bubble. Well,
prices in the UK are reportedly falling at the fastest pace
since the 'great' depression. Consumers in the US and
Europe are struggling to keep their heads above water.
They are fighting negative equity in their homes on the
one hand, the rampant inflation of living costs and the
eroding of savings on the other. If not already, with less
and less government debt available for economically
stimulating infrastructure projects, these economies are
teetering on a now seemingly inevitable recession.
Banker's bluff
The plight of the consumer is a function of a decade of low
cost manufacturing and outsourcing from China and India
creating a strong deflationary effect on the cost of goods
and services consumed in the 'West'. The perfect storm
was completed by Japan exporting intoxicatingly high
proof, interest free loans, to fund its own protracted
economic recovery. Property owners in the US and Europe
enjoyed a double dip of rampant asset inflation and low
living costs; the fact their real estate 'gains' were a
product of banks leveraging on an unsustainable Yen carry
trade did not occur to many as they upgraded their
houses, cars, lifestyles and real estate portfolios.
Governments enjoyed booming income, stamp duty and
capital gains tax receipts and turned a blind eye to the
growing debts of its citizens and excesses of the
'investment' as well as high street banks. The catchy title
of Bear Stearns' 'High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies
Enhanced Leverage Master Fund' was if nothing else a red
flag. As Warren Buffet reportedly remarked, 'bankers on
Wall Street found increasingly sophisticated ways of losing
money, when the old ways worked just fine'.
Nightmare on Maul street
The wheels came off the virtuous monetising cycle when it

became clear the assets backing the sub prime and Alt-A
loans (the next one up, but still those without any
supporting documentation) were actually worth much less
than the initial loan. Wall Street investment banks as well
as high street commercial lenders found themselves
incredibly exposed; inter bank lending dried up and the
race to the exit was on, chased out the door by short
sellers betting who would make it out alive. Bundles of
their toxic IOUs and complexly intertwined derivatives
which were quietly being stockpiled deep in the
accounting vaults of the major banks, hidden from
shareholder view, with no buyers willing to reprocess them
are only just being declared. $506,000,000,000 has
officially been written off by the banks to date. Quite what
the final total cost will be and what the erstwhile
glamorous world of banking will look like from hereon is
not clear. The tin is being passed around to shareholders,
as even the biggest names fight to 'keep the lights on'.
Discounted rights issues for the banks already total some
$352,000,000,000. Those with cash, able and willing to
lend or invest are firmly in the driving seat with numerous
opportunities to grow through acquisition of heavily
discounted financial assets. What can the auditors who
signed off on the accounts and managed to misjudge
balance sheet risk by billions of dollars possibly say to
excuse themselves? Perhaps some of them will be
included in the inevitable litigious back lash.
We are now in the eye of a financial storm. News coverage
has moved on from subprime borrowers to the NINJA
banks. Defunct firms such as Northern Rock, Bearn
Stearns, Lehman Brothers, HBOS, Wachovia and Bradford
and Bingley, with No Income, No Jobs and no Assets. Three
of the big five on Wall Street have folded or been acquired
so far while the remaining two, Morgan Stanley and
Goldman Sachs have elected to retire from classical high
leverage, 'light touch regulated' investment banks to
being commercial banks. Lehman was 158 years old and
the fourth biggest bank on Wall Street. It survived the
1929 crash yet became the world's biggest bankruptcy at
$613bn. JP Morgan and Wells Fargo are trading like volatile

penny stocks, threatening to test all time highs as their

competitors disappear. HBOS and Merrill Lynch made
somewhat more elegant exits, the latter taken over for
just $50bn by the perhaps appropriately named Bank of
America.
What the remaining banks, insurers and investment firms
will have left when they show each other their mortgage
backed security hands is not yet known. The surviving
banks will be those who also hold deposits, have limited
counter party exposure and probably the fewest litigious
shareholders. The 'Universal Banks', such as JPMorgan,
Bank of America and Barclays, will have significant sway in
the markets, having eaten or outlived their competitors.
However, there will be less business to be fought over as
economies shrink and clients look inward.
There is now a systemic distrust between the banks and
many more look set to fail; about 117 are on the US watch
list of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Seventy
five years after being split from deposit-taking lenders, the
investment banking model has been brought crumbling
down by excessive short term leverage, not share selling.
They will now be allowed to put their depositor's cash at
risk again, but tightly regulated by the Fed with more
stringent capital reserve requirements. The short term
leverage enabled hugely inflated profits to be made and
led to the bonus culture. However, the exuberant days of
the $50m pay pack are long over.
Japanese banks such as Nomura and Mitsubishi (buying up
to 20% of Morgan Stanley) as well as the Chinese banks,
holders of vast accumulations of cash and other home
grown assets are on the ascendency and will continue to
claim their prizes from Wall Street.
Federal reserve (non JORC)
Stock markets around the world are presently in fear
driven turmoil and credit markets have seized up as
participants second guess their potential exposure to write

downs and stocks are liquidated to find 'safer' investments

or simply cover off losses elsewhere. The S&P 500 recently
experienced its biggest one day drop (8.8%) since the
1987 crash and the Dow recorded its biggest ever one day
loss of 778 points (7%). A total of $1,000,000,000,000 was
wiped off the value of US equities. Buyers are
optimistically assuming the bottom is in sight or simply
can't resist the temptation to take potential advantage of
the mayhem. The Russian market has been suspended for
three trading days and $44bn injected into its three
biggest banks as a backstop. It looks like the end to
financial markets as we knew them; but much heavier falls
must still be a clear possibility over the next eighteen
months, with a few dead dog bounces on the way.
The US market is no longer 'free' or even cheap, costing
the US tax payer as much as $1.6tr. The US Treasury lost
its first attempt to release $700b from the Senate for the
Troubled Asset Relief Programme or so called 'bad bank',
which would fit in perfectly on Wall Street. In the
meantime the Federal Reserve has been on an
unprecedented nationalization binge in order to create a
strategic break to a potential financial wild fire.At least
$900 billion has been underwritten by the American tax
payer so far; picking up a 79.9% of AIG (for $85b and
bearing a less than AAA 8.5% coupon above LIBOR), $29b
for Bear Stearns, the interbank lending facility for
'mortgage-backed securities' has consumed a further $150
billion, $300 billion has gone to the Federal Housing
Administration to insure loans for troubled borrowers and
last but not least $200b to backstop Fannie and Freddie;
the latter established in response to the Great
Depression.The US Treasury has perhaps only $500b in
treasury bills left in its armoury but has more financial
obligations than assets and is paying 5% on its loan notes
and lending out dollars at just 2%. It is said that it takes a
small hole to sink a big ship, but in this instance a big hole
will do just fine too.
IOU and U and...

The US now has its highest public debt burden since 1954,
standing at $37k for every man, woman and child and it is
the highest in the UK since 1970. Notwithstanding this,
some in Washington will see its $1.5tr intervention as an
investment, assuming the loans are repaid or are later
bought back. This amount however, is colossal equivalent
to seven times Africa's entire debt burden (US$200bn).
How much of this 'investment' will actually prove bankable
is questionable. One thing is clear, the upstream bailout is
not going to have a significant impact on the US$10.5tr
downstream housing market, of which $0.8tr is sub prime
and $1tr is ALT-A. The crisis is hitting middle America hard.
In July alone 272,000 homes received a foreclosure notice
(55% up on July 2007), accounting for 6.41% of all sales
and accelerating at its fastest rate in three decades. Of
these, prime defaults accounted for a shocking 23%,
against 36% for subprime.
The next big thing: Stagflation
The aftershocks from the credit 'quake' will be felt for
several years to come. To keep their economies alive,
governments are desperate to quietly devalue the debts of
their citizens and inflate away the worst of the housing
bubble; those with net savings, well they can count
themselves lucky they don't have any debts. If they enter
recession then, as with Japan, in the absence of sufficient
hard currency tax receipts and the ballooning public debts,
wave after wave of corporate bankruptcies and a
contraction of credit may prove to be an anchor to their
economies for years to come as the defaults on loans will
take a few years to work through especially as the criteria
for credit continue to rise.
Japanese style stagflation seems imminent, a
paradoxically co-existing inflationary recessionary
environment, where vast amounts of banknotes are
injected into the economy to ensure firms continue to
borrow and invest rather than contract.In essence
stimulating inflation during a time of slow or no growth,

rising unemployment, reduced market competition,

reduced cash creation, and likely unsustainable wage
demands. Assets are and will continue to deflate in
nominal value, as the number of buyers dries up while
consumer goods become more expensive in real and
nominal terms. Inflation in the UK has hit a 16 year high,
and a 25 year high for the cost of imports. The rate of
deflation in assets, notably houses, equities and
commodities must also be near an all time high. Japan was
where we are now 15 years ago; last year house prices
there rose for the first time since 1992. They have only
just started falling in the US and Europe.
The yen'd of the world as we knew it
Unemployment looks certain to rise, initially from fall out
of the banking sector. All companies and their equities are
potentially at risk, be it gremlins on the internal balance
sheets or a recession in their sales. Early casualties caught
in the immediate cross fire of fuel inflation, lack of credit
and a consumer spending crisis are the airlines. Twenty six
have gone bust in the US this year alone and a further
36,000 jobs in the industry are planned to be shed there in
the next three months. The UK has lost Zoom, SilverJet
and XL. Auto manufactures are likely to be the next to
come under pressure as consumers find credit more costly
and expectations are adjusted in line with reduced
confidence in their household income. Year on year sales
for Ford are already down 35% based on September 2008
figures. It will be interesting to see the year on year
numbers for house builders when they come through.
General Motors is now trading at the same price it was
fifty years ago and risks being down graded, making
future finance even more expensive to secure.
National banks and governments are betwixt and between
in how to prevent their real GDP falling; under pressure to
raise interest rates and cut government spending in order
to curb inflation while under equal pressure to lower rates
and provoke business activity or at least prevent its
collapse, cut unemployment and increase revenue at the

exchequer. The take over of HBOS by Lloyds TSB has put

perhaps 70,000 jobs at risk in the UK, of which maybe at
least half will be lost. The effect on the real economy of
widespread forced redundancies is hard to imagine. One
implication is that the dollar as a reserve currency may
simply be trashed. Sterling has already dropped the most
in one day since 1993.
Soft and energy commodity prices have been driven
largely by speculation, be it wheat, oil or uranium. There
are evidently not four times as many consumers to justify
a doubling in some cases quadrupling of prices. The
impact of the inflationary shockwaves on economic
activity is however a side show to the macro economic
crisis created by the complacency of governments to the
credit bubble of the last decade, which they chose not to
cool with rate rises, but rather kept rates low and ignited a
casino style credit derivative boom with excessive liquidity
injected into the system effectively devaluing banknotes.
Highly leveraged M&A activity also served to deplete
competition and allow firms to increase prices while
cutting costs, taking competition out of the market place.
super spiral
Until recently it seemed that a debasing fiat currency
grand prix was underway, with G8 countries having loose
inflationary monetary policies to reduce the real value of
their debts, keep exporters afloat and thereby keep their
economies ticking along. This has been brought to a
crashing halt as investors have moved on from looking for
papier-mch(c) growth to protecting the true value of
their physical assets. It took the short sellers to expose to
the world that investment and commercial banks like the
proverbial emperor were totally naked exposed to each
other's pyramid style lending activities, hidden behind
revered reputations which took decades to build. The
regulators in the US and UK won't let such a financial
scandal be revealed again; they have banned the
speculative short sellers from hounding the truth out of
the complex balance sheets of the 'blue chip' institutions.
No ban however on the speculative long buyers, who

forced prices ever higher bought on leverage, using cash

they did not own. HBOS had only 3% of its stock on loan
before the company was taken out by Lloyds.
It remains to be seen how relatively resilient the markets
will prove in the medium term, due to governments
picking up the cheques. However, the real economic
consequences of the bail outs and takeovers will be with
the already highly taxed consumers, the ultimate
counterparty, for many years. For now the media and
public seem transfixed by the brilliant white light from the
financial implosion, onlookers to a 50% increase in vacant
office space in the City over the last year. Tsunami scale
shock waves have, however, yet to rush out across the
real economy in the form of job losses and asset
devaluation, nor has the backlash begun on their
governments' use of taxes set aside for retirement,
education and healthcare to bail out what is popularly
seen as an irresponsible financial service sector. They are
lapping against the Irish shores, where unemployment is
up a staggering 49.5% on last years figure to 5.8%
(240,000 unemployed).
The hope is that a few trips to the cash machine and
calmly buying up the excessive private sector will
stimulate sufficient confidence and economic productivity
that national debts can be repaid from future tax receipts.
However, headline inflation is far higher than official
statistics represent and governments should be steering a
path to low cost energy supplies, ensure sufficiently low
interest rates for generating appetite to borrow, use fiscal
policies to cut the tax burden and increase purchasing
power and restrict devaluation of their banknotes through
overuse of the printing press. However, interest rates look
set to be hiked in response to an impending wage
inflationary spiral on order to underpin some value in their
currencies. Brazil has started its fight with inflation; a
number of rises this year have taken taking their interest
rates to 13.75%. Double digit interest rates may become
more common place.
China has recently cut its rates to 7.2% for the first time in

six years in order to provoke their economy which looks at

risk from stalling with inflation cooling and export demand
falling, so far the Shanghai Composite Index is off 60%.
We can expect the Yuan to appreciate in value against
other economies, devaluing the real value of their holding
in long term US treasury notes and making a long term
increase in gold reserves as an attractive hedge against
further real term dollar devaluation, short term covering
short positions. In the meantime the Yuan had its first
monthly loss against the dollar since May 2006, on
speculation that weaker global demand may prompt the
government to limit currency gains and protect exporters.
Ironically a low dollar / high yuan carry trade may work to
support leverage driven growth in China.
Gold BRIC road
In last year's letter we discussed how the US consumer,
alone representing 21.3% of global GDP, was a potential
slow wagon to the locomotive BRIC economies of Brazil,
Russia India and China which represent 21.16% of global
GDP (2.83%, 3.22%, 4.34% and 10.77% respectively).
Projections for growth in GDP to 2050, describe a new
economic world order. Notwithstanding the current issues,
the US economy is projected to grow considerably ($14tr
to $35tr), while the other G8 countries are expected to
achieve less spectacular growth (around 150%). China will
leapfrog the G8 to become the world's largest economy
(from $3.2tr to $45tr), knocking the US into second place.
India will have a meteoric rise from being smaller than
Italy, to become the world's third largest economy (from
US$1.2tr to US$27.5tr) and to twice the US economy
today. Brazil and Russia are also set to grow aggressively
(up 457% and 426% to $6tr and $5.5tr respectively).
We are currently seeing that despite current account
surpluses and substantial reserves the BRIC economies
may be dramatically slowed by the US brakes going on
hard, but it does not look like they will be totally derailed.
In the next couple of years we should find out if, fuelled by
domestic consumption, they can decouple completely.

The economies of the G8 are at a complex juncture. As

described above the US is facing its biggest financial crisis
since 1929. Asset values are falling in real prices,
government are burdened by increasing corporate debts,
dwindling tax receipts and their corporations are suffering
squeezed margins. Wage and price inflation must be
controlled, yet governments are almost powerless to spark
growth without aggravating the spiral further. The bail
outs of the banks and other financial firms, most acutely in
the US are causing public debt levels to soar in relation to
their GDP, if not yet quite approaching Japanese (200%)
proportions.
Impressive Stats

In the meantime the BRIC economies are by all metrics

experiencing strong domestic driven and energy export
value creation. Russia is now the world's largest energy
exporter and second largest oil exporter after Saudi
Arabia.
Goldman Sachs has estimated that by 2045 there will be
an estimated three billion new middle class consumers in
China and India; to put this in perspective this is almost
ten times the size of the US population today. China's
urban population, which has more English speakers than
the US, is increasing at the rate of 30m / year (four cities
the size of London). By 2010 it is estimated that the
country will have over 50 cities with over 2m people
(compared to four cities in the USA) with estimates of over
50,000 skyscrapers to be built in the next 20 years. To
service these cities, 48 new commercial airports are being
built and the equivalent of the UK's annual power grid
(70GW) is being added to supply each year.
Personal wealth is being amassed at the rate of $25b per
month (equivalent to the GDP of Ireland), there are
already over 345,000 dollar millionaires in the communist

republic. The country has over 200 million broadband

internet and 600 mobile phone users, the latter growing at
9 million per month. At present less than 4% of the
population own a car (27 million cars), which is an
equivalent percentage to the US in 1915. Car sales are
projected to balloon with 110 million new cars to be
bought and sold by 2020 (presently 135m and 30m in the
US and UK respectively).
Return of the Goldback
In order to perfectly hedge themselves against a likely
gradual but potentially sudden devaluation of the dollar,
elevated energy dependence and the appreciation of real
assets from exposure we would expect significant central
bank gold purchases from hereon as part of move away
from dollar to a 'multi polar' currency reserve strategy. The
US reserves are presently around $250 billion, of which
78.2% is held by value as gold which gives an indication to
their underlying economic principals. By way of
comparison, despite its vast $1.5 trillion reserves and
significant counter party dollar exposure, China reportedly
has only 1% of its reserves held in gold. The average goldto-total reserves ratio of all G8 members is 36%. If the
BRIC countries were to increase their holdings to this
average level, perhaps in partial flight from the uncertain
future relative value of currency reserves, it would require
central bank purchases of around 33,000t (or just over a
billion ounces). China would require 21,000t (675m
ounces) alone, equivalent to approximately 9 years of
total global production. To place these figures into
perspective, total global central bank gold reserves
currently total 29,800t (950m ounces).
Investment demand in H1 soared, up nearly nine fold year
on year according to GFMS who predict a 38% increase for
the year to 778t, with demand in East Asia doubling. Aside
from governments reverting to buying gold as a hedge
against a US economic and US dollar calamity, investment
banks, their clients and sovereign wealth funds will also be
buying gold to seek the same protection from inflation and

other market risks to their assets. In the second quarter of

2008 gold demand reached new highs of $21.2 billion up
9% on the same period in 2007. This is despite demand
for jewellery falling dramatically 24% to 504t, down 47%
to 118t in India and down 30% to 33t in the US in the
same period, due to higher prices and lower consumer
spending power. In the meantime demand for gold
jewellery in China rose 2%. Hedge books also continue to
be unwound, with buying in the market to deliver against
contracts, (GFMS estimated 250t) and fresh hedging is
limited as gold miners firmly believe that higher prices can
be achieved for their shareholders.
Country
Gold (tonnes)
% reserves
China
600.0
1.00
India
357.7
3.30
Japan
765.2
2.10
Russia
457.9
2.40

United States
8,133.5
78.20
Germany
3417.4
66.30
France
2562.3
59.40
Italy
2451.8
68.10
United Kingdom
310.3
14.80
Canada
3.4
0.20
Average (G8)
36.44

Mine production is coming under pressure, down 2.2Moz

(70t) or equivalent to 6% in the first half of 2008. Margins
are squeezed from cost inflation (20% higher cash costs in
H1 2008) royalty payments and low grading, in the
established mining districts. The emerging producers are
in Russia and China (the latter being the worlds largest
gold producer with 12% of supply). 2008 global production
is estimated to be 2,422 tons, the lowest since 1996.
Central bank sales are also down, so far by around 26%
this year and estimates suggest a possible 46% for the
year, as the signatories to the Washington Accord hold
fire. Notably the Swiss who hold 1,064t (38% of national
reserves) have closed their sale programme. Gold on loan
has also seen a marked decrease, due to lower yields and
deemed higher counter party risk.
China: what's the pig deal
In February China entered the year of the Golden Pig, the
first for sixty years. The year is fabled to bring with it good
fortune and is celebrated with the buying of gold.
Certainly those who bought gold in February can already
celebrate a small increase in their fortunes.
China's economy remains small relative to US
Statistics should rarely be taken at face value. However,
those in respect of the economic growth, material
consumption and energy demand of Brazil, Russia, India
and China ("BRIC ") are phenomenal if even half accurate.
China's economy is now the world's third largest but still
remains far smaller than that of the US. The IMF estimate
the Chinese economy will expand by almost 12%, six
times the rate in the US, and that growth will account for
one third of global growth in 2007 (India 12% and the US
9%). China now consumes 50% of the worlds iron ore,
used in steel production. Around 75% of China's blistering
rate of growth is being driven by rampant supply to their
domestic market and is fuelling significant global demand
and prices rises for natural resources. Such episodes of
growth have been experienced before (Germany, Japan

and Taiwan) albeit not on such a scale.

Internal supply driving GDP and reserve growth
The average income of the almost one billion Chinese who
live in the provinces is estimated to be half that of city
dwellers; since the 1980s over 120m Chinese are
estimated to have moved from the provinces attracted by
the higher wages. There are now over 220m people
working in manufacturing in China (almost four times the
population of the UK) and over 20 million on-line
businesses. The wealth effect has already created at least
300,000 US dollar millionaires and 108 billionaires (up
from 15 in 2006) in communist China. However, although
internal demand is growing rapidly it still has a way to go,
with only 36% of GDP attributed to household
consumption compared to 70% in the US.
The rate of growth in China is reasonable given its starting
point. Its per capita GDP for its 1.3bn people is only 4%,
and its output only 25% of that of the US. China now has
the world's largest financial reserves from its trade
empire, standing at 1.43 trillion dollars. These reserves are
increasing (before interest) at the phenomenal rate of
more than a million dollars a minute, or $42 billion every
six weeks (equivalent to the UK's total financial reserves).
An innovative state owned vehicle for some of the excess
cash being thrown off is the $200 billion China Sovereign
Wealth Fund, which will be investing outside China under
the banner of the 'China Investment Corporation Ltd'. It
will be no surprise if the fund invests in natural resource
companies, on which the country is somewhat dependent.
This will add a new dimension to the drivers of M&A
activity of the big cap mining companies in the years to
come. The potential tie up of Rio and BHP is likely to be
just the start. That is if China, perhaps the largest client of
both (it buys 20% of BHP's output) does not improve the
party. By buying interests in both.
In the meantime China's corporations, albeit quasi state
enterprises, are already taking on the world, and winning;
PetroChina (86% state owned) now reigns supreme with a

one trillion dollar valuation, roughly four times that of BP.

Earnings will, however, need to accelerate to catch its dotcom beating P/E above 55. PetroChina seems a steal in
comparison to Alibaba, which at a P/E of 315 is a good old
fashioned dotcom. In an environment where the Yuan is
almost certainly set to appreciate against the dollar it
looks like a serious equity bubble is underway in China.
Notwithstanding this when the bubble bursts it should not
impact China's long term demand for natural resources
which reflects a fundamental shift resulting from the
countries reform and technology driven industrialisation.
Yuan appreciating to stave off inflationary spiral
The relative weakness of the Yuan has been a key driver in
maintaining China's growth in exports and job creation.
Their trade surplus in 2007 is expected to exceed $240bn
(2006 $177.5bn, 2005 $102bn). With internal supply now
dominating the Chinese economy the Yuan needs to
strengthen if credit growth from excess liquidity and
decade-high inflation is to be curbed. Successive rate rises
are filtering through into price rise for exports. However,
there is little evidence of a slowdown in the rate of
inflation, interest rates therefore effectively remain
negative. Cash continues to flow into investments from
deposits into the market, increasing stock prices. This is
effectively removing the 'Asia' risk discount historically
applied to price earning ratios. As stocks in China become
relatively expensive, from squeezed earnings on the one
hand and being over-bought by individuals and domestic
corporations on the other, we believe that cash will start
to move toward real estate, bonds, collectables and
ultimately gold.
Demand for gold to rise to hedge against inflation and on
wealth creation
Other than aggressive pull backs on the way to new highs,
perhaps a key downside risk to the short term 'China
growth' story is from social unrest due to increasing
inequalities from those enjoying the benefits of capitalist
style reforms and the workers who perhaps never will.

Outside politically motivated economic pressures to cut

China's trade surplus, from the US and EU trading blocks,
may be a further inhibitor to excessive growth. By way of
an illustration the UK exports more to Switzerland than it
does to China.
Internal pressure for weaker US dollar
Foreign exchange buy backs
Recent reports by the IMF suggest that the US dollar is at
threat to sustained depreciation against other currencies.
While purporting a strong dollar policy, a weaker dollar
would actually provide the US with higher export earnings,
inflate away a portion of the $9 trillion national deficit
($5.7Tr : 2001) and with weaker yields on treasuries stave
off a possible consumer led recession. Pressure to allow
the dollars slide to continue is therefore very high.
As with the asset bubble in Japan in the mid 80s, which
forced its currency to double in value in two years and led
to a decade long recession, the pressure in China for the
Yuan to appreciate further away from its loose, if not dirty,
dollar peg in order to fight rampant inflation is
unavoidable. The subsequent drawn out stagflation of
Japan with interest rates close to zero and nominally
negative has been a key driver of the 'carry trade' with the
US has been the prime cause in the over extension of the
consumer in the US. The revaluation will make Chinese
goods more expensive for export although the economy is
currently largely driven by internal consumption and it will
also increase the relative value of stock holdings which will
impact on corrporate profits made in the market than in
the factory. This aside China has a very strong hand to
play.
China significantly exposed to any slide in the dollar
After Japan which owns $644bn of US debt, China is the
second largest creditor of the US, owning $350bn dollars
worth of treasury notes. With potential for the value of
these assets to depreciate twice-over through devaluation

of the dollar and appreciation of the Yuan there is

significant economic incentive with political ramifications
for China to reduce its currency exposure into dollar
denominated assets such as gold or into other strong
currencies with a strong outlook - of which there are not
too many. A major disposal of US notes by China would not
be in China's immediate trading interest. The ideal
economic scenario to mitigate the impact of the US debt
bubble is a 'happy handover' where any disposal of dollars
is performed in a responsible way and is in line with
growth in imports from the US.
Potential for a pre-emotive run on currencies
The political ground is being prepared for a redistribution
of assets in China. However, other holders or potential
buyers of bonds may in pre-empting a run on the dollar
trigger a self fulfilling revaluation and in turn lead to
volatile markets. An exodus has perhaps already begun
with the first net reported sell-off since 1998 reported in
October 2007 with Japan, China and Taiwan recently
disposing off US$23bn, $14.2bn and $5bn respectively.
The knock on effects to the profits from US operations of
European exporters is potentially significant. On top of this
the threat of inflation, driven by oil price rises, represents
another volatile ingredient to the mix.
Gold is a precious metal as it is relatively scarce
Few long term investments seem as good as gold
Historic global gold production is estimated to be
approximately 158,000t (5.1bn ounces) of which the
majority (65%) has been mined since the 1950s. If formed
into a cube it would have sides just 20m wide. For further
perspective if you were to buy a ton of gold, it would form
a cube with 40cm sides and at 32,150 ounces per ton
would cost around $24m ($750/oz).
The US$ price of gold is currently rallying strongly, trading
near its record highs. Upward forces on the price of gold
include:

Sell off and rate cut induced devaluation of the dollar

Speculation as a hedge against currency weaknesses and
hyper inflation
Buying for security due to increased political tensions in
the Middle East
Re-investment of middle eastern petro-dollars - estimated
at $1.5tr
A new generation of affluent buyers in India and China
Reduced market supply from producer de-hedging and
Central Bank sales
Click to enlarge
Gold: the 'Quiet Metal' now testing all time highs but
lagging base metals
While trading 135% higher in the five years since 2002,
the price of gold in US$ has under-performed relative to
other precious and base metals over the same period e.g.
Silver 165%, Platinum 223%, Zinc 247%, Nickel
271%, Tin 274%, Copper 393% and Lead 678%.

GLOBAL GDP RANKING (IMF: 2006)

Rank
Country
GDP (US$000m)
%

Gross world product

48,144,466
100.0%

European Union
14,527,140
30.2%
1
United States
13,244,550
27.5%
2
Japan
4,367,459
9.1%
3
Germany
2,897,032
6.0%
4
China
2,630,113
5.5%
5

United Kingdom
2,373,685
4.9%
6
France
2,231,631
4.6%
7
Italy
1,852,585
3.8%
8
Canada
1,269,096
2.6%
9
Spain
1,225,750
2.5%
10
Brazil

1,067,706
2.2%
11
Russia
979,048
2.0%
12
South Korea
888,267
1.8%
13
India
886,867
1.8%
14
Mexico
840,012
1.7%
15
Australia
754,816

1.6%

The price increases of the base and platinum group metals

have been driven largely by demand pressures from the
rampant industrialization underway in Asia. There are
however, few significant industrial uses for gold. The
metals primary qualities are as a store of wealth which
cannot be manufactured and that it does not represent an
IOU.
Precious Metals
Performance
Price Data (US$ / Troy Oz)
10 Yr %
5 Yr %
1 yr %
Oct-07
Oct-06
Oct-02
Oct-97
Gold
128%
135%
30%
746.10

576.00
317.00
327.00
Silver
165%
218%
23%
13.67
11.15
4.30
5.15
Platinum
223%
135%
31%
1,394.00
1,064.00
592.00
432.00

No longer a simple dollar value story

The all time high for gold of US$850oz reached in 1980

equates to nearer US$2,500 in today's money. As the
charts show the recent break out in the price started in
2002 and is now up 143% since then, which is relatively
modest when compared to the surge in base metal prices
in the same period. However, the Euro has also
appreciated significantly against the dollar in this period
($/ 1.01 to 0.7). The relative performance of gold in euros
and sterling is therefore even less spectacular of that in
straight dollar terms. Recent break outs in the Euro and
Sterling price of gold indicates that a dollar-gold
disconnect is potentially underway.
Gold
Performance
Price Data
5yr
1yr
5yr
1yr
Oct-07
US$
143%
28%
316.56
598.06
768.00


65%
14%
325.56
469.97
537.00
GB
99%
19%
187.5
312.32
372.40

Click to enlarge
Growth through acquisition failing to create ounces
There are around 400 operating gold mines worldwide,
producing a total of 2,550t (82Moz) a year equating to
around 65% of global supply. In 2006 gold supply from
new mines was the lowest for a decade and the figures for
2007 look set to continue the downward trend in mine
supply. The lead time for exploration to deliver a mine is
typically around ten years, therefore increasing demand
does not immediately translate into increased mine
supply. In fact fewer ounces are being discovered than
ever and at ever higher cost. This cycle is fuelling M&A
activity as senior management teams prefer to increase

their reserves though acquisitions and call the shots than

being taken over and potentially moved aside.
Major producers such as Newmont, Lihir, Anglogold
Ashanti and Barrick are also tending to de-hedge,
unwinding previous futures contracts to sell yet to be
mined gold designed to lock in a guaranteed return for
their creditors. The pressure to de-hedge is largely from
shareholders in order to increase exposure to higher gold
prices, to reduce sensitivity of margins to cost inflation
and to protect themselves against future gold price spikes.
Margins suffering from rampant inflation
Significantly higher prices are however, not translating
into significantly higher margins and returns on equity for
gold mining companies. Cost inflation over the last five
years in the mining sector is estimated to be around 50%.
Newmont Mining's return on equity was less than 2% in
the last 12 months (Gold Fields 8%, Randgold 11%).
Recently Newmont 'surprised' the market with a profit
warning, projecting a 32% increase in costs in 2007 from
2006 figures.
Another source of gold supply is the complex and opaque
inter bank gold carry trade. This typically exceeds mine
supply, with around 30,000t (964Moz) or 10% of global
Central Bank reserves on loan at any time cover a portion
of demand. The process of lending out at low rates for
banks to sell and invest in higher paying bonds for a risk
free gain, before repaying the gold from market purchases
or lending their own gold back, seems like a pyramid
scheme, and probably is. Outside of this leasing market,
the balance of physical gold supplied to the market is from
the recycling of 'scrap' and Central Bank selling; both
sources are in decline as stockpiles reduce.

2004
2005

2006
2007*
Supply

Mine production
2,492
2,550
2,475
2,416
Net producer hedging
-422
-86
-369
-580
Sub total mine supply
2,070
2,464
2,106

1,836
Official sector sales
469
674
329
511
Old gold scrap
849
886
1,106
979
Total Supply
3,388
4,025
3,541
3,326
Demand

Jewellery

2,614
2,707
2,279
2,544
Industrial & dental
411
427
452
460
Sub-total above
3,025
3,134
2,731
3,004
Bar & coin investment
398
411
411
541
Other retail investment
-60

-26
-28
-54
ETFs & similar
133
208
260
68
Total Demand
3,496
3,727
3,374
3,559
Balance
-108
297
167
-232

Source: Using data compiled from World Gold Council

(*based on Q1 and Q2 figures)

Washington Accord may not need renewing in 2009

In September 2005 Central Banks from around the world
(with the Bank of England being a notable exception with
no intention to sell) entered into a second five year
'Washington Accord' limiting the signatories sale of gold in
the period to 2,500t (first agreement: 2,000t) with a
maximum of 500t per annum. Before the first agreement
in 1999 the UK announced the sale of 415t by auction at a
rate of 20-25t every two months until March 2002. Total
sales under the first and renewed second agreement to
date and the relative proportion of gold sold to the
reserves of Central Bank participants are shown in the
following tables.
Market observers are predicting that Central Bank gold
sales to September 2009 may be as much as 150t short of
the 500t quota provided by the accord. With gold prices
less under threat from Central Bank sell offs the
Washington accord may not need renewing for a third
term.
Gold Reserves by Country

Tonnes
% of Reserves
Value US$
($665.5 / oz)
Total Reserves US$
1
US
8,133.50

75.8%
174,026,983,697
229,587,049,732
2
Germany
3,417.50
62.7%
73,121,929,893
116,621,897,756
3
IMF
3,217.30
n/a
68,838,386,260
n/a
4
France
2,658.40
55.2%
56,879,981,983
103,043,445,621

5
Italy
2,451.80
64.0%
52,459,501,891
81,967,971,704
6
Switzerland
1,242.10
40.3%
26,576,371,359
65,946,330,916
7
Japan
765.20
1.8%
16,372,465,473
909,581,415,169
8
Netherlands
640.90

55.6%
13,712,902,668
24,663,494,007
9
ECB
604.70
23.7%
12,938,355,818
54,592,218,639
10
China
600.00
0.9%
12,837,793,105
1,426,421,456,094
11
Taiwan
423.30
3.3%
9,057,063,035
274,456,455,620

12
Russia
407.50
2.1%
8,719,001,150
415,190,530,970
13
Portugal
382.60
87.2%
8,186,232,737
9,387,881,578
14
India
357.70
3.4%
7,653,464,323
225,101,891,843
15
Venezuela
356.80

31.0%
7,634,207,633
24,626,476,235
16
UK
310.30
13.4%
6,639,278,667
49,546,855,726
Source: Using data compiled from World Gold Council, as
at Sept 07
Washington Accord Gold Sales: 1999-2007
Tonnes
Yr 1
Yr 2
Yr 3
Yr 4
Yr 5
Yr 6
Yr 7
Yr 8

Total
99-00
00-01
01-02
02-03
03-04
04-05
05-06
06-07
Switzerland
120.0
200.0
283.0
283.0
284.0
130.0
113.0
1,413.0
Netherlands
100.0

27.0
9.0
39.0
60.0
55.0
67.5
14.0
371.5
France
115.0
134.8
107.2
357.0
UK
150.0
135.0

60.0
345.0
Spain
30.0
62.5
149.3
241.8
Portugal
-

90.0
35.0
54.8
44.9
224.7
ECB
47.0
57.0
60.0
164.0
Austria
30.0
30.0
30.0
-

15.0
13.7
7.5
126.2
Germany
12.0
11.0
6.0
6.0
5.4
5.3
5.0
50.7
Sweden
-

15.0
10.0
10.0
35.0
Belgium
30.0
30.0
Other
-

9.8
9.8
Total
400.0
404.0
393.0
418.0
385.0
497.2
395.7
475.8
3,368.7

1 st Accord
2,000
2 nd Accord
1,368.7
Source: Using data compiled from World Gold Council, as
at Sept 07
Reserves Post Washington Sales

Country
Sold
Hold
% Sold
Switzerland
1,413.00
1,242.10
53.2%
UK
345
310.3
52.6%
Spain
241.8
281.6
46.2%
Portugal
224.7
382.6
37.0%
Netherlands

371.5
640.9
36.7%
Austria
126.2
281.8
30.9%
ECB
164
604.7
21.3%
Sweden
35
152.6
18.7%
France
357
2,658.40
11.8%
Belgium
30

227.6
11.6%
Germany
50.7
3,417.50
1.5%

Source: Using data compiled from World Gold Council, as

at Sept 07
China and India relatively underweight as private demand
grows
China is the 10th largest holder of gold as a reserve with
600t, representing 0.9% of their reserves by value. This
compares to the US with 8,133t, representing 75.8% of
their reserves by value. As discussed above, China has
significant exposure to a devaluation of the greenback and
appreciation of the Yuan. Should China seek to increase its
reserve weighting in gold to the same relatively low
percentage as India (3.4%), it would need to buy an
additional 1,500t of gold or 60% of all production in 2007.
With increased deregulation and vast tracks of prospective
geology, China looks set to become the world's largest
gold producer, taking over from South Africa's 100 year
reign. Production in China for the first six months of 2007
of 129t (4.1Moz) equates to 134t (4.3Moz) in South Africa.
In terms of domestic consumption China has removed
many of the restrictions on private investors buying gold
and in 2002 opened the Shanghai Gold Exchange. In 2004
China allowed banks to sell gold bars under license.
Certain restrictions remain for the Chinese to buy assets
outside China, therefore holding gold may become

increasingly appealing as a store and symbol of newly

created wealth.
India is the 14th largest holder of gold as a reserve with
just 358t, representing 3.4% of their total reserves by
value. However, India is the world's largest consumer of
gold. For cultural reasons gold is the most popular
investment there and accounts for around 20% of global
physical demand. Indians themselves are holding around
14,000t of gold as jewellery; a hoard of almost 10% of the
above ground global reserves and more than the
combined reserves of the worlds top three reserve holders
(US, Germany and France). Sustained modernization in
India has the propensity to decrease gold demand, as
Indians deposit their cash into newly established and
increasingly trusted banking networks. Conversely the
wealth effect, with the number of households in Indian
earning more than $80k per year being predicted to treble
in the next decade should, as in China, create significant
demand from the nouveau riche for gold and consumer
resources. For example at present it is estimated that
there are just seven cars for every one thousand people in
India. However, unlike China, the US, UK and Japan, India
has one of the youngest demographics in the world, with
almost 50% of its 1.13 billion population having been born
after 1982. The countries middle class is expected to grow
from 200 million to 500 million by 2015. Such growth is
reflected in Sensex the benchmark index of the Bombay
stock market which recently passed the 20,000 market for
the first time; it started at 100 in 1979 and took twenty
years for it to break 10,000 for the first time less than two
years ago and is now trading at 50 times forward
earnings; a major correction seems inevitable.
In the short term the gold market can expect some pull
backs as participants lock in significant profits from the
metals upward trajectory. However, the pressures on the
US currency, potential for an inflationary spiral, the
emergence of short term market moving hedge funds,
geopolitical instability and increasingly affluent
populations buying jewellery and exchange traded funds
and the unrelenting depletion of below ground reserves all

point to a continued demand / supply imbalance and the

potential for further significant real term price rises.
Goldmania over Googlemania?
A counter weight to a dramatic run on the dollar and an
ensuing inflationary spiral are the US reserve figures. As
the worlds largest holder of gold with 8,133 tons the US
holds the economic aces in any 'real' dollar denominated
revaluation of gold. Each ten dollar increase in the price of
gold per ounce increases the value of US reserves by
around US$2.6b. If the price of gold were to double to say
$1,500 then the value of US reserves would in turn
increase by approximately $200bn (US current total
reserves circa $220bn). Surprisingly however, trading at
around fifty times earnings, such an increase only equates
to the market capitalization of Google, itself being one fifth
of the size of the entire mining sector...comparisons such
as these and the likely yield from Facebook (already
valued at $15bn) are perhaps best left to another letter, in
the meantime we would wager that goldmania will out
pace googlemania in the years ahead.
Yours faithfully,
Steven Poulton
Chief Executive

Will the ECB pull the plug on Ireland?

Monday, 15 November 2010

The gap between what Ireland spends on public services and

what it receives in tax revenues, the classic public-sector
deficit, is substantial and unsustainable, at around 12% of
GDP.

A discount shop in Dublin

But, funnily enough, that is not Ireland's biggest problem.

Ireland's weakness, what has sparked the pressure from other
EU members and the European Commission for some kind of
bailout of the Irish state, is its bloated, lossmaking banking
system.
The country's banks are largely state controlled, with Bank of
Ireland the only substantial Irish bank where the taxpayer
shareholding is relatively small.
And yet these banks find it fantastically difficult to borrow from
other banks or financial institutions.
The point is that investors and professional lenders are
reluctant to lend either to the Irish state directly, by
purchasing government bonds, or indirectly, by lending to Irish
banks.
And it is their refusal to lend to banks that is the real liquidity
crisis for Ireland, in that the Irish government's deficit is fully
funded until well into next year.
So it is not an exaggeration to say that there would not be a
banking system in Ireland - and therefore not an economy in
any conventional sense - if it weren't for the generosity of the
European Central Bank in providing loans to Irish banks that
the markets won't provide.
The latest published figures, which almost certainly understate
the true picture, show that the European Central Bank had lent

83bn euros to Ireland's domestic banks by the end of

September and it had lent 130bn euros to all Irish credit
institutions at the end of October.
Or to put it another way, ECB loans to Irish financial
institutions were more-or-less equivalent to the current annual
value of Ireland's Gross National Product.
To repeat, without the financial support of the ECB, Ireland
would be bust right now.
According to Barclays Capital, more than 10% of all the loans
and investments made by Ireland's banks - their assets - are
financed with ECB cash (which looks to me like a bit of an
under-estimate).
The important point is that Ireland's banks, and those of
Portugal, and even some of Germany's Landesbanks, have
been on life support provided by the ECB for many many
months now.
So there has already been a European Union rescue of Ireland
- and arguably of Portugal too (where some 7.2% of bank
assets are financed by the ECB, according to Barcap) - but that
rescue has been carried out by the backdoor, by the European
Central Bank.
Now standard central banking theology, that goes back to
Bagehot in the 1870s, says that central banks are only
supposed to provide liquidity support to inherently viable
institutions. However the evidence is accumulating that a
number of Irish banks are not viable, even after the recent
multi-billion euro injections of new capital by Irish taxpayers.
Also, the ECB must be concerned, for example, that Portugal's
government may be funding itself by selling government bonds
to its banks at a high rate of interest, which in turn may be
financing those purchases by borrowing from the ECB at a
lower rate of interest. Another article of central banking
theology is that central banks should not indirectly recapitalise
weak banks or finance over-stretched states.
Which means that the moment is fast approaching when the
ECB, if it behaves as many would say a central bank must
behave to preserve the value of the currency, will announce
that it is phasing out liquidity support for those weaker
European banks - in Ireland, and Portugal and even Germany which have become too dependent on it for loans.
But if the ECB were to be true to its central banking instincts
and announced a timetable for removing the life-saving
funding drip, what could be done to keep Ireland's banks and
economy alive?

The governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Patrick Honohan,

put it like this in evidence last week to Ireland's Joint
Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs: "presumably overcapitalising the banks could help build confidence, but this is
not something which the state can be lightly asked to do,
given the pressures on its finances".
Arguably, Mr Honohan has given the game away, by saying
that investors are taking the view that Ireland's banks need
bigger injections of capital from taxpayers, but that Ireland's
taxpayers cannot afford to invest any more in the banks.
What follows from that?
Well, it means that if the Irish can be persuaded to take funds
either from the European Financial Stability Fund or from the
European Financial Stability Mechanism or from the
International Monetary Fund, that money should probably be
invested in the banks, to provide them with more protection
against future losses. As Mr Honohan pointed out, investors
don't believe that Irish banks have seen the worst of losses on
residential mortgages taken out when Ireland's housing
market was booming (them were the days), even if they
believe that the worst of the banks' commercial property loans
are being shipped out to a taxpayer-backed, specially created
toxic bin, the National Asset Management Agency.
This is what it boils down to.
The Irish government does not want a new formal bail out. But
if there is the faintest sign that the ECB wants to withdraw the
succour it has provided to weak eurozone banks, Ireland will
no longer have a choice: it will have to go cap in hand either to
its EU partners or to the IMF.
By the way, that choice of whether to go to the EU or IMF will
be a nightmarish one for the Irish.
On the one hand, their pronounced communautaire spirit
would point them towards Brussels for help; but the IMF is
much less likely to bully the Irish government into abandoning
cherished pillars of its economic policy, such as its low
corporate tax rate (which the German government would
dearly love to squish).
And there is one other thing: a conspicuous missing ingredient
in the debate about what Ireland should do is about who
should shoulder the bulk of the losses in the long run.
Few deny that the Irish state has borrowed far more than it
can afford to repay in the form of bank debt, public-sector
debt, household debt and corporate debt.
There are going to have to be haircuts and write-offs, big

losses, as the debt is shrunk to an affordable size.

The seemingly open question is how those write-offs, those
losses, will be shared between Irish taxpayers, European
taxpayers and commercial lenders.
Right now, which some will see as unfair, the burden seems to
be falling on taxpayers, with the commercial lenders
apparently getting off very lightly indeed.

Whistleblower protection: What must be

done?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMsMsi0NFyo

Whistleblowers - Jonathan Sugarman 15

11 2016
Nov 19, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuAQO-jkjwM

Irish regulator says Anglo's senior bonds at risk

By Carmel Crimmins and Huw Jones
LONDON | Wed Apr 6, 2011 7:19am EDT
(Reuters) - Ireland may try to impose losses on senior
bondholders in two defunct lenders if they need more
capital, the banking regulator said on Wednesday,
potentially putting the country on a collision course with
the ECB.
The Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, which is
helping keep Irish lenders afloat, is opposed to Ireland
hitting senior bondholders with any losses in case it sparks
contagion within the euro zone, exacerbating the bloc's
debt crisis.
Matthew Elderfield, head of financial regulation at Ireland's
central bank, said the government accepted the ECB view
that it should not impose losses on senior bondholders in
the country's four remaining lenders, but Anglo Irish Bank
and Irish Nationwide, which are being wound down, were
being viewed differently.
....While concerns about the sector's level of capital should

abate over the next 12 months, Elderfield said the process

of shrinking their assets and improving their funding base
would take much longer. "That is a project that will take
years."
Elderfield said he will be far more intrusive in the banking
sector in future. In particular, there will be regular checks
on how much liquidity or cash-like assets banks have to
ride out short-term turbulence in markets...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/06/us-irelandbanks-elderfield-idUSTRE73529B20110406
EU Banking Waits on a Knife-Edge - Wall Street Journal
By GEOFFREY T. SMITH, 7 APRIL 2011
Whisper it softly, but is that? can it be? a light at
the end of the tunnel of Europe's banking crisis?
The answer may yet be: "No, it's an oncoming train of
disorderly sovereign default," but the news flow has, at
the very least, stopped getting worse, and in some
quarters is improving beyond any reasonable doubt.
...
Everything about the methodology suggests this was the
action of a new broom sweeping clean, unencumbered by
the need to protect political and boardroom reputations.
(Quite the reverse, in fact:Ireland's regulator, Matthew
Elderfield, has announced plans to re-examine the fitness
and probity of every single bank director in the country.)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870410160
4576246911146923784.html
JONATHAN SUGARMAN - A BANKER SPEAKS OUT
In Sept. 2007, fourteen months before Ireland's bank
bailout, I resigned from my position as the Risk Manager of
UniCredit Bank Ireland. I did that in order not to
incriminate myself. I have spent the last 4 years seeking
justice. On Feb. 23rd., 2010, I was fortunate to have
Senator David Norris raise the matter in Seanad Eireann
(the Irish Senate), and request a response from the
Minister of Finance, Mr. Brian Lenihan. Senator Norris

concluded by stating that:

"...there is ministerial responsibility in this matter. This is a
grossly serious matter which has been reported to the
Financial Regulator. A man has lost his job as a result. He
honourably resigned. The degree of breach was 40 times
the accepted margin. This is a disaster. If we are not
prepared to face the issue and investigate it when it has
been laid before the House, there is absolutely no hope for
the financial system or its reputation worldwide...How can
the Financial Regulator investigate himself? He was in
breach of his responsibility."
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/seanad/2010/02/23/00012.asp
In Nov. 2011, Emma Alberici, Europe correspondent for
ABC TV, told my story as part of her documentary 'Going
Rogue' which featured Nick Leeson and Sir John Vickers
among other interviewees. It is ironic that at a time when
the Irish tax-payer is bailing out un-secured bond holders,
my story which occurred in Dublin, is deemed of interest
to the Australian TV license payer. Please click on 'play
video' on the following link:
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2011/s3367080.htm
VRT, Belgian state-TV, aired this interview with me on
March 6th., 2013. My Interview begins in minute 27:
Het verdriet van Europa: Zeepbellen blazen (The sadness
of Europe: Bursting bubbles)
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/videozone/progra
mmas/hetverdrietvaneuropa/2.27204
VRT, Belgian state-TV, released extra footage of my
interview on March 8th., 2013. (in English):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKmr2u2P4OE
Whistleblower.IRL@gmail.com
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Noonan sends report on bank crisis to Garda and DPP Irish Times
Minister Noonan, following a recent headline in the Irish
Times (quote below) may I presume that you will be asking

the DPP (Director of Public Prosecution) to investigate the

conduct of UniCredit Ireland as well?
Should you require further information, please see Village
magazine's December cover story:
Still waiting for the truth from the regulator
http://www.villagemagazine.ie/index.php/2010/12/stillwaiting-for-the-truth-from-the-regulator/
PS
I was rather disappointed to receive the email below which
you had sent last November. The person whom you sent it
to has contacted me via my blog. Pity you can't remember
the complaint you had made about my conduct on the
phone with your secretary when I called to follow up on a
meeting I had had with one of your prominent colleagues.
--------- Forwarded message ---------From: Michael Noonan <michael.noonan@oireachtas.ie>
Date: Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 5:12 PM
Subject: Re: Are Fine Gael complicit in covering up a
whistleblower's report?
To: ........
Dear M.,
Thank you for taking the time to write to me.
Unfortunately I have noknowledge of the case you
mention and I can assure you that Fine Gael isnot
complicit in a cover up of any banking irregularities and I
have notbeen contacted by this whistleblower.
Best wishes.
Michael Noonan TDFine Gael Spokesperson on Finance

The Irish Times

- Saturday, April 2, 2011
Noonan sends report on bank crisis to Garda and DPP
SIMON CARSWELL, Finance Correspondent
MINISTER FOR Finance Michael Noonan has referred the
Nyberg report into the banking crisis to the Garda, the

Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the

Director of Public Prosecutions.
This is the first time a report on banking practices in all
the guaranteed lenders has been submitted to the Garda,
the DPP and the ODCE. A Department of Finance
spokesman confirmed the report had been referred on the
advice of the Attorney General. The Minister received the
final report from the Nyberg commission of investigation
on March 22nd and referred it to the Attorney General.
The commission, led by the former senior Finnish civil
servant Peter Nyberg, spent six months investigating the
banking crisis, examining Anglo Irish Bank and Irish
Nationwide Building Society in particular. Mr Nyberg was
asked to investigate corporate governance and risk
management at the six Government-guaranteed
institutions from January 1st, 2003, to January 15th, 2009,
when the decision to nationalise Anglo was taken.
The inquiry focused closely on lending practices at Anglo
and Irish Nationwide to examine why they incurred much
heavier losses.
Mr Nyberg did not name any individuals in his report,
which was commissioned by former minister for finance
Brian Lenihan.
It followed two reports into the causes of the crisis last
year by Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan and
banking experts Klaus Regling and Max Watson.
The Central Bank plans to examine bank directors records
in the run-up to the crisis and, if necessary, launch formal
investigations to suspend or prohibit individuals from
involvement with finance companies. The head of financial
regulation
Matthew Elderfield said on Thursday that he would write to
bank boards to give directors an opportunity to decide
whether they wanted to go through that examination
process.
The ODCE and the Garda are already investigating issues
relating to Anglo including:
the 7 billion deposits between the bank and Irish Life
and Permanent which made Anglo look healthier than it
actually was over its September 2008 year end;
the secret share deal in which it made loans of 451
million to 10 customers to buy a 10 per cent stake held by

Sen Quinn;
the concealment of loans to former chairman Sen
FitzPatrick over an eight-year period;
an 8 million loan given to a director, Willie McAteer, to
prevent his Anglo shares being sold on September 29th,
2008; and
the content of financial and public statements in 2008.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0402/
1224293651818.html
Noonan sends report on bank crisis to Garda and DPP Irish Times
Minister Noonan, following a recent headline in the Irish
Times (quote below) may I presume that you will be asking
the DPP (Director of Public Prosecution) to investigate the
conduct of UniCredit Ireland as well?
Should you require further information, please see Village
magazine's December cover story:
Still waiting for the truth from the regulator
http://www.villagemagazine.ie/index.php/2010/12/stillwaiting-for-the-truth-from-the-regulator/
PS
I was rather disappointed to receive the email below which
you had sent last November. The person whom you sent it
to has contacted me via my blog. Pity you can't remember
the complaint you had made about my conduct on the
phone with your secretary when I called to follow up on a
meeting I had had with one of your prominent colleagues.
--------- Forwarded message ---------From: Michael Noonan <michael.noonan@oireachtas.ie>
Date: Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 5:12 PM
Subject: Re: Are Fine Gael complicit in covering up a
whistleblower's report?
To: ........
Dear M.,

Thank you for taking the time to write to me.

Unfortunately I have noknowledge of the case you
mention and I can assure you that Fine Gael isnot
complicit in a cover up of any banking irregularities and I
have notbeen contacted by this whistleblower.
Best wishes.
Michael Noonan TDFine Gael Spokesperson on Finance

The Irish Times

- Saturday, April 2, 2011
Noonan sends report on bank crisis to Garda and DPP
SIMON CARSWELL, Finance Correspondent
MINISTER FOR Finance Michael Noonan has referred the
Nyberg report into the banking crisis to the Garda, the
Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the
Director of Public Prosecutions.
This is the first time a report on banking practices in all
the guaranteed lenders has been submitted to the Garda,
the DPP and the ODCE. A Department of Finance
spokesman confirmed the report had been referred on the
advice of the Attorney General. The Minister received the
final report from the Nyberg commission of investigation
on March 22nd and referred it to the Attorney General.
The commission, led by the former senior Finnish civil
servant Peter Nyberg, spent six months investigating the
banking crisis, examining Anglo Irish Bank and Irish
Nationwide Building Society in particular. Mr Nyberg was
asked to investigate corporate governance and risk
management at the six Government-guaranteed
institutions from January 1st, 2003, to January 15th, 2009,
when the decision to nationalise Anglo was taken.
The inquiry focused closely on lending practices at Anglo
and Irish Nationwide to examine why they incurred much
heavier losses.
Mr Nyberg did not name any individuals in his report,
which was commissioned by former minister for finance
Brian Lenihan.
It followed two reports into the causes of the crisis last

year by Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan and

banking experts Klaus Regling and Max Watson.
The Central Bank plans to examine bank directors records
in the run-up to the crisis and, if necessary, launch formal
investigations to suspend or prohibit individuals from
involvement with finance companies. The head of financial
regulation
Matthew Elderfield said on Thursday that he would write to
bank boards to give directors an opportunity to decide
whether they wanted to go through that examination
process.
The ODCE and the Garda are already investigating issues
relating to Anglo including:
the 7 billion deposits between the bank and Irish Life
and Permanent which made Anglo look healthier than it
actually was over its September 2008 year end;
the secret share deal in which it made loans of 451
million to 10 customers to buy a 10 per cent stake held by
Sen Quinn;
the concealment of loans to former chairman Sen
FitzPatrick over an eight-year period;
an 8 million loan given to a director, Willie McAteer, to
prevent his Anglo shares being sold on September 29th,
2008; and
the content of financial and public statements in 2008.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0402/
1224293651818.html

Whistleblower.IRL@gmail.com
Thursday, 28 July 2011

Johnathon Sugarman (Whistleblower)

With Vincent Browne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUpmZV8QZiw
JONATHAN SUGARMAN - A BANKER ... fourteen months
before Ireland's bank bailout, ... (the Irish Senate)

There are hopes that the new development will help lure
big multinational companies to Ireland's second city.

A 20m 'landmark' office building is planned to

transform Cork's quays
The Camden Place building will house as many as 500 people when
it is completed.
FORA.IE

A NEW LANDMARK office building that will

be able to hold up to 500 workers is planned to
attract major companies to Cork and
rejuvenate the citys northern quays.
Developers Stone Work Properties Ltd
announced this morning that work on the site
on the Camden Place site on Corks riverfront
is set to begin next month.
After demolition starts in February, work on
the 65,000 sq ft, five storey building is
expected to take 12 months.
The 20 million development will incorporate

the existing Venetian-style faade into its new

design and will provide 150 building jobs
during its construction phase.
Camden Place faces the Cork Opera House
and Emmet Place and is adjacent to Apples
city centre location. It is also adjacent to the
Carrolls Quay multi-storey car park, where 100
parking spaces will be made available.

Foreign investment
The developers said that the floors plates will
range between 9,000 sq ft to 16,500 sq ft, a
size which they said is favoured particularly

by the FDI (foreign direct investment) and tech

sectors.
Letting agents Cushman and Wakefield and
CBRE are jointly marketing Camden Place.
Award-winning Cork architecture firm Boyd
Barrett Murphy-OConnor designed the
building, which the letting agents claim will
lead the rejuvenation of the citys northern
quays.

They also say that Cork has become a

favourite with multinationals seeking to locate
in Ireland, and in more recent years in city

centre locations in order to attract suitably

skilled staff.

This is due in part to the lower costs

compared with Dublin, and access to
skilled graduates from University College
Cork and Cork Institute of Technology,
and the wider southern area, they said.

Cushman & Wakefield director Sean Healy

said that the new Camden Place development
will redefine Camden Quay and encourage
further investment in the area.
CBRE director Alan Moran added: This is a
statement development for Irelands second
city. We see the new building as being
symbolic of the resurgence of the citys quays
as active centres of commerce.

FF-Green Party coalition Government

timeline
23/01/2011

Here is a timeline of some the major events in

the life of the Fianna Fil-Green coalition:
:: May 2007: Bertie Ahern wins third successive term
as Taoiseach and Fianna Fil remain the largest party.
:: June 2007: The Greens enter Government for the
first time as junior coalition partner, with the support
of the Progressive Democrats and several Independent
TDs.
:: May 2008: Mr Ahern resigns after 11 years as
Taoiseach over his financial affairs. He is the countrys
second longest-serving Taoiseach after Fianna Fil
founder Eamon De Valera. Former Finance Minister
Brian Cowen takes his place.
:: June 2008: Economic and Social Research Institute
says Ireland is heading for its first recession since the
days of high unemployment and emigration in the
early 1980s.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan tells construction
industry conference about the misfortune of taking
control of state coffers as the building boom was
coming to a shuddering end.
:: September 2008: An official economic report states
Ireland is officially in recession.
The Government announces a 400bn state guarantee
of all deposits in Irish financial firms.
:: January 2009: Disgraced lender Anglo Irish Bank
nationalised because of share price collapse, massive
losses, scandal of loans to directors and multibillion
deposit loan from rival lender.
:: April 2009: Emergency Budget sets out 3.25bn of
tax rises and spending cuts.
:: June 2009: Support for both Fianna Fil and Green
Party plummet in local and European elections.
:: September 2009: Green Party threatens to pull out
of coalition over the setting up of states bad bank, the

National Assets Management Agency.

:: December 2009: Government holds third Budget in
12 months with a 4bn cuts package.
:: February 2010: Veteran Fianna Fil TD Willie ODea
resigns as Defence Minister because he falsely denied
linking a Sinn Fin councillor to a brothel. A week later
Green junior minister Trevor Sargent quits over his
interference in a criminal prosecution, the third
government resignation in a fortnight.
:: September 2010: Mr Cowen hits international
headlines when he is forced to deny being drunk or
hungover during a live morning radio interview on
RTE's Morning Ireland. He branded the claim as a
pathetic stunt by opponents.
:: October 2010: High Court orders Government, with a
razor-thin majority of two, to end an 18-month wait for
by-election in Donegal South West. Two other cases
pending.
:: November 2010: Taoiseach Brian Cowen denies
Ireland approached Europe for emergency funds.
Within a week, Ireland accepts international bailout
and Government is thrown into crisis when the Green
Party calls for a General Election. Government
publishes 15bn plan for drastic savings.
:: December 2010: Government unveils Budget 2011,
making 6bn of cuts, the most draconian in the history
of the state.
January 2011
:: Sunday January 9: Previously undisclosed contacts
revealed between Brian Cowen and former Anglo
chairman Sean FitzPatrick in run-up to 2008 state
banking guarantee.
Mr Cowen insists the next day that no secret agenda
lay behind a golf game and dinner and that there was
nothing inappropriate in his contacts. Green Party
leader John Gormley criticises his coalition colleague
for not being more open.
:: Wednesday January 12: Taoiseach reveals in Dil the
golf party was joined at dinner by Alan Gray, former

managing partner of consultancy firm Indecon and

appointed by Mr Cowen as Central Bank director in
2007, and Gary McGann, Smurfit Kappa chief
executive and member of Anglo board at the time.
:: Tuesday January 18: Mr Cowen survives a self-tabled
vote of confidence in his leadership and rebel TD
Micheal Martin resigns as Foreign Affairs Minister.
:: Wednesday January 19: Greens hold talks with the
Taoiseach over timing of election. Mary Harney resigns
as health minister at 9pm. Mr Gormley knows nothing
about it until his wife Penny Stuart tells him.
Three other ministers follow her out of the door at
11pm - Dermot Ahern, Noel Dempsey and Tony Killeen.
This time, Mr Gormley hears about it on RTEs news
bulletin the following morning.
:: Thursday January 20: Mr Gormley rings Mr Cowen
after 7am over the affair as another minister, Batt
OKeeffe, quits.
Mr Cowen fails to appoint new ministers as Greens
threaten walkout. The empty posts are later
reassigned to existing ministers in an embarrassing
climbdown for the Taoiseach.
General election set for March 11.
Greens say they knew nothing of reshuffle attempt.
:: Saturday January 22: Taoiseach reveals he will move
aside as Fianna Fil leader but will remain as
Taoiseach.
Sunday January 23: Green Party pulls out of
government, stating it has lost patience with Fianna
Fil.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/ff-green-partycoalition-government-timeline-490492.html
here's a few things FF & Greens coalition managed to
screw up while in Gov. Just in case a few people might
forget!! this is a reminder NOT TO PUT FIANNA FAIL back in
again.. With ANYONE... and esp NOT on their OWN. Keep
them and their twin sister party FG out.

We're well shot of

government jet' - Fianna
Fl TD tells committee
Cormac McQuinn Twitter
PUBLISHED
26/01/2017

1
Fianna Fil's Shane Cassells

THE former government jet was plagued by

breakdowns and "we are well shot of it", a
Fianna Fil TD has claimed.
Shane Cassells outlined a litany of breakdowns suffered by
the Gulfstream IV jet and joked that if US President
Donald Trump is selling Air Force One, "we might avail of
this at a knock-down price".
The Dil's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is probing
the sale of one of the government jets, after a Comptroller
and Auditor General (C&AG) report indicated it was it was
disposed of for more than 300,000 less than its
estimated worth.
The plane was in service since 1992.
Mr Cassells said that in preparing for the committee
hearing he examined all the times it broke down. He said it
broke down before leaving for Paris just five years after it

was bought, leaving then Taoiseach John Bruton on the

tarmac. On another occasion it blocked Air Force One on a
runway, he said.
Mr Cassells wished the new owners of the aircraft well, but
said: "we are well shot of it".
He noted plans in the US to replace Air Force One and
quipped: "perhaps we might avail of this at a knock-down
price."
Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell asked the secretary general of
the Defence Department, Maurice Quinn, if there was a
higher than normal rate of breakdown with the jet.
Mr Quinn replied: "Not to my knowledge. But when it
happened it was high profile."
Under questioning from Labour's Alan Kelly, Mr Quinn
earlier confirmed that there was just one bidder for the
aircraft.
Sinn Fin TD David Cullinane criticised the sale process
and told the committee that the aircraft has been put back
in service by a private operator in the US and has been
insured to the value of $5m.
Fine Gael TD Noel Rock later argued that the government
saved money from the sale given the repair costs that
would have been incurred had the aircraft been retained
and kept in service.
The C&AGs report said an informal valuation estimated
the aircrafts worth as below 750,000. It was sold in 2015
for 418,000. Spare parts - later sold for 53,000 - were
previously valued at more than 400,000.
In his opening statement Mr Quinn insisted he was
"satisfied with the value achieved in the sale of the aircraft
and spares, given the policy parameters set and the
exceptional circumstances involved."
He told the committee that a 2.5m overhaul of the
engines would have been required by 2018/2019.
The government had only approved general maintenance
costs of 400,000 a year.
Other repairs needed in 2014 would have come to 1.34m
meaning "disposal for salvage was considered to be the

only viable option", Mr Quinn said.

He also pointed out that there were depressed conditions
in the executive jet market at the time.
Mr Quinn added that: "The approach to disposal of the
aircraft was necessarily heavily constrained by the
circumstances whereby the aircraft was in a stripped down
state in Gulfstreams facility in Savannah, Georgia in the
US."
Due to security arrangements at the facility prospective
buyers would not have been allowed view the aircraft on
the premises.
Gulfstream suggested a buyer to the government and the
aircraft was ultimately sold for 418,000.
Mr Quinn insisted: "Our priority at all times is the best use
of the funds available and application of these to provide
necessary defence capabilities having regard to
Government policy, business requirements and safety
considerations."
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/were-well-shot-ofgovernment-jet-fianna-fl-td-tells-committee-35400313.html

SIPTU rejects move to

axe link to Labour Party but members vote for full
review of its political fund
Ralph Riegel Twitter
EMAIL
PUBLISHED

07/10/2015

2
SIPTU President Jack O'Connor

IRELANDS largest trade union, SIPTU,

rejected a move to axe its 103 year old link
with the Labour Party.
However, the 200,000 member union overwhelmingly
backed a proposal for a full review of the operation of its
political fund including contributions to the Labour Party
and individual Labour electoral candidates.
A special report on the political fund, which is worth
around 200,000, will now be compiled for the 2017
SIPTU biennial conference.
The review was proposed by SIPTU's national executive
council and tabled by Ann Ryan and Phelim Jennings.

Siptu president Jack OConnor

SIPTU members contribute 63 cent each per year to the

political fund though there is an opt-out clause.
"We need to ensure that this fund is used in the most
effective way possible," Ms Ryan told the 350 delegates at
the Cork conference.
However, a proposal to immediately end SIPTU's longstanding affiliation with Labour before the next general
election was defeated.
The motion was tabled by Kieran Allen and Ciaran
McKenna on behalf of SIPTU's education sector.
Mr Allen said Labour now needed to "earn the support of
this trade union" rather than automatically be granted it.
He claimed Labour had badly let down Irish workers over
the past four years of Coalition with Fine Gael and
demanded that all left wing parties be treated in an equal
fashion.
"When you are in an abusive relationship you have to call
stop," he argued.
Mr Allen also said it was outrageous for SIPTU to
contribute 25,000 in the 2014 Local Government

elections to Labour Party candidates while SIPTU

members such as Councillor Chris O'Leary of Sinn Fein,
now the Lord Mayor of Cork, and Clare Daly of the Anti
Austerity Alliance were not supported.
Under new electoral rules, SIPTU can only contribute
2,500 per year to Labour from its political fund.
However, contributions of up to 500 can also be made to
individual SIPTU members who are standing for election
for the Labour Party.
The review will examine whether parties such as Anti
Austerity Alliance, Social Democrats, People Before Profit
and others can benefit from the fund as Labour have
historically.
Mr Jennings pointed out that the political fund is now
largely used to support campaigns in support of specific
union goals.
He pointed out that, over recent years, these have included
anti-privatisation protests, anti-austerity rallies, marches
in support of workers engaged in industrial action such as
the Greyhound dispute and the campaign for better pay
for Irish hotel and catering workers.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett argued it
was wrong for the giant trade union to endorse a single
political party when other groups in Ireland were now
fighting for the same goals as SIPTU.
He argued that SIPTU should instead lend its support on
an issue-by-issue basis politically.
SIPTU President Jack OConnor was unapologetic before
the Cork conference about his support for the Labour
Party.
I will be voting for the Labour Party, I am a member of
the Labour Party and I have never considered leaving the
party. I never will leave the party, he said.
Numerous speakers yesterday opposed the motion to sever
links with the Labour Party on the basis it remained the
party of James Connolly and Jim Larkin.
However, Mr O'Connor admitted Irelands left wing
parties now need to work together given the implications

of any right wing government in the 32nd Dail.

We have to build alliances on the left in Ireland. We have
to work together with the independent left and any parties
that believe they are on the left.
My concern is that that work is not sufficiently
progressed enough to offer a cohesive alternative to the
people in the forthcoming election.
Frankly, my fear is that in trying to achieve it there is a
very real danger that we will allow the right in on their
own.
I honestly believe that if the people on the left believed
that they could win, they could provide a viable
alternative. But I think there is a poverty of ambition on
the left. There is a refusal to believe that collectively we
could win.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/siptu-rejects-move-toaxe-link-to-labour-party-but-members-vote-for-full-review-of-itspolitical-fund-31591171.html

Kenny in firing line over

'nonsensical and
concerning' Sinn Fin
comments

Kevin Doyle Twitter

EMAIL
PUBLISHED
27/01/2017

1
Enda Kenny. Photo: Damien Eagers

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is in the firing line

from his own TDs after opening the door to
the possibility of Fine Gael entering a
coalition with Sinn Fin.
Backbenchers and ministers have privately told
Independent.ie they are deeply concerned and
shocked by the party leaders sudden change of tack on
the issue.
And a number have now publicly rejected the notion of
sharing power with Gerry Adams.

Prior to last years General Election Mr Kenny said Sinn

Fin were not fit for government and as far back as 2009
he said: "I made it perfectly clear that Fine Gael would not
be doing business with Sinn Fein and I have no intention
of revisiting that.
However, when asked about the possibility yesterday, the
Taoiseach replied that he had also previously ruled out
doing business with Fianna Fil who are now propping up
his minority government.
Dublin Fingal TD Alan Farrell said talk of a coalition with
Sinn Fin is nonsensical and concerning.
Should Sinn Fin ever enter a coalition government in the
Republic, I cannot imagine it ever being with Fine Gael.
I would say that the likelihood of them making it into
government would be at the discretion of others in the
opposition benches, specifically, Fianna Fail, should the
prospect arise.
In short, Fine Gael entering coalition with Sinn Fin
would be nonsensical both in terms of policy and
ideology, he said.
Dublin South West TD Colm Brophy said he would not
support Sinn Fin being brought into government in any
way, shape or form.
I believe they would wreck the economy of our country. I
believe they are completely incompatible with Fine Gael,
he said on RTs Sean ORourke programme.
Longford/Westmeath TD Peter Burke echoed those
sentiments, saying Fine Gael needed to challenge what
he described as left-wing populism from Sinn Fin.
And Louth TD Fergus ODowd said his constituents would
not support him if I voted for or went into government
with Sinn Fein.
He said there were too many unanswered questions about
Sinn Fins links to the IRA and suggested Gerry Adams
wants people to believe he was nothing more than the
chairman of the west Belfast tiddly-winks committee.
There was some unease within Sinn Fin too with the
partys Dublin West TD Eoin Broin tweeting: Is Enda

Kenny having a laugh! Why would any self respecting

republican want to be in coalition with a right wing
partitionist party?
The partys deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said she
wants to be in government but not at any price.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/kenny-in-firing-lineover-nonsensical-and-concerning-sinn-fin-comments-35403190.html

Fine Gael told to play

down Enda Kennys
decision to open door to
Sinn Fin coalition

Niall OConnor and Kevin Doyle

PUBLISHED
27/01/2017

1
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Sinn Fin leader Gerry Adams. Photo:
Damien Eagers

Fine Gael politicians have been told to play

down Taoiseach Enda Kennys decision to
open the door to a coalition with Sinn Fin.

In an email sent to TDs and senators this evening, Fine

Gael has said coalition with Sinn Fin is not something
that arises.
This is despite Mr Kenny yesterday refusing to rule out
such a prospect of three occasions, during an interview
with political correspondents in Government Buildings on
Thursday.
In the six line email, the partys press office outlines a
range of arguments that TDs and senators should make if
they are asked about the issue by the media.
The email, seen by Independent.ie, reads:
This Government is dealing with Brexit and the many
challenges facing the country.

Sinn Fein sees this and finally realises that to get things
done and achieve results you need to be in government.
Sinn Fein have finally realised - at least some of their
members - that there is a glass ceiling on carping from the
sidelines.
Coalition with Sinn Fein is not something that arises - we
have a minority Government in place that involved
compromise, negotiations and hard work to bring
together.
What the Taoiseach actually said yesterday was that Sinn
Fein as a party are a long way from becoming a desirable
coalition partner and he would not see a coalition with
them in the near future.
Politicians must deal with the electorates choice and
provide stable government. Fine Gael is doing that in the
interests of the country.
Meanwhile, the Sinn Fin issue has caused uproar within
Fine Gael.
Backbenchers and ministers have privately told
Independent.ie they are deeply concerned and
shocked by the party leaders sudden change of tack on
the issue.
And a number have now publicly rejected the notion of
sharing power with Gerry Adams.
Read more: Kenny in firing line over 'nonsensical and
concerning' Sinn Fin comments
Prior to last years General Election Mr Kenny said Sinn
Fin were not fit for government and as far back as 2009
he said: "I made it perfectly clear that Fine Gael would not
be doing business with Sinn Fein and I have no intention
of revisiting that.
However, when asked about the possibility yesterday, the
Taoiseach replied that he had also previously ruled out
doing business with Fianna Fil who are now propping up
his minority government.
Dublin Fingal TD Alan Farrell said talk of a coalition with
Sinn Fin is nonsensical and concerning.
Should Sinn Fin ever enter a coalition government in the

Republic, I cannot imagine it ever being with Fine Gael.

I would say that the likelihood of them making it into
government would be at the discretion of others in the
opposition benches, specifically, Fianna Fail, should the
prospect arise.
In short, Fine Gael entering coalition with Sinn Fin
would be nonsensical both in terms of policy and
ideology, he said.
Dublin South West TD Colm Brophy said he would not
support Sinn Fin being brought into government in any
way, shape or form.
I believe they would wreck the economy of our country. I
believe they are completely incompatible with Fine Gael,
he said on RTs Sean ORourke programme.
Longford/Westmeath TD Peter Burke echoed those
sentiments, saying Fine Gael needed to challenge what
he described as left-wing populism from Sinn Fin.
And Louth TD Fergus ODowd said his constituents would
not support him if I voted for or went into government
with Sinn Fein.
He said there were too many unanswered questions about
Sinn Fins links to the IRA and suggested Gerry Adams
wants people to believe he was nothing more than the
chairman of the west Belfast tiddly-winks committee.
There was some unease within Sinn Fin too with the
partys Dublin West TD Eoin Broin tweeting: Is Enda
Kenny having a laugh! Why would any self respecting
republican want to be in coalition with a right wing
partitionist party?
The partys deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said she
wants to be in government but not at any price.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/fine-gael-told-to-playdown-enda-kennys-decision-to-open-door-to-sinn-fin-coalition35403775.html

Troops as far away as

Cork still getting 'Border

patrol' payment
Cormac McQuinn Twitter
PUBLISHED
27/01/2017

1
Labour TD Alan Kelly challenged Defence Department secretary
general Maurice Quinn on the issue. Photo: Steve Humphreys

A 'border patrol duty' allowance paid to

more than 700 troops - including some in
Cork and Kerry - was branded as "madness"
at a Dil committee.
b

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard that 2.8m or an average of 4,000 per soldier - was paid out under
the scheme in 2015.
Labour TD Alan Kelly challenged Defence Department
secretary general Maurice Quinn on the issue, asking:
"Why in name of God are we still paying Border duty
allowance to 710 recipients?"
He said Brexit may mean there was a requirement for
Border duties in the future, but questioned the payment's
continued existence.
"Obviously there's a historical issue going on. But to the
general public this seems like madness," Mr Kelly added.
Mr Quinn said there had been efforts to remove the Border
duty allowance in 2009.
An arbitration report said soldiers receiving the payment
should continue to get it, but that new recruits would not.
He said the Haddington Road Agreement included
provision for buying out the allowances and that this was
ongoing.
Soldiers being paid the allowance do not receive other
security duty payments such as the one for troops that
guard Central Bank facilities.
Mr Kelly asked whether it was true some soldiers in Cork
and Kerry "who won't come within 200 miles of the
Border" got paid the allowance.
Mr Quinn replied: "There's a small number - yes. They
were [previously] working on the Border, they were in
receipt of the allowance. We couldn't just take it back from
these people. We had to have a process".
PAC chairman Sen Fleming asked Mr Quinn whether the
Border allowance was pensionable.
Mr Quinn said a "subset" of the recipients were "likely to
be able to avail of it in their pension". However, it
depended on their circumstances and when they were
retiring.
He promised to provide the committee with more detail on
the matter.

http://www.independent.ie/business/brexit/troops-as-far-away-ascork-still-getting-border-patrol-payment-35402065.html

IDA expects raft of drug

firms to relocate here

Colm Kelpie Twitter
EMAIL
PUBLISHED
27/01/2017

1
IDA boss Martin Shanahan

The IDA expects a snowball effect of more

Brexit-related jobs in the pharmaceutical
sector after a major Northern Ireland
company announced it was expanding in the
Republic to boost its presence in the EU.
The development - in which pharmaceutical services group
Almac will create up to 100 jobs over the next two years in

Dundalk - is regarded as the first Brexit jobs win by the

State.
It is understood that, having alluded to the fact it wanted
to expand its operations globally, a pitch was made to
them about enhancing operations in the Republic, which
would ensure continued access to the single market.
The State is not actively targeting firms in Northern
Ireland in the wake of the Brexit vote, as the market is
regarded as too small to devote resources. However,
companies that want to set up operations south of the
Border to have a foothold in the EU will be welcomed by
the Government here.
Almac Group employs almost 3,000 people at its global
headquarters in Craigavon, Co Armagh. Although it has a
small presence in Athlone, it is opening a new facility in Co
Louth as part of a global expansion.
Read More: Barclays and Almac jobs satisfy 'Goldilocks
effect' - we're not ready for more
IDA chief executive Martin Shanahan said the
development provided the company with certainty of
access to the EU in the long term.
"This certainty of access is an increasingly important
selling point for Ireland as we look to win business for
Ireland," Mr Shanahan said.
A spokesman for the IDA declined to comment when
asked how the investment came about, citing commercial
sensitivity. But he said further jobs could be won in the
pharmaceutical sector by companies keen to ensure they
had access to the single market.
It is hoped that the first trickle of Brexit jobs here, in the
pharma and banking industries, will lead to a snowball
effect as confidence grows in Ireland as a location in which
to conduct EU business.
More companies are also expected to sit up and take notice
of the island and Ireland's unique position of having a
foothold in the EU and the UK.
"Our strongest selling point a lot of the time is reference
sell from other companies and especially in areas like

pharmaceuticals where companies will watch what their

competitors are doing closely. When one company does
something, the others will tend to follow," the spokesman
said.
Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor said Ireland's
expertise in the pharma sector was unrivalled.
"This is a very exciting project for Dundalk and builds on
the strong cluster of multinational companies who have
very successfully located in that town in recent years and
who have found it a great base from which to promote
their sales into other EU member states," he said.
Asked whether the IDA was interested in attracting
Northern Ireland firms to set up operations in the
Republic in the wake of Brexit, an agency spokesman said:
"Northern Ireland isn't a source market from IDA's
perspective. However, IDA Ireland is in the business of
winning mobile investment and, if people are making
investment decisions, we will be there to articulate
Ireland's proposition, which is extremely strong in the
context of Brexit.
Almac Group employs 71 at a facility in Athlone, Arran
Chemicals, which it bought in 2015 and had an existing
relationship with the IDA that predates yesterday's
announcement.
Almac Group chief executive Alan Armstrong said the 100
jobs would be rolled out within the first two years.
http://www.independent.ie/business/brexit/ida-expects-raft-of-drugfirms-to-relocate-here-35402048.html

Pharma firm opens Irish

base creating 100 jobs to
ensure access to single
market post Brexit
Colm Kelpie Twitter
EMAIL
PUBLISHED
26/01/2017

1
Almac

Up to 100 jobs are being created in Dundalk

as a Northern Ireland-headquartered
health-care manufacturer boosts its
European presence.
The development is regarded by the State as a Brexitrelated win.
Almac Group, a global contract pharmaceutical
development and manufacturing organisation, has its
global and European headquarters in Craigavon but is
opening the new facility in Co Louth as part of a global
expansion.
It is understood the Craigavon facility is not being affected
by the move.
It said the new facility would provide the company with
continued presence within the European Union in the
long term. It already has a facility in Athlone.
IDA chief executive Martin Shanahan said the
development certainty of access to the EU.
Almacs decision to expand into Dundalk provides the
company with certainty of access to the European Union
in the long term this certainty of access is an increasingly
important selling point for Ireland as we look to win
business for Ireland, Mr Shanahan said.
IDA Ireland will continue to promote Ireland as an ideal
location for companies from a range of sectors including
pharmaceuticals, IT and financial services that are looking
to ensure that they have a presence in the European single
market.
Alan Armstrong, Almac Group chief executive, said the
100 jobs will be rolled out within the first two years.
This news comes in addition to our recent announcement
of a 27m investment at our global Headquarter site in
Craigavon, our US operations and our European facility in
Athlone, he said.
http://www.independent.ie/business/brexit/pharma-firm-opens-irishbase-creating-100-jobs-to-ensure-access-to-single-market-postbrexit-35399918.html

Taoiseach signals a Uturn as shadow of IRA

violence recedes
John Downing Twitter
BIO
PUBLISHED
27/01/2017

1
Mary Lou McDonald, Gerry Adams, Michelle ONeill and Martin
McGuinness raise their hands together after Ms ONeills selection
as the newly appointed Stormont leader for Sinn Fin. Photo: PA

We remain to be completely convinced

about Sinn Fin's total abandonment of

their dark past. But there are clear signs that
the baton is about to be passed to a new
generation of leaders who had no direct
involvement in matters paramilitary.
As Michelle O'Neill was inducted to the leadership of the
party in the North last week, deputy leader Mary Lou
McDonald was to be seen in pretty well all the
photographs. Ms O'Neill's father has an IRA past but she
does not. And Ms McDonald has come to politics long
after the IRA ceasefires.
Granted, there are two prominent IRA men among their
23 TDs. But Martin Ferris of Kerry is 65 next birthday and
Dessie Ellis of Dublin North-West was 64 last October.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/taoiseach-signals-auturn-as-shadow-of-ira-violence-recedes-35402085.html

Labour is out of
Government but it is
never truly out of power
David Quinn Twitter
PUBLISHED
27/01/2017

1
Labour TDs and members, including leader Brendan Howlin (front
row, centre), on their way to Leinster House to announce the
partys spokespeople for the new Dil in 2016. Photo: Tom Burke

In terms of its policy agenda, what is the

difference between this Government and the
last one? It ought to be a pertinent question

because the last government had Labour in

it and this one does not.
There are two ways to look at the matter. You could take
the view that the reason there is little or no difference is
because Labour in government failed to impose its agenda.
Or you could take the view that the differences between
Labour and Fine Gael are now so small as to be barely
noticeable.
The economic policy differences between the two parties
amount to Labour wanting a bit more public spending
than Fine Gael, and Fine Gael wanting a little less tax.
Aside from that, it is hard to see a real difference.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/labour-is-out-ofgovernment-but-it-is-never-truly-out-of-power-35402120.html

Kenny and ministers to

use foreign trips to chase
post-Brexit business
Kevin Doyle Twitter
EMAIL
PUBLISHED
27/01/2017

1
Irish visit: Theresa May. Photo: REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his ministers will

embark on a series of trade missions in the
coming months as they actively seek to
attract post-Brexit business.
After next Monday's meeting with British Prime Minister
Theresa May, Mr Kenny will begin planning trips to Malta,
Poland, the United States and Germany.
He has also said every minister who signs up to travel
abroad for St Patrick's Day will be ordered to schedule
meetings with companies who have links to Ireland or
could potentially invest here.
"Brexit is the number one priority for the foreseeable
future," the Taoiseach said. "This is the single most
important issue economically of the last 50 years. In
advance of the triggering of Article 50, we have been
intensifying our own preparations and our international
engagement."
He said the Government was considering the requirements
for extra trading capacity within the eurozone and beyond,
adding that Canadian businesspeople had expressed "a lot
of interest" in Ireland.
"And for those who will be travelling abroad for St
Patrick's week, there will be a specific trade element built
in to all of there visits.
"It's not just going to participate in some occasion around
St Patrick's Day, it's going to be meeting with companies
who are exporting from Ireland and ones who might create
new investment," he said.
Read more: Defensive Kenny insists all bases covered in
Brexit plan
Mr Kenny said he looked forward to welcoming Mrs May
to Dublin on Monday.
"We've got quite a deal of issues to discuss about the
Border, the common travel area, our trading links, our
place in the European Union and how we maintain links as
close to what they are," he said.
The Taoiseach has refused to appoint a Brexit minister on

the grounds that he is leading the Government response.

"I chair the Cabinet committee on Brexit, all ministers are
involved in this. I've asked them to prepare papers in
respect of their responsibilities.
"I call ministers in as necessary so that we can get an
entire government response on a constant basis.
"This is far too serious to leave to just one minister," he
said.
Asked about how long he intends to remain in office, Mr
Kenny replied: "I am focused on the agenda of
Government here.
"A big Programme for Government, 600 commitments, a
whole range of activities.
"We are not going to be fazed here by Brexit and
international relations.
I don't expect there will be any alteration from what we
have with the Fianna Fil party in terms of the supply and
confidence [deal] and the review at 2018.
"There is a very big agenda here. We are not going to be
diverted by extraneous matters."
http://www.independent.ie/business/brexit/kenny-and-ministers-touse-foreign-trips-to-chase-postbrexit-business-35402061.html
Dublin People

21 things you'll remember if

you lived in Ballymun
Wednesday, 1st June, 2016 Story By Rita Cahill

Growing up in Ballymun was a unique experience. OK, it had

its problems but few places had a community spirit to match
the 'Mun. Here are a few things you might remember if you
ever lived in Ballymun.
1. Hoofing up flights of stairs with your mas messages when the
lifts were broken.
2. Saying go ahead to the driver when paying your fare on the 36
bus into town.
3. Swapping butter vouchers for groceries or cigarettes in the local
van shop.
4. The nauseating smell in the stairwells.
5. Hiding your coloured armband when swimming in the baths
beside the shopping centre to get a few extra minutes in the water.

6. Doing the weekly shop in Crazy Prices.

7. Going into the Corpo rent offices in Jervis Street to pay off the
arrears.
8. The central heating that made the flats feel like a sauna in winter
and an igloo in summer.

old ballymun with holy spirit school,

ballymun comp, sandyhill gardens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4pfty10nbg

RARE AULD TIMES BALLYMUN

Feb 15, 2011

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfV8CEj7Fmk

Damien Dempsey and Maser They Are

Us - painting the tower in Ballymun
Sep 19, 2012
Stop frame film of the Maser artwork being painted on the side
of a tower block in Ballymun, Dublin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tUHdmjaQnc

View image on Twitter

Follow

Killester History
The Towers Ballymun 1971- All very pristine.
https://www.
facebook.com/killesterhisto
ry
- for history (& other bits too!)

6:27 PM - 14 Oct 2015

Retweets1 1 like

9. Your local youth club was in the basement of the flats, had no
windows, metal doors and more locks than Mountjoy.
10. Buying loose cigarettes from the van furthest away from your
gaf so they wouldnt tell your ma.
11. Nipping around the back of the Comp for a smoke during the
morning break at school.
12. Dancing the night away at Buddies disco in Our Lady of
Victories.
13. Feeling sophisticated at the short-lived disco bar in The
Penthouse.
14. Using the hill on the main road as the worlds most dangerous
slide when it snowed.
15. Buying carpets by the yard from Big Tom opposite the baths.

16. Grabbling onto the bumpers of cars and vans for a speedy
slide when the roads were snow covered.
17. Spending your pocket money on bags of sweets in Jon's or
Miss Mary's.
18. Going through the bin sheds after throwing something down
the rubbish chute by mistake.

19. Tying ropes around the lampposts to make a swing.

20. Feeling nervous if you had to walk through the roundabout
underpass at night.
21. Watching the airplanes fly over from your balcony at night - and
dreaming of being on one of them.

As 2016 draws to a close, we must take time to reflect on

a year of broken promises and the quelling of a movement
in the shape of the " independent water commission "
whose remit was to soft sell a company ( Irish water Ltd )
to a public largely United in its utter condemnation of the
waste of taxpayers money and immediate threat it will
bring to our public water services
..The key findings of the report include: via right2water
Ireland
That Irish people already pay for their water through
taxation and that water funded through general taxation
is not free but paid for by the taxpayer.
Access to adequate clean water for living requirements
should not be determined by affordability.
A referendum is necessary to protect our public water
system from privatisation.
Ireland has one of the highest rates of water availability in
the world, with water availability per person four times
higher than France and fifty times higher than Israel.
The expert commission has not seen any evidence that
Ireland has particularly high levels of domestic water
usage and Irish people are at the lower end of the
spectrum when it comes to comparing water usage
among other European countries.
Irish people use between 15-25 percent less water than
the UK, where water charges have been in place since
1989.
Water charges do not result in water conservation unless
they include education and information. Therefore, it can
be established that it is education and information which
results in water conservation, not the charges.
Commercial companies are not paying their water bills
with almost half refusing to pay. Ensuring a comprehensive
commercial water charges regime should reduce

dependence on general taxation.

There are no abstraction charges for our natural spring
water on private companies like Britvic (Ballygowan) who
pay nothing when bottling our natural spring water for
profit. This should be addressed.
Group schemes should have an allowance in order to
create equity.
There is a need for investment of 5.5bn in our
infrastructure by 2021.
The water charges regime does not have political support
or popular acceptance.
Flat rate charges are regressive and do not address the
issue of conservation. Also, a water charge added to a
property tax leads to unfairness in the system.
The water charges regime was intended to reduce
household consumption of water by a mere 6%, yet the
system leaks 41% of all treated water. The best way to
reduce waste is to fix the leaks.
While considerable weight must be given to the opinion of
the European Commission, the definitive interpretation of
European law is a matter for the Court of Justice of the
European Union.
So in short, what we here in cork and have been saying
from the start is largely accepted by the commission. The
metering program is not cost effective ( as has Recently
outlined by the CER ) and will be a recurring cost for the
Irish people as they ( the meters ) will need to be replaced
every five years at a cost, to us of 500 million or more
depending various sources ,This cost will far out way any
money collected by IW for "excessive use" as they would
term it, as it has been said by us and now the commission,
that we in Ireland are at the lowest end of the spectrum
when it comes to water usage (see above )
So why continue to fund IW and the metering program? Is

it because the ultimate goal has not changed, that of

privatisation?
The commission's remit was very narrow, that was how to
fund Irish water Ltd going forward, there was never an
option for anything else in the debate , like funding local
authorities, would not the 2.6 billion already wasted on
what is effectively a billing company have been better
spent on fixing leaks, building or improving water
treatment plants?
IW will continue to be a drain on our society unless it is
disbanded and the legislation that brought it into being
repealed as was promised by 2rds of those elected to the
dail .
The report will now be referred to the Joint Committee on
the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services which will
deliberate the findings and report back to the Oireachtas
by 28 February, or within three months of its first public
meeting, whichever is the later.

The Committee was established by a motion of Dil

ireann on 24 November and is top heavy with those in
favour of keeping IW , the charges and the metering
program in place, but the casting vote will be had by FF

the same party that knocked on your doors and said they
would abolish this hated quango and the charges, it's time
we held them to those election promises, it's time that
Michael Martin and co understand that the Irish people will
no longer be lied to , that those men and women who took
to the streets in their hundreds of thousands will no longer
be ignored, that those people who started this rising of
consciousness within our communities by stopping the
installation of water meters and now face the courts, will
not have did so in vain, that the majority of people who
refused to pay did so because we already pay .
Ballyphehane/ South Parish/ Togher turnerscross says no
are planning a March to Michael Martins offices in Turners
Cross to remind him of his promise to the Irish people and
we would like to invite you to come along and let your
voice be heard .

Enda Kenny is an average (perhaps below average?)

politician who was an average (perhaps below average)
National School teacher in 1975 when his TD father Henry
died and he inherited his Dil seat. Since then Enda Kenny
has made a handy living as an average TD, being reelected at every election because ... well he was the Fine
Gael candidate. After the party muddled it's way through a

succession of average (perhaps below average leaders?)

Kenny found himself party leader in 2002. He muddled
along as Fine Gael leader (below average?) until a coup
within the Blueshirts tried to topple him in 2010.
Fortunately for the Mayo man the plotters were even
thicker than he was and he survived the putsch. Then in
2011 in a farcical Forrest Gump type of comedy, Fianna
Fil imploded after wrecking the country and Kenny
replaced the man with more than two pints Brian Cowan.
Lucky General?
Yes, lucky for a party that was founded by the fascist
Blueshirt Mussolini-loving General Eoin O'Duffy, who
always fucked up every time they got into power when the
Soldiers of Destiny made a hames of running the country.
Bu unlucky for the people of Ireland. Very unlucky! The
2011 - 2017 governments under Kenny and his array of
clueless idiots like Noonan, Reilly, Varadkar ... (too many
to mention) sold off our country to German banks,
bondholders and vulture funds.
Still, Enda Kenny is wealthy from a lifetime spent in
politics. He doesn't care that he's the whipping boy of the
EU/Troika/IMF. He doesn't care at all that he sold our green
and pleasant land to strangers, foreigners and
highwaymen. Because Enda Kenny has earned a hundred
grand on average every year for the last 42 years. That's
FIVE MILLION folks. Of MY money ... and YOURS.
Since 2011 alone, Mr Kenny has earned 1,078,236.
That's 2,144 per hour (yes, you read it right - TWO
THOUSAND, ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FOUR EURO PER
HOUR)
The National Minimum Wage Per Hour is 8.65
Is he worth it?

AH COME ON LADS THEY ARE BEATING OUR WOMEN THROWING

OUR DISABLED OUT OF THEIR HOUSES ONTO THE STREET. THEY
ARE ALSO SUPPLYING HEROIN AND FLAKA BUT ALL THEY SEEM TO
BE ABBLE TO FIND IS CANNABIS THE MOST MEDICINAL PLANT ON
THE PLANET. WAKE UP IRISH PEOPLE !!!BEFORE THEY CAME WITH
GUNS AND SOLDIERS TO RAPE OUR ISLAND NOW THEY COME WITH
BANKS AND THE RIC ( GARDAI ) AND THEIR PEICES OF PAPER
SIGNED IN BRUSSELS BY FRAUDULENT UNELECTED OFFICIALS THAT
HAVE STOLE OUR OIL WATER FORESTRY AND FISHERIES.THIS IS MY
ISLAND, THIS IS YOUR ISLAND, THIS IS YOUR CHILDRENS ISLAND
AND ALL OF OUR FUTURES WAKE UP !

Woman tells courts she was

left black and blue after
eviction
The family claims their mortgage payments spiralled from 423 to 939
a month.
Sep 1st 2015

AN EVICTED DISABLED couple has been told by a High

Court judge that if they can rekindle the interest of a man
who offered to buy their house from them, they should pass
this information on to the bank that put them on the street
last Wednesday.
Mr Justice Anthony Hunt said that while he had no power to
issue orders against Stepstone Mortgage Funding Ltd or the
agencies that conducted the eviction, he wanted to do all he
could to put matters back on the rails.
The judge told 43-year-old John Lloyd and his disabled wife
Fiona (44) that they had mistakenly sought injunctions
against Stepstone restraining the bank from taking further
steps in the sale of their home in Kells, Co Meath.

He said the bank had been engaged in extensive

communication with the couple after having received an
order for possession on foot of more than 240,000 arrears
back in April 2013.
Extensive negotiations
Judge Hunt told barrister Roland Rowan, who appeared
with solicitors AC Forde for Stepstone, that the lender had
obtained a number of dates to execute repossessions during
the past two years but had not progressed then until last
Wednesday.
He said that in the meantime the Lloyds and the bank had
engaged in extensive negotiations regarding the possible
sale of their house. The bank had reduced the debt to
60,000 and had agreed to a 50-50 split with the Lloyds of
any money obtained in a sale over that figure.
Ms Lloyd who conducted her own and her husbands
litigation, told the court that a Mr John Ryan, who was now
living in America, had offered 77,000 to purchase their
home but this had fallen through.
Overstepping
Judge Hunt refused to grant the Lloyds any order today but
told them that if Mr Ryan could be persuaded to renew his
77,000 offer, with an equal split of the extra 17,000
between them and the bank, he would consider it.
He granted the Lloyds and the bank liberty to apply again to
the court and said this liberty would expire in three weeks
time.
I would like to see people remain in their family home, the
judge said.
I am probably overstepping the mark here but if Mr Ryan
continues to be prepared to go through with this it is
something everybody has got to consider.
The Lloyds claimed they had been turfed out by a team of
bailiffs and had been dragged from their home in their bare
feet and pyjamas.
Ms Lloyd told the court today that her body was black and
blue as a result of being dragged from her home. She said
her husband, who was medically retired from the Civil
Service, had been put out of his home without his white

cane.
Ms Lloyd said she and her husband were now living with
friends and currently have no other accommodation. She
claimed her repayments on the 186,000 mortgage had
spiralled from 423 to 939 a month. She told the judge this
included interest on arrears.
The eviction

When Judge Hunt asked her how it had appeared on social

media that the eviction would be stopped at all costs, she
said she was not responsible for what had been put up on
social media by someone else.
She handed in to court a booklet of photographs depicting
the eviction and including members of the Garda and
security staff.
The judge said he would have to refuse the couples
application for injunctions against the bank whose Dublin
headquarters are Spencer Dock, North Wall Quay.
He told them they could issue whatever proceedings they
wished against the agencies that carried out the physical
repossession of the house, and advised that if the couple
intended applying to the court within the next three weeks,
they should bring with them Mr Ryan and his cheque for
77,000.
http://www.thejournal.ie/blind-man-wife-son-eviction-home-kells2304995-Sep2015/

Minister Coveney
must urgently
clarify legal position
on Irish Water sale
of assets - Eoin
Broin TD
25 January, 2017 - by Eoin Broin TD

Email Facebook Google+ Twitter

Sinn Fin spokesperson on water Eoin Broin TD has called on
the Minister Simon Coveney to urgently seek legal clarity from
the Attorney General on whether Irish Water has the right, with
Minister approval, to sell public water service assets. The call
comes following a disagreement in interpretation of the legal
restrictions on the sale of public water service assets in the
Water Services Act 2007 between Department of Housing
officials and Senior Council Seamus Tuathail.
Deputy Broin said:
Today the Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of
Water Services examined the issue of the need for
constitutional protection of the public water system.
While the Water Services Act 2014 prevents the Government

from selling its shares in Irish Water without a referendum and

subsequent legislation,, the issue of whether Irish Water could
sell public assets, with Minister Approval, is of equal
importance to this debate.
When questioned directly on whether Irish Water could, with
Ministerial approval, sell public water system assets, officials
for the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government
said that such sale could not take place under the terms of the
Water Services Act 2007. The Department indicated that only
public assets that were not in active use could be sold.
However Senior Council Seamus Tuathail flatly contradicted
the Departments reading of the legislation and argued that,
under current legislation and Irish Waters Constitution, any
assets could be sold subject to Ministerial Approval.
To have such diametrically opposed readings of the legislation
on such a fundamental issue is deeply worrying. Minister
Coveney must urgently seek legal clarity from the Attorney
General on whether Irish Water has the right, with Minister
approval, to sell public water service assets.
If they do this provides a clear route for a future government
to by-pass the legislative protections against privatisation of the
public water system contained in the 2014 legislation.
While those protections are themselves weak as they can be
overturned by future legislation paving the way for
privatisation, this additional route to privatisation is deeply
worrying.
On both grounds the case for a referendum to provide
constitutional protection for the public water system is urgently
needed. Given that the Housing, Planning and Local
Government Committee is dealing with legislation on this
matter I would urge all members to ensure that this Bill is
progressed through the Oireachtas as speedily as possible so
that people can have their say on this matter in a referendum.
http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/43202

Irish Water issued a small

business a bill of over
200,000 for 3 months
Although the utility cannot comment on individual accounts, they said
that a huge amount could be because of outstanding debt.
January 26, 17

IRISH WATER HAS recently issued a small Irish business a

bill of over 200,000 for three months.
The bill was issued to the business which doesnt use water
as part of its day-to-day operations.
The owner of the business has contacted Irish Water about
the charge and was told that it was a mistake and they will
not have to pay the huge bill.
When TheJournal.ie asked about how a bill could be issued
for this amount, Irish Water said it could not comment on
individual accounts.
It said that a larger than usual commercial bill could
indicate a leak in the pipes, which Irish Water are in charge
of repairing.
It could also be the cause of an outstanding payment which
is only now being flagged because of billing services
changing hands from local authorities to Irish Water.
Seven local authorities
Before Irish Water was established, county councils billed
businesses for their water services.

When the utility was set up in 2014, they took over

responsibility for providing public water services to business
customers, but councils continued to issue bills on behalf of
Irish Water.
In July 2016, a process began to transfer this billing process
to Irish Water. A total of 24 local authorities have now
transferred billing to Irish Water and work is continuing on
the remaining seven local authorities, a spokesperson said.
Bills will now be issued from Irish Water directly; the utility
will be responsible for water supply, wastewater treatment
and business account management.
Charges for business customers, credit terms and the
frequency of billing remained unchanged while this
transition took place.
Outstanding bills
When customers are transferred from their local authority to
Irish Water, they receive a welcome letter which includes
any outstanding debt owed to Irish Water and payment
options.
Irish Water have already issued around 50,000 bills since
July. After 30 days customers who had not arranged
payment received a reminder by phone where possible or

letter.
Irish Water are keen to engage with customers and advise
and support them in settling their accounts. This process is
essential to ensure that businesses are compliant with their
bills and to ensure that all businesses are treated in a fair
and equitable manner.
All efforts are made by Irish Water to ensure that the
correct information is contained with each bill, including the
outstanding amount. Irish Water are reliant on the
information provided by various external stakeholders,
including meter.
Irish Water also conducts a pre-billing audit process to
compare a representative sample of current and past bills to
establish any anomalies and flag those accounts for
investigation. This means that if theres a huge amount
being billed for this month when compared to the previous
month, the system flags the account to be checked by an
employee.
The bill was issued to the business which doesnt use
water as part of its day-to-day operations, and is
understood to be a mistake made by Irish Water
It always seems to be a mistake with this shit hole acomplete waste
of taxs payers money this kip

If any business customer has a query relating to their Irish

Water bill/account, they should contact the utility on 1850
778 778 or +353 1 707 2827 (9am-5.30pm).
http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-water-business-bill-3205431-Jan2017/

Irish Water told to carry out

'stoat survey' in south

Dublin
Shane Ross asks Dn Laoghaire-Rathdown County
Council to refuse permission for 80m reservoir
Olivia Kelly

The Department of Arts and Heritage has requested that Irish Water
undertake a stoat survey after the mammal was detected at the Stillorgan
reservoir. Photograph: Dermot Breen

Irish Waters plans for an 80 million redevelopment of

the Stillorgan reservoir have hit a number of hurdles,
including demands from a local authority that 60 per
cent of the lands to be turned into a public park.
Minister for Transport Shane Ross has also called for
Dn Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to refuse
permission for the scheme on the grounds that it would
not provide sufficient water for the areas future needs.
In addition, the Department of Arts and Heritage has
requested that Irish Water undertake a stoat survey
after the mammal was detected at the reservoir.
Irish Water submitted an application to redevelop the
150-year-old open-air complex of three reservoirs, which
provides drinking water for 200,000 people across south
Dublin, to the council last November.
Stephen Collins: Water charges to dictate future of
Irish politics

EPA anxious 200m Vartry reservoir upgrade

proceeds
Irish-speaking Oireachtas water committee witness
had to use English

The company wants to build a new covered reservoir on

the site of the largest of the three, known as the Gray
Reservoir. Once the new covered reservoir is operational,
the two other reservoirs, the Upper Reservoir and the
Lower Reservoir, would be drained and decommissioned
and then landscaped.

Closed to public

The company said it plans to retain the landscaped site

for future water infrastructure development, and not
make it open to the public.
However, the councils planning department wants the
public to have access to the lands and has directed Irish
Water to make 60 per cent of the site publicly accessible
passive open space or playing fields and to design the
land in such a way as to optimise public patronage of
it.
Local councillor Barry Saul (Fine Gael ) said there was a
massive shortage of public parkland and sporting
fields in the area. The reservoir should be a solution to
these requirements. In Sandyford, businesses are being
charged development levies in order to purchase open
space at the same time Irish Water want to keep 20 acres
of landscaped green area under lock and key.
Separately Mr Ross has asked the council not to allow
Irish Water to fill in and landscape the two smaller
reservoirs, but to retain them for future consumption
needs. He asked that the council reject the application
in a bid to encourage Irish Water to make better use of
the reservoirs that are currently in place at the Stillorgan
site.

The council noted Irish Water had assessed the site for
the presence of badgers, bats, otters, amphibians and
reptiles, but not stoats.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/irish-water-told-tocarry-out-stoat-survey-in-south-dublin1.2950825#.WImho4BGeqA.facebook

I think from reading the article Shane Ross is making the case to
refuse the permission to do away with 2 of the reservoirs as per iw
plans, because if i read it properly.. he believes that one single
reservoir wont do the job of supplying all the people of the area. the
byline is a bit misleading

Pearse Doherty full exchange with

Permanent TSB reps
Nov 23, 2016
Sinn Fin Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty grills
Permanent TSB spokespersons in front of the Oireachtas
Finance Committee

financial institutions that took homes off people by TAKING

their money off them by refusing to put them back onto
their tracker mortgage rate...by forcing them into arrears,
EVEN after the courts TOLD them they were in the wrong
by law
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw5GuQZrxu8

Anyone wonder why the controlled opposition in this

country spend so much time and energy on minority
issues funded and promoted by George Soros NGO's? It's a
case of the little thing to distract from the big thing, while
the minority are in focus the majority get shafted. The
same people pushing mass migration into the EU are
coincidentally the same characters behind TTIP. Refugees
or cheap labour who will also be used to rile the local
population in the divide and rule game that has been used
so successfully since time began?"The Architects of TTIP
would seem to be an interesting quintet including: George
Soros, Rockefeller, Cecilia Malmstrom, Peter Sutherland
and Goldman Sachs.
-Sutherland is a UN special representative for global
migration
-Malmstrom is a Swede who assumed office as European
Commissioner of Trade in 2014 She and Sutherland have
co-authored numerous articles pushing for massive

immigration. When asked if she would revise TTIP as a

result of the massive outpouring of European dissent, she
stated icily, I do not take my mandate from the European
people!
And guess what the premise of TTIP is according to
Malmstrom? Openness, transparency and inclusivity.
Perhaps she means for them but not for the pions as in
We The People.
This is the next step in creating a global government run
by corporate officials elected by corporate officials. And
why they are not terribly concerned with the elections."

Noonan is accused of
'rolling out the red carpet
for vulture funds'
Charlie Weston Twitter
EMAIL
PUBLISHED
16/03/2015

1
Michael Noonan

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has been

accused of "rolling out the red carpet" for
vulture funds buying up mortgages and
other distressed assets.
And he has also been accused of snubbing advocacy
groups for mortgage holders.
New figures show that officials in the Department of
Finance met with private equity vulture firms 65 times in
2013 and 2014. Mr Noonan attended eight of these
meetings.
But just five meetings were held with advocacy groups for
mortgage holders - and the minister did not attend any of
these, according to information released to Fianna Fil's
Michael McGrath.
Data supplied in a Dil answer to Mr McGrath shows the
minister met with Texas-headquartered Lone Star three
times last year.
The US vulture fund bought sub-prime lender Start
Mortgages and a string of commercial loan books from
State bad bank Nama.
Mr Noonan also met with US private equity group

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2014.

The previous year the minister was at two of the six
meetings when his officials talked with US investment
fund Apollo, where former Bank of Ireland boss Brian
Goggin is an executive.
Mr Goggin was the chief executive of Bank of Ireland when
it was bailed out by the State after a disastrous lending
binge.
Finance officials had a number of meetings with
unregulated funds that bought residential mortgage books
in the last two years. Departmental officials met with
private equity giants CarVal, Apollo Asset Management
and Lone Star, groups that bid to buy portions of the IBRC
mortgage books.
However, Mr Noonan was not at meetings his officials had
with the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, the Free
Legal Advice Centre, New Beginning and Brendan Burgess
of Askaboutmoney.com.
Mr McGrath said: "Minister Noonan met eight times with
private equity groups during 2013 and 2104, while failing
to meet at all with advocacy groups for mortgage holders."
He accused the minister of "rolling out the red carpet" for
vulture funds and ignoring mortgage holders in distress".
"The contrast could not be greater with how the red carpet
is rolled out by his department for private equity and
vulture funds, who are in many instances looking to profit
from the very difficulties which mortgage holders are
experiencing."
He said people whose mortgages were bought by an
unregulated entity were living in fear of interest rate
increases and aggressive legal action.
Defended
But a Department of Finance spokesman defended the
meetings, which he said were arranged with a view to
protect jobs.
"The issue of meeting potential investors to create jobs is
separate to the issue of mortgage arrears," the minister's
spokesman said.

He said the situation around mortgage arrears was a

"legacy issue caused by the disastrous management of the
economy by the last government".
He added: "There is no one-size-fits-all solution for all
mortgages in arrears."
http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/noonan-is-accused-ofrolling-out-the-red-carpet-for-vulture-funds-31069286.html

Central Bank
whistleblower hotline
went unanswered
Charlie Weston Twitter
EMAIL
PUBLISHED

26/01/2017

1
Karl Deeter: Situation over phone line not good enough

The Central Bank has been left red-faced

after it emerged a whistleblower phone
hotline it set up was not manned, while the
voicemail was not activated.
=

There were also issues with emails sent to the special

whistleblower address not being answered.
Following the banking collapse, the Central Bank was
pressed to put a so-called protected disclosure facility in
place that would allow staff in financial services
companies to report questionable and illegal activity,
particularly in banks.
The banking collapse cost taxpayers 64bn.

The whistleblower hotline was not answered when this

journalist called it a number of times over the past few
days.
A senior person in a financial institution, spoken to by this
newspaper, who emailed the special whistleblower email
address at the Central Bank, says he got no response.
Legislation was enacted in 2013 to give whistleblowers
protection when making disclosures to the Central Bank.
As well as protecting whistleblowers, the protected
disclosures law places obligations on certain categories of
people in firms to disclose breaches of financial services
legislation to the Central Bank.
Whistleblowers making a disclosure under the law must
have reasonable grounds for believing there has been a
breach of financial services legislation or the concealment
or destruction of evidence relating to such an offence.
Crucially, the protected disclosures law means
whistleblowers are protected from civil liability, and their
employer may not penalise them for making the
disclosure. An employer may be prosecuted for penalising
an employee who makes a protected disclosure.
Compliance officer with Irish Mortgage Brokers Karl
Deeter said it was not good enough that the whistleblower
phone line was not being answered and emails not getting
a response.
"Imagine if you called 999 to report a crime and no-one
answered. What would you think of our police service?" he
said.
A Central Bank spokesman claimed the problem has now
been rectified after the situation was raised with it by the
Irish Independent.
"This arose from an IT problem. When notified of the
outage, we immediately amended the numbers on the
website to ensure that calls were routed to a staff
member's number, restoring access for anyone looking to
make a disclosure.
"The 1890 number is now restored, and is back on
centralbank.ie."

He said correspondence received by the Central Bank

through its protected disclosure channel is treated
seriously and examined thoroughly.
"It is a valuable channel for the Central Bank to receive
reports in a confidential form.
"Where a person wishes to disclose to the Central Bank an
alleged offence, breach of financial services legislation or
concealment or destruction of evidence of such, they may
make the disclosure by post, email or over the phone," the
spokesman said.
http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/central-bankwhistleblower-hotline-went-unanswered-35399044.html

Regulator is poised to
relax credit union rules
on mortgages
Charlie Weston Twitter
EMAIL

PUBLISHED
24/01/2017

1
Credit unions have limits imposed on them, with the value of their
overall loan books restricting what they can issue as mortgages,
but the Central Bank said it was reviewing the rules. Stock Image

Hopes have been raised that rules limiting

the amount of mortgage lending by credit
unions may be relaxed.

Credit unions have limits imposed on them, with the value

of their overall loan books restricting what they can issue
as mortgages, but the Central Bank said it was reviewing
the rules.
The move to review the mortgage restrictions comes as
credit unions are stepping up their efforts to capture some
of the rising demand for mortgages.
The Government's help-to-buy rebate for first-time buyers
and a shortage of housing mean mortgage demand is
strong.
A new initiative means credit unions are expected to stepup mortgage lending.
They are to target first-time buyers, trader-uppers and
those looking to acquire properties in tenant-purchase

schemes.
They could lend up to 400m this year, this despite having
some 5bn to loan out. Current rules mean they can issue
only 10pc of their individual loan books in long-term
lending, such as mortgages.
But the Central Bank said it was reviewing the rules, in a
move that could give a massive competitive boost to the
home-loans market.
"Longer-term lending limits are constantly under review
by us and are also being addressed in the strategic
dialogue forum we initiated last year," a spokesman for the
Central Bank said.
Proposals for changes to the restrictions on long-term
lending have already been put to credit union
representative bodies.
http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/propertymortgages/regulator-is-poised-to-relax-credit-union-rules-onmortgages-35392618.html

Investigation into Sean

FitzPatrick marked by
'coaching' of key
witnesses - court hears

Shane Phelan Twitter

EMAIL
PUBLISHED
26/01/2017

1
Sean Fitzpatrick. Photo: Collins Courts

An investigation into former Anglo Irish

Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick was marked
by the coaching of key witnesses, a court
hard heard.
b
The bombshell claim was made by a lawyer representing
Mr FitzPatrick, who denies charges of misleading auditors
about the size of multi-million euro loans he had from the

bank.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has been hearing evidence
from Kevin OConnell, a legal advisor in the Office of the
Director of Corporate Enforcement, who led the
investigation into Mr FitzPatrick.
Beginning his cross examination of Mr OConnell, Mr
FitzPatricks barrister Bernard Condon SC said he was
going to assert that the investigation was unfair due to
the manner in which statements had been taken from two
Ernst & Young auditors, Kieran Kelly and Vincent Bergin.
I say this investigation was one that was marked by
coaching of the witnesses and that you permitted the
witnesses to contaminate each other, said Mr Condon.
He said Mr Bergin and Mr Kelly got to read each others
statements before they were submitted to the ODCE.
Mr Kelly was Anglos auditor between 2002 and 2004,
while Mr Bergin audited the bank between 2006 and
2007.
The barrister said he would be putting it to Mr OConnell
that he failed to conduct a fair investigation.
Mr OConnell did not make any comment on the accuracy
of Mr Condons claims, but said he had anticipated the
defence would make such arguments.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/investigation-into-seanfitzpatrick-marked-by-coaching-of-key-witnesses-court-hears35400373.html

Corruption Similarities

Many of the police in the Grda Heavy Gang-Sallins Mail train

Case were promoted;
All received state immunity from legal costs in my civil
litigation;
None were ever sanctioned internally by the Grda,
None received any legal penalty whatsoever.

Framed: Osgur Breatnach & Nicky Kelly

g
g
g
g
g
g
g
g
g
g
g
g

It is unsuprising, therefore, to note many similarities between

all these cases over the past thirty eight years- all of them
actions by An Garda Sochna, supported by the State,
against defendants:
Malicious prosecution
Defamation and slander
Perjury
Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice
Interference with evidence
Undue pressure against defendants (including
psychological and, at times, physical )
Interference with witnesses
Misuse/ theft of public funds
Withholding of evidence from those taking cases against
the Grda/State
Non- investigation or/and action against Grda if/when a
case falls apart exposing some or all of the above.
Several breaches of defendants Irish Constitutional
rights
A litany of breaches of European Law

Numerous breaches of International Law

..and I mention but a few.

The Appalling Vista

This is the context in which recent controversial actions of An
Grda Sochna should be viewed and clearly points to the
need for a new approach in policing oversight.
A state response that equates to more of the same will ensure
that in another thirty eight years we will undoubtedly have
another, similar, litany of appalling examples of breaches of
citizens rights.
Irish State opposition to even a modicum of the oversight that
exists in the North of Ireland bodes ill for society.

The Grda Station phone controversy

The current police controversies of victimisation of

police whistle blowers, delayed reports,
police sacking, resignation by the Commissioner, fears
of police bugging by the police oversight body GSOC,
state recording/bugging of police station phone calls, and who
knew what and when and so forth, will continue for some time.
New story lines with twists and turns are likely to become
exposed as the thread of state malpractice is tugged and
pulled.
Unasked questions relating to the telephone

recording/bugging controversy that come to mind are:

Was this illegal telephone recording system in place also in
Irish prisons?*
Aside from telephone recording/ bugging, is (or was) there any
other official or unofficial aural bugging in Grda Stations?
Is there, or was there, any official or unofficial aural bugging of
private homes, solicitors offices by Grda via computer or
other terminals?
Was/is any other arm of the state (eg the other official
glaigh na hireann, the Irish Defence Forces) involved in
any similar activity as the Grda?
And the Irish Navy Services ?.
..or a Secret Service so secret we dont know about yet?
* Since this blog was published the Prison Service has
admitted that over 139 prisoners had their confidential
communications between them and their solicitors
bugged since 2010.
For decades, experienced community, human rights and
political activists in Ireland, like our present Attorney General
incidentally, believed it was unsafe to speak openly on Irish
telephones.
Indeed I know my own and my wider family, as well as many
relations and friends, had our phones bugged for years, which
is a scal eile (another story).

Nothing but an anecdote

I recall a media report of an alleged assault on a prisoner in

an interview room in a Grda station some years ago that
resulted in a part of the prisoners body being propelled
through a stud partition. Lo and behold, the story goes, it
exposed a recording device!
Osgur Breatnach
Good reads

A STATE CONSPIRACY by Osgur Breatnach.

.
Irish Barrister, Martin Giblin SC, central to the Garda
Heavy Gang- Mail Train Robbery Case, has been fighting
and exposing Garda corruption cases since 1976, to date,
(eg Donegal Gardai- Morris Tribunal, Waterford
Garda and the Ian Bailey frame-up etc).
The same barrister is central to the recent exposure of the
Grda telephone recording/bugging. Nothing, it
seems, has changed over the years.

SAME BARRISTER,
SAME GARDA
CORRUPTION , SAME
APPALLING VISTAS

Headache?
Walk away!
Justice Minister Alan Shatter and recently sacked (retired)
Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan.

On January 13th at the County Courthouse in Castlebar, Registrar (and

sheriff) Fintan J Murphy will again preside over more than a hundred
repossession cases. During the past year, tens of thousands of people have
woken up to massive frauds being committed in these Registrars courts on
behalf of banks with all the tools and instruments of the state at their disposal
as well as the best legal teams in the country. Here in Mayo, there have been
numerous dramatic days in front Mr. Murphy. We have documented many
instances of fraud, perjury, assault, collusion, intimidation and huge
discrepancies and violations of the basic rights of lay litigants and ordinary
members of the public. We have had instances of 20+ Gardai attending these
hearings and, under the instructions of Fintan J Murphy, they have intimidated,
assaulted and thrown people out of these courts including, in some instances,
people who had cases on. We've seen many instances where solicitors and
barristers, agents for the banks, have deliberately misled, lied and/or use
fraudulent papers without any consequence even when they're found out. And
lording above it all is Fintan J Murphy, the registrar for counties Mayo and
Roscommon, the very same man who has managed to get the High Court to
approve a judicial review on a summons against him before it even reached
court while the courts were on holidays in August, a precedent in Ireland.
Some achievement, eh? Well, we in the Mayo Land League have had enough
of the shenanigans. We are calling for everybody from every group, social
class, colour, creed, domination and age to come to Castlebar, the home of
our Taoiseach, and to demand transparency and fairness for all those in
mortgage difficult. It has become more and more apparent that these
repossession courts are not fair or transparent and that the dice is loaded
heavily in favour of the corrupt banks. This year, on the anniversary of 1916,
let's send our message loud and clear. There is no better place to start than in
Castlebar on the 13th. See you there.

All the worlds a stage..

And one man in his time
plays many parts..
I hoped the pale October daylight dimming outside the building
was not an indication of things to come. The soon-to-be Chief
Justice of Ireland peered over his glasses at me across the
stage of the courtroom after my marathon performance.
I WAS FRAMED had been running for almost a year and
making eye contact, the judge said I was an accomplished
actor. I smiled back gratefully.
However, obviously unimpressed with the instinctual lifelong
training that developed my internal sensory, psychological and
emotional abilities (method acting), he went on to sentence me
to 12 years penal servitude.
To drive home his critical appraisal of the method acting style,
perfected since the thirties by James Dean, Marlon Brando,
Robert De Niro, Paul Newman and Al Pacino, amongst others,
for good measure, he refused me leave to appeal.
He then instructed the prison warders standing next to me,
who I thought were giving me a standing ovation, to take me

away. As he thought he finally ended the longest running play

in Irish history Its curtains for me I thought as I was escorted
from the building.
[su_column]

[/su_column] As the muses triggered a new play I immediately

wrote and launched, Please Release Me Now, (and, by
inference, a demand for the re-institution of Al Pacinos
reputation), as the judges performance, his teachers and
school of acting were brought into international public ridicule.
In fairness, little did the sentencing judge know of my long
acting career and prowess. At the young age of nine I had
been asked to perform in the internationally renowned
Abbey Theater, which had burnt to the ground the year after I
was born and which, I hastily add, had nothing to do with me.
It was being managed by the late Ernest Blythe at the time of
my performance. The part of a leprechaun in A Christmas
Panto needed to be filled one year and, looking me up and
down, he read the introductory letter from my father, then a
movie and theater critic, and asked me to sing him a song. I
sang him an Irish lullaby in Irish. Far from lulling him into a
state of sombulance he became agitated.[su_column]

[/su_column] Well call you, he hastily replied , in English.

A fascist with a long, chequered background, it has been said
that he rejected many good plays in favor of those which were
more financially rewarding and that, as a creative force, he
consequently ran The Abbey Theater into the ground.

This may explain why the expectant subsequent phone call to

me was never made. But then it could have been worse: he
could have nominated me for a firing squad, as he did many

who offended him during the Irish Civil War.

I went on to drama school. Unfortunately, I only participated in
one class and the lesson should have hinted at any and all my
future auditions- and many job interviews to boot. I learnt how
to close a door quietly behind me.
The trick, I can divulge, and which will save you time and a
fee, is never to turn your back on the audience. Incidentally,
this is generally good practice in life for it is always better to
face adversaries than have them sneak up behind you.
Later, I trod the boards in The Drag Artist, a Christmas play,
about something or other which I am now as ignorant of as I
was then, including the palys title. It was performed in the late
Gas Company Theater in the center of Dun Laoghaire.
Suffice it to say that I was volunteered for the part of a woman,
dress and wig et all, by the school headmaster: leading a
donkey to water and all that comes to mind.
[su_column]

[/su_column]
A-la-Orson Welles, we gave the audience a hint of a sceneand no more than that. Our performance certainly lived up to
Friedrich Schlegels theory that good drama must be drastic.
Probably associated with my ignorance of the plays subject,
and indeed my and the rest of the casts ignorance of our
lines, despite the heavy, loud and prolonged prompting from
the wings, clearly audible to the audience but not,
unfortunately, to the actors, the curtain never rose after the
interval.
Arthur Miller would have approved as, by whatever means it is
accomplished, the prime business of any play is to arouse the

passions of an audience and, in this case, it did. At my most

serious endeavors of pathos their feelings fluctuated between
titters and raucous laughter.

The performance in general was reviewed well enough, if

briefly, in the media, despite a not unsubtle hint that
the players might have learnt their lines better.
I was 11 years of age and perhaps missed an early lesson in
life, one that suggested I should have stuck to comedy in life
as perhaps comedy makes a better sense of the chaos.
Performing drama in the Social Street Theatre I began to be
stalked throughout the 70s and 80s, now aged twenty to thirtysomething. I accumulated a growing fan base. I even had a
performance banned, which is truly a state accolade for any
artist.
Once, on the boards outside Leinster House, despite my voice

projection I could not be heard in the back row of the live

event, the wind whisking away my historic, emotive and
insightful words ever before they reached the bottom of
Molesworth St, or either end of Kildare Street.
[su_column] [/su_column]
The performance, like many great Irish artistic endeavours
before it, was technically banned. This was not because of the
performances sophistication but because, under The
Offenses Against the State Act, all performances are illegal if
held without prior consent within a half a mile of the national
legislature, either sitting or about to sit, which, technically, is
always.
Close to a quarter of a million angry, frustrated and upset
people marched to Leinster House in protest at the Irish
governments poor intervention in the H-Block Hunger Strike
issue. An executive member of the National H-Block Armagh
Group it was one of my responsibilities to stay close to the
mobile unadorned stage for the drama: a lorry and its sound
amplification system in its rear.
Still stalked by some of my aforementioned fans (the Special
Branch), an interaction in the march behind me distracted me
momentarily. I left my position, instructing the driver not to
move away from the march and that I would be back in a few
moments. By the time I came back he had disappeared- as
had the amplification system, the platform and my souvenir
hunting stalkers.
Another smaller van and a much weaker megaphone were
located in the swell of the march and pushed to the front that
had by now arrived at the gates of Leinster House. And so,
facing a quarter of a million people, my largest in-sitiu
audience to date, others and I gave forth to the first three or
four human lines of people in a semicircle, the rest of the two

hundred and forty nine thousand seven hundred people

having to content themselves with interpretations coming down
the line.
To this day others reminded me of my historic, emotive and
insightful words as I gesticulated artistically, my hair
windswept. Chinese whispers being what they are I can
confirm regretfully, alas, that I never said them.
Down the road, such was the reaction, after I performed to a
larger crowd at The British Embassy Gig that a riot ensued. A
section of the audience (the police) ran amok and charged
forward looking for me, chasing scores of thousands of the
remaining audience all the way to Dublins city center, a good
mile away.
In their determination to get my autograph, or other keepsake,
they chased me first through front gardens, over side walls,
and then through back gardens and over more walls, the
length of some twenty houses deep, until they gave up.
At length, some years later, I performed to a full-to-capacity
Mansion House Round Room, (where the play National Birth
had its first run in 1921 to a mostly armed audience- many of
whom marched out in disgust). Audience response can be
harsh if incitefull. This time, after my The Judges
Performance I relaxed as the audiences hands excited their
pockets empty and I received a definite emotional response
manifested as a standing ovation.
In Tailors Hal, birthplace of Irelands longest running play
United Irishmen, I repeated the performance. It was doubly
effective as I gave it bilingually, though not simultaneously, in
Irish and English.
In the 90s, then aged forty something, I returned to street
theatre with the Diceman and Mick Lally for a photo shoot to
promote a fundraiser in The National Concert Hall. Mick Lallys

thespian throat loudly heralded the event for a gathering

audience and a TV unit as The Diceman (Thom McGinty)
performed one of his statuesque poses.
In this case, he was dressed as a dodgy politician carrying a
suitcase full of worms, a reference to the can of worms that
was the case for which the judges performance was being
castigated internationally.
The Diceman specialised in standing stock still in the street, in
complete silence, advertising local businesses and causes
close to his heart. Once, when Gardai asked him to move
along he frustrated the eviction by employing an extremely
slow-motion walk that, as the prosecuting Garda told the
court,0
It was wasting police time as it bordered on immobility,
your Honour.
At the interval of the successful National Concert Hall event, I
briefly replaced MD Joe Duffy to speak some lines from The
Judges Performance to applause.
On another occasion, during a dramatic re-enactment, for
publicity purposes, I was being manhandled by actors dressed
as Gardai. Filmmakers and human rights campaigners
Tiarnan Mac Bride and Pat Murphy chose a large officious
building on Molesworth Street, across from Leinster House, as
a backdrop.
The caretaker appeared in consternation and, matters being
explained to him, rather than retreating and leaving the actors
to it, immediately proceeded towards the gardai.
Get away! he screamed, kicking them repeatedly in the
chins.
This of course turned the theme of the short shoot upside
down, inside out. The emotional audience response was not in
solidarity with us against our arrest but because the pillared

building was the headquarters of the, particularly that week,

much maligned and publicity-shy Knights of Columbanus.
From acting I progressed to penning A Very Very Short Play in
co-operation with some of my Special Branch stalkers which
was performed in the Project Theater. It was the classic play
within a play. The text was supplied by the Special Branch.
Nial Toibin, Donal OKelly and Mick Lally, face to audience,
read the lines of three detectives given to the trial court
performance in which the detectives claimed there had been
no collusion, contact or discussion between them as to any of
the content of their notebooks, purporting its contents to be an
independent, true, uncoordinated record.
My short play consisted of the actors (pronounced actowrs)
reading each of the three statements, alternating paragraph by
paragraph between them. Echoes would have been an
appropriate title.
Of course, all three were practically identical in every respect,
including being untruthful. It proved conclusively the mind
reading phenomena of the Special Branch acting school.
Years later, following a human rights conference in Dublin, I
and many of the participants retired to a local pub to uphold
our human right to quench our thirst while rehearsing Closing
Time.
The delegation included a very large number of victims of
miscarriage of justices over 20 years in Ireland and England,
many of whom are household names such as the Birmingham
Six and Guillford Four.
Between us, our past individual and group performances ran
for decades, resulting in several hundreds of years
incarceration, (and I suppose I can divulge the twists in the
tales at this stage) for crimes we had never committed.
One minute after Closing Time as if by signal, two of my fans

arrived led by a Sergeant, all in costume. The sergeant

immediately detected the pub was full due to the swell of
bodies at the door.
Drink was not only still being consumed but was also still
being openly sold and he immediately instructed his fellow
officers to commence taking names and addresses.
He came to me first and I co-operated with the impromptu
performance as it enfolded out of respect for a fellow actor
only asking him to deal with me in Irish. He obliged.
Looking up at the ceiling in solid artistic pose, he gave the
impression of trying to recollect where he had heard the name
before.
Moving on to the person beside me and all around me he
repeated the performance. Within a few minutes he stopped
taking details and I could see stage fright taking over as he
hesitated.
As famous name after name was recited to the Sergeant his
whirring mind clicked and he shook his head as if in a surreal
daze, nodded his head in surrender.
Why me, why always me, I heard him mutter.
Tugging at the sleeves of the other two Grda, he led them off
stage, exit left, despite their mutterings and reluctance to
abandon a cornered quarry.
It would be farce on the court stage he knew, an unforgettable
stigma on his acting reputation were he to add to the misery of
the lives of those he had found quietly supping a late pint.
It was not lost on him either that representing everyone at any
court hearing would be famous stage performer and fellow
late-drinker international human rights solicitor Gareth Pierce
who was standing beside me as the Gardai exited.
The soon-to-be Chief Justice of Irelands critique of my
method acting, as should be clear by now, was seriously

flawed. Far from closing the play down it was a hit and ran for
another 18 years, moving from scene to scene across
international stages. It was even positively reviewed by the
United Nations Human Rights Committee; so much for the
judges judgement.
He and his panel were wrong not only because they wrongly
jailed me for my performance but, of more relevance to our
discussion on acting, in that they participated with a
troubadour of bad actors in court.
Detectives changed their lines unflinchingly daily, contradicting
their lines delivered at the first trial performance with those
given in the second trial performance and those of each other
in both performances; all this despite ample loud warning
prompts from the bench.
Indeed, the performance from The Bench itself cannot go
unmentioned. One of the three judges tended to nod off during
the unimportant matter of witnesses giving forth their best
lines and being cross-examined.
This is understandable as the judges real performance did not
come to the fore until they had to give their guilty judgement at
the end of the trial.
Understandably, the longest performance in Irish legal history,
running, as it did, for almost twelve months, and until the
judges came on to perform, as it were, was a bit of a bore for
them. It took other court actors (clerks) banging doors and
deliberately dropping large books to wake him from his
slumber.
When that didnt work a swift surreptitious kick under the
bench from one of the other two judges did.
The Sleeping Judge went to the High Court stage whereupon
they retreated into an Alice in Wonderland panto stating that
the trial court had ruled on itself stating no judge slept and that

therefore none had- despite any reality to the contrary.

The Broadway-like Supreme Court of Actors was more
forthright: straightforward condemning our cast for taking the
case to them at all. Then they threw it off their stage and into
the street.
Thus we returned to the trial court stage our unjustified fears
allayed, protected under the unbiased mantle of the Superior
Actors.
That great human rights audience across Ireland and the
world disagreed with all the stage judges verdicts on my
acting, in fact acclaimed the essence of my performance, as
did later the Irish courts, eventually, and my sentence and
conviction were both quashed. And so, Al Pacinos method
acting style has been reinstated to its rightful place.
Seventeen and half years later the Irish government of the day
also agreed to cease the historic frustrating and blocking of
My Civil Case re-run and bought out all tickets and all future
productions and the rights to my play via a substantial
compensatory offer.
The cost was more, it is rumored, than the Birmingham Six
ever got for their plays, all of which further attests to the
injustice of poor adjudications, or, the superior quality of my
productions and performances, which simply follow the
essence of all good plays, and indeed all art: they simply tell
the truth.

GARDA
WHISTLEBLOWERS
BACK BREATNACH

BLOG
by Rita Cahill March 1, 2015 Uncategorized

Towards the end of a 10/4/14 Post on Garda

Whistleblowers- a 38 year warning . I wrote
I recall a media report of an alleged assault on a
prisoner in an interview room in a Grda station some
years ago that resulted in a part of the prisoners body
being propelled through a stud partition. Lo and
behold, the story goes, it exposed a recording device!:
Since I published the allegation it has emerged that Garda
whistle blowers have reported to the Morris Tribunal in
2002 that the bugging of interview rooms in police stations
and in private homes occurred as far back as the early
1990s. The Morris Tribunal was established to inquire into
corrupt and dishonest policing but in in County Donegal
only.
These new allegations were never mentioned or made
public in the Morris Tribunals final 2008 report.
The same gardai have now complained to the 2008
Fennelly Inquiry. This was established to inquire into covert
recordings at garda stations and the circumstances
surrounding the ex-garda commissioners departure .
Both inquiries refused to deal with the allegations as they
stated they were outside their terms of reference.
Is it time yet to establish a rolling independent inquiry and
monitoring body for the Garda?
In the meantime, dont worry, the allegations have been
reported to the, em, Garda.

GRDA WHISTLE

BLOWERS -a 38 year-old
warning
Osgur Breatnach March 31, 2014 Uncategorized

38 year-old warning
TODAY IS THE 38th anniversary of the Grda Heavy Gang
& Sallins Mail Train Robbery Case. I know this because
every year, on this date, I wake up soaked in sweat at
about 5am, by way of a subconscious reminder.
This is the time I was taken from my cell, in 1976, and
brought down into the tunnel under Dublins Bridewell
police station by the Grda Heavy Gang to be tortured .
Background
The Garda Heavy Gang- Sallins Mail Train Case followed a
mail train robbery in Sallins, Co Kildare, Ireland, on March
31st, 1976. I was one of forty political, trade unionist, human
rights and community activists (many who were members of
the IRSP, a registered legal party) who were scooped up by
Grda ( Irish police) in the biggest such action by the State
since WW2.

In my case, I was kidnapped by Grda (over six arrests- five

of them illegal), tortured and framed, hospitalised and

eventually jailed for twelve years in a juryless court during the

longest running criminal case in Irish legal history. I was
released in 1980 after an international campaign for
my release was successful.
It took me seventeen years, in all, to 1993, to fully clear my
name, have my sentence and conviction quashed and receive
some compensation.
Amnesty International took up my case and Nelson Mandelas
right hand man, Kadar Asmal, then living and teaching law in
Dublin, founded the Irish Council for Civil Liberties in
response, along with Mary Robinson, later to become Irish
President and, subsequently, United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights.

However, recent revelations about the Grda telephone

bugging, the resignation of the Grda Commissioner and the
framing and intimidation of witnesses in the Ian Bailey case
show that not much has changed in the intervening thirty eight
years.
Osgur Breatnach
Good reads
A State Conspiracy by Osgur Breatnach.

.
Related Blogs
Giblin, Garda, Corruption, human rights (LINK)

Lmha
May 19, 2011
I 1977 d'fhoilsigh Amnesty International tuairisc ag cineadh
go gar rialtas na s chondae fichead as a seasamh ar chearta
daonna. Bh cs Osgur Breatnach ar na csanna a luaigh siad,
fear a ciontaodh go hagrach as Robil Traenach na Solline.
Mar gheall ar imn faoi imeacha sa Tuaisceart, tugadh isteach
Alt 31, cuireadh poblachtir agus Gaeilgeoir araon faoi ghlas
agus thiontaigh an stt in adan gach rud Gaelach n
ireannach.
(At the Hands of the State.
In 1977 Amnesty International published a report condemning
the government of the twenty-six counties for its stance on
human rights. The case of Osgur Breatnach was one of the
cases they mentioned, a man who was unjustly convicted of
the Sallins Train Robbery. Due to concerns about events in the
North, Section 31 was introduced, both republicans and Irish
speakers were imprisoned and the state turned against all
things Gaelic or Irish.)

https://www.youtube.c

om/watch?
v=0MiFMtAHfwA
SHANE MAC THOMIS
-an untimely sudden
death
Osgur Breatnach June 8, 2014 Uncategorized

SHANE MAC THOMIS

TALL, FIT, soft spoken with a kindly mischievous glint in
his eyes Shane Mac Thomis was hard to miss in a crowd.
When I first met him around 2001 I was already
acquainted with his late father, amon, and had avidly
read and followed his fathers folksy historical media
contributions, such as bestseller Me Jewel and Darlin
Dublin.
Oct 2, 2012
Shane MacThomis of Glasnevim Museum () gives us a tour
around the world famous Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum.
Every year Glasnevin () opens up its doors to tours for Culture
Night, Dublin. A real treat if you get the chance.
A video insert used as part of Culture Night TV. A 3 hour live
event, produced by NearTV, broadcast on DCTV for Culture
Night 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L7O7oU47n4

A recipient of two civic awards, the Old Dublin Society Silver

Medal (1988) and the Bank of Ireland Millennium Medal 1989),
amonn was an author, Irish republican, broadcaster,
historian, advocate of the Irish Language, and lecturer.
Shane was not that far behind his father and soon to be an
author. A political activist in Sinn Fin at the time I met him I
told him I had a story for him about his fathers jailing and my
own fathers part in it.
In the mid seventies, in the war years, amonn was the parttime editor of An Phoblacht, the official organ of Sinn Fin. My
father, Deasn, a journalistic contributor, was a sub-editor in
the Irish Independent, an Irish national daily newspaper.
Once a month Deasn received by post a copy of a monthly
litany of all the press releases issued by the IRA. Nothing
unusual in that as all Irish and some international media,
foreign embassies and many journalists also received the
same document.

My father handed his copy to amonn, who unfortunately was

stopped shortly thereafter by the Special Branch, searched
and arrested The document was used as evidence against
amonn to sustain a charge of Irish Republican Army
membership.
In the Special Criminal Court, which sits without a jury,
amonn refused to recognise the authority of the court, as
was the want of many republicans at the time.
My father, Deasn, wrote to the court explaining his original
possession of the document, how he had received it and that
he had handed it to amonn and that it could not, therefore,
constitute proof of IRA membership.

A well-supported campaign by journalists, personalities and

editors of a variety of left wing and all- Irish periodicals
campaigned against the politically motivated charges and for

his release.
But, in any event, the word of a senior Garda (police) of belief
of anyones IRA membership (however unsubstantiated) was
sufficient to incarcerate anyone for fifteen months, and in this
case it did so.
My father took up the position of editor of the weekly An
Phoblacht as well as holding down his day job.
But no sooner was amonn released than he was re-arrested
and suffered the same charade of justice to find himself back
in Portlaoise maximum security prison serving another fifteen
months for IRA membership.
Eamonn began work on one of his subsequently famous
books in jail only to have it destroyed in one of many punitive
cell searches. On his release the national broadcaster, Radio
Teilifs ireann (RT) removed him from his position in making
some of its historical programs.
Shane and I would regularly meet in later years, at protests,
demonstrations and meetings. We discussed politics and
history and, as both of us would have it no other way, we never
agreed on everything, which made our conversations all the
more interesting and energising. We did of course agree on
much.
He told me once that he had been in the Foreign Legion,
serving in Chad, when he was much younger. When I
challenged him on his membership of le Lgion trangre he
admitted his head had been messed up at that time in his
youth. Had he learnt anything worthwhile in the Legion?
They give all recruits a name. The idea is to withhold it in
interrogation training. Then they beat you senseless until
you divulge it he said. They beat me for three days and
nights but I never divulged it. After that I was never afraid
of a beating.

In his work with the Glasnevin Trust, as chief historian, Shane

was instrumental in, among other projects, ensuring that 43
soldiers who died after returning from the First World War had
a proper memorial. The recent refurbishment of OConnell
Tower, which was bombed by loyalists in 1971, also had his
participation. Glasnevin Cemetary is one of the most famous
of European graveyards, similar to the Pere Lachaise in Paris.
Save Moore Street, the last headquarters of the 1916 rebels,
now facing demolition, was one of the many campaigns he
was active in. He supported a wide range of campaigns
against austerity, always in support of the working class, as
well as the peace process and a united democratic Ireland.

Often, he published articles, columns, pamphlets, books, and

contributed to TV and radio programmes as well as organising
exhibitions. Unbigoted, he recently worked closely with the
UVF in Belfast on an Ulster Rifles exhibition.
My understanding is that he left Sinn Fin in recent years,
concerned that they might be losing the republican initiative,
his political alienation growing.

In deference to his African travels I would greet him with

a Salam! (Arabic for peace or hello- and my only Arabic) in
street cafes and he would respond in kind with his boyish

smile. He smoked so he invariably sat outside cafes.

Over the aroma of coffee we exchanged views and stories
about Dublin, the city he loved. As the mostly sparse sun hit
our table we would sometimes talk about the Mediterranean
and Shane would talk of Morocco, a favorite spot of his.
When my mother was buried Shane attended the funeral. And
when a service was held for my father, who died on the day of
my mothers funeral, Shane was there again with a warm
supporting embrace.
This summer it was my intention to avail of one of his
fascinating tours in Glasnevin Cemetery, where he worked
since he was fourteen years of age; whose recent
refurbishment he was central to, and where he took his own
life on March 20th, 2014, at the age of forty six.
The news of his untimely and sudden death shocked and
saddened us all. My heartfelt and deepest sympathy go to
Shanes mother, daughter, family, partner and friends.
Brian Whiteside, who officiated at a humanist ceremony for
Shane, said that usually it was difficult to find people to speak
at funerals, but for Shane people were queuing up.
He had some great friends but the shining light in his life
was his daughter Morgane. She was the shining beacon
of hope in his dark depression, said his friend and fellow
historian Lorcan Collins who likened his death to a library
burning down.
His sisters Orla and Meliosa told the congregation how he
had tormented them during their childhoods, but had
become a firm friend in adulthood.
Indicative of the breath of his circle of friends was the large
attendance at the ceremony which spilled well outside of the
church.
Among those there offering their respects were musicians,

writers, historians, personalities, politicians, trade unionists,

community workers, friends and devastated work colleagues.
The president of Sinn Fin, Gerry Adams, was among those
who spoke at the funeral: ...Shane was generous in his
writings. He was generous in his work. He was always
inclusive. He wasnt narrow in his view. He understood
how the threads of history weave the fabric of the past.
Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) were also
represented. The Irish President, attended a ceremony for
Shane the previous evening and was represented at the
funeral by his aide-de-camp. Shane was buried alongside his
father in Glasnevin Cemetery.
Rest easy comrade.

VERONICA GUERINS
SECRETS
January 28, 2015 Uncategorized
by Rita Cahill

Not long before journalist Veronica Guerin was shot dead

in Dublin in 1996 we met while participating in a radio talk
show on Irelands illegal drug epidemic. Subsequently she
and I discussed sleaze and bribery in the Garda Sochna,
Irelands police force. We agreed it needed exposure. She
confided she was working on a particular investigation of
police corruption as we spoke. We agreed to keep in touch.
The precise target and results of her investigation remain
unpublished to date.
I was driving past Irelands national television and radio
broadcaster, Radio Teilifs ireann when a newsflash
came through that a woman journalist had been shot dead
in Dublin. As I pulled over I guessed, sadly, that it must be
Veronica. She had many enemies on both sides of the law,

neither of which baulked at murder if the stakes were

perceived as being high enough.
Within twenty four hours two policemen were at my door
wanting details of any and all contact between us and what
we had talked about. It was the usual soft cop, hard cop
routine, one being all professional while the other
aggressively threatened to return with a search warrant if I
insisted he remove his foot from inside my apartment. I
refused their invitations to divulge the content of our
discussions.
I was reminded of all this recently watching When the
Sky Falls, a movie on Veronicas life. It stars Joan Allen
and is scripted by Colm McCann, Michael Sheridan and
Ronan Gallagher. Ronan and I worked together for a short
while producing a movie on Bloody Sunday. However, one
of those involved in the project left to continue the project
alone then teamed up with with Paul Greengrass,
eventually winning the Audience Award at Sundance,
the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film
Festival, the Hitchcock dOr best film prize at theDinard
Festival of British Cinema. The production of a second
movie Sunday by Jimmy McGovern over-crowded the
field and Ronan and I dropped the project. Ironically, a
second successful movie on Veronica, Veronica
Guerin (2003), was also produced starring Cate Blanchett.
The International Press Institute named Veronica a World
Press Freedom Hero of the past 50 years.
An International Veronica Guerin Memorial
Scholarship is available from Dublin City University and
offers a bursary of an MA in Journalism for a student
wishing to specialise in investigative journalism.

Padraig Pearse Oration Reenactment

Witness Irish History

The Fools, the Fools, the Fools! they have left us
our Fenian dead And while Ireland holds these
graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.
14th March to 31st December 2015 - Daily at 2.30pm
In 2015, Glasnevin Cemetery Museum will continue their series of
re-enactments and orations of famous Irish patriots. Dramatic reenactments bring legend to life featuring the orations and words of
the famous. The now famous speech delivered by Padraig Pearse
at the grave of Jeremiah ODonovan Rossa on 1st August, 1915,
will be re-enacted daily at 2.30pm by an actor dressed as Pearse
in full uniform.
In August 2015 we mark the 100th year anniversary of the death of
prominent Fenian, Jeremiah ODonovan Rossa. His funeral, which
took place on the 1st August 1915 saw an unknown man step
forward from the crowd and make a graveside oration which would
influence a nation. This would rouse Irish republican feeling and
would be a significant element in the lead-up to the Easter Rising
of 1916. That man was Padraig Pearse.
All re-enactments at Glasnevin Cemetery Museum are kindly
supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

I will n me ars (I don't think so)

Me stomach is meeting me backbone = starving!

Sucking up diesel.. Onto something good I think