Irish Consumer Confidence at a record Low

The Irish Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI), compiled every month by the IIB Bank and Ireland's Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in Dublin, fell to a record low of 56 in April, down from 63.3 in March. The CSI measures the general mood among Irish consumers.

David Duffy of the ESRI blames the drastic fall on concerns about job losses, rising prices and the gloomy outlook for the property sector.

The Index of current economic conditions also dropped - from 83 to 75.1 - while the forward-looking index, which covers expectations about the coming months, was down from 50 in March to 43.1 in April.

IIB Bank's economist Austin Hughes said the survey details indicated that people were more worried about the general economic climate than about their own personal finances.
"This may suggest that consumers have braced themselves for a difficult period, but are not experiencing acute problems," he added and explained that 88% of those surveyed expected unemployment to rise in the coming year, the highest figure in the survey's history.

Homeless die while Facilities stand unused

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has said it is "actively in negotiations" with the Department of Health "to obtain funds to meet the needs of homeless people in Ireland". (The language alone rolls up my toe nails and tells me that absolutely nothing is done, except bureaucrats wrapping themselves in their legalistic language.)

This follows a report by RTÉ's Prime Time TV programme, which found that newly built homeless accommodation is not used because the HSE says it "could not afford the staff needed to operate them".

Last night's programme reported that the HSE's decision to cut this year's funding for the homeless services is jeopardising a government plan, aimed at eliminating the problem.

Seven homeless people died in Dublin alone in a two-week period over Easter this year, and at the same time at least five major homeless facilities in Dublin were either lying idle or being totally under-utilised due to a lack of HSE funding!
A 30-bed facility in James Street was due to open earlier this year but remains closed, while in Brunswick Street only seven of 17 family units have been used since January.

Prime Time also reported that a new homeless service in Middle Abbey Street has been denied HSE funding for its running costs, and in Cork Street an emergency accommodation facility for homeless people with special needs remains still under-utilised. And in Bolton Street, the future of a proposed accommodation facility also hangs in the balance. And this is only the situation in Dublin. There are also homeless people in other Irish cities and towns, where there is often no facility for them at all.

So while the Taoiseach and his extensive traveling party, which includes old party chums and family members, is staying at one of the most expensive hotels in Washington D.C. - at taxpayers' expense - the homeless of Dublin, who were always one of Bertie Ahern's concerns, are neglected because the HSE claims a lack of funds. What a den of hypocrites we are... and a real banana republic without bananas.

The Emerald Islander

Fire in Taoiseach's Washington Hotel

The Taoiseach's sleep was rudely interrupted earlier this morning when fire alarm bells rang out at about 4.30 a.m. local time in the very luxurious Mayflower Hotel in Washington, where Bertie Ahern and his party - including Senate leader Donie Cassidy - are staying at present, ahead of the Taoiseach's address to both Houses of Congress later today.

After the alarm sounded, members of the U. S. Secret Service escorted the Taoiseach from his suite on the tenth floor down to the street, where he joined about 600 other guests who gathered slightly puzzled and half asleep on Connecticut Avenue in front of the Mayflower, one of the most exclusive and luxurious hotels in Washington (with the cheapest room costing $ 400 a night).

Early speculations that the alarm was a hoax to interrupt Bertie Ahern's sleep were proven wrong, and Pat Kenny's suggestion that someone in the Irish party might have lit a cigarette in his room against the rules also turned out to be incorrect. Apparently an electric generator on the eleventh floor - one above the Taoiseach's suite - caught fire and caused minor damage.
Shortly after 5 a.m. local time the "all clear" was given and everyone was allowed back into their rooms. This gives Bertie about five more hours to rest and get ready, as he is due on Capitol Hill shortly after 10 a.m. local time.

The Emerald Islander

Redmond Corruption Trial opens in Dublin

Dublin's former assistant city and county manager George Redmond (photo) has gone on trial at the Circuit Criminal Court in the capital, charged with two counts of corruption.

Redmond is charged with receiving a corrupt payment of £ 10,000 between October 1985 and June 1989 from a former Fianna Fáil Councillor, the late Pat Dunne. The money was given in relation to the compulsory purchase of land at Buzzardstown near Blanchardstown in Dublin.

George Redmond, who will be 84 in June, has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecuting lawyer Pauline Whalley told the Jury of nine men and three women that the prosecution does not have to prove that Redmond did anything dishonest as a result of the payment, but simply that he received it. She said that George Redmond was promoted to his position of assistant city and county manager in the 1970s. It was a position of extreme power, influence and status, she added.

She explained that in March 1999 Redmond told two senior Garda officers that he had received the money from Cllr. Dunne in relation to Buzzardstown. He said he had signed a compulsory purchase order relating to the land at the direction of the city and county manager. But the prosecution says he told the Gardaí that Dunne did not have known that.

Redmond's defence counsel, Brendan Grehan, told the Jury that Redmond had said on oath in May 2000 that he had not received any money from Cllr. Dunne. The trial continues.

250 Irish Job Cuts at DELL Computers

US computer manufacturer Dell, which employs currently 4500 people in Ireland, is to reduce its Irish workforce by about 250 people. The job losses will mainly be in the areas of finance, IT, marketing, sales and technical support.

About 180 to 200 jobs will be lost at Dell's Cherrywood plant in South-Dublin, and the remainder in their plant in Limerick. Dell staff were informed about the job cuts - which will be compulsory - during a meeting with senior management this morning.

In a statement issued this afternoon, Dell said it regrets the impact the move will have on its employees, but it is "confident that the changes will position the company strongly for continued future growth". This might sound good, but is certainly little or no comfort for those who will be made redundant.

The development comes after Dell's plan to cut 10% of its entire workforce of currently more than 95,000 worldwide.
It is thought that the slowing US consumer demand for new computers amid its faltering economy and first signs of a recession are to blame for the job cuts.

Once again we see that economic problems are created through greed, speculation and mismanagement in the USA, and Irish people are losing their jobs as a result. As long as capitalism rules the world, such will happen again and again.

The Emerald Islander

Two Nights of Rioting in East Belfast

New riots have broken out between rival nationalist and loyalist groups in Belfast last night. For the second night running, missiles were thrown by rival gangs in the Mountpottinger and Albert Bridge areas in the east of Northern Ireland's capital city.
Three police vehicles were damaged during the trouble near the interface with the nationalist Short Strand area in east Belfast.

The rioting involved up to a hundred youths at its height, and continued intermittently for several hours, forcing the closure of a number of roads. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said that it had not established what sparked the clashes.

The PSNI also warned motorists to stay clear of the effected areas, as both the extent of the violence and the numbers of people involved increased. Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum have condemned the violent clashes.

The Emerald Islander

Ryanair Mishap closes Polish Airport

The airport of Lodz in central Poland was closed today after an aeroplane from Ireland's no-frills airline Ryanair with 170 passengers on board went off the runway while preparing for take-off. A wheel on the Nottingham-bound Boeing 737 got stuck in soft ground after leaving the tarmac while apparently trying to turn around at the end of the runway.

Polish officials closed the airport at around noon, while groups of technicians prepared to pull the trapped aeroplane back on to the runway.
Meanwhile the passengers were bused 130 km eastwards to Warsaw, where they were put on another flight to Nottingham.

Other flights from and to Lodz were being diverted to Warsaw, and a bus service was provided.

Michael O'Leary will not be pleased tonight...

The Emerald Islander

Low Use of Medical Care in Ireland

Irish people are among the lowest users of medical care when compared with other OECD countries. This is the result of a public management review by the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

It says that the number of surgical procedures in Ireland each year is low, while on average patients who are admitted spend more time in hospital than they would in most other countries. This is possibly due to serious difficulties in finding adequate convalescent or nursing home care in Ireland.

The report says that the Republic of Ireland has around twice the OECD average of practicing nurses, and that between 1995 and 2007 the number of employees working in the health sector rose by 73%.

It calls for stronger governance arrangements and the sharing of information between the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health, so that the Health Minister is fully aware of developments when making statements. This is not more than common sense, but sadly it is exactly one of the traits Mary Harney lacks.

In relation to the planned hospital re-organisation in the Northeast, the report says that primary care teams need to be put in place before services are removed from hospitals, and that the government could look at having two hospitals, one regional and one general, in the region.

The report states that the HSE may be "trying to do too much at once" and is not actively looking at what it can achieve and deliver in the short term. It also needs to sell policy changes to the population.

Overall, the report says that the health of the population is good and improving at an exceptionally rapid pace. So it seems that despite all our problems in the health sector there is still some hope then...

However, one has to read the OECD report on reform in the Irish public sector with a pinch of salt, since it was commissioned by the current Irish government.

The Emerald Islander

Emergency Landing at Shannon

An Aer Arann flight from Dublin to Galway has been forced to divert and make an emergency landing at Shannon Airport.

The Captain of Flight RE 231 had to shut down one of the two turbo-prop engines of his aircraft because of a technical fault detected shortly after take-off. There were 30 passengers and five crew members on board.

Airport emergency services, backed up by local authority fire and ambulance crews, were on standby when the aeroplane landed safely at Shannon, shortly after 10 a.m. this morning.

The passengers have since been transported to Galway by bus.

Cannabis worth € 8 Million seized in Rosslare

Cannabis resin with an estimated street value of € 8 million has been seized by Irish Customs officers in the port of Rosslare in County Wexford (left).

The drugs have been discovered yesterday afternoon, hidden amongst legitimate cargo in a 40 ft container that had arrived by ferry from Cherbourg in France. The cannabis was packed on two wooden pallets marked as 'footwear'. It is understood that there were in total 1145 kgs of the drug hidden in the container.

Customs officers say they made the seizure after risk profiling the cargo. They were also assisted by a specially trained drug detection dog.

Last night a 27-year-old man and a woman aged 20 have been arrested by Gardaí in Wexford in connection with the drugs find in Rosslare. They have been questioned and are still being detained at Wexford Garda Station. They can be held for up to seven days.

Fine Gael takes us for Fools

On a Sunday morning between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. I listen usually to Marian Finucane on RTÉ Radio 1, in order to hear what the nation is talking about at present.
But yesterday I had an outside appointment and thus missed my usual two hours in front of the wireless.

Thankfully RTÉ repeats the first half of Marian's programme on Monday morning at 2 a.m., for all those who missed it live. So I only heard early this morning what Marian was discussing with her guests this Sunday. And I am glad that I had the chance to hear it.

One of the subjects discussed was - not surprisingly - the Lisbon Treaty, the up-coming referendum on it, and the latest Red C poll that showed a clear increase in people who said they would vote 'No'. (for details see my entry from yesterday)

Representing the 'Yes' campaign in the studio were two TDs from Co. Mayo, who both represent Dublin seats. There was former Labour leader Pat Rabbitte (left), now speaking for his party on Justice. Despite the fact that Labour is in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, he kept his personal statements on the matter to an absolute minimum, saying that he hopes people would vote 'Yes' and that he would advise them to do so. But this is all he really said. No enthusiastic appeals or gloomy warnings, as one hears them now from both FF and FG. Maybe Pat Rabbitte is listening to some of his old friends. The former ITGWU official and TD for the Workers' Party and Democratic Left (before they merged with the Labour Party) will have noticed that his former comrades in the UNITE trade union (formerly ITGWU) have meanwhile joined the 'No' campaign. As have all parties and most organisations of Ireland's political Left, with the sole exception of the Labour Party...

There was also - way more vociferous and beating every available drum for the Lisbon Treaty - Fine Gael's new spokesperson on European Affairs, another Mayo-born Dubliner called Lucinda Creighton (right), who won a seat in Dublin South-East in the last election and is now one of the youngest TDs in the Dáil.
I had never before even heard her name, left alone anything she stands for. So I followed her words and arguments with special interest, in order to find out how Fine Gael sees the future of Ireland and Europe.

I have to admit that I was disappointed by her approach of the subject, her line of argument and especially by her diction and way of speaking. Having the appearance of a happy-go-lucky girl that enjoyed the benefits of the "Celtic Tiger", her voice could not be more contrasting. When one hears her speaking on the radio - without the benefit of a picture or knowing her - the voice of the 30-year-old sounds more like that of an old political "warhorse", well past the fifties and slightly on the rough side. And at times one also wonders if she is trying to impersonate senior Fianna Fáil TD and former minister Mary O'Rourke. There is definitely a strong resemblance, in the voice itself as well as in the way Lucinda Creighton speaks.

But as much as the way Ms. Creighton spoke was of interest to me, what she actually said about the Lisbon Treaty was almost unbelievable. Either she is extremely naïve (in which case she is neither suitable as a TD, nor to speak on Europe), or devious and misleading (which is not a rare trait among lawyers).

When questioned by Marian Finucane (left) over the really hair-raising text of the Lisbon Treaty and the impossibility to make any sense of it, Lucinda Creighton reacted with legalistic arrogance and said that it was "a legal document" and as such it had to be written in this way, so that "courts could understand and interpret it in the right way".
Well, I have seldom heard such a complete nonsense. Any text can be written in a clear and understandable way, or - as the Lisbon Treaty - in a form that is unintelligible. And while the government advises us ever so often in sponsored ads "never to sign any contract you don't understand", it expects us to do exactly that with a far more important document: the Lisbon Treaty.

What I don't understand is why Fine Gael, the largest opposition party, is not only supporting the government on the Lisbon Treaty, but is actually doing a great deal of its work in the well organised and financed 'Yes' campaign. It appears that Fine Gael is actually even more enthusiastic in support of the treaty than Fianna Fáil. At the same time it is strange that they cannot come up with any proper argument for it. All they tell us is that the treaty is "good for Europe and good for us", that we - the great unwashed people of Ireland - are too stupid to understand it, and that "nothing really changes for Ireland anyway".

Lucinda Creighton also insisted several times that "this is a treaty, and not a constitution", despite the fact that one of its main authors - former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (right) - has declared many times that more than 90% of the text of the Lisbon Treaty is "still the same as it was in the Constitution", which the people of France and the Netherlands defeated in referenda.
Who do you think knows and understands the treaty better: the man who wrote it, or a very arrogant and very junior TD who is so full of herself that she cannot even see reality? Ms. Creighton also failed to explain what - in her opinion - is the difference between a treaty and a constitution, despite the fact that she is a law graduate from Trinity College, Dublin.

But Lucinda Creighton, whose short record on Dublin City Council (before she won her Dáil seat) is rather mixed and far from distinguished, went further in her zealous attempt to sell out Irish freedom and democracy. She launched a completely uncalled-for verbal attack on Irish businessman Ulick McEvaddy (above left), who recently joined Libertas in the 'No' camp, accusing him of doing it on the orders - or at least at the behest - of US interests "who are opposed to a stronger EU".

It is correct that the former Irish army officer and airline tycoon has based his company Omega Air in Washington and does a lot of business with the US government, but it is also important to know that he is a staunch Fine Gael supporter and a very close friend of the Bruton and Mitchell families. Being one of Ireland's wealthiest men, his donations to the 'No' campaign will surely be missed by his friends in Fine Gael. This is the real reason for Lucinda's anger.
Apart from that, look who is the pot to call the kettle black! Ms. Creighton herself is registered as an attorney-at-law in the state of New York and has worked in the USA as a campaigner for the Democratic Party, despite being a Councillor - and now a TD - for Fine Gael in Ireland and also heavily involved on several levels of Young Fine Gael and YEPP (Young European People's Party). One wonders how she is dealing with her own conflict of interests on both sides of the Atlantic...

For Ireland and the Irish people she is certainly doing a poor job, and one wonders why she - a very junior TD - was appointed to the important European portfolio, especially at a time when Europe is one of the main elements in Irish politics. But that is for Fine Gael to answer. It is, however, clear that Fine Gael is taking us - the Irish people - for complete fools. I remember the speech their MEP Gay Mitchell gave in Liberty Hall in Dublin (photo below) on March 4th, during the meeting of the National Forum on Europe (NFOE). His arguments for a 'Yes' vote in the up-coming referendum included World War II and "the good things Ireland has received from Europe". In other words: Ireland was given a lot of gifts by the EU, and now is time to pay for them with our freedom and the right to properly participate in the democratic process.

I wonder if people like Gay Mitchell and Lucinda Creighton do actually believe themselves what they are telling us. But while Mr. Mitchell was preaching at us in Dublin with his well-known silver tongue, trying to persuade us to just follow him and his party down the river (and in the process even bringing Maurice Hayes, the experienced chairman of the NFOE, to despair - as you can see above), Ms. Creighton is more a "straight into your face" person, accusing all those who campaign for a 'No' vote as being part of an "anti-European conspiracy" and warning us of unspecified "consequences" if Ireland should vote the treaty down.

Well, the only consequences Ireland can expect after rejecting the Lisbon Treaty in the referendum is an increase in political power in Europe and being taken seriously by large EU member states. Right now we are seen as a push-over and a little country at the fringe that does not really matter. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party want to keep it that way, and in fact make it even worse. It is time to call their bluff, be independent and vote 'No'.

And to Fine Gael we should send the clear message: Stop taking us for fools, and while you are at it, stop Lucinda Creighton from making an even bigger fool of herself. She might well have her qualities as a trained lawyer, but she has not a clue about the EU and certainly no skills at all when it comes to public speaking. A course in oratory might help her performance, but given her lines of argument, some extra education - especially in the areas of history, philosophy and common sense - are also advisable.

In the meantime, forget the big parties who want to sell out Irish democracy, get behind the 'No' campaign and help to defeat the Lisbon Treaty, which is unintelligible, dangerous and full of undemocratic measures. Because if the treaty is accepted, this might well be the last time ever Ireland had any say in European affairs. Use your own common sense on this, and send a clear message to those who take us for fools!

The Emerald Islander

Mayo People urge Shell to relocate Refinery

Residents opposed to the building of a controversial gas refinery near their homes in the north of Co. Mayo made a fresh appeal to Shell in Ireland today to suspend work on the project and to relocate the terminal to a more remote coastal site.

The residents include three of the men from the "Shell to Sea" campaign, who were jailed for three months in 2005 for opposing a planned pipeline.

The loosely organised group says that all of the problems surrounding the project would be "solved in one move" if the company agreed to its proposal to relocate the terminal.

The Mayo residents stated that they are "not anti-gas", but are very concerned about health, safety and the environment. They say their proposal represents an opportunity for resolution, and the conflict can be resolved by agreement and respect.

A spokesman for Shell E&P said it would be making no comment on the proposal.

The € 200 million refinery (left) is already one-third built, and sources say that there is "little to no likelihood" the plant will be relocated.
Residents of North Mayo, however, are not giving up hope and believe that there are still options to achieve a compromise that could lead to a good and peaceful co-existence between the refinery and the local people.

The Emerald Islander

Man shot and wounded in Co. Waterford

A man in his fifties is in a serious condition in hospital tonight, after a shooting incident that occurred in the western part of County Waterford this afternoon.

The man received a blast from a rifle while walking in a wooded area at Coolbeggan near the village of Knockanore at around 1 p.m.

It is believed that the man may have approached the occupant of a jeep in a secluded area where the shooting incident happened. The injured man staggered about 50 metres before being found on the roadside by a local person.

He was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital and his condition is described as "serious but not life-threatening".

Gardaí are carrying out an investigation and are appealing for information from anyone who may have been in the area at the time, or who may have seen a blue jeep in the area.

Anyone with information should contact Dungarven Garda Station on 058 48600 or the Garda Confidential line on 1 800 666 111.

The Lisbon Treaty can be defeated

The latest nation-wide opinion poll shows a dramatic swing against the Lisbon Treaty, with the 'Yes' side leading by only 6% when undecided voters are excluded.

The Red C poll in today's edition of the Sunday Business Post has been welcomed by anti-Lisbon campaigners, while the Irish government says the result was "disappointing, but not entirely surprising".
Up to now, opinion polls had suggested a two-to-one majority in favour of the treaty.

The poll for the Sunday Business Post says that among those entitled to vote, 35% are backing the Lisbon Treaty, a fall of 8% since the last poll two months ago.
31% are opposed to the treaty, an increase of 7%, while 34% - more than one third of voters - do not know what to make of it and are yet undecided.

When those undecideds are excluded, the 'Yes' side leads by 53% to 47%, a very narrow margin with seven weeks to go to polling.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had confirmed officially during the week that the Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty will be held on Thursday, June 12th. Today, after hearing of the new Red C poll, he said that it "would be disastrous" if the Lisbon Treaty would be defeated. Well, yes, it would be - but only for him, since that would end his hopes of ever becoming the new permanent President of the EU. For Ireland as a country and for every Irish person it would be positive and give us in fact more influence in the political process if the treaty is defeated.

Less scientifically controlled polls are even more in favour of a 'No' vote. On an anti-European website I saw today only 11% were for the treaty, while 83% were against, with 4% undecided and 1% who had no opinion.
On this site I also have a poll running with the same question (and it is still open). So far 25% of my readers are for the treaty and 62% against it, while 4% "don't know" and 2% "don't care".

The new Red C poll, as well as the less sophisticated one from this site, reflect clearly the growing unease of many Irish people with the way the new treaty is being pushed and almost forced on Irish people by the major parties and their politicians, with no proper explanations and with the full text of the very important document not available to every voter in the country.

Not long ago our government has sent a copy of the "Rules of the Road" to every household in Ireland, including all houses where there is no car and no-one who drives. Now the government is sending a second booklet to every house, in order to inform us about national "Emergency Planning", with scenarios that will never happen and some that are so unrealistic that they can only be described as pure fiction, or even science fiction.

However, the government does not send a copy of the Lisbon Treaty to every household in Ireland, and for a good reason. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has given the President of the EU Commission, José Manuel Barroso (right, with his friend Bertie), the promise that "Ireland will deliver", so the last thing the government wants is that people will read - and perhaps even understand - the Lisbon Treaty. If they would read and understand the treaty, it would be clear to them that Ireland is losing out in every part of it, giving up rights and entitlements that the nation has had so far. But in order to please the large member states - especially Germany, France and Britain, whose share of influence will grow over-proportionally - our government and the two largest opposition parties are willing to sell out the little share Ireland still has in the EU.

At present, the voting power of Ireland in the European Council (where the 27 member states meet and discuss all important matters) is 2%, which is not much, but simply reflects our size in comparison to the other members. Under the Lisbon Treaty the voting power of Ireland would be reduced by almost two-thirds to a mere 0.8%, which means that we would in future have really no say at all and just sit in the Council as a kind of superflous room decoration.

The Lisbon Treaty would also take away our right to have a permanent EU Commissioner, and we would agree to have no Commissioner for every five years within a cycle of fifteen years. And to shrink our already meager influence even further, we would also lose one of our MEPs, reducing the number of people we elect to the European Parliament from currently 13 (in the Republic) to 12. (There are also two Irish MEPs elected in the North.)

And these are only the most significant points of the treaty. There are a lot more, way too many to list them all here. But having read the text of the Lisbon Treaty - as far as it is available to ordinary people without paying the extortionist sum of € 42 that is charged for a complete copy - I have found not one positive change for Ireland. In fact, the whole treaty is geared to increase the power of the large member states, while the smaller ones - and not only Ireland - are reduced in their influence and participation. It also opens the doors of the union wide for all sorts of privatisation, including in the areas of health, public services and education.

According to the Red C poll, the change in opinion is particularly marked among Ireland's farmers, who seem to have woken up just in time to recognise the damage that the Lisbon Treaty and various options it gives the (unelected) EU Commission in regards to international negotiations will do to them and their businesses.

IFA President Padraig Walshe said this was not surprising as his members are very worried about the position being taken in the World Trade talks by British EU Commissioner (for Trade) Peter Mandelson (left).
Well, at present Mr. Mandelson can talk as much as he likes, the decisions are still made by all member states together.
If a majority of Irish people would vote for the Lisbon Treaty, these safeguards are no longer in place and the EU Commission could do whatever they like, with no democratic control or any mechanism to stop them.

In history it has so far happened only once that a whole nation voted voluntarily and willingly for the total abolition of a democratic republic (as they had it between 1919 and 1933) and the introduction of a dictatorship with absolute powers. This nation was Germany, and the year was 1933. The rest, as they say, is history. The German nation has been paying for their mistake ever since, still is, and will be most likely for several more centuries.

We Irish have lived under foreign rule for 750 years, and partly because we were too divided into tribes in the late 12th century, so we were not able to offer proper armed resistance against the invading Normans. And again - the rest is history.
After centuries of suffering and struggle, we achieved limited autonomy 86 years ago. And only 59 years ago we became a fully independent sovereign republic. Has that been too much for the Irish nation? Too much freedom and decision-making? Well, if you want to go back into a state of national hibernation with others deciding what happens and telling us what we can do and what not, then vote for the Lisbon Treaty.

If you, however, like Ireland's freedom, independence and opportunities, and want to keep them also for the future, then there is only one way to vote in the up-coming referendum: No.

Dick Roche (right), wrecker of the Skryne Valley, fool of Beijing and now Minister for European Affairs, said a political campaign will get underway once the referendum bill is through the Oireachtas, and that it is all "very much to play for". Oh yes, Mr. Roche, there is very much to play for. Our all future and happiness, to start with. And as things are looking now, it is possible to defeat you and the Lisbon Treaty (and with it all the selfish and arrogant politicians who want to talk us into voting for it). Let's do it!

The Emerald Islander

Second-highest Lotto Jackpot won in Dublin

The second-highest jackpot prize in the history of the Irish National Lottery, which was launched 20 years ago, was won last night.

There was just one winning ticket for a super-jackpot of € 15.65 million, and it was sold in Clondalkin, a district of Dublin, yesterday evening. According to a spokeswoman of the National Lottery the winning ticket was a € 6 quick-pick bought in a local news agent's shop only about an hour before the draw.

The National Lottery estimates that in the final hours leading up to the unusually attractive draw about 330,000 people an hour bought a ticket somewhere in Ireland. This means 5500 people a minute or 90 people each second. Quite some lotto fever for a country with just 4.25 million inhabitants...

The Emerald Islander

Wexford Deaths and Fire treated as suspicious

Gardaí have confirmed that they are treating the death of a family in a house fire in County Wexford early today as suspicious. (see my entry from this morning)

Tonight they said that Dermot and Lorraine Flood, whose bodies were found along with their two children in their burnt-out home in Clonroche, Co. Wexford, had "injuries other than those sustained in a fire".

Speaking outside Enniscorthy Garda station, Superintendent Kevin Donohue from the Garda Press Office said that all four family members had injuries from the fire. He added that the bodies of 41-year-old Dermot Flood and his 38-year-old wife Lorraine had also "other injuries". What those injuries are and how they were caused will only become clear later, once the post-mortem examinations have taken place.

According to a report by RTÉ News both adults suffered apparently gunshot wounds.

Superintendent Donohue said the bodies of the two children, six-year-old Mark and five-year-old Julie Flood, did not have injuries other than those sustained in the fire. He also confirmed that a shotgun was located in the house and said that it was "licensed to a member of the wider family".

The Superintendent said it was not clear yet whether or not there was third party involvement in the deaths, but at the moment Gardaí were not looking for anyone else specifically.
He confirmed that the bodies of Lorraine and Julie Flood were found in their upstairs bedrooms. Mark Flood's body was found on the landing and Dermot Flood was located in a downstairs room. The technical examination of the scene will continue for a number of days, he added.

Meanwhile the bodies of the family have been removed from the scene and are being taken to the Dublin City Morgue in Marino. Post-mortem examinations will take place tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.

The fire in the two-storey house on the Enniscorthy road was spotted by neighbours of the family in Clonroche just after 5.30 a.m. this morning. At least one neighbour entered the house to attempt to rescue the family, but was beaten back by flames and smoke.

Mobile Phones are still a Rip-off Business

There are meanwhile more mobile phones in Ireland than people. According to one statistic the 4.25 million people living in the Republic own a total of more than six million mobiles. Quite a large number, but then again, Irish people always like a good chat. And the big mobile phone companies make very good profits from this national trait of ours.

Personally I use my mobile phone wisely. Most of the time I text, which is not only a lot cheaper than talking, but also much less intrusive. While a voice call interrupts one at any time and in any situation, a SMS text message announces its arrival with a beep and can then be read and answered whenever one has the time for it.

But yesterday an unexpected situation required me to use the voice option, and for longer than I would do normally. I spoke nearly half an hour on my mobile, but it was a local call, from one part of the city to another. Guess how much this phone call has cost me?

When I checked, I noticed with a little shock that I was charged more than € 20 for about 28 minutes of conversation. Further investigation of the matter established that my call would have cost a lot less if the person I called would have been using the same network that I use. But since it was a call from Vodafone to O2, apparently a much higher tariff applies, even for local calls within the same small community. This is in my opinion outrageous and an absolute rip-off!

Some months ago the European Parliament forced the large mobile phone companies to reduce their costs for "roaming" (calls from one EU country to another) and for international calls in general. They did follow the parliamentary order, as they had really no other choice, but not very happily. It appears that they have found a way of compensating themselves for the loss of extra revenue on the international calls by increasing the costs of local calls between different networks.

I think everyone should be aware of this and watch the costs of local calls. I certainly will.

The Emerald Islander

Aer Lingus Ground Staff say "No" to Changes

Aer Lingus ground staff have rejected the airline's new € 10 million costcutting proposals for a second time yesterday. The 1800 staff represented by SIPTU have already voted to take industrial action if the management attempts to implement the reforms without union agreement.

A spokesperson for Aer Lingus said that they would consider their position over the coming days. The airline has spent the last 15 months trying to secure € 20 milliom in staff cost savings, and has already done deals with pilots and cabin crew.

A flexibility and mobility deal for 1800 ground staff represented by SIPTU would have delivered "productivity changes" (what ever that means in proper English), including earlier start times, roster changes and transfers between different kinds of work. There would have been no pay cuts or compulsory redundancies under the plan.

However, staff emphatically rejected those proposals a month ago. Local negotiations and clarifications were followed by a re-ballot, but yesterday afternoon it emerged that staff have again said a clear no to these changes.
Under SIPTU's rules, even if there is an overall majority in favour of acceptance, if any one of the 14 sections - no matter how small - rejects the proposal, it is deemed to be rejected by all.

Family of four dies in Co. Wexford Fire

There is some sad news at the start of the weekend. A family of four has died early this morning in a house fire in Co. Wexford. A couple in their 40s and their two young children, a boy and a girl aged 7 and 8, all died in the blaze in Clonroche on the main Enniscorthy Road.

The alarm was raised shortly after 5.30 a.m. this morning by a man from a neighbouring house who discovered the fire.
The Enniscorthy Fire Brigade arrived a short time later at the two-storey house (photo).

The bodies of the parents and the two children were found inside and remain at the scene for the time being.
Post mortem examinations will be carried out later today and Gardaí have begun an investigation into the cause of the fire.

(For an update see my later entry above)

DAA wants a "Dublin Airport City"

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has announced the latest of its plans for what it describes as "a new city", to be built near the existing terminal complex of the airport (photo).

Only a few days after clarifying the details over the new Terminal 2, which will increase air traffic from and to Dublin (for details see my entry from April 21st) the DAA now says that it wants to build also a € 4 billion development over 140 ha to the east of the airport, comprising mainly office space.

The development has yet to get planning permission, and the funding has not been arranged either. So for the moment this is just another of the DAA's pipe dreams of gigantism, which seem to be a sign of the new company (since it gave up its old name Aer Rianta and became more trendy). However, the DAA says that their plan "fits in with the development plans of Fingal County Council" and would become "an economic hub targeting foreign direct investment".

Executives based at the "Dublin Airport City" would have "a high-speed people mover to connect with the new Metro North station" and would be able to get from their desks to airport check-in in an average of six minutes.

Well, if that is all you want, then you must be living in a different world to me, at least in quite a different country. And indeed, every time I am in Dublin the place looks a bit more alien to me, especially on the ever growing outskirts, which must be the largest building site in Europe, with the longest chronical traffic jam set into it.

And as a linguist I also wonder where our large companies get their PR staff from. What the heck is a "high-speed people mover" in proper English? Do they mean the planned Dublin Metro? Or a bus line? Or does it refer to the airport operation itself? I don't know. And I wonder if they know it themselves. The more our world is infiltrated by American-style corporate nerd language, the less we will understand companies and each other.

The new development would mean 55,000 m² of office space along with retail and hotel facilities and also a new aviation college. Although it could take 20 years to build, the DAA claims it "could add € 1 billion a year to the Irish economy".

Well, given the amount of damage the suggested devolpment would do to the environment, it is rather a small compensation. Are we going completely mad? Our obsession with ever more buildings, offices and air traffic will destroy the planet probably even before the "airport city" is completed. Honestly, it would be a lot easier and cheaper to kill ourselves by conventional means - if that is actually what we want.

The Emerald Islander

Senator Walsh clarifies his critical Words

Senator Jim Walsh (photo) has withdrawn and clarified the comments he had made in Seanad Éireann on Tuesday.

The Fianna Fáil Senator from New Ross, Co. Wexford had said that "Chairmen of some of the tribunals use their position in order to act more or less as shop stewards for the wealthy legal profession".

Yesterday Senator Walsh told the Seanad that "his descriptions had caused offense" and he was happy to withdraw them.
He said that as a Constitutional Republican he fully respects the separation of powers between the Judiciary and the Oireachtas. However, he added that this did not deprive him of a right "to express fair and reasonable comment in the public interest". He added that the enormous costs of the numerous Irish tribunals have been a concern of his for many years.

Jim Walsh's statement has been welcomed by several of his fellow Senators, including the senior Independent Senator Joe O'Toole.

Dáil Éireann bids farewell to the Taoiseach

Today saw the last appearance of Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach in a full session of the Dáil. As usual on a Wednesday, he took Leaders' Questions. But to no one's surprise today's session was special and lacked the harsh and inquisitive questions normally presented to the Taoiseach by the leaders of the opposition parties. Today Dáil Éireann was bidding a fond farewell to the man who has been our Prime Minister for more than ten years.

In thirteen days - after a visit to the United States where he will address a joint session of both Houses of Congress - Bertie Ahern will tender his resignation as Taoiseach to President Mary McAleese and, bar a miracle, be succeeded by the current Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen.

During the session Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny described the outgoing Taoiseach as having "an unequalled zest for people" and said that the public felt valued and important when they were listened to by him. In a rare statement of praise for his main opponent he added that "Bertie Ahern was popular, and he has always been focused on people of whose needs he was aware".

Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore declared that today was the end of an era in Irish politics. He said that Mr. Ahern had enjoyed office during a period of sustained growth, which had made his job easier. He acknowledged that many positive things had been done in Bertie Ahern's time in office, but said there were other things he should have done, but failed to do.

Speaking for the Green Party, which is the junior partner in the government coalition, Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Energy and Natural Resources, said Bertie Ahern was "a hard-working politician who has been good at consensus politics".

Sinn Féin's parliamentary leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin congratulated Mr. Ahern on his part in the peace process in the North, which "has guaranteed Bertie Ahern's place in history". But he also mentioned that the governments led by Mr. Ahern had failed to deliver an adequate health service.

On behalf of the Progressive Democrats, who were Fianna Fáil's coalition partner during the entire time of Ahern's leadership, Minister for Health Mary Harney said she believed the key to Mr. Ahern's success were his personal qualities, and that he had "embraced impossible tasks and made them happen".

Listening to the various statements in the Dáil, I could not help but thinking that it was almost like a collection of graveside eulogies, with every speaker being quite cautious not to say anything bad about the deceased. Only Eamon Gilmore and Caoimhghin Ó Caoláin mentioned in sidelines the negative elements of the Ahern era, which is now coming to an early end. No one in the Dáil said a word about the rampant incompetence of the government, the massive waste of money, or the ever rising rate of violent crime in this country.

Well, I can understand that today was probably not the day to present the true balance of the years under Bertie Ahern's leadership. He was undoubtedly a very hardworking Taoiseach and his efforts to bring peace and political normality to the North will always be remembered as the finest hour of his political career. But despite his huge popularity, especially among supporters of Fianna Fáil, there are many flaws in the man, and even more in his policies. Ireland is today a very affluent country, but it is also full of huge problems which have never been addressed by the governments led by Bertie Ahern. As a historian I look at things from a distance and with a wider perspective than the five-year-cycle of the electoral term. And when the definitive history books on our era will be written, I am certain that the assessment of Bertie Ahern in them will be a lot more critical and less favourable than the words that were uttered in his presence in the Dáil today.

For now all political eyes are already set on the next man, the Taoiseach-in-waiting Brian Cowen. He is in many ways a quite different politician than Bertie Ahern, but he also shares one important element with the outgoing Taoiseach: complete loyalty to Fianna Fáil. It is therefore quite possible that he will continue the long established FF practice to put the interests of the party (and its friends) before the interests of the Irish nation.
He has, however, also the opportunity to make a truly fresh start, which would have to include a severe clean-up of recent policies and significant changes to the cabinet. In a couple of weeks we will know if he has the guts to be his own man, or if he is just a dour First Lieutenant who takes over command of the ship from a more colourful Captain.

This morning Brian Cowen said that anyone who does not recognise the achievements of Bertie Ahern during his career "is out of touch with the feelings of the Irish people".
He added that he was looking forward to taking on his new role as Taoiseach, but while Bertie Ahern remained in office he enjoyed the full support of his colleagues.

He made the statement as he arrived to address a conference on globalisation hosted by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) in Dublin. The Fianna Fáil leader-designate reiterated his support for the Social Partnership process ahead of new talks beginning tomorrow.
But he warned that whatever deal was eventually agreed on, it would have "to work for all sides and also address key issues, including productivity and competitiveness".

The Emerald Islander

New Green Paper on Local Government

A directly elected regional Mayor for Dublin, as well as elected Mayors for all Irish cities and counties, are among the many new proposals for the reform of local government published today by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

John Gormley said he favoured the London model, where a Mayor is directly elected for the city and has executive powers. Speaking on RTÉ Radio, Gormley also said that any Irish Mayor should have the power to impose a congestion charge if necessary.

The new Green Paper presented by the minister today proposes the introduction of a regional Mayor for Dublin, elected directly by the people, with strategic functions including planning, housing, waste, water provision and waste water disposal. The paper, titled "Stronger Local Democracy", proposes that the Mayor would also act as chairperson of the Dublin Transport Authority.

The Green Paper also makes a case that greater local leadership, accountability and connection with the citizens can be achieved through the provision of directly elected Mayors for all counties and cities.
The possibility of introducing revised structures for the local governance of key gateways, such as Limerick, Waterford and Sligo, is also considered.
Examples of revised structures include unitary authorities for county and city, a single elected Mayor to lead both county and city, or cross-boundary metropolitan Mayors.

It proposes that town government could be strengthened by allowing for greater devolution of local decisions from county to town level, within overall county level strategies.

A range of initiatives are also discussed, to allow people to play a greater role in local decision making, including local plebiscites, petition rights, participatory budgeting and town meetings.
"Stronger Local Democracy" stresses the need for continuous change, flexibility and imagination in service delivery. Greater movement towards the sharing of services between local authorities is also advocated.

The paper sets out further the issues for debate on the financing of local government, which will feed into the work of the recently established Commission on Taxation.
Options for the introduction of local election spending limits are proposed, as is greater oversight of local government ethics compliance by the Standards in Public Office Commission.

In my opinion all these suggestions are very welcome, and in fact long overdue in Ireland. I even think that the ideas set out in the Green Paper are not going far enough. Why is it that more than 86 years after achieving autonomy from Britain, and nearly 60 years after the declaration of full independence as sovereign republic, Ireland is still copying the old English system of local government?
In contrast to Britain and Ireland, all other European countries have a much more developed and by far more democratic, representative and efficient system of local government. In most EU countries every city, town and village - no matter how small - has a directly elected Mayor with executive powers and a local council that controls him. Apart from that, counties, regions and provinces have extra councils as well, all directly elected and responsible to their people.

So why is it not possible to introduce the same system in Ireland? Well, it is possible and should be done rather sooner than later. It is only the lack of will and imagination on the side of our politicians that prevents it. So as much as one should welcome John Gormley's new proposals, they are only a first step to real local Democracy. There are hundreds of Irish communities with a population of several thousand that have never had any local government at all. There are urban councils in a number of towns of course, but their powers are very limited. And any village, regardless of size, has absolutely no representative structure and is entirely dependent on the decisions of the County Council. This is a medieval system in urgent need of reform.

Next summer we will have local elections again, and there is plenty of time to put new structures into place beforehand. So now is the time to talk to your local councillors and to your TDs and tell them that you want more democratic representation in your community. If you don't stand up now and make your voice heard, all we will get is the generally positive, but still only half-baked concept that John Gormley presented today in his Green Paper.
"Stronger Local Democracy" is a nice title, but unless we urge the government to go the extra mile and make it as strong and accountable as local government is on the Continent, we will end up with a few more nice jobs for the boys in power, but no real local Democracy that deserves the name.

The Emerald Islander

Seamen's Dispute in Cork has been settled

A dispute over unpaid seamen's wages on a foreign cargo ship in Cork harbour has been settled today.

The ship, the MV Defender (photo), which is operated by a Latvian company, had been detained in Cork after action by the seafarers' union, but is now free to leave the port.

Ken Fleming, the Irish inspector for the International Transport Federation (ITF), said it had been "a very tough case", but it was encouraging that - for the first time - Irish dockers had supported the foreign seafarers. He said this would make it more difficult in future for shipowners who did not treat their crews properly.

The 1500-tonne MV Defender is registered in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, under a "flag of convenience", but operated by Forestry Shipping of Riga in Latvia, which sent company staff to Cork to settle the dispute.

Ken Fleming claims that five of the crew had been pressurised into withdrawing their claims for overdue pay. The rest of the crew, who claimed they had not been paid since last year, are to get $ 63,000 in back wages and leave the ship. The ITF is now arranging for them to go home.

Cork dockers have backed the ships' crew, the first time a stand has been taken by a local labour force in Ireland in support of foreign seafarers.

According to Ken Fleming the ITF has in the past two years helped to recover about $ 1 million in unpaid wages for the crews of foreign ships docking in Ireland.

The Emerald Islander

Two Men questioned over stolen Fishing Boat

Two men, who have been questioned by Gardaí in Waterford today in connection with the robbery of a fishing boat, have been released again and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

The two were rescued by lifeboat crews from Dunmore East and Fethard-on-Sea off the Waterford coast this morning, after the vessel they were in got into difficulties.

It had been reported stolen in the early hours of this morning from Dunmore East harbour, and it is understood that ropes from some lobster pots got caught in the propeller shaft of the boat.

Waterford GAA calls Gardaí over missing Money

Well, as I wrote yesterday evening, one scandal comes seldom alone. It's a bit like the buses in Dublin and London: for a while there is none, and then two or three come in a line. And sadly, here is the third scandal in a row from Ireland within two days, this time involving one of the pillars of Irish popular culture, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).

Gardaí in Waterford have been asked to investigate an alleged misappropriation of € 142,000 from the Waterford GAA County Board. The money is believed to be from All Ireland ticket sales last year.

A senior official in the county has resigned his position, following an internal GAA investigation, "which has been going on now for a number of months". At an emergency County Board meeting last night it was confirmed that the money is missing.

Apparently "some efforts" have been made over the past few months "to have the money returned" to the Waterford County Board, but so far without success. But - not unusual in the GAA - everything happens internally, behind closed doors and in closed circles of the initiated. Calling in the Gardaí is now the first step of a public investigation

This morning the Waterford County Board announced that a legal writ has been issued against the now former official (who has resigned), but without naming him. "The Gardaí have also been informed of the situation," a spokesperson said.

It can be expected that the GAA national headquarter in Croke Park, Dublin will also launch its own investigation at some stage. The whole affair has come as a shock to many GAA supporters in Waterford, who have seen their hurlers doing quite well in recent years and have a lot of trust in the organisation.
It is at this stage too early to say if the whole matter is linked exclusively to the one - now resigned - official, or if there are larger internal problems inside the Waterford GAA. Watch this space! I will keep you informed about any further development.

The Emerald Islander

Customer Data stolen from the Bank of Ireland

There is a saying that one scandal comes seldom alone. Well, after the immense blunder at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin (see entry below) that came to light earlier today, a second one emerged tonight, involving the Bank of Ireland.

According to Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes (photo) very sensitive information concerning about 10,000 customers of the Bank of Ireland has been stolen.

Mr. Hawkes told RTÉ that he is investigating the disappearance of four laptop computers which were stolen already last year. But for reasons yet unknown the Commissioner was only informed about the theft on Friday.

The missing laptops were being used by staff working for the Bank of Ireland's life assurance division. They contained information about medical backgrounds, life assurance details, bank account details, names and addresses of about 10,000 customers. Apparently there was software security on the stolen computers, but the sensitive information was not encrypted.

Mr. Hawkes said he was "investigating the case as a matter of urgency", which is not more than can be expected. The Data Protection Commissioner added that his inquiry will focus on the security measures in relation to the computers and on the information they contained.

The Bank of Ireland, which has confirmed the theft, is now planning to inform customers. Well, is this not very kind of the bank? If I were one of their customers (which I am not), I would ring them first thing in the morning and raise merry hell. What the heck are they playing at?

Sensitive customer information is stolen, and they just sit and sleep on the matter for months, before they even do their basic duty and inform the Data Protection Commissioner. And how is it possible that this happened in the first place? What about internal security? If one computer is stolen, one might see that as an unfortunate matter. But four?! This looks more like an organised job.

And only now, after months of doing nothing, they will inform the effected customers. This is the real scandal in this case! We have seen in recent months a lot of reports about malfunctioning of major banks, who lost hundreds of billions due to imprudent investments and outright idiotic speculations. Who is footing the bill for all that? The banks and their shareholders? Oh no. They only take the big profits in good years. Now that there is a crisis, it is you and me and everyone who will pay for it, through higher interest rates, higher mortgage costs and, first and foremost, through our taxes, since the governments have to bail out the banks and saving them from going bust.

Even though I am not a Bank of Ireland customer, I am extremely annoyed by this news and urge anyone effected by the case to make strong representations to the bank, to your local TD, and also to the Financial Regulator, whose job it is to keep control of the banking sector.

The Emerald Islander

Wrong Kidney removed from a sick Child

A young child has had the wrong kidney removed, following a medical error at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. The "mistake" that led to a healthy kidney being removed has been described by the hospital as "an unprecedented error", and it also says it has "given its sincere apologies to the family".

Well, leaving modern PR-speak, in which the hospital robed itself immediately, aside, we can call this as what it really is: another unacceptable scandal and blunder in the Irish Health Service. The under-staffed, under-funded and badly managed Health Service, one needs to add.

What good does an apology do in such a case? The young child now faces regular dialysis unless a donor kidney can be found!
These days we always hear very quickly verbal apologies from companies, public services, institutions and organisations when someone fails to function properly or something goes wrong. "We apologise for any inconvenience caused" is now one of the most common phrases heard every day and everywhere in Ireland. But it is not good enough! Not in most cases, and most certainly not in this one!

I am outraged and I wonder how many other Irish people feel like I do when they hear about this. How many more scandals and disasters does it need for Mary Harney to resign or being sacked? And how many more outrages will we take quietly before we turn out en masse for a real demonstration for the improvement of the Irish Health Service?

On March 29th a mere 4000 people supported our march through Dublin. That was more than a disappointment. Where are all those people who claim to be unhappy with the HSE? Not to be found when it is the time to stand up and be counted. Take a leaf out of the book of the IFA. Last Thursday there were more than 10,000 farmers marching through Dublin, for nothing more than money. But when it comes to people's lives and health, all we had was 4000. Shame on you, Ireland!!!

And even more shame on the HSE, which presides with its usual arrogance and ignorance over scandals like the one that just occurred in Crumlin.

According to the hospital "an internal review is under way" and they say that its board of directors "will consider the detail of the review and act where appropriate". Well, another nice mouthful of meaningless PR-waffle. When will people with responsibility in this country ever stand up and acknowledge that they made a mistake and will take the consequences?

The hospital also pointed out that "the family was and continues to be given full support by the hospital staff". Now that is really the crown of it! What else would one expect? To be chucked out and abandoned by the very hospital that just removed the wrong kidney from your sick little child?!

I am not a very emotional man, and usually try to see everything from a distance and with a cool glance of objectivity. But this afternoon, after hearing of this case, I am outraged and very angry. We not only live in a corrupt banana republic where incompetence ruins almost everything, no, we are meanwhile so far down the line that little children are mutilated in hospital by incompetent doctors as well. And all we get offered as a remedy is a verbal apology, an "internal review" and a "consideration of action where it is appropriate".

Well, my fellow Irish people, this is the kind of country you get from Fianna Fáil. And I am sorry to say that you deserve it, after electing the same old dodgers again and again, despite better knowledge. I am only even more sorry for the poor little child and its family who suffer at the hands of incompetent doctors. They have all my empathy and my best wishes.

The Emerald Islander

Gateway to the Nation or Gateway to Hell?

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has confirmed that it wants to open its second terminal in two years' time. But the group - despite its misleading name now a private company - has said its total debt burden will rise to over € 1.2 billion as a result of the development in the next three years.

The steel frame of the building for the second terminal (of which you can see a model here) is in place and work has commenced on an airport apron space forty times the size of Croke Park. But the cost of the airport's expansion will have to be partly met by the ordinary people using it. In future years passenger charges will rise by € 2.

Ryanair - in all fairness, but not entirely charitable - claims that the facility is "too big and too expensive". Quite right. But the DAA says it is "designed to meet a balance of needs" and is "a vital gateway to the nation". What nation, one has to ask? There is hardly an Irish nation left here, and all we have now is a mixed conglomerate not unlike the one you find in New York, with lots of ethnic groups and tribes who stick together, but no overall feeling of community and nation.

What surprises me is that this enlargement of Dublin airport happens at a time when we hear so much of "carbon footprints" and the ever worsening pollution of the Earth's atmosphere, leading to "global warming", other climate changes and irreperable damage to our planet.
Every aeroplane that flies contributes in a serious way to the problem. But instead of flying less and reducing the number of flights and airports, there is a constant global increase in air traffic, including in Ireland.

What the DAA calls "a vital gateway to the nation" could very well be soon a gateway to Hell.

Are we completely mad? Or bound on collective suicide for the whole human race? Or is this just another of the many Fianna Fáil scams, set up to make some rich builders and developers in the party even richer and more ignorant?

I don't understand it, and I deeply resent the whole development of air travel and the airline industry. So I have stopped using aeroplanes for good and will no longer fly anywhere. If I cannot get to a destination by other means of trabsport, it is probably not worth going there, and I won't.

The Emerald Islander

Farmers threaten to say NO to Lisbon Treaty

Mary Coughlan (right), the Minister for Agriculture, is taking a recent threat by Irish farmers to vote NO in the forthcoming Lisbon Treaty referendum "seriously". Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1, Ms. Coughlan said she was working to ensure that the outcome of the World Trade negotiations is balanced, with the appropriate protections for Irish farmers and the agri-food sector.

Responding to the minister's statement, Padraig Walshe, President of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), said he had no disagreement with her stark assessment of the damage to Ireland's farm and food industry posed by WTO negotiations.

Meanwhile Fine Gael MEP Mairéad McGuinness said she is "concerned about the mounting anger among farmers" ahead of the Lisbon Treaty referendum on June 12th. She urged the government to come out very strongly and say it will use its veto on World Trade Talks.

But Education Minister Mary Hanafin said that "the [Irish] government knows that farmers have genuine concerns about what is being proposed at the talks". But she insisted that it was "too early to use the Irish veto". She stated that it was about getting an agreement that is balanced both within agriculture and between trade and agriculture.

Well, she would know, of course... But what she does know - as a former Fianna Fail treasurer and a woman born in Tipperary - is how to hoodwink and pay off the farmers, as FF has done it so successfully in the run-up to previous referenda.

It will be interesting to see if Ireland's farmers are this time wise and forward-looking, and actually mean what they say. In that case they would have to vote NO in the referendum, and that might well defeat it.
Or are Irish farmers still more after the quick buck made now than after a solid income over many years? In two months we will know.

On Thursday more than 10,000 farmers had taken part in a demonstration in Dublin, protesting against current European proposals in negotiations on world trade. Farmers from all parts of the country came to the march, and original turnout expectations were well exceeded.

The farmers gathered at Leinster House and marched to Dublin Castle, where European Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso was addressing the National Forum on Europe.
Farmers are unhappy about the stance EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is taking in the current negotiations on world trade. They say that the beef and dairy sector could be virtually wiped out.

IFA President Padraig Walshe said the current proposals to cut import tariffs will have an impact on how farmers vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum. He warned that farmers would not support a European Commission that sells out their industry.

The European Commission's Director General for Trade, the Irishman David O'Sullivan, defended the proposals, saying that if implemented, the deal would take effect over a number of years.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso stated that a deal at the Word Trade Organisation talks would be in Ireland's interest, but did not say in which way. He said getting a deal sooner rather than later would guarantee the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) agreed four years ago. But he warned that delaying the deal could mean that a review of the CAP starting in the autumn could result in a less favourable outcome for farmers.

Farmers are angry over the stance being taken by EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson in the current round of negotiations to liberalise the rules on world trade. They say Ireland's livestock industry would be decimated, and there would be cuts in the dairy, grain and other sectors. This could result in 50,000 rural jobs being lost and 100,000 cattle farmers being made redundant.

The Emerald Islander

Ian Paisley visits Cobh and Cork

As I have been away since Friday, this item of news only reached me today. But I think that it is still worth to mention it, as it shows a development in Irish politics that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.

Ian Paisley, First Minister of the North and until recently leader of the DUP, has been on an official visit to Cobh, Co. Cork on Friday and to Cork City on Saturday.
Yes, you are reading correctly, and I was as astonished as you might be when I heard of it.

Paisley said he had accepted an invitation to address the Cobh Chamber of Commerce in their 50th year because of the growing "Titanic" tourism links between Belfast and Cobh. Earlier on Friday, like thousands of tourists before him, he and his wife Eileen did the "Titanic Trail" and visited Cobh Cathedral, as well as the town's old cemetery, where both republicans and many who served the British Crown in two wars, are buried.

But the visit was not only all sunshine and happiness for Ian Paisley. About 30 Gardaí were on standby in Cobh on Friday evening, since a group of local people protested against his arrival at the town's Chamber of Commerce. But they were not needed to intervene, as the protest was noisy, but it was also peaceful. Thus the visit of the North's First Minister and former leader of the DUP went on as scheduled.

After staying overnight in Cobh, Ian Paisley received also a civic reception at Cobh's town hall on Saturday morning. Later he drove on to Cork City and paid a courtesy visit to the Lord Mayor of Cork, Donal Counihan.

If there is any need for evidence that the political landscape of Ireland has changed dramatically in the past year - since the new power-sharing administration in the North took office - this visit would be it. And it also shows that as an octogenarian soon-to-be political pensioner Ian Paisley has clearly mellowed and is no longer the vociferous and uncompromising "Dr. No".

The Emerald Islander

TaraWatch Meeting at Trinity College, Dublin

To commemorate World Heritage Day, the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Trinity College Dublin has hosted a special gathering of TaraWatch this afternoon.
The special meeting was attended by a large number of individuals who are - in one way or another - concerned with the destruction of the Hill of Tara, the ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland in Co. Meath (above), which is threatened by the building of the M 3 motorway.

Sarah Alyn Stacey, Senior Lecturer in the TCD French Department, opened the meeting and welcomed everyone to Trinity College. After her introductory words, Vincent Salafia (right), who is (and has been for some time) the most active campaigner against the systematic destruction of Irish heritage sites by our ignorant and incompetent government, gave an overview of the current situation around the Hill of Tara.

He pointed out that there are numerous archaeological sites that make up the whole complex that is Tara, and not just the actual hill itself. The whole landscape is actually a system of ancient monuments and sites which made up in Celtic times the court of the Ard Rí na hÉireann (High King of Ireland) and the capital of ancient Ireland.
All this is under imminent threat of destruction from the M 3 motorway which is currently being constructed through the Skryne Valley and across the entire Tara site. Despite several legal cases, most of which were initiated by Vincent Salafia, and an ongoing protest by environmental campaigners who have established a permanent watch camp at the Hill of Tara, the government and its National Road Authority (NRA) seem to be determined to continue with the M 3 project, which will destroy one of the most important historical sites of Ireland forever.

A senior legal expert from the Dublin Law Library (the home of Ireland's Senior Counsels, the most eminent barristers of the country) then explained the complex legal situation, which - unfortunately - leaves not much hope for TaraWatch and not much room for further legal action against the Irish government.
Questioned if there was any chance to prosecute the former Minister for the Environment Dick Roche, TD (left), who signed executive orders for the building of the M 3 through the Skryne Valley literally minutes before handing the Department over to the next minister, for destruction of national heritage, the Senior Counsel said that there was not really a legal process one could follow. So, as sad as it may be, it looks as if the Irish government and the NRA are getting away with public vandalism of the worst kind.

One of the environmental campaigners, who has recently staged a widely reported three-day protest in an underground tunnel, was also present at TCD and gave a detailed report of the current developments at the site. Despite a written agreement with the NRA, which followed her protest and was initially hailed as a success, the NRA appears not to honour its part of the bargain.
Only days after the agreement 100 Gardai and a group of masked private security guards (who are employed by the NRA) turned up and searched the peaceful camp "for weapons". Armed with slash hooks and catapults, they behaved very aggressively and rude, but despite a thorough search of the whole camp there were no weapons found at all. This was really no surprise to anyone, including the Gardai, but it shows how the government uses state forces and taxpayers' money to harass a group of peaceful campaigners, whose only concern is the preservation of our national heritage.

After a very constructive discussion of various options, the meeting at Trinity College voted on a resolution to appeal directly to UNESCO, asking to give the Hill of Tara the UN status of a World Heritage Site. Such a designation is in fact long overdue, and it appears that our government has not pursued this option forceful enough for quite some time. As things stand, we might end up with a World Heritage Site that is damaged and desecrated by a motorway, but at least it would mean that we get international recognition for the Hill of Tara.

The Emerald Islander

2008 Michael O'Brien Memorial Lecture

Eamon Gilmore, TD, leader of the Irish Labour Party, gave tonight the 2008 Michael O'Brien Memorial Lecture on the subject of "Education and Sustainable Employment in the South East" at the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) in Waterford City.

"Labour is passionate about education, and we always have been," said Mr. Gilmore. "Our vision of society is that of a collective of talents, working for the mutual benefit of each other, and for the generations to come. We seek to build a society where each individual can grow to the fullness of their unique human potential, something which is only possible when we work in collaboration with each other. Education is the key which unlocks the full potential - social, civic, ethical and economic - of the human person. For this very reason, universal education - available to all, for the benefit of all - is at the heart of Labour's vision of society."

The Labour leader pointed out that over the past forty years "education has brought about a revolution in Irish society" and that it has "fundamentally altered the way in which our economy functions and the opportunities which are open to our citizens".
Between 1998 and 2004, for example, admission rates for third level increased by 11%. Most significantly, the proportion of students from the semi- and unskilled backgrounds going to college increased from 23% to over one third, while the number of students from a skilled manual background almost doubled to 60%.
"I am proud to say that the decision of Labour's Niamh Bhreathnach [when she was Minister for Education] to abolish third level fees was a vital part of that process," Eamon Gilmore said.

"Education is also essential to dissent," he continued, "and dissent is something which is essential to any prosperous modern democracy. Our political freedom is built on our right to express opposing views. To challenge the status quo and to demand the creation of something new and better. Without that kind of critique, Ireland would not have made the transition from being a closed, insular conservative society to being the modern open European society that it is today. Dissent is also important for prosperity. Joseph Schumpeter coined the phrase 'creative destruction' to describe entrepreneurial capitalism. Economic growth comes from people having new ideas, and the energy and freedom to bring them into being."

But the Labour leader had also critical words for our education system. "When it comes to solid foundations, Ireland's education system compares poorly to some of our more successful European neighbours," he said. "The seeds of success at school are sown early. Unfortunately, until we have universal pre-school provision, these seeds will continue to depend on family income. Ireland has no public pre-school provision to speak of. In the OECD-wide survey of pre-schools in 2002, they could not even find a graph small enough to chart the 0.007 per cent of GDP Ireland was spending on early childhood education. The situation has not changed significantly since then. This false economy costs us dearly. Studies have shown that investment in universal pre-school is returned up to seven times over. Pre-school gives children the tools to learn, and helps them to get the most out of their crucial primary school years."

"The absence of pre-school provision partly explains why educational disadvantage is still one of the most persistent legacies in Irish society. For example, the child of early school leavers is 23 times more likely to live in consistent poverty than the child of university graduates. Indeed, early school leaving as a whole has remained stubbornly at around 18 per cent since the early 1980s. In some parts of Dublin that figure rises to almost 60 per cent. Every year, about 1000 children do not even make the transition from primary to second level education."

"At second level the picture is more positive. Secondary education is better funded and, for the moment at least, there is no a shortage of school places. But there are considerable challenges, particularly if Ireland aspires to be a high-tech economy. For example, of the Leaving Cert class of 2007, only 6710 students scored grade C or higher on the Honours Maths paper. The problem is that Grade C in higher Maths is the minimum standard for entry to many science, engineering and technology courses at third level. Moreover, one in ten students failed Maths at some level. And only seven per cent of students got honours in Physics. These figures are extremely worrying. It is not simply the knock-on effect on science and technology courses at third level, and our subsequent supply of highly skilled workers. It is also that young people are excluding themselves, or being excluded, at an early age, from careers in growing industries."

Turning specifically to the South East, Eamon Gilmore presented some strong facts which many analysts have been using already for some time. "While income in Waterford itself is just below the national average," he said, "disposable income per capita in Wexford is nearly 11% below the national average, the same is true of Kilkenny, and in Carlow the figure is 12%. The more salient fact is that income per head in the South East as a whole is almost 20% below the Dublin level.
As one might expect, the picture is even starker when we look at productive activity. Again, using the South East region as an example, gross value added per person in 2005 in the South East region was 26% below the national average, and not much more than half of the Dublin level."

So why is the South East, famous for its "sunny" weather, so far behind the national average? It is no secret, and Eamon Gilmore pointed it out very clearly: "Ultimately, regional economies will thrive when they develop a virtuous circle whereby the availability of high quality employment and educational opportunities, attracts people to and retains people in, the region, who in turn create demand for new services, and are also innovators and entrepreneurs themselves. It is that self-reinforcing process, as distinct from a vicious circle of people leaving to find opportunity elsewhere, which will form the basis for sustainable employment in this region, and in other regions across Ireland. Universities are at the centre of the regional system of innovation. They are important in attracting industry to a region, and in persuading young people to stay in the region. Their research capacities are sought after by firms, and the presence of a university is a vital element in attracting firms to invest in the region."

"That is why Labour has been a strong supporter of a university of the South East. We see it as an essential part of any strategy to grow the economy of this region. Last year, in our manifesto for the 2007 General Election, we committed ourselves to a multi-campus university, with its hub in WIT, but also building on other centres of scientific and cultural excellence in the region. It is clear that WIT has the potential to grow from a high performing Institute of Technology to University Status."

Summing up the ideas of his lecture, Eamon Gilmore concluded: "If we want to grow and develop as a knowledge economy, then there are issues in the education system that must be confronted by all: pre-school provision, educational disadvantage and literacy, second level completion, teaching of maths and the take-up of science. The engineering graduate of today is not the product simply of the university years, but of an educational process that begins at pre-school. If we are to build a fairer and more prosperous country, then there is a serious agenda of educational reform that we need to address at all levels. At third level, we need to promote greater connections between the academy and the economy, but we must not loose sight either of the vital role of dissent and original thinking to both the economy and society.
Secondly, as the great boom of Celtic Tiger Ireland comes to an end, we must look afresh as regional economies, not simply from a redistributive perspective, but as a real and viable source of productivity growth.
Thirdly, it follows then, that we need strong educational structures at regional level. It is widely accepted that regional economies need third level institutions to facilitate economic growth. University research is an important source of ideas for industry, and the teaching role of the university is important in supplying skilled and qualified people for the regional economy. The university is also a vital cog in the virtuous circle of which I spoke, of people staying in the region, who generate new economic activity, which in turn makes the region more attractive to others and so on. It is at the centre of the regional system of innovation."

Eamon Gilmore's lecture was introduced by Marie Butler, who - as Secretary of the Waterford branch of SIPTU - inherited the mantle of Michael O'Brien and continues his work. In a brief but poignant impromptu speech she highlighted the major problems of the modern Irish society, and especially of the economical environment in which the individual worker seems to matter less and less, while huge corporations and their bosses do as they please.

The at WIT evening was hosted by Waterford's Labour TD Brian O'Shea, a former teacher who has represented the constituency in Dáil Éireann since 1989. The well attended lecture was another step of hope and encouragement on the long way Waterford and the South East have to go in order to secure a long overdue university for the region.
I am certain that a university will be established at some point in the future, and hopefully before Waterford - the oldest city in Ireland - celebrates her 1100 years of existence in 2014.

The Emerald Islander

Ciaran Cannon elected as PD Leader

The Progressive Democrats - or better what is left of them after their crushing defeat in the last general election - have a new party leader. Early this morning Senator Ciaran Cannon (right), a relatively unknown 42-year-old town planner and former Councillor from Athenry, Co. Galway, was declared the winner after narrowly beating fellow Senator Fiona O'Malley by 51% to 49% in a ballot of PD members.

Under the party's electoral college system, the four members of the parliamentary party had 40% of the votes between them, while around 40 councillors and members of the National Executive had 30% and the remaining ca. 1200 party members had the remaining 30%.

By rolling out the artillery, the PD members sent a signal to Dublin, indicating that they want a fresh start. Senator Fiona O'Malley had initially been seen as the favourite to win, being the daughter of party founder Des O'Malley. But it is a good sign that family patronage is no longer the only important elment in Irish politics, even though it is still rampant in most parties (and most of all in Fianna Fáil).

Senator Cannon will start a national tour next Monday, during which he intends to meet PD members as well as the general public. He is regarded as a listening man and says the best policies are created by the people the impacts on. So new PD party policy will not be unveiled until a broad consultation takes place.

The new PD leader has a particular interest in issues of planning, especially rural planning. In his time working in the planning departments of Dublin and Galway county councils, Ciaran Cannon has come to believe in the need for a major reform of local government.
"A lot of inefficiency could be reduced by devolving power to local government, which also needs proper funding," he said. He also supports the development of a strong "Atlantic Corridor" to act as a counterbalance to Ireland's economically strong East coast.

After his official election this morning, Senator Cannon said that the local elections in 2009 would be crucial in deciding the future of his party. If they do not perform well, the PDs would have "to take serious stock of what the future holds".
He described the task of rebuilding the PDs as "a daunting one" and did not rule out a name change. But he says that this is not an issue for him at the moment.

Mary Harney, who had been a reluctant "acting" PD leader after Michael McDowell resigned, having lost his Dáil seat, wished Senator Cannon well and pointed out that it was the first time a PD leader came from the Seanad. She also gave Ciaran Cannon some advice - saying he would need to think on his own, as "the members do not always take a party in the right direction".

Ciaran Cannon was elected to Galway County Council in June 2004, representing Loughrea, and contested Galway East in the last general election, after which he was one of the Taoiseach's nominees to the Seanad. He is the head of the "Irish Pilgrimage Trust", a charity that cares for children and young people with disabilities.

It will be interesting to see if this relatively young and rather inexperienced politician, who would not look out of place in the Green Party, can revive the remnants of an almost dead party that has been utterly rejected by the electorate. Stranger things have happened in politics, but it will be a hard job for Senator Cannon and few will envy him or aspire to the task.

The Emerald Islander

World Heritage Day at Trinity College

The Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Trinity College Dublin will mark World Heritage Day this Friday, April 18th, 2008 with a special gathering and event in the college's Swift Theatre.

ICOMOS - the International Council on Monuments and Sites, is hosting the International Day for Monuments and Sites 2008. The theme for this year is "Religious Heritage and Sacred Places", which is particularly appropriate for the Hill of Tara.

A number of high profile speakers will address the recent announcement by the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, that a member of ICOMOS has been retained in order to promote the nomination of the Hill of Tara archaeological complex to UNESCO World Heritage status, despite the M 3 motorway being built through it.

The event takes places tomorrow (Friday, April 18th) in the afternoon - between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. - in the Swift Theatre of Trinity College, Dublin.
Admission is free, all are welcome, and the more people attend, the better are the chances to make an impact and be heard by the media and by usually ignorant politicians who want to build the M 3 through the Skryne Valley.

The Emerald Islander

Farewell to Dr. Patrick Hillery

Yesterday Ireland said farewell to our former President Dr. Patrick Hillery, who has been laid to rest with full military honours in a state funeral.

Hundreds of mourners, including President Mary McAleese and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin (above), the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, ministers and other members of the Oireachtas, the Judiciary and the diplomatic services, joined the Hillery family for the Requiem Mass at Dublin's St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral. Both President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern read during the Mass.

In his homily, Fr. Des Hillery, a nephew of the late former President, said his uncle's sense of fairness, kindness and hard work were based on values he grew up with at home. Patrick Hillery's wife Maeve, he added, was a constant companion and a fearless supporter with whom he shared more than 50 years of marriage.

Dr. Hillery's grandchildren brought gifts to the altar, including his sailing cap and a painting of his house at Spanish Point, Co. Clare.

After the Mass had ended, thousands of mourners lined the streets of Dublin as Dr. Hillery's funeral cortege was given a full military escort to St. Fintan's cemetery in Sutton, Co. Dublin, where the former President was laid to rest beside his daughter Vivienne.

Tánaiste Brian Cowen (left) delivered the graveside oration and said that Patrick Hillery will be remembered with the greatest respect and the deepest admiration, that "he embodied all that is noble and good in a man, doctor and public servant."
He described the former President as "a humble man of simple tastes" whose career of service should be a model for people to follow and replicate.
The Fianna Fáil leader-elect said that being asked to deliver the oration was a great honour for him, and he emphasised that Patrick Hillery's legacy would be a peaceful, highly educated and confident Republic.

At the request of the Hillery family "The Last Rose of Summer" was played before the coffin was lowered into the ground.

Dr. Patrick Hillery, who was President of Ireland for two full terms from 1976 to 1990, had died last Saturday at the age of 84. He is survived by his wife Maeve, son John and grandchildren, but mourned and fondly remembered also by the whole Irish nation.

The Emerald Islander

Government Conspiracy over the Lisbon Treaty?

According to a detailed report in yesterday's Irish edition of the Daily Mail an e-mail from a senior Irish official in the Department of Foreign Affairs to his counterpart in the British embassy in Dublin reveals that the government is systematically hiding key information about the Lisbon Treaty from voters.

The e-mail also states that the Irish government has sought and received assurances from EU officials that they will "stay quiet" on the contents of the Treaty for the duration of the campaign, and that the Irish government has deliberately brought forward the date of the Referendum, because of the likelihood of several embarrassing details about the Lisbon Treaty being revealed during the French presidency of the EU in the second half of this year.

The most damning thing about the e-mail is the admission that our government hopes that "very few people would actually read the text of the Treaty", and would simply "vote with the local politicians they trust". In other words, the government, Fianna Fáil, the Green Party, the PDs and the civil servants are taking us for fools. And the opposition parties who - strangely enough - support the government in the "Yes" campaign for the Treaty, are accomplices in that, too.

The story in the Irish Daily Mail requires an immediate and full clarification from the government. If the story is accurate - which must be assumed as the government has issued no protest or denial statement - it means that senior officials in the Irish government, paid from our tax money and supposed to be loyal to the state and the nation, are actively conspiring to release as little information as possible about the Lisbon Treaty in order to preserve the chances of a "Yes" vote.

It also means that our government is in cahoots with Brussels to keep the most unpopular aspects of the Lisbon Treaty under wraps until after we have voted on it.
Then - in case of an acceptance of the Treaty - the Irish people will be told that they have to accept whatever the EU is imposing on us, because "we accepted the Lisbon Treaty and there's nothing we can do". (The same happened after the Maastricht Treaty and the Nice Treaty.)

Perhaps the most damaging aspect of the newspaper story is that Dermot Mulhall, the Irish official who allegedly authored this e-mail, is a civil servant in the Department for Foreign Affairs. His responsibility is to the people of Ireland, not to his political masters, the EU or foreign powers. Nevertheless he briefed Elizabeth Green, a senior diplomat in the British embassy in Dublin, reassuring her (and her political masters) that the Irish government "is doing everything possible" to push the Lisbon Treaty successfully through the up-coming Referendum.

The Irish government has sent in the recent past a booklet about the rules of the road to every single household in the country (including those who don't have a car and don't drive).
Currently there is a new booklet sent out, dealing with all sorts of emergencies. But there is no effort made to inform the Irish population about the Lisbon Treaty and all its details. But this is needed to understand the matter.
Please contact your TD and tell him/her that you demand to be fully informed about the Lisbon Treaty and wish to have a complete copy of its text.

The Emerald Islander

Management Chaos in Dublin Postal Areas

An Post, Ireland's national postal service, is advising customers not to post any letters to addresses in the Dublin postal areas of Ballsbridge or Blackrock due to a massive backlog of undelivered post.

A spokesperson of An Post said that a number of their staff are refusing to co-operate with their new working practices and are also refusing to do overtime.

In 2006 An Post and the Communications Workers Union agreed a new nationwide system for collection and delivery of post. The system has been successfully implemented in 16 areas across the country. However, management says that staff in Blackrock and Ballsbridge are refusing to co-operate with the new system, and as a result a one-week backlog of undelivered items has built up.

An Post acknowledged that the 2006 agreement had involved substantial change, but said the "localised problem in Ballsbridge and Blackrock" is now so serious that they are taking out several newspaper advertisements tomorrow, warning people not to post items to these areas until further notice.

It appears that the quality of management in An Post is getting ever more worse while their prices for postal items are going up all the time, some in quite ridiculous and uncompetitive steps.

However, there is no problem with posting items from the affected postal zones to other destinations, and counter services in post offices remain unaffected. There are also no problems in any other parts of the country.

The Emerald Islander

World Bank warns of severe Food Shortages

The World Bank has announced emergency measures to tackle rising food prices around the globe.
World Bank president Robert Zoellick (right) warned that "100 million people in poor countries could be pushed deeper into poverty by spiraling prices". The crisis has already sparked recent food riots in several countries, including Haiti, the Philippines and Egypt.

The World Bank endorsed Mr. Zoellick's "new deal" action plan for a long-term boost to agricultural production. Emergency help would include an additional $ 10 million to Haiti, where several people were killed in food riots last week, and a doubling of agricultural loans to African farmers.

Robert Zoellick's proposals were endorsed by the World Bank's steering committee of finance and development ministers at a meeting in Washington.
The World Bank and its sister organisation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), held a weekend of meetings addressing the rapidly rising food and energy prices as well as the credit crisis that is upsetting global financial markets.

IMF president Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a former French Finance Minister, said last week that hundreds of thousands of people were at risk of starvation because of food shortages. Prices have risen sharply in recent months, driven by increased demand, poor weather in some countries that has ruined crops, and reduced production area, due to an increase in the use of land to grow crops for transport fuels.

According to the World Bank the price of staple crops such as wheat, rice and corn have all risen, leading to an increase in overall food prices of 83% in the last three years.
The sharp rises have led to protests and unrest in many countries, including Egypt, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, the Philippines and Indonesia. In Haiti last week's protests turned violent, leading to the deaths of five people and the fall of the government.

Restrictions on rice exports have been put in place in major producing countries such as India, China, Vietnam and Egypt. Rice importing countries such as Bangladesh, the Philippines and Afghanistan have been hit hard.

"We have to put our money where our mouth is now - literally - so that we can put food into hungry mouths," said Zoellick. "It's as stark as that."

He called for more aid to provide food to needy people in poor countries and help for small farmers. He said the World Bank was working to provide money for seeds for planting in the new season. He also urged wealthy donor countries to quickly fill the World Food Programme's estimated $ 500 million funding shortfall.

Mr. Zoellick, who was appointed to his post by George W. Bush after the previous World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz (who had earlier, as Deputy Defense Secretary, planned the illegal war against Iraq) had to resign in disgrace over a personal favours scandal forgot to mention only one point.
If the costs of only two days of US operations in Iraq would be re-directed to the World Food Programme, there would be no funding shortfall. In fact, the money the USA spend in Iraq in one month could end starvation and world poverty for good.
But in contrast to Robert Zoellick, his master G. W. Bush is not interested in people and how they live. All he cares for is money and oil.

The Emerald Islander

SIPTU meets over Pay Talks Strategy

Around 500 delegates from Ireland's largest trade union SIPTU are meeting in Dublin to decide whether to enter talks on a new national wage agreement. They will set out an agenda for the negotiations, including pay increases well ahead of inflation, along with legislation on agency workers and union recognition.

SIPTU delegates representing over 200,000 members are expected to support entering the next pay talks. They want concrete measures to prevent exploitation of agency workers, which they blame for the so-called 'race to the bottom' in employment standards.

The delegates also want action on union recognition rights. However, for most delegates the priority is pay. Towards 2016 promised increases worth 10% over 27 months, but inflation has meanwhile eroded most if not all of that.

Workers' fears will be fuelled by a report published today by the UNITE trade union. It claims Irish private sector wages are now 25% below average wages for the top ten EU member states. Like SIPTU, it wants pay increases substantially ahead of inflation, just as employers complain they are facing a global downturn.

Robinson elected new DUP Leader

Peter Robinson (right) has been elected as the new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the North at a meeting today.

As observers expected, the 59-year-old east Belfast MP was the clear choice of the 36-strong DUP Northern Ireland Assembly Group to take over from Ian Paisley, who has announced his resignation for May.
At the same meeting North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds has been elected as the DUP's new deputy leader.

Assembly members unanimously agreed a joint nomination of Robinson and Dodds and will go to the party's 120-member executive committee on Thursday night to have the nominations formally ratified.

Tánaiste and Taoiseach-elect Brian Cowen is in Belfast this morning for discussions with Mr. Robinson.
In recent years the relationship between Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Ian Paisley was one of the most important driving forces in North-South relationships. Today will see evidence of a new dynamic - involving Brian Cowen and Peter Robinson. From early May on, Cowen will be Taoiseach and in the first week of June Robinson will become Northern Ireland's First Minister.

Over a period of months Cowen and Robinson - both Ministers for Finance in their respective jurisdictions - have been quietly working up a proposal. At noon today they will announce an agreement to allow financial services companies based it the Republic to have back office and middle management jobs located in the North. The arrangement has the approval of the Republic's financial regulator. It is technically complex, but significant in practical and political terms. And it could well be another step forward to a full normalisation which brings the six counties ever closer to a fully integrated Ireland.

The Emerald Islander

Händel's "Messiah" is 266 Years old today

While most of the day was rather pleasant here, the evening has brought us some more of the steady rain. And when it rains heavily, I usually don't go for my evening constitutional.
I then prefer to stay at home and spend some time in front of the fireplace, listening to a nice piece of classical music.

Today there is no question which piece of music I listen to. As this is April 13th, it has to be the famous oratorio "The Messiah" by Georg Friedrich Händel (left), which was first performed on this day 266 years ago. And despite the fact that Händel lived and worked in London then, "The Messiah" saw its premiere in Neal's Music Hall on Dublin's Fishamble Street, close to the famous Temple Bar district.

In the summer of 1741 G. F. Händel - at the peak of his musical prowess, but depressed and in debt - began setting Charles Jennens' Biblical libretto to music at his usual breakneck speed. In just 24 days "The Messiah" was complete.
Like many of Händel's compositions, it borrows liberally from earlier works, both his own and those of others.

It was premiered during the following season, in the spring of 1742, as part of a series of charity concerts Händel gave in Neal's Music Hall on Fishamble Street in Dublin. Right up to the day of the premiere, "The Messiah" was troubled by production difficulties and last-minute rearrangements of the score.
The Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the famous writer and satirist Jonathan Swift, placed some pressure on the premiere and had it cancelled entirely for a period. He demanded that it be retitled "A Sacred Oratorio" and that revenue from the concert be promised to local hospitals for the mentally ill.

The premiere happened eventually on April 13th at the Music Hall in Dublin, and Händel led the performance from the harpsichord with Matthew Dubourg conducting the orchestra. Dubourg was an Irish violinist, conductor and composer who had worked with Händel as early as 1719 in London.

Tonight I have been listening to an excellent recording of the oratorio, performed by the London Festival Choir and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields under the baton of Sir Neville Mariner. Quite a nice way to close a Sunday and to get inspiration for another new week.

The Emerald Islander

In Memoriam Dr. Patrick Hillery

It is with great sadness that I have to report today the death of an exceptional Irishman who played several major roles in the country's politics for many years.
Our former President Dr. Patrick Hillery has died yesterday in his Dublin home, following a short illness, less than a month before reaching the age of 85. Before becoming President - the so far last male holder of the office - Dr. Hillery had been a TD for 22 years, a cabinet minister for 14 years, and Ireland's first ever EU Commissioner for three years.

Patrick John Hillery was born on May 2nd, 1923 in Spanish Point, Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare. The son of Michael Joseph Hillery, a local medical doctor, and Ellen McMahon, a district nurse, he was educated locally before attending Rockwell College. At third level Hillery attended University College Dublin, where he qualified with a degree in medicine. Upon his conferral in 1947 he returned to his native town where he followed in his father’s footsteps as a doctor. His medical career saw him as a member of the National Health Council and Medical Officer for the Miltown Malbay Dispensary District. He also spent a year working as the coroner for West Clare.

On October 27th, 1955 Patrick Hillery married Dr. Mary Beatrice (Maeve) Finnegan, a fellow medical doctor. Together they had a son, John, and a daughter, Vivienne, who died after a long illness in 1985, shortly before her eighteenth birthday.

Dr. Hillery did not really aspire to a political career, but Éamon de Valera - then in opposition - persuaded him to stand with him for Fianna Fáil in Co. Clare in the 1951 general election.
The election resulted in a return to power for Fianna Fáil and Hillery was successful on his first attempt to get elected. But he remained on the backbenches for almost a decade, before finally becoming a minister following Éamon de Valera's retirement as Taoiseach in 1959.

Under the new Taoiseach Seán Lemass a new generation of politicians were introduced to government and a key player among this group was Dr. Patrick Hillery, who became Minister for Education in 1959, succeeding Jack Lynch in that post.

Patrick Hillery was responsible for much innovative thinking in a department which would become very important under Lemass' leadership. In 1963 he made a major policy speech in which he outlined many educational reforms that were to be introduced over the next decade. These included increased educational opportunities, the establishment of comprehensive schools and Regional Technical Colleges, and access by students to all public examinations. As Minister for Education Dr. Hillery prepared the ground for successive ministers to advance the reforms and initiatives he had begun. While Donagh O'Malley has received much of the credit for introducing free education, it was in fact Hillery who made this landmark announcement possible.

In 1965 Hillery succeeded Jack Lynch again by taking over as Minister for Industry and Commerce, but he only remained in this position for just over a year, before becoming the country's first Minister for Labour in 1966. This new department had been a dream of Lemass for several years and Hillery had the honour of being the first incumbent.
When Seán Lemass resigned as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil in November 1966 - a shock to many of his political friends - Dr. Patrick Hillery was invited by Lemass to allow his name to go forward for the leadership of the party. However, he declined the offer, explaining that he had no interest in becoming Taoiseach. Many historians have suggested that Hillery was Lemass' first choice to succeed him and "the best Taoiseach we never had". In the end Jack Lynch succeeded Lemass after a leadership contest with George Colley. Hillery retained his post as Minister for Labour following Lynch's reshuffle of the Cabinet, serving until 1969.

Following another victory for Fianna Fáil in the 1969 general election, Dr. Patrick Hillery became Minister for External Affairs (renamed Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1972). He earned a high international profile when, in the aftermath of "Bloody Sunday" (the killing of thirteen unarmed civilians in Derry by British troops), he traveled to the United Nations in New York to demand UN involvement in peace-keeping on the streets of Northern Ireland.

During the whole period Hillery remained one of Jack Lynch's staunchest allies in pursuing peaceful means with regard to the possibility of a civil war breaking out. Although considered a mild-mannered politician, he showed his mettle at the 1971 Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis when Kevin Boland, an opponent of Lynch’s Northern policy, stormed a nearby podium and launched a very public and vocal attack on the Fianna Fáil leadership. While some of his supporters started chanting "We want Boland", Hillery, who by this stage had grabbed the nearest microphone, started shouting down the Boland faction with the immortal line "Ye can have Boland, but ye can’t have Fianna Fáil."

Hillery's tenure at the Department of Foreign Affairs was not entirely consumed by affairs in the North. In 1972 he negotiated Ireland's membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), a process that was completed in 1973. He was rewarded for this work by becoming the first Irishman to serve on the European Commission. He was appointed Vice-President of the Commission as well as having special responsibility for Social Affairs.
While Europe had gained one of Ireland's most capable and respected politicians, Jack Lynch had lost one of his allies in cabinet, and someone who may have been in line to take over the leadership following Lynch's retirement.

As Social Affairs Commissioner Hillery's most famous policy initiative was to force EEC member states to give equal pay to women. However, in 1976 the then Irish government, a Fine Gael-Labour coalition under Liam Cosgrave, informed him that he was not being re-appointed to the Commission. He considered returning to medicine, perhaps moving with his wife Maeve (also a doctor) to Africa. But fate took a turn when the then Minister for Defence, Paddy Donegan, launched a ferocious verbal attack on President Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, calling him "a thundering disgrace" for referring anti-terrorist legislation to the courts to test its constitutionality. When a furious President Ó Dálaigh resigned, a deeply reluctant Dr. Patrick Hillery agreed to become the Fianna Fáil candidate for the presidency. He was elected without a contest as the only candidate, becoming the sixth President of Ireland on December 3rd, 1976.

During his presidency he welcomed the newly elected Pope John Paul II to Ireland in 1979, and declined the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to attend the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. However it was in 1982 that Hillery's reputation as President was arguably made. In January of that year the Fine Gael-Labour government of Garret FitzGerald lost a budget vote in Dáil Éireann. Since this was a loss of supply, FitzGerald went to Áras an Uachtaráin to ask the President for a parliamentary dissolution.
Under Article 13.2.2. of the Constitution of Ireland President Hillery could have turned down the request, forcing FitzGerald's resignation.
However a series of phone calls was made by senior opposition figures urging Hillery to refuse FitzGerald a dissolution, allowing Charles Haughey to form a government.

Hillery regarded such pressure as gross misconduct and ordered his aide de camp not to pass on telephone calls from opposition figures. He might also have been motivated by the Irish version of the Constitution, which states that the President uses his discretionary powers as a chomhairle féin, which usually translates to "under his own counsel", meaning that no contact whatsoever could take place with the opposition. Whenever there is a conflict between the Irish and English versions of the Constitution, the Irish one takes precedence. In the end, President Hillery granted Garret FitzGerald the dissolution.

In 1983 Dr. Patrick Hillery was again elected unopposed, sharing the distinction with Seán T. O'Kelly and Éamon de Valera of serving two full terms as President of Ireland. His second term was rather uneventful and gave rise to the perception that being the President of Ireland was a job for "grey old men". However, behind the scenes there were plenty of matters that President Hillery handled with diplomacy and gravitas. He left office in 1990, having served the maximum two terms, and was widely applauded for his integrity, honesty and devotion to duty. Especially after the turmoil over his predecessor, Dr. Patrick Hillery is regarded as the man who brought stability back to Áras an Uachtaráin.

Shortly before he left office, Ireland saw the probably biggest political upset in recent times, even though Dr. Hillery himself had no active part in it as such. However, he and his decision in 1982 triggered a political avalanche. Three candidates had been nominated for the 1990 presidential election: the then Tánaiste, the late Brian Lenihan for Fianna Fáil (widely viewed as certain winner), Austin Currie for Fine Gael and the independent human rights lawyer Mary Robinson for Labour. In May 1990, in an on the record interview with Jim Duffy, Lenihan had confirmed that he had been one of those phoning President Hillery in January 1982. He confirmed that Charles Haughey too had made phone calls. Jim Duffy mentioned the information in an article on the history of the Irish presidency in The Irish Times.

In October 1990 Lenihan changed his story, claiming (even though he had said the opposite for eight years) that he had played "no hand, act or part" in pressurising President Hillery that night. He made these denials in an interview in The Irish Press (a now defunct pro-Fianna Fáil newspaper) and on RTÉ's Questions and Answers. When it was realised that he had said the opposite in an on the record interview in May 1990, his campaign panicked. In the aftermath, the minority party in the coalition government, the Progressive Democrats, indicated that unless Lenihan resigned from cabinet, they would resign from government and support an opposition Motion of No Confidence in Dáil Éireann, bringing down the government and causing a general election. Though publicly Taoiseach Charles Haughey insisted that it was entirely a matter for Lenihan, his "friend of thirty years", he gave Lenihan a letter of resignation to sign.

When Lenihan refused, Haughey formally advised President Hillery to dismiss Lenihan as Tánaiste, Minister for Defence and member of the cabinet, which the President - as constitutionally required - duly did. Lenihan became the only candidate from his party to date to lose the presidency, having begun the campaign as the apparent certain winner. Instead Mary Robinson, who already had had a spectacularly successful campaign, became the seventh President of Ireland, the first elected President from outside Fianna Fáil, and the first woman to hold the office. Her impact in the seven years as President was in fact so massive that in 1997 none of Ireland's parties even dared to nominate a man. They all fielded women, and Fianna Fáil's Mary McAleese was elected as the eight President of Ireland. (In 2004 she was then re-elected without public contest for a second term and is still our President.)

The revelations and the discovery that Dr. Patrick Hillery had stood up to pressure from former cabinet colleagues, including his close friend Brian Lenihan, back in 1982 increased his public standing substantially. From a low-key modest presidency that many had written off as mediocre, his presidency came to be seen as embodying the highest standards of integrity.
Hillery's reputation rose further when opposition leaders under parliamentary privilege alleged that Taoiseach Charles Haughey, who in January 1982 had been Leader of the Opposition, had not merely rung the President's Office, but threatened to end the career of the young army officer who took the call and who, on Hillery's explicit instructions, refused to put through the call to the President. Hillery, it was revealed, had called in the Irish Army's Chief of Staff the following day and as Commander-in-Chief of the Army had ordered the Chief of Staff to ensure that no politician ever interfered with the career of the army officer.

Since his retirement from the presidency Dr. Patrick Hillery has led a very quiet and private life, which was only briefly interrupted in 2002, when he came out publicly in support of the Nice Treaty. The former President, who had a lifelong love for the sea, will be missed by many on the Emerald Isle and beyond, regardless of political affiliation. He is survived by his wife Maeve and his son John.

The offer of a state funeral has been accepted by the Hillery family. It is expected that President Hillery's remains will be brought to Dublin's Pro Cathedral on Tuesday and that the state funeral will take place next Wednesday. It is understood that Dr. Patrick Hillery will be buried in Sutton, Co. Dublin.

The Emerald Islander

Green Party demonstrates her new Strength

The Green Party's annual conference in Dundalk - the first since the party joined Fianna Fáil in government - took place in a generally positive mood, with many delegates obviously reveling in the new status of power for their party.

In his opening address the party leader John Gormley outlined the Green achievements in government so far, including the reform of the car tax system, which will be fully implemented in July.
Gormley told delegates that in ten days he will launch a Green Paper on Local Government, which - he hopes - "will deliver the biggest ever reform of Ireland's local administration".

He said the paper provides for a directly elected mayor of Dublin who will have real executive powers. This will include having control of waste policy, regional planning, housing water and other essential services.
The Green Paper also proposes a device to allow citizens to decide key policy directions. Gormley told delegates there was "no reason why people should not decide what the spending priorities should be in their communities".

The Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government also said he will shortly be announcing an initiative to allow people to recycle batteries in supermarkets. This initiative is long overdue, he said.

A wide range of policy motions have been debated on Saturday. A number of these motions were potentially controversial, but less so since the Taoiseach's announcement that he is to stand down in May.

John Gormley used his main leader speech tonight to make an appeal to politicians on all sides not to play politics with climate change. He appealed to members of the opposition to "put away the petty squabbling and cheap shots, forget the nonsense and come on board" to work with the Greens in government "in the best interests of the country and the planet".

Well, this is definitely a different John Gormley than the one we have known for many years in opposition. It is interesting to see how ministerial office can change a man completely and turn him 180 degrees around. And - strangely enough - most of his party is following suit, like a docile bunch of lemmings is running blindly after their leader.

Less than a year into the coalition, Gormley has already realised that he might have made a mistake. But realising is one thing and admitting it is another. And so far there is no open discussion over the shortfalls. Gormley told delegates that "the party knows and recognises that we can never get everything we hoped for in government".
Well, Fianna Fáil are well known for using smaller parties as they please. But John Gormley is still of the opinion that "outside of government the Green Party can achieve nothing".
I would not agree with that, but then again, I put principles before the hunger for power and positions...

Earlier at the conference Communications Minister Eamon Ryan announced that a new code of conduct for broadcasters will protect children from advertisements for junk food. Ryan told the convention that the code of conduct will be included in his new Broadcasting Bill, which is to be published shortly.

Food Minister and former party leader Trevor Sargent has promised a fivefold increase in land devoted to organic farming by the year 2012, while delegates supported a call to end the sponsorship of sporting events by alcohol producers.

Delegates also voted for a review of third level funding, with a widening of tax relief to all third level costs, instead of just fees. Proposing the motion, Waterford delegate Catherine Kinsella pointed out that one can currently get tax relief in Ireland "for owning an enthusiastic stallion, but not for education".

The convention backed a call for a review of the location of centres of excellence for treating cancer and called for the nationwide availability of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) teaching for autistic children.

The Green Party convention made some extra headlines tonight when China's new ambassador to Ireland, Liu Biwei, walked out of the conference hall in Dundalk during the leader's address. Liu Biwei was not pleased to hear that John Gormley mentioning the occupation of Tibet and the oppression of its people by the Chinese government. (See also my entry from earlier tonight.)

Although I cannot forget or forgive the Green Party that it has become the poodle of Fianna Fáil, I have to give John Gormley praise where it is due. In the current climate of hypocrisy over China, where no other politician dares to stand up and call the facts as they are, John Gormley is so far the only TD who has the courage to speak up. Only if we tell the Chinese what we think of them, we can make them see reality and change perhaps some of their ways. Crawling on the belly before them - as Fianna Fáil has done so far - is not the right thing to do.
So, well done tonight, John Gormley! I just wish you would also still be true to your political principles at home...

The Emerald Islander

Chinese Ambassador cannot face the Truth

The Chinese Ambassador to Ireland has walked out of the Green Party convention tonight after criticism by John Gormley of China's role in Tibet. Ambassador Liu Biwei left the venue in Dundalk as Gormley delivered his leader's speech shortly before 9 p.m. this evening.

John Gormley (right) told his delegates that human rights must extend to all countries and cultures. He said one country which has been exploited and suppressed and suffered for far too long is Tibet. He said the party condemns unequivocally the flagrant abuse of human rights by the Chinese government and called on the Chinese government to enter into a dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

After he left, the ambassador told RTÉ News that "Chinese people love peace and want good relations with Irish people". But with such empty platitudes the Chinese diplomat will not win a lot of friends among the well-informed Irish population. Well, he better keep his propaganda and brainwashed lines of waffle to himself if this is all he has to say.

Liu Biwei (pictured left), who has only recently taken up his post in Ireland after serving as China's Consul General in New York, said he had been invited to the Green Party convention, but he had not expected Minister Gormley as the leader of the Greens to say what he had said.

Well, Mr. Ambassador, if you have not noticed it so far, I have some news for you: In contrast to your own nation, Ireland is a free country. And here even politicians and government ministers can speak the truth, as strange as this might seem to you.

The whole of the Irish population might well be less than that of your sub-provincial city of Harbin (in the North-East of China), but we are a free people, free since 1922, after we fought 750 years against the same kind of oppression you have established in Tibet. So you should not be too surprised that the Irish feel more solidarity with the people of occupied Tibet than with their arrogant oppressors, who believe that now that they have a lot of money they can behave as they please and the whole world has to pay them homage.

Wrong, Mr. Ambassador. All the money in the world will not buy you honour and decency. As long as you keep Tibet occupied and maltreat and kill its people, you are not welcome in the free countries of this world. And if you cannot even stand to listen to a peaceful speech, then you better pack your bags and go home. Among the brainwashed minions there you will feel a lot happier than among the free people of Ireland.

The Emerald Islander

Invasion of the Smurfs

Being somewhat a creature of habit, I usually do my weekend grocery shopping Thursday evening or Friday afternoon. But today, due to other commitments in the afternoon and evening, I had to go shopping earlier.

When I entered my local supermarket at about 12.30, I was quite surprised to see it overrun by a large number of smallish people, all wearing light blue outfits. There were at least 200 of them, and they were everywhere: down various aisles, forming a large queue at the deli counter, and smaller queues at the check-outs. What was going on? For some reasons the Smurfs had invaded Ireland, and of all the possible places to gather they chose a normally quiet medium-size supermarket in Waterford City...

I was really puzzled, and it took me a while to realise that those light blue people were 1) all female, 2) did not wear white classic Phrygian caps but mostly unattractive hairstyles, and 3) had not light blue bodies, but all wore jumpers of that colour. They were in fact pupils of a nearby girls' secondary school, wearing their school uniforms. But what on Earth were they all doing in the supermarket? Was there any special promotion on I had not heard of?

One of the shop assistants opened my eyes completely. There was nothing special about the girls and their time of appearance, I was told. This happens every weekday - Monday to Friday - at the same time, when the girls have their lunch break. I thanked the assistant, whom I know for many years, for enlightening me, but I was still bewildered. Why do they not have lunch in their school? Are there no longer dining facilities and meals served every day? In my school days that was normal, and no one needed to go out to a supermarket for lunch.

And if there is no longer a working kitchen in the school, why don't the parents give their girls a decent lunch packet? Are the mothers of our time not even able to make sandwiches anymore?
It is none of my business what other people eat and how they behave, and I am not sitting here in judgment over anyone. But I could not help noticing that not one of the girls was buying any healthy food. All they bought was fast food, fizzy drinks, crisps, chocolates and sweets. Not one bought fruit, not one anything else that would have given them a nutritious meal. This shocked me somehow.

I wonder how many of the girls' parents are aware of their unhealthy eating habits, and if they do, how many really care. Many parents these days seem to believe that all they need to do is to give a teenager enough money and then let the teenager do what she or he wants. This is neither education, nor proper upbringing. It borders in fact on child abuse and certainly is a form of bad child neglect.

After what I saw today, I am no longer surprised that a large proportion of Irish teenagers are overweight or even obese, have serious medical problems and are less physically fit than previous generations. I am also not surprised that ever more young mothers give birth to children with birth defects. We are what we eat, and if we systematically destroy our bodies - or allow our children to do it - we will have to live with the serious consequences, even though we might not live very long and happy. One also wonders why the school is no longer providing meals for their pupils.

If we continue to run this country on the largest possible amount of ignorance and the smallest possible amount of common sense, we could as well all turn into little blue people and live in a world of fiction. It would not be much different from the world in which those schools girls I saw today live already. These are supposed to be the mothers of tomorrow... But how will they ever be able to fulfill this role if no one even bothers to educate them now as responsible young adults? It is sad, but not really that surprising if one thinks how silly and irresponsible most people have been living their lives for the past fifty years or so...

The Emerald Islander

Woman died in Tramore House Fire

A woman in her late forties has died in a house fire in Tramore, County Waterford. The blaze was reported at 11.50 p.m. last night at a house in Herons Hill, Knockenduff. Attempts to rescue the woman failed and she was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 1 a.m. this morning.

The woman is understood to have been living in Tramore for a number of years. A man in his forties was taken from the same house to Waterford Regional Hospital (left), where he is being treated for minor burns and for smoke inhalation.

Four Gardaí were also taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation, and three of them have since been released.

The cause of the fire is now under investigation and Gardaí are carrying out a technical examination of the house which was extensively damaged in the fire.

The Emerald Islander

The "Good Friday Agreement" - Ten Years on

Until ten years ago April 10th was most remembered in this part of the world as the day on which "The Beatles" broke up in 1970. It always puzzled me why so many people seem to be so deeply concerned about any music group, but it appears that certain trivial things are a lot more important to a certain part of the population than the important ones.

Well, for the past ten years now we have something worthwhile to remember on April 10th, something that really stands out over many other events on the Emerald Isle and beyond. Ten years ago - and I remember it well - we were poised to the radio and waited for news from Belfast. It was indeed the Friday before Easter, the day Jesus died on the Cross, and Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair had vowed not to go home to London before an agreement was reached.

This was a young Tony Blair, still enthusiastic and believing in the power of goodness, and still of the opinion that peace was better than war. It was a world where Bill Clinton was President of the USA (and very supportive of peace in Ireland) and no one here had even heard of George W. Bush.

Tony Blair had won his first general election with a landslide for Labour less than a year before, and the Republic of Ireland also had a new and relatively young leader, Bertie Ahern, who also had won his first general election in 1997.
Both men - Blair and Ahern - were determined to start the political era they both would share with a strong signal on Northern Ireland. There had been various talks and even agreements before, from the first Anglo-Irish agreement between Garreth FitzGerald and Margaret Thatcher to the "Downing Street Declaration" that brought Albert Reynolds and John Major together in front of a Christmas tree.

But all these efforts, made with more or less sincere and honest commitment to real and lasting change, did still leave the door open for sectarian conflict, thug warfare and the sanctimonious hypocrisy of radical preachers, in particular Ian Paisley and his ilk. When Tony Blair was elected on May 1st, 1997, one of his first decisions was to ruffle the feathers of the old established structures in Northern Ireland.

By appointing the independent minded Marjory "Mo" Mowlam (right) to the post of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tony Blair made clear that things were going to change, and to change for good.
Within less than six months the peace process was well underway, and the strong personal involvement of both Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern gave it a momentum that had not been seen before. However, there remained still plenty of obstacles, many of them really of a minor character, but that did not prevent the various battle-hardened factions of Northern Ireland's long and bitter political warfare to drag the negotiations on and on.

Eventually Tony Blair went to Belfast and took personally charge of the final round of negotiations. In those days the main parties were the UUP under the leadership of David Trimble and the SDLP under John Hume and Seamus Mallon. Ian Paisley's DUP was still refusing any positive and constructive participation in Irish politics, and Sinn Fein was simply excluded from any participation, under the excuse of having links to the provisional IRA. I still remember the pictures of Gerry Adam and Martin McGuinness standing outside the closed gates of Stormont Castle, trying to get in but being refused even access to the grounds.

When the Good Friday Agreement was eventually signed by all negotiating parties, it was a first step on a long path, whose end we have not reached yet. It took more than nine years and many days of further negotiations to put all the details agreed on Good Friday 1998 into operation. But eventually even the most difficult looking obstacles were removed. Ian Paisley and his DUP gave up shouting "No" after they became the largest Unionist party, and Sinn Fein was brought in from the cold as well after the provisional IRA decommissioned its weapons. As the legitimate main representatives of both communities DUP and Sinn Fein have even become the two pillars of the new political structure in the North.

Good progress has been made since the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998, and many obstacles were removed from Irish politics on both sides of the border. But there is much more left to do in the years and decades to come. Right now, as we remember the agreement, we are going through a period of change in the Republic and in the North. In May both parts of Ireland will have a new political leader, and they will have to find their rapport with each other.
But one thing is certain: Regardless who will be Taoiseach and First Minister, the future of the island of Ireland will be peaceful and co-operative, thanks to the agreement signed after much trouble and pain on this day, ten years ago.

The Emerald Islander

Brian Cowen "excited, but daunted"

It all happened as it was planned, and no one stepped out of line to spoil the parade of the new leader of Fianna Fáil and the country. As expected, the current Tanaiste Brian Cowen was today elected as the successor of Bertie Ahern.

Cowen said he is "excited by the challenge, but daunted by the responsibility" of becoming Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil. At his first press conference since being elected leader-designate of the party, Cowen said his election was the highlight of his political career to date.

Brian Cowen was elected unopposed as the seventh leader of Fianna Fáil at a special meeting of the parliamentary party this morning. This afternoon he said he would devote all his abilities and all his energies to the task before him.

Asked whether he supported the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Minister for Heath Mary Harney, he said he did and claimed opponents of government health policy were attempting to retain the status quo, which he said was not an option. Cowen urged everyone in the country to work together to make the changes "which would deliver to the public the health service they expect and deserve".

The next Fianna Fáil leader reaffirmed his commitment to mutual respect and equality on the island, and stressed the importance of the Lisbon Treaty for the country. He also said that he is deeply committed to continuing the government's involvement in the North.

Brian Cowen said he would bring his own style to the job of Taoiseach. Bertie Ahern, he added, lived the position "day and night" and had a huge work ethic which Cowen said he hopes to match. And he said he would be fully aware of his accountability to the public.

Asked about the potential for Sinn Féin in government, he said this could only be considered in a given set of circumstances.

It took less than twenty minutes to formally elect Brian Cowen this morning as his was the only name in contention at the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting. The leader-designate thanked his colleagues for the honour they had conferred on him before taking part in a photo call outside Leinster House.

Brian Cowen then took his usual place beside the Taoiseach in the Dáil chamber for Leaders' Questions. He will be taking over that particular hot seat in four weeks' time. Until then he will have plenty of time to ponder over the details of his first cabinet. Given his conservative and stable character, it is unlikely that he will make many changes. Besides a replacement for himself as both Tanaiste and Minister for Finance, he might make some minor changes. But since it is less than a year since the cabinet was formed and the junior partners in the coalition will not be touched, observers expect few changes.

The Emerald Islander

ESB Investment must include Customer Service

It has recently been announced that the ESB (Electricity Supply Board, Ireland's large national electricity company) is planning to spend € 22 billion to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2035.
As it undertakes a huge investment, the state-owned company says it will invest the money in renewable energy technologies, such as wind farms, biomass, ocean wave (as pictured below left), clean coal and other green power initiatives.

Part of the investment will go to its overseas division as the ESB has committed to reduce its share of the Irish power generation market to 40%.
Chief executive Padraig McManus said that by 2020 the company will halve its carbon emissions as more clean energy is connected to the electricity grid and older power stations will be closed.

Of the € 22 billion investment, around half will be spent on renewable energy. € 4 billion are earmarked for onshore wind farms and other renewable technology, while around € 6.5 billion will be spent by the ESB connecting the output of other energy suppliers to the national grid.

As the ESB faces up to no longer being the dominant energy company in the Irish market, it also plans to expand overseas, with € 4 billion committed to its international division for projects in Britain and Europe.

To finance the investment the ESB will use its own cash and back it up with borrowings to about € 6 billion. ESB’s finance director Bernard Byrne said the international projects will be with joint venture partners to share the costs.

According to Padraig McManus (right) the ESB will also invest money in so-called "smart meters" that are more efficient than the currently used meters, which are well out of date and obsolete.

Sadly the CEO did not mention at all another area in which the ESB is probably in most need of improvement. That is the area of customer services and customer relations, in particular the matter of customers' access to the ESB in normal and easy ways.

Ever since the ESB sold off all their local shops, which had provided a strong and positive connection between the electricity company and her customers, the only possible way to get in touch with ESB is by telephone. Anyone who has tried that recently will know what a nightmare it is. The whole system works from remote call centres, staffed by badly trained young people on the minimum wage.
But before one even gets connected to them, one has to master a whole labyrinth of various electronic barriers and pre-recorded messages, many of them so generalised that they do not cover every possible reason a customer might have to contact the ESB.

I have spent meanwhile several hours waiting on electronic waiting loops without ever getting through to a real person. And when I did eventually, the person at the other end was not only completely clueless and unhelpful, but also not at all friendly. And when one then takes to writing a letter to the ESB, one never gets a proper reply.
If one gets a reply at all, it is never a personal reply that deals with the matter one has raised, but a photocopied standard print-out that annoys one even more. This cannot be by chance or accidentally and has to be a deliberate attempt of the ESB to cut itself off from their customers.
I have raised this matter already with my local TD, but even he only got a formalised litany of empty statements in reply, which did neither address the problem, nor offered any improvement.

This is not acceptable, and I urge Padraig McManus to invest a small part of his € 22 billion budget in more than overdue improvements of his utterly shambolic and ignorant customer service department.

The Emerald Islander

FF Dinosaur appears before Mahon Tribunal

The Mahon Tribunal at Dublin Castle has continued with its investigation into planning irregularities and corruption.
It heard evidence today from one of Fianna Fáil's real old dinosaurs of the Haughey era, the 68-year-old former EU Commissioner and cabinet minister Padraig Flynn.
He confirmed that he had more than £ 71,000 in a non-resident account in London, but said he has no records to back up his evidence that "over half of this was spent on election expenses".

Most of the money in the AIB account in England came from the £ 50,000 the developer Tom Gilmartin gave to Flynn and which, he says, was "a personal political donation".

The long-time senior Fianna Fáil politician and former Minister for Justice, whose backwards-looking arch-conservative and misogynist attitudes earned him the nickname "Flynn-stone", told the Tribunal that the "external account" in an AIB branch in London was opened by his wife, Dorothy, "using an address in which the couple never lived".

He said that withdrawals totaling £ 37,000 were spent on election expenses, but he has no records. A further £ 35,000 went on "investments in National Irish Bank" handled by his daughter, Beverley Flynn (right). This is the same Beverley Flynn who is still a TD, was re-admitted into FF a day before Bertie Ahern announced his resignation, and immediately stated that she would like to be a minister. Some people really have necks that would look too large on bulls or elephants...

Padraig Flynn denied today that all the investment money for the National Irish Bank came from withdrawals from this AIB account. He says some of the money came "from cash savings in his safe at home". So it appears that the Taoiseach is not the only Fianna Fáil politician who deals a lot in cash. The whole party seems to have a habit of grabbing and stacking money where ever it becomes available.

In other European countries this would be seen as corruption and inappropriate, but in Ireland - and especially in Fianna Fáil - it is perceived as "the lads having some fun". And whatever else he did or did not, Padraig Flynn was certainly a very active member of the inner circle of the FF lads...

The Emerald Islander

Strange April Weather

I think I have mentioned before that the South-East of Ireland lives with the lovely adjective "sunny".
In general that is a correct description, as the weather is usually better here than in other parts of the Emerald Isle and people flock to our sandy beaches earlier in the year than they do in the West, for example.

But recently everything seems to be in turmoil, most likely as a result of the big climate change. It is a lot colder than it usually is at this time of the year, and now we also experience snow.
Yes, you read correctly - snow! I had not seen any of that white substance here in town for at least ten years and never ever before on the far side of January.

Yesterday we had - within the span of an hour - first beautiful spring sunshine, then a little whirling snow and sleet storm for about 40 minutes, and before the hour was over, we were back with spring sunshine. This is weird.
And this morning when I got up, my street and everything on and in it was covered with about two centimetres of freshly fallen snow. It looked rather nice, although quite odd in a way. But it did of course not last long. By 10 a.m. it had all melted away, even though it remains quite cold.

We humans can adjust to that, even though it does puzzle us. But I notice that animals have a lot more problems with sudden weather changes. They are much more set into the rhythm of Nature and unfamiliar with the management advice of "being flexible".

So in these days of strange April weather, please spare a thought for your animals who will feel even more bewildered than you. This goes for domestic pets as well as for the working and farm animals.
Make sure you show them some more of your friendship and kindness, and when it is a cold day, maybe give them a little extra ration. They will appreciate that, and it will keep them in good shape.

The Emerald Islander

The Olympic Farce and China's Power

Does anyone else see through the huge public spectacle that China has started to force down the throat of major western countries? Or is it just me?
Yesterday, when I was talking to some local people about the matter, they seemed not to be able to understand what is going on. But then again, they have never been to China, and the only way they know Chinese people is from our local take aways. There is not a lot of cultural, philosophical and sociological knowledge gained from ordering the odd fried duck with fried rice and prawn crackers.

For previous Olympic Games the Olympic Torch - always lit by a ray of Sunlight at Olympia, the Greek home of the ancient games - was carried through the host nation until it arrived on the day of the opening ceremony in the host city.
But this year the Chinese have extended this tour of the torch to a number of foreign countries, in order to highlight the fact that they host the games even more. Not that they were short of cities and towns in their own country to parade the torch through. In fact, if one would move it all around China, it would take about two years to complete the journey.

So why then the foreign legs of the tour? Very simple. It is a deliberate act of superior arrogance and dominance, forcing the western countries, most of which are already completely dependent on China for the manufacturing of most of their consumer goods, to bow before Communist China, the Olympic host. There is a lot of pride in this, as well as deliberate humiliation for the western "paper tigers", as Mao tse-tung used to call them.

What I don't understand is why countries like Britain and France play along with it and threat a little stick with a flame as if it were a head of state! In total there were yesterday more than 2000 uniformed police officers detached for the torch parade through London. And a similarly sad spectacle is expected to take place later today in Paris. How much all this costs the taxpayer, and how much crime those police officers could have prevented if they had been allowed to do their proper duties, can only be estimated. But it is quite substantial.

A protective ring of ten Chinese "flame attendants" (read: special forces police) in light-blue track suits and white baseball caps plus British police officers in fluorescent jackets surrounded the torchbearers closely at all times, with additional uniformed police joining at potential flash points along the route.

This unprecedented close protection of a small object was so massive that the spectators and even people watching the event on TV could often not see the Olympic torch or make out who was actually carrying it. The whole sad show only exposed two things: That there is no freedom in China, and that the UK government prefers the staging of a sick spectacle to please the Chinese dictators to the highlighting of the human rights abuses China commits every day, and especially in Tibet.

Like Hitler used the Olympic Games of 1936 to make the world bow to National Socialism, China now uses the games to make the world bow even deeper before Communist Mercantilism of Chinese fashion. All those - politicians, sports people and anyone else - who close their eyes to the facts or decide that they could not be bothered with details about China, Tibet and human rights as long as they get a few hundred hours of sport on TV this summer, are not only fools, but dangerous fools who contribute to a lot of political, social and economical damage.

People should realise that there is an unbroken tradition of 6000 years in China, which was already a high civilisation at a time when our ancestors still lived in caves and wattle huts. Reading about China and its history might help to understand Chinese ambitions, aspirations and general attitudes. And we should also remember that there is a word called "no" which we should use more often when encountering developments and behaviour we are not happy with. Letting every bully get away with every prank will only create a world ruled by bullies.

The Emerald Islander

New Poll shows FF stronger without Bertie

A new opinion poll shows a 5% increase in support for Fianna Fáil since the Taoiseach has announced his resignation for May.

The Red C poll in today's Sunday Business Post also shows that just 22% of Irish voters think Bertie Ahern should not have announced his resignation.

The unplanned snap poll was carried out on Thursday, just a week since the last Red C poll for The Sunday Business Post.
(For details of that, please see my entry from April 1st)

Only 500 voters were questioned this time, which is half the normal Red C sample. So this gives a higher margin of error. However, the general tendency is clear enough.
It also shows that my own analysis and advice (given on April 1st) was entirely in line with Irish mainstream opinion and spot on. I do not praise myself, but it is a nice feeling to be so much right in such a public way.

Fianna Fáil's support stands now at 40% (up five points since last week), while Fine Gael dropped two points to 28%.

The Labour Party stays unchanged on 11%, while the Green Party moved up one point to 9% and the PDs are stuck on 1%.

Sinn Féin's support in this poll dropped three points to 6%, while the Independents and others dropped two points to now 5%. These two figures I would question as rather incorrect, and they are clearly an effect of the only half-sized focus group.

Only 22% of voters thought Bertie Ahern should not have resigned, while 31% say they did not want him to go, but he had no option after recent revelations.

20% thought it was about time he resigned, and 24% thought he should have gone earlier, as soon as the Mahon Tribunal began investigating his affairs.

It will be interesting to see how long Brian Cowen's political honeymoon will last, and if he can hoodwink the Irish people as successfully as Bertie has done it during the last ten years.

The Emerald Islander

Yes to Yahoo - No to Microsoft Bullying

In January the directors of Microsoft Corp. approached their colleagues of Yahoo and told them that they wanted to take over their business. They were prepared to pay $ 40 billion for it, and that would be that.

Well, in the language of high finance, such behaviour is called a "hostile take-over bit". And hostile it is indeed. Very hostile in my humble opinion.

When I heard about it first, I was also quite worried, since I have been using Yahoo e-mail and other services for many years.
I never had any problems with them, and neither had any other user I know. I contrast there are constant problems with Microsoft's e-mail service "hotmail" and even more so with the MSN Messenger service. Every time I used the MSN voice-mail option, the software froze my whole computer when I finished. Never ever has anything like it happened with the voice option of Yahoo Messenger.

So far my own technical observations. I am worried that in case of a take-over the superior and much more friendly service of Yahoo will disappear and be replaced by the inferior Microsoft standard.

To my great joy the directors of Yahoo have rejected the take-over bit. I am very happy with that. But not so the greedy people at Microsoft. I just learned that they have now given Yahoo "an ultimatum" of three weeks. Unless they give in by then, Microsoft threatens "to go directly to the shareholders".

I am sitting here and cannot believe my ears. An ultimatum? To submit by a specific date? This is the way Hitler operated, and how he annexed first Austria, then the Sudetenland and in the end the rest of Czechoslovakia!
Who the heck do these arrogant greedy bullies in charge of Microsoft think they are? I am very annoyed and angry. Yahoo has said no. That's it. Stick to your MSN and get your dirty hands off a good and decent company that is serving millions of people all around the world a lot better than you!

As I don't know who the Yahoo shareholders are, I cannot say how susceptible they might be to Microsoft bullying. But in the remaining three weeks we could all do our small bit to support the people at Yahoo and tell the people at Microsoft that we don't like their attitude.

So I urge everyone who reads this to write at least one letter to the headquarters of both Yahoo and Microsoft and express their feelings in a few simple words.
Customer satisfaction and positive PR are very important in international business. So we might have a change to get our voices heard. The more take part, the greater is the change to make a mark and be noticed.
Please take a few minutes and write an actual letter, since e-mail is too easy to be ignored by the people in huge companies. But physical letters on the desk get noticed and answered.

The Addresses:

Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399, U.S.A.
Address letters to: Mr. Bill Gates (Chairman) or Mr. Steve Ballmer (CEO)
Phone (800) MICROSOFT (642-7676)
Fax (425) 93-MSFAX (936-7329)

Yahoo! Inc., 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, California 94089, U.S.A.
Address letters to either: Ms. Susan L. Decker (President),
Mr. Jerry Yang (CEO) or Mr. David Filio (Chief of Yahoo!)
Phone (408) 349-3300 / Fax (408) 349-3301

I am only a humble blogger on his own, and alone I will make no difference. But if you help, and spread the word around the web, then there might be a chance to make our point. Tell Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer to leave Yahoo alone.
And tell the people in Yahoo that they have support from people who use their service.
Let's try and make this work. Thank you!

The Emerald Islander

The Sycophantic Party

In its official publications, printed material and correspondence Fianna Fáil (FF) is - in a second line - always described as "The Republican Party". Even Bertie Ahern mentioned this easily overlooked and rarely used additive in his resignation speech last Wednesday.
But as things have developed in Fianna Fáil over the past few days, this promotional definition will need to be changed soon. First of all, FF has long moved away from republican ideals and is for a considerable time now a party of tribal politics and the protection of tribal and private interests.
So perhaps "The Tribal Party" might be quite appropriate. When I discussed this matter yesterday with a neighbour, he suggested - in light of the next party leader - "The Fat Yob's Party", which would also fit, but might be seen by some as a little rough.

My own suggestion is "The Sycophantic Party", and I will explain to you why.

Shortly after Bertie had announced his more than inevitable date of departure from the helm of the state, ministers of his cabinet queued outside RTÉ to deliver their personal heaps of praise on the man who had more or less made them all and given them their jobs. This did not really surprise me a lot, since FF is a very cliquish and clannish party and Bertie has been the Bass - I mean Boss - of it for more than a decade.

I was however a little astonished that no one mentioned with a word his flaws and shortfalls, or referred to the real reasons for the early departure of the Taoiseach. They all praised him in the highest ways, and the more of that I heard, the more I began to wonder if Patrick Bartholomew Ahern - known as Bertie - is actual a mortal man of flesh and blood.
Listening to his colleagues in government - and they should be the ones who really know him - he looked more like an angel or a demi-god. But then again I remembered who was talking. And when was the last time that one could believe a word Fianna Fáil was saying in public?

Must have been long before my time, since I do not remember any.

But the real character of FF came to light on Thursday, the day after Bertie's announcement. By then the Taoiseach - even though still in office until May 6th - was already history for his party. No more words about him from the loyal ministers.
Instead they queued up at RTÉ again, this time to renounce any personal interest in succeeding Bertie, and at the same time declaring their support for Tánaiste Brian Cowen (above) as the successor. It is interesting to notice that at that time Cowen had not even declared his interest yet. But this was - as it turned out - not really necessary. In good old Soviet Politburo style the man from County Offaly only declared himself a candidate after every single FF cabinet minister had nominated him in public. Well, down in the pub in Offaly they like things sewn up safely before they go out. They don't like to take risks and prefer to wait for their prey like a snake on a stone.

But of all events of the past week one element really stands out: The unbelievably sycophantic way FF ministers heaped unheard of amounts of praise on Brian Cowen. Only the day before Bertie was the greatest man on Earth for them and they could not find enough superlatives to describe all achievements and the unique and superior personality of the Taoiseach.
But that was Wednesday. By Thursday the party had moved on to prepare for a coronation. The King is dead! Long live the King! No need for even the slightest fig leaf of Democracy. Oh no, in Fianna Fáil they do things their own way. Anyone who does not like it can always emigrate...

So after the inner clique of the party had decided to make Brian Cowen their next leader, all the superlatives were poured over him. In fact, he received - a month before his appointment to lead the country - way more praise than Bertie had been given the day before, after a decade in office. Well, such is the fickle character of Irish politics, and the sycophantic character of FF politicians.

Almost all cabinet ministers fell over themselves in their effort to portray the Tanaiste as God on Earth, but the most sickening sycophant of them all is Dick Roche (left). He was so anxious to make his feelings for Brian Cowen public that he sent a long press release to RTÉ without having it processed by his office first.
Joe Duffy read passages of it out on Thursday's "Liveline", and I have never heard anything like it before. According to Roche, now Minister of State for Europe (and as such responsible for the Lisbon Treaty), Brian Cowen must be God, Jesus and Superman all rolled into one. Well, this might explain his size...

But in all his haste to win the crown of chief sycophant, Roche exposed himself as a man at war with the English language. According to Joe Duffy the press release was "littered with spelling mistakes". Well, this must be even more embarrassing for Roche than his idiotic performance as the leader of the first St. Patrick's Day Parade in Beijing last month. (For details see my entry from March 18th)
We are not talking about some cleaner or butcher here, who might get away with little literacy. We are talking about a senior FF politician, whose responsibility for Europe means among other things the reading and assessing of new EU documents, many of which will become Irish Law. It is worrying to realise that a man with such limited command of the English language is also the minister for the Lisbon Treaty. Has he actually read it? And if so, did he understand it? It seems rather doubtful.

We should also never forget that Dick Roche is the man primarily responsible for the destruction of the Hill of Tara and the M 3 motorway through the Skryne Valley.
His last act as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government was in fact the signing of orders for the building contractors, in order to prevent his successor John Gormley from stopping the project. Such devious and ruthless behaviour is even in FF quite rare.

Having been demoted from cabinet to junior status last year, Roche is desperate to get back into a top job. His sycophantic litany of Brian Cowen's virtues, skills and personality would - if set to music - make probably a reasonable ballad. It's really a pity that Eurosong 2008 is over. Otherwise we might be sending a real Dick to Eurovision, instead of a stuffed turkey.

The Emerald Islander

P.S. If I were Brian Cowen, Roche's behaviour would be enough for me to remove him from ministerial responsibility for good.

Unemployment rises to 5.5%

Ireland's unemployment rate has risen from 5.2% to 5.5%, a figure not seen since June 1999.
The information from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show an increase of 8,507 to 197,992, beating February's record rise of 8,000. This represents a 27% increase on the same month last year, the biggest monthly percentage rise since March 1983.

The seasonally adjusted Live Register figure rose by 12,000 from February to reach 199,900.
This is the biggest rise on record.

More worryingly, the increase in March has been evenly split between men and women, suggesting wider deterioration in the labour market beyond the construction sector. This differs from recent months, when men made up most of the rise.

The figures were higher for all Irish regions, with the biggest percentage increase of 7.2% coming in the South-East.

As the jobless figure is rising, the Central Bank says that the problems in the global banking sector are proving to be more prolonged and far-ranging than had been hoped. So the bank expects Irish GNP to increase by just 2% this year, down from a rise of 4.5% in 2007.

40 Years ago: Martin Luther King assassinated

40 years ago the most important, effective and charismatic leader of the American civil rights movement died from an assassin's bullet.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (left), who had been awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize for Peace in recognition of his long and peaceful work for civil and equal rights in the USA, did inspire a whole generation of Americans, regardless of their colour, and changed the social structure and politics of the United States for ever. His strong ideas and charismatic personality made him popular all around the world, and he is now regarded as one of the great men of the 20th century.

Born as Michael King, Jr. on January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, he became Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1935, when his father - a Baptist preacher - changed both his and his son's given name. His first encounter with a large crowd was in 1939, when the ten-year-old sang in a choir celebrating the Atlanta première of the famous film "Gone with the Wind".

In 1944 - aged 15 - King entered Morehouse College and after skipping two years he graduated in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Sociology. The next three years he spent at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) degree in 1951.
In September of the same year he began doctoral studies in Systematic Theology at Boston University.
1953 King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and on June 5th, 1955 he received his Doctorate in Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Boston.

Soon afterwards King became known to a wider audience when he got involved in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. On December 1st, 1955 Rosa Parks, a black woman, was arrested for refusing to comply with US laws that required her to give up her bus seat to a white man. The black people of Montgomery felt that things had gone too far, and assisted by the trade union leader E. D. Nixon, King organised a city-wide bus boycott. It lasted for 385 days, and during that time the situation became so tense that King's house was bombed by white supremacists. King himself was also arrested during the campaign, which only ended when a US District Court ended racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses.

King was instrumental in the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, a group created to harness the moral authority and organising power of black churches to conduct non-violent protests in the service of civil rights reform. He continued to dominate the organization for the rest of his life.

King was an adherent of the philosophies of non-violent civil disobedience as described in Henry David Thoreau's essay of the same name, and used successfully in India by Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi.
King applied this philosophy to the protests organized by the SCLC. In 1958, while signing copies of his book "Strive Toward Freedom" in a Harlem store, he was stabbed in the chest with a letter opener by a deranged black woman and only narrowly escaped death.

Representing the SCLC, Martin Luther King, was among the leaders of the so-called "Big Six" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
President John F. Kennedy initially opposed the march, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation. But King and the other organisers were firm that the march would proceed.

The march made several specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public school; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $ 2 minimum wage for all workers; and self-government for the District of Columbia, then governed by a congressional committee.

Despite tensions, the march was a resounding success. More than 250,000 people of diverse ethnicities attended, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in the history of the US capital. And King's by now world-famous "I Have a Dream" speech electrified the crowd. It is regarded, along with Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address", one of the finest speeches in American oratory.

Throughout his career, King wrote and spoke frequently, drawing on his experience as a preacher. His "Letter from Birmingham Jail", written in 1963, is a passionate statement of his Crusade for Justice.
On October 14th, 1964 he became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading non-violent resistance to end racial prejudice in the United States.

In 1965 King began to express serious doubts about the United States' role in Vietnam. On April 4th, 1967 - to the day exactly one year before his death - King delivered his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" at the New York City Riverside Church. He spoke strongly against American participation in the war, insisting that the US was in Vietnam "to occupy it as an American colony" and calling the US government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." *1

He often claimed that North Vietnam "did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had arrived in the tens of thousands" in South Vietnam. King also praised North Vietnam's land reform. He accused the USA of having killed a million Vietnamese, "mostly children". *2

King had long been hated by many of the radical white southern segregationists, but this speech turned the more mainstream media against him as well.
TIME magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi", and The Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people".

On March 30th, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee in support of the black public works employees, who had been on strike since March 12th for higher wages and better treatment. On April 3rd, he returned to Memphis for another rally. And as always when he visited the city, he stayed in the same place, the Lorraine Motel (pictured above right). In fact, King was such a creature of habit that he usually stayed in the very same Room - No. 306. This was no secret and common knowledge all around Memphis.

His last public speech was delivered that day at the Mason Temple, and it was later seen as somehow visionary, as if King had foreseen his own death in a recent dream. He said: "I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." *3

The next day, April 4th, King took some fresh air on the balcony of his motel room. According to an official report a single bullet hit him at 6.01 p.m., entering the body through the right cheek, smashing his jaw and then travelling down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. Several close friends of King were present and witnessed the murder, including two well-known black preachers, civil rights campaigners and politicians who later carried on their dead friend's work. They were Ralph Abernathy and Jesse Jackson.
King was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7.05 p.m.

When the news of the assassination spread, there were angry demonstrations and spontaneous riots in more than 100 cities all over the USA.
In Illinois - the home state of the first assassinated President Abraham Lincoln - Senator Robert F. Kennedy was due to address a predominantly black crowd during his own campaign for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. Minutes before the speech Kennedy had heard the news and then addressed the people in an exemplary way. Speaking six minutes without a script or preparation, he spoke from the heart. The people of Illinois understood him and went home grieving and angry over the murder, but they remained peaceful. *4

Despite the fact that two months after the murder an escaped US convict - James Earl Ray - was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport and rather easily confessed to the murder, days later he retracted his statement and insisted ever since that he was not Martin Luther King's murderer. Nevertheless he was sentenced to 99 years jail and died in prison in 1998.
But there is plenty of evidence that the assassination of Martin Luther King was the result of an elaborate conspiracy, involving government agencies, along the same lines as the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

There is not enough space here to outline the whole background, but there are plenty of websites and other sources available to enlighten you further.
The latest sensational revelation came six years ago, when the New York Times reported that a church minister, Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson - and not James Earl Ray - assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr.
Given the secretive ways of the USA and its extremely right-wing policies, it is doubtful that we will ever have a satisfactory and official explanation of what really happened.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is missed today by the decent people of this world just as much as he was missed and mourned 40 years ago. It appears that for the majority of Americans violence - including murder, war crimes, assassination and torture - is still acceptable and even "normal". As long as this is the case, things will go from bad to worse. Let me close with a word from the New Testament, which Martin Luther King knew so well: "Those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword." This will be the future of the USA, unless some drastic change for good takes place - and takes place soon.

The Emerald Islander

Footnotes:
* 1 Well, nothing has changed since, except the countries the USA occupies as modern colonies. In place of Vietnam and Cambodia they have now Iraq and Afghanistan.
* 2 This is an interesting number, especially during the late 1960s, before the interest of international organisations was drawn closely to monitor Vietnam and Cambodia. But figures from this time are difficult to verify, since the USA never even bother counting local civilian casualties. They still have the same inhumane (but very convenient for the White House) practice today in Iraq and Afghanistan.
* 3 The last sentence is a direct quote from the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", a song popular with the Union troops during the Civil War (1861-65).
* 4 Tragically 63 days later Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated himself in Los Angeles. It appears that even after two centuries as a sovereign nation the USA were still struggling to join the civilised world, where open murder and political assassinations do simply not happen. Sadly, the conditions in the United States today are much worse than they were in 1968, although now most leading politicians are guarded and protected so massively that it is near to impossible for ordinary people to meet them.

The weak Awareness of Awareness Weeks

Apparently this week is "Organ Donor Awareness Week" in Ireland. At least it says so on a rather badly designed poster outside my local supermarket. To make it more appealing, a photo of RTÉ presenter Ryan Tubridy (left) appears on the poster as well.

These days almost every charity uses a well-known face to promote its cause. Given the subject of the campaign, I would have expected rather Ryan's uncle David Andrews to appear on the poster. After all, the former Minister for Foreign Affairs is now the head of the Irish Red Cross and therefore interested in all things medical.

I am all for organ donations and made personal arrangements many years ago. When I die, all my organs and body parts that are still functioning will be available for transplant. The rest of my body will go to medical research. (Once they are finished with me, the remaining parts will be cremated and the ashes dropped into the sea.)
For me this is the most sensible way to deal with my physical remains, but whenever I mention it to someone, I get a strange look and am told that it was "odd". In fact, I had to go through a good bit of paperwork to make sure that my last wish will be fulfilled one day (but hopefully not too soon).

The problem is a severe shortage of organs. Would more be available, more people could receive one and survive, or live a life free of impediment. As long as people have to opt into the system to become organ donors, there will never be enough. Most people are selfish, silly and occupied with petty trivia, and in Ireland more than elsewhere. Becoming an organ donor is very low on their list of priorities, if it features at all. Add to that superstition and the irrational and anti-social doctrines of religious faith communities, and you know why Ireland has a problem with organ donors.

I am not sure that an "awareness week" is doing much good either. Especially not when it is organised the way I encountered it today. In the entrance to my local supermarket there was the above mentioned poster, and beside it a small table and a chair. On the table stood a large jam bucket (used on this occasion to collect money), and on the chair next to it sat a short, rather odd and rough looking man, sporting one of these utterly ridiculous day-glow vests that seem to creep into every walk of life these days.

It is not known to me who organised this campaign, but I would advice the charity to try and get at least some of the money back they paid for it. When a 100% supporter of the cause is appalled and turned away, what effect will it have on other people?

Overall the quality of most Irish charity campaigns is pretty poor. People think as long as they sit in a shopping centre with a bucket and put little stickers on people's clothes, the bucket will be filled with coins. In most cases donors have absolutely no idea who they gave their money to and what it will be used for. But still it is happening every week. If I would put money into every bucket that is pushed into my face, I would have very little left for myself.

But I am very selective these days and only support very few charities whose structure and work I know myself. Charity has become a multi-million industry, employing large numbers of people in offices and on the streets. And of a Euro you drop into one of their buckets, maybe five cents (if you are lucky) will be spent on the "good cause" the collection is made for.

In my opinion an "awareness week", regardless for what, is pretty useless. It pushes a lot of specific information into people's minds, hastily and with hype, in order to collect fast Euros from the usually uninformed and seldom caring passers-by. And then, for the next 51 weeks, ignorance has again the run of the mill, while other charities are trying to make us aware of their causes.

If we want to make people aware of something, it has to be done in a constant and organised form, over weeks and months, and preferably all year round. It is the only way to achieve real awareness.

With regards to organ donations, I think it is time to change the law and make it an opt-out system instead of opt-in. When someone dies and leaves organs that can be used for another person, then those organs should be used right away, without delay or bureaucratic process.
Anyone who is not happy with that could opt out by putting their name onto a register and by carrying a special plastic card. But I would also make it a condition that a person who opted out of giving their own organs would not qualify to receive any, should the situation arise. This is only fair and logical.

I applaud those who take the initiative to increase the number of Irish organ donors, and am happy to see Ryan Tubridy among them. And RTÉ Radio 1 ran at least one ad for the campaign today. Good.

But since there are meanwhile more campaigning charities than weeks in a year, different campaigns get into each other's way. RTÉ Radio 1, for example, broadcast another ad today, with Football pundit John Giles (right) telling us that this is also "Prostate Cancer Awareness Week".

Maybe there are other ads as well which I haven't heard yet, and further "awareness weeks" not advertised on radio. It is all pretty cluttered and confusing, and really badly organised. With more brains, planning and co-ordination this could all be improved.

If we had a caring government and a proper parliament worth the name (and worth the money TDs receive), there would be legislation as I outlined above. No more need for an "organ donor awareness week" then.
And would we have a decent Health Service, regular prostate cancer screenings for men over the age of 40 would be offered in all hospitals (as it is the case in several other EU countries).

The Emerald Islander

RTÉ is waffling a good Story to Death

RTÉ is not a bad broadcaster. Quite the opposite. It brings us a lot of quality programmes and comes in this part of the world second only to the BBC, which does the same, but without the constant interruptions for advertisement.

But being Irish and employing Irish presenters, there is also a lot of waffling on the airwaves of the Emerald Isle.
The people here like a good chat, and this is also reflected in the radio programmes of RTÉ, and even more so in the various private stations. But there is a fine line between exploring a subject to the very last detail, and waffling it to death with simply too much meaningless chatter.

Such happened today on RTÉ Radio 1, which started at 10 a.m. with the coverage of the resignation speech of Bertie Ahern. Given the fact that everyone seemed to be completely taken by surprise - RTÉ journalists and the great and good of our leading newspapers alike - I wonder if our national broadcaster actually employs a political analyst.
The BBC and all national broadcasters I know in other European countries have analysts, whose job it is to see the greater picture and to make sense of trends, developments and events. Even though most analysts are former journalists, their work is quite different from that of a reporter or even commentator.

Our main national newspapers - including the Sunday papers - have large numbers of regular columnists, but I am still waiting to encounter the work of a true political analyst. So it is perhaps not such a mystery how they all could be surprised by today's events in Dublin. For an analyst it was quite clear that Bertie Ahern had only two choices left:
1) Staying on to the very end and risking to be brought down and torn apart by his opponents,
2) Resigning early, and thus saving at least his political legacy and reputation, while at the same time freeing the government from the burden of his muddled private affairs.

When I wrote my piece yesterday, I expected that I would be right in my analysis, but what I did not expect was that Bertie Ahern would follow my advice within less than 12 hours. Alright, I am not that arrogant to assume that I alone made the Taoiseach see sense and step down. He must have seen the writing on the wall himself for some time and drawn his own conclusions. But a person using an Irish government computer was reading yesterday's piece early this morning...

Well, having been "completely surprised" by the Taoiseach's decision, RTÉ made up for their lack of preparation by talking about almost nothing else the whole day.
The entire "Today" programme (minus its regular presenter Pat Kenny) was dedicated to the resignation speech, and it was actually the only programme I heard today on Radio 1 that had a good bit of background material ready, explaining very well the discrepancies between various statements made by Bertie Ahern and the facts offered in evidence at the Mahon Tribunal which tell a completely different story. This was a really good introduction, and I recommend the editor and producer for such foresight and excellent information.

But from then on it went downhill fast. Having covered Bertie Ahern's actual speech live and in full, numerous politicians and journalists were brought in to give their opinions. This is fine and quite normal, to a certain extent.
However, Radio 1 went into overdrive and actually killed the good story they had in their hands by waffling it to death. The daily 1 o'clock news started already at 12 noon, and for the whole 100 minutes on air presenter Sean O'Rourke had only one single subject: Bertie Ahern's resignation speech (despite the fact that there was plenty of other important news available from around the globe).

Every politician RTÉ could get hold of was dragged in and asked the same question, which most of them answered in the same fashion. Boring, boring, boring! And in no way contributing any news or proper comment. Of all the people interviewed only two made a real contribution which was worth having and listening to: Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams gave a very good and fair analysis of the Taoiseach's involvement in the North, and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny made an interesting contribution by calling for new elections. Even though this will not happen in the current situation (and he knows that himself), Kenny has a very good point, as soon none of the three government parties will be led by the people who were their leaders in the last general election in May 2007. This will raise a question of legitimacy, and the next Taoiseach should not ignore the matter. (Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown is in a similar situation and has lost a lot of his credibility when he decided not to call an election after he took over from Tony Blair.)

To make things worse, the usually very interesting "Liveline" programme with Joe Duffy had also only one theme today: Bertie Ahern. I liked the quick telephone poll they conducted, with about 12,000 people texting in their opinion on the resignation. But the "ordinary people" who rang in with sycophantic praise of the Taoiseach and plenty of entirely irrelevant petty stories related to him were waffling the story stone-dead, without adding a single valuable news aspect.

Thank God for Derek Mooney, whose 3 o'clock show was free of Bertie-waffle. A sigh of relieve was heard around the house. But our joy did not last long. Mooney was truncated to only half an hour, and then "Drive Time" started early and continued the marathon-waffling over Bertie's resignation.
All sorts of totally irrelevant politicians where wheeled in again or interviewed on the phone, and by then I lost my patience and switched over to BBC Radio 4.

I believe that the Bertie-Saga, which seems more like an obituary for a man still alive, continues tonight on RTÉ television. But since I don't watch TV, I am safe from another pile of waffle.

It has been said about Ireland that it is a country where never anything important happens. And there is a grain of truth in it. So on the very rare days which have unique events to offer, our media are falling over themselves and drown us with blanket coverage and endless waffling on air. Never mind that they were entirely unprepared for the story by 10 a.m. this morning.

Like in most walks of live, in the media less is usually more.

And especially in those media who have no sense for trends and developments, but then jump frantically onto every band wagon that comes along. It is information and analysis the reader and listener wants, not waffling and hype.

The Emerald Islander

Taoiseach announces Resignation

It appears that Bertie Ahern (or someone close to him) has read yesterday's entry and my advice. * And, for once, the Taoiseach has obviously listened to the impartial advice I have offered him.

Standing down on his own terms and at his own time of choosing, will give him the chance to retain some dignity and also the chance to be remembered for the undoubtedly good things he has done and been responsible for over the years, especially the peace settlement in the North. In many ways Bertie Ahern would be a very positive example for a man from the grassroots who has made it to the top and stayed there for longer than most. This is also the reason for his undiminished popularity with many common people.

But sadly Mr. Ahern, who spent ten years as the political leader of this country and several years previously as the Minister for Finance, was not able to keep his own personal finances in order. This has haunted him for quite some time now, and eventually it has led him to announce his resignation - effective on May 6th - today.

Had we not had Charles J. Haughey stealing money from the country and not paying his taxes while a senior minister and Taoiseach, it might be possible that Bertie Ahern would have got away with his muddled finances. But as much Haughey was Ahern's mentor and helped him up the political ladder, in the same way Haughey's dark shadow hangs over the Taoiseach and it always did.

I think his choice to go early - even before the summer recess as I had suggested yesterday - is a final positive step on a long journey that was often difficult and covered in question marks. The Taoiseach has said that he "never took a corrupt payment", and until someone can provide the evidence for the contrary, we have to take this statement at face value. He also announced that he would defend his position "vigorously" in the Mahon Tribunal, and that is his good right.

But with all possible empathy one could have for him, it has also to be said that if anyone else in Ireland had acted financially as he has for many years, both Revenue Commissioners and Garda Siochana (Ireland's Police) would be after him and he might well be in prison. And in a free and fair democratic country everyone has to be equal before the Law.

It is unacceptable that the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, who is ad officio in charge of the Revenue Commissioners and would send them after ordinary people with muddled finances, has special rules for himself and his own financial situation. There will be many - especially in Fianna Fail - who will try to portray Bertie Ahern now as a kind of martyr who fell on his own sword in order to save the party. Such is inappropriate and more than foolish. We have to accept the facts and see things as they are: After using every possible way to avoid facing the music, the Taoiseach has run out of steam, arguments and probably also friends. So he is going, with his reputation damaged but still somewhat intact, before he could be dragged down and torn apart by his political opponents. Fine, and good luck to him.

The important thing is now to focus on the next Taoiseach - most likely Tanaiste Brian Cowen - and his general attitude towards politics and the country. His first test will be the forthcoming Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. But it also will be important to watch if the new leader of the country will be a more fair, decent and trustworthy person than the one who has just announced his resignation on May 6th.

The Emerald Islander

P.S. - It is quite amazing that all leading journalists in this country, including the political editors and parliamentary correspondents of every national newspaper and of RTÉ, were completely surprised by this morning's announcement. Anyone who can read the signs of political change and public opinion should have been aware that a resignation of Bertie Ahern was imminent and inevitable.

* This is not a joke or empty assumption. I have regular readers of this weblog from computers marked irl.gov (Irish government) and one of them was reading yesterday's entry early this morning.

Polls say: Bertie, it is Time to go!

Two days ago I was digging my way through Ireland's Sunday papers as usual, while at the same time battling with a bad cold and spending much time in bed, which is very unusual for me. But the extra rest gave me more time for reading, and I went through the various articles and columns, analysing the positions of the political parties according to the latest Red C poll for the Sunday Business Post.

This regular poll, which provides a quite correct snapshot of the political landscape in Ireland, has Fianna Fáil now at 35%, down 2% from last time. Fine Gael stands at 30% (down 1%).
The smaller parties have all gained 1% since last month, giving the Labour Party now 11%, Sinn Féin 9% and the Green Party 8%.

Independents and others have seen their support increase by one point, to now 7%.

Meanwhile the remnants of the PDs have reached rock-bottom at 1% (down 1% from last month) and are close to complete extinction. (Not a moment too soon, in my opinion...)

The poll was conducted on either side of the Easter weekend - after the latest revelations from the Mahon Tribunal about the Taoiseach's personal finances, but before the Progressive Democrats and the Green Party called on Bertie Ahern to clarify the issues involved.
The main issue remains the lodgements in Pounds Sterling, made to Ahern's private account. This matter, together with all the other financial questions he can either not explain or not remember, begins to assume the shape of a Damocles sword which is suspended above the Taoiseach's head and can fall any moment.

Regular readers of this weblog will know that I am not a political friend of Bertie Ahern and have never voted for him or his party. But as a political analyst I always try to be as fair and unbiased as possible.

So if the Taoiseach (or any of his supporters) might read this and is interested in humble impartial advice, I can only say that it is well time to go now for Bertie.
With every new revelation he is sinking a bit deeper into the bog, from which there is no escape. Politics is a cruel game, especially in Fianna Fail.

If Bertie has any common sense left, he should step down as Taoiseach before the summer recess of the Oireachtas and give a new leader - most likely Tanaiste and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen - a fair chance to rebuild confidence in the government (if this is possible) and to prepare for the European and local elections next year.

Regardless what one might think of him and his private finances, a Taoiseach who goes on his own terms and at a time of his own choosing might well retain some respect from the country. But should the investigations of the Mahon Tribunal bring down the Prime Minister in a scandal, this will stick to him for the rest of his days. The times of Mr. Bertie Teflon are over.

Of course I cannot compete with a large organisation like TCH and a sophisticated poll like the one conducted by Red C. But for the past two months I have been running an opinion poll of my own here on the weblog. It might not reflect scientifically selected opinions (as Red C does it), but it shows what the readers of "Views from the Emerald Isle" think of Bertie.

The question asked was: Your opinion of Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach and there were five options to answer it. The answers and the percentages they reached are listed below.

• Happy with him - 5.5 %
• Satisfied with him - 5.5 %
• Not satisfied with him - 16.5 %
• Unhappy with him - 72.5 %
• No opinion - 0.0 %

As I mentioned above, this is not a scientifically selected opinion poll, but it clearly reflects what the readers of this weblog think. It is time to stop bertieing around and treat the nation as fools. It might be April Fool's Day today, but this article is serious. The only fool I can see today is a Taoiseach who ignores the writing on the wall and the sword hanging over him.

It's time to go, Bertie! You are running out of time and will regret it if you think you can stay put and bumble on. And by the way, when you go, please take Mary Harney with you as well. Her political sell-by date has expired a long time ago.

The Emerald Islander