Category: Comment

I admit to being pleasantly surprised on seeing this headline in the Irish Independent, especially since there isn’t much to be gained publicity-wise from it (as opposed to the political benefits of a Seanie Fitz arrest).

Multi-millionaire businessman and property developer Jim Kennedy was in garda custody last night after officers arrested him for questioning about corruption and bribery allegations.

The 63-year-old man was detained by officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) — which has sought to question him for the past seven years.

Kennedy has since told Gardai he felt unwell in custody and been brought to hospital.

It is alleged Kennedy paid Frank Dunlop, the disgraced former Fianna Fáil press secretary and lobbyist, to bribe councillors in Dun-Laorghaire to rezone agricultural land in Carrickmines as industrial. The land is owned by Jackson Way, property company which is linked to Kennedy and an Isle of Man based solicitor, John Caldwell. The rezoning immediately raised the value of the lands from €7.9m to about €60m.

Any sale, transfer or disposal has been frozen by the courts since 2006. After interviewing Dunlop and county councillors, CAB officers provided an affidavit to the High Court stating they believed Kennedy and Dunlop had an agreement that Dunlop would receive the commercial value of one acre of the land (c. €60,000) if they were ‘successfully’ rezoned.

Both Dunlop and Goerge Redmond, the former Dublin assistant county manager, have served time on charges relating to corruption… maybe one day we might get on to the politicians? Ye’ know, the lynch-pins of the whole scheme with the blatant corrupt actions?

For the record; I reckon nothing much will come of the Kennedy arrest. Could be wrong, could be wrong.

Any news on that lobbyists register that you think will make a difference, dear ol’ Green Party?

Malachy Browne of Politico.ie has developed a useful and welcome database of national representatives. It contains details/profiles for all TDs, senators and MEPs and takes updates from KildareStreet.com, Google News, the Magill and Village archive, and the individuals’ Facebook and Twitter pages.

Excellent stuff. Only thing I’d question is naming the salary and expenses section ‘The Gravy Train’. But who am I to question cynicism… Very nice work, Mister Browne.

Letter in Saturday’s Irish Times…

A chara,

I write to voice my concern about the future of this country. I am sitting on the steps of the Department of Justice & Law Reform, the sun is beating down on my shoulders and I write to expel a dark thought from my mind. What is to become of the disenfranchised generation of Irish citizens whose future happiness and prosperity in this country has been cast in great black shadows by the criminal activities of our financial institutions and the gross mismanagement of our national affairs by our trusted Government?

Like so many other young Irishmen and women, my partner and I have decided to leave Ireland to live and work in another country. I came to the city today to prepare some things for our trip and to say goodbye to the capital for a while, to soak in some of her unique flavour before departing for Perth in Australia. What is it that makes Ireland a special country? What are the deepest moral values that are the foundations of Irish society? As I walk, thinking about Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan’s recent announcement of the country’s national debt (death?) I was deeply concerned not that I no longer knew what this core moral value might be, but saddened to find that I no longer care.

Seemingly, the woeful economic state we find ourselves in is merely a symptom of a far more threatening problem – a spiritual or existential crisis at play in Irish society. My own sense of moral apathy makes me think a deep wound has been inflicted by the bankers’ greed and it is not in our pockets but sadly in the collective heart of the Irish people. We can endure the toxic financial wreck that is Nama’s balance sheet, the grossly unfair debt saddled so abruptly on honest, hard-working tax-payers.

We cannot endure however, the sheer sense of injustice and the total loss of moral law at the filthy hands of these so-called rogues and sleeveens (it is equally disheartening to see we have had cause over the years to establish a colloquialism to best describe such recurrent characters in Irish society).

An example has been set by the leaders of this country that their selfish and cynical behaviour is an acceptable discourse in modern Ireland. Our potential to act meaningfully and righteously in this society has been shrouded in this cynicism by the greedy, ignorant brutes that head our banks and by the lacklustre unimaginative politicians that sit in our Government offices.

As a young able man I am ashamed that my chosen course of action is not violent protest (there should be rioting in the streets outside Dáil Eireann and Anglo Irish Bank); rather I choose to leave the wreckage – feeling as if a bully has just entered the playing field, burst the ball and walked away.

Sitting outside the Department of Justice Law Reform, whose steps feel like empty totems of the now laughable notion of justice, I think that the task at hand is not to set the country’s financial institutions back on track. It is to inspire an entire generation of skilled workers leaving our shores to return at some point to rebuild Ireland in the spirit of honesty and hard work, with a belief in our ability to live for the prosperity of others as well as ourselves. – Yours, etc,

BEN MULLEN,

Raheen Park,

Bray, Co Wicklow.

Wexford-based blogger Guido Fawkes – who usually focuses on the goings-on in Westminister – has published what he says is “the list of foreign Anglo-Irish bondholders as at the close of business tonight.”

That’s a pretty refined sentence. He doesn’t mention if they’re senior or sub-ordinated, though you’d guess at sub. Nor does he say if there is a corresponding list of Irish-based bondholders, though you’d presume there has to be.

Also, it’s only €4bn of €30bn and many are funds probably running accounts for clients.

Still, it seems he has figures – some damn important context – for each one published too, so if you’re interested stay tuned there.

Of course TheStory would be interested in any similar information also! Props to Guido on obtaining the list assuming it stacks up.

Here’s a slight re-ordering/re-wording of the bottom-of-the-page story that appears of page 4 (the In The Courts page) of this morning’s Irish Times…

‘Judge compares incident with Garda to infamous US beating’

A JUDGE has compared an incident between a Garda and a member of the public to the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles.

Garda Curtis (23) of Ardee, Co Louth, had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault and assault causing harm to John Paul Maughan (19) on Alexandria Road in the Dublin Docks on July 11th, 2009.

Referring to the CCTV recording of the incident, Judge McDonagh said: “On first viewing one is reminded of the Rodney King beating.”

“Self control was sadly lacking”, he told the court in the absence of the jury. “This to me is a case of a single garda overreacting.”

He also questioned why gardaí decided to smash the car’s windows instead of waiting for Mr Maughan and his accomplice to get out when Mr Maughan was clearly not going to escape after the stolen vehicle crashed.

During the five-day trial, the jury heard from several Garda witnesses that Garda Curtis had used justified force.

Referring to other gardaí who gave evidence, Judge McDonagh said: “I do not believe his colleagues bathed themselves in glory either. Too much of the evidence in this trial was clearly partisan.”

On Tuesday the jury was shown footage of the moment when the car crashed and Mr Maughan was dragged out. Some 15 gardaí arrived on the scene and a garda could be seen striking the suspect with his baton.

Several gardaí gave evidence that Mr Maughan was kicking out violently during the arrest.

Garda Gerard Curtis was found not guilty by direction of Judge Donagh McDonagh after he ruled that the prosecution failed to disprove the garda was acting in self-defence when he hit the suspect with his baton after a car chase.

And so it ends. We’ll probably never know if the Garda was/is disciplined, moved, re-trained, questioned internally… An Garda is a black hole of information.

Like some other organisations…

Previous posts on An Garda on this site:

OECD/Transparency International report on Ireland

New details relating to the Terence Wheelock case

Deaths in Garda custody

FOI and An Garda: And again, I quote from that link…

All that is needed for An Garda Síochána to come under FOI is the signature of Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, and some regulations to be implemented. Then we can take our place among such nations as Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan as a country that allows citizens to request information from their police force. The Gardai must be brought under FOI as a matter of urgency.

Heh.

Check out the third table.

Really, all we need is some positive thinking and the meeja to stop talking down the economy. We’ve already turned a corner, don’t you remember?

Sigrún Davíðsdóttir, London Correspondent with RUV, the Icelandic RTE…

For an Icelander the demise of the Irish banks has a strong resemblance to what happened in Iceland. The huge difference is that Icelanders know a lot more about banking in Iceland thanks to the fantastic report of the Althingi Investigative Commission. So far, the Irish only have sporadic insights into their banks and their relations to big investors and clients…

Read it in full.

Transparency? Democracy? Heh.

Bottom of the main business page from Friday’s Irish Times…

[Tazbell Holdings/Group] has won a tender from the Department of Justice to manage “the collection of overdue court-imposed fines”.

The contract, won by Dublin-based Tazbell, involves managing the collection of unpaid court fines through “proactive contact attempts” with the debtor. This will include “traditional credit management methods”, such as letters, phone calls and e-mails.

As the article also states, Tazbell is owned by Derek Quinlan, the well-known financier who’s currently selling his property on the exclusive Shrewsbury Road. He’s one of the top ten property investors heading into Nama via one of his other companies, Avestus.

The parent company over all his enterprises is registered on the Isle of Man. In August last year Quinlan took up permanent residence in Switzerland for “tax and personal reasons“.

Quinlan is also a director in Park Rite, which runs many of the car parks around the nation’s cities (Dublin alone: Arnotts, City Quay, Tallaght Hospital, St James’s Hospital, Fleet Street in Templebar, Mount Carmel Hospital, Parnell Street and a few more). On top of that Park Rite is the parent company of Dublin Street Parking Services. DSPS is an unlimited company not required to file accounts with the CRO. However, the Dublin City Council budget for 2009 shows that DSPS was paid almost €10m that year for “clamps, removals or car relocations” by the Council. It’s a clamping company contracted by the Council.

Quinlan – via Tazbell – also now has the contract for court fine debt collection. Oh, and he collects the toll on the M4-M6 motorway too via another company (a public-private partnership construction), in case you’re passing through.

So you can either pay to park with Tazbell or get clamped. Or you park in the pay-and-display… though you should be aware that if you overstay and catch a fine it’ll be Tazbell that’ll force you to cough up. Or park in one of the smaller car parks if you can find one… and good luck doing that as you rush into Tallaght Hospital, St James’s, Mount Carmel or University College Hospital Galway.

All the while he pays tax in Switzerland, bases his parent company in the Isle of Man as the taxpayer – the same one he’s clamping, charging and chasing for fines – takes on his loans through Nama.

Larrrrrvley innit?