I am forced to come back to react to the Ahern revelations.
The most interesting name spotted: Des Richardson, one of his closest friends and one of the Drumcondra Mafia.
Why? Richardson’s company, Berraway, is thought to have received large payments from, Rohan Holdings, owned by developer Ken Rohan. Rohan was perhaps the sole beneficiary of a tax break in Section in the 1994 Finance Act introduced by Ahern when he was minister for finance. The developer is believed to have saved £1.5 million in tax at the time and a further £150,000-£180,000 per annum thereafter.
Another man named by Ahern who ‘loaned’ money, was founder of Marlborough Recruitment, Dave McKenna. Richardson earned up to 70,000 a year from Marlborough as executive director.
The Planning Tribunal is looking at links between Richardson and Frank Dunlop. Both have an interest in a company called Beraway. Beraway is also apparently related to Rohan Holdings.
Bare in mind that with £40,000 in 1993 one could easily buy a 3-bed semi-detached house. How on earth a simple legal separation could have cost this much is beyond me.
Bertie Ahern should resign, now.
Update:
The IT has a transcript. I like this part:
Q. But some of them were people in business, they had business interests, they were in position potentially to benefit from decisions you would make as minister for finance.
A. Well you know all I can say on that they didn’t and never did they ask me. They were not people that ever tired to get me to do something. I might have appointed somebody but I appointed them because they were friends, not because of anything they had given me. and you know, I think they appreciate that these were debts of honour, they gave them to me, I suppose on hindsight back I wasn’t to know then that I would be Taoiseach that I would have more money. That my daughters would be far more self sufficient, I didn’t know these things. You know, so whether I should have took it or not, but I always seen them as loans. I didn’t see them as any risk other than friends at a time of need when they knew I was in difficulties, when they knew that where I was staying and how I was living was a source of conversation.
In 1999, Jody Corcoran wrote an article about how Rohan benefitted from the 1994 Finance Act.
Comments
11 responses to “Back for a note”
Jesus. Dear God.
Do you know what? The most appalling part is that he doesn’t see anything wrong with it.
The issue is not that he accepted help from friends. We can all understand his anguish. We have all experenced the pain of separation, personally or through others, and we feel sorry for him. We don’t begrudge him the help his friends offered.
The issue is that he accepted money equivalent to the price of a house from a circle of businessmen, and saw no difficulty with remaining as Minister for Finance. That’s where the moral bankruptcy lies.
But at the end of the day, you have to convince the electorate that he violated more than a sense of trust. You can be reelected with popular acclamation if your populace sees you as one of them. Bertie remains a perfect example of the stumbling achiever and that facet of his personality appeals to thousands of newly-rich Irish who have kept ashore and in overseas property holding what they believe is their well-earned prosperity.
For the decade I’ve lived in Ireland, I’ve watched all serious discussions concerning ethical standards of governance come off the rails The best Ireland has to offer the protection of ethical governance is millions of euro doled out to barristers to convene everlasting tribunals where the evidence is safeguarded and where the politicians can avail of newly-forged privacy legislation to prosecute leakers.
Remember this: the glare of the RTE spotlight produced important disclosures. This was a voluntary exercise. The ministers currently serving have pushed through stifling restrictions on the powers of investigative journalism. This effectively cushions Bertie-like creative debts of honour from all sorts of public questions.
Interesting Barry.
You incorrectly state I am award-winning. I’m not. Comment moderation is not a device invented by me, it is part of WordPress, and used quite commonly I might add. You might call it extreme, I call it common (hence its inclusion with WordPress).
You incorrectly state that the Anthony who writes on the Public Inquiry blog is my brother. But I do have a brother by that name.
This makes me wonder how you know that.
It also appears that you work for Fingal County Council.
How did you come by such information?
Gav Not an employee just using their excellent broadband facilities in library. I know both yourself and Anto for a few years now. You may not know me. Im a student still also and now chuffed about PI site as you may gather. Definitely should be called rainbow coalitions view of PI. We dont see any reference to Emmet Staggs antics in the Park,or Paddy Donegans ‘Thundering Bollix’ remark which caused a president to resign. Neither suffered sanction. Apparently there is a lot of anti Gav feeling outside Eire because of all this. People want to know about your funding and who you are really fronting for. You have obviously a lot of talent and used ethically could be beneficial for you. But big reputations have to be preserved and nurtured. Refusing a right to reply on PI will not enhance reputation much. You must put house in order or there may be gradual erosion of what you have been working hard to develop.
LOL. Eire? Do people still use that word?
Hehe, funding? I wish I had some.
Fronting for… me…?
I never removed a right of reply, simply used a moderation facility to stop spamming and abusive comments. And I am perfectly within my rights to do so. Moderation stays.
Though if you know me and Anthony you wouldnt have made the mistake of saying he was my brother.
My house is in order, thank you very much.
Where were we at. Now we have three rabid lefties Gav, Anto and AJ and a website called Public Inquiry. There is never any criticism on this site of the Labour Party or Fine Gael for that matter and now some serious censorship has been introduced by Sir Gav on the grounds that there was some spamming taking place. Gav I may have some shortcomings but I am not a complete idiot. Gav does not want any questions raised about his Editorial pieces or those of Anto or AJ because this might not look so good.
Gav wants a bit of moderation. A nice method of denying people the right of reply. You say you never do this but you did in my case a few weeks ago. A very moderate response it was but you pulled the plug on it. I suggest Gav that you rename your site Public Inquiry from a left wing perspective (no dissension allowed) Then at least people would know the full story when they logged on to this site.
Failure to do this is using the Blogosphere in a very unethical and ungenuine way. I am not surprised that Sinn Fein are about to overtake the Labour Party as the country’s third largest if this is the type of con trick they try to pull.
Hahahaha.
And there was I being labelled an arch-neocon by indymedia.
Comments are optional on any weblog, as is moderation.
Criticism of the opposition parties may be lacking because they are not the ones who have been in power for 9 years, FF/PDs have.
Feel free to establish your own weblog though Barry. 🙂
What can I say Gav in response to the Arch Neo-Con suggestion by someone on the Indymedia site?
The only thing I can say is that you show definite signs of being a Neo-Con and even worse than that you may be destined for a future in the Tory Party across the pond. I can see it now (perhaps in 30 to 40 years time) Lord Sheridan of Tynebrook and The Manse being appointed to head up an inquiry into unethical activities on the Internet. How well qualified you will be for that role.
One of the traits apparently attributed to Neo-Cons is that they have no compunction, no qualms, in suppressing any sense of morality. That would it would seem reinforce the Indymedia claim.
If these exchanges do nothing else perhaps they will help you discover what you really are.
You anti-irishness which comes through in your Editorials (or those of Anto or AJ) would really guild your suitability for Tory party membership. After all I do not think that you would be found at a Hurling match on a Sunday in Cork even if the Rocky’s and the Barr’s were in the County final.
The only people who are now allowed to contribute to the PI site are the lefties who are in total agreement with the Editorials. They are artists also of a kind but the only thing they want to draw is the dole. It is ironic isnt it that in the areas of the World where this discredited Socialism existed up to recently the leaders of the countries where it existed had to resort to the same tactics as yourself (Censorship) to try and maintain systems which were clearly unsustainable.
But as you know Gav you can always disown your “leftiness” at any time and put it down as a “student thing” I predict this will happen shortly in your case.
Your fellow traveller lefties who will be the only ones with access to your PI site will be horrified but so what. They like to drink their pints down in the Spit and Whistle where you wouldn’t be found dead.
You are more of a Reynards or a Lillies man in my opinion. Possibly following on from an evening in The Bailey or The George.
Everyone finds their own level eventually and so will you.
I have diagnosed the situation in respect of the PI site as a clear case of Mulligan’s dog syndrome. You can give it but you cant take it. You’ll have to abandon that philosophy immediately, otherwise your world conquering ambitions may be stifled forever
Forgive me for being confused Barry, but am I on the right or left according to you? First you call me a rabid lefty, now you call me a Tory.
I find your characterisation of me amusing to say the least. Where you get the ‘anti-Irish’ thing from I have no idea.
And then you go completely off the point, ranting on about where I might drink were I in Dublin.
What on earth are you talking about?
I can only surmise that you are attempting, rather pitifully, to paint me into a corner in order to discredit any examination of corruption in Ireland that I, or Anthony, may make.
And you are wasting your time.
[…] Check out Gavin’s blog who has some info about his generous benefactors, as do the folk at Irish Election. […]
Nah, I like the link love Crewser 🙂