Ireland and the abuse of democracy....Jan 2007.
Paddy Martin | 17.01.2007 14:58 | Analysis | World
Ireland and the abuse of democracy....Jan 2007.
For the last ten years Ireland has been governed by a two party coalition made up of Fianna Fail and The Progressive Democrats. Even though our economy has gone from strength to strenght, the lives of a huge number of ordinary people have not changed for the better. In fact, as a result of our government's ineptitude at managing this strong economy, the cultural and day-to-day life of it's people has suffered irreparable damage.
Political corruption exists in every country in the world but, because a lot of it is on a small scale, a blind is turned and if, through negligence etc., the corruption is discovered, it generally means that someone has to resign.
We in Ireland have a different way of dealing with such problems. In Sep 2006 our Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern
admitted to taking €50,000 from businessmen back in the 90's while Minister for Finance. Some of these people were appointed to lucrative and handy little jobs working for the government later.
You would think that this admission would would lead to calls for his resignation. Not alone did he not have to resign but, his ratings in the opinion polls went UP.
This man's career in sculduggery began when he was Secretary of the Fianna Fail Party working under Charles J Haughey back in the 80's.
According to himself, while working in this capacity, he used to sign books of blank cheques for his master without asking any questions as to what the purpose of the cheques was.
It has since emerged through various Tribunals of Inquiry that Mr. Haughey was embezzling money from his own party and acepting millions from big business interests to finance his own extravagant lifestyle. He maintained that no favours were given in return for the money and that these 'friends' shovelled money his direction because they liked him.
The Tribunals of Inquiry also found that many members of the Fianna Fail Party and other political parties in were in on the fiddle too.
Reports from the Tribunals can be seen at:
http://www.flood-tribunal.ie/asp/index.asp and:
http://www.moriarty-tribunal.ie/asp/index.asp?ObjectID=636&Mode=0&RecordID=399 and:
http://www.eirbiz.com
All this sets the scene for today's 'Celtic Tiger' Ireland where the rise in corruption coincided with an explosion of economic activity...a race to the top for everyone who had their thumb in the pie.
Unfortunately for the population in general, our politicians were either busy facilitating greedy businessmen or busy covering up both sets of tracks. They just didn't have the time to attend to the work that they were elected to do and now we have a country awash with money and where nothing works properly.
Some examples:
Health System.
Our Health System is a total shambles with...as I write this...339 sick people waiting on trollys in our hospitals because there is a shortage of beds. Some of these patients are elderly and may have to wait for days in crowded corridors until a bed becomes available. Just yesterday Jan 16 in a Limerick hospital ambulances were detained at the A&E section because ambulance trollys had to be used. Ambulances could not leave the hospital without their trollys.
A good number of people would have turned up at A& E Departments as a last resort to get treatment as waiting lists to see consultants can be years long. Of course, if you have insurance, you can be seen almost straight away.
More details: http://www.eirbiz.com/index-health.html
Crime Rate.
Ireland is now a country awash with drugs and guns and, this, combined with government failure to anticipate
along with it's failure to do anything worthwhile to curtail the huge escalation of crime, means that we now have a country that is a criminal's paradise with foreign gangs feeling right at home. Gang wars are ongoing and tit-for-tat murders are a regular occurrence with the judiciary allowing serious criminals out on bail, when arrested, to continue as before. Street violence is increasing and many people are afraid to walk the streets.
More details: http://www.eirbiz.com/index-crime.html
Transport...Gridlock on our roads.
Because of our economic success, the numbers of vehicles on our roads is growing at such a fast rate that any road improvements are immediately being overwhelmed. It can take 90 minutes to travel 18km in Dublin City. If, on any day there are a couple of vehicle breakdowns, the whole city grinds to a halt. Just before Christmas we had the longest traffic jam in the history of the state when there was 22km of vehicles virtually parked on the M50. This moterway was built with no rest areas and during the backup, people, including women had to urinate in plastic bags while others had hungry babies on board which were screaming to be fed.
More details: http://www.eirbiz.com/index-gridlock.html
Housing.
The price of an average house in Dublin is now close on €400,000 and there are families with two parents spending three or four hours a day commuting to work in an effort to pay a 35 yr mortgage and who only see their children for an hour or two every day. This scenario is a direct result of our government's propensity to facilitate building developers at every turn instead of maintaining a balance. Planning laws were largely ignored and huge housing estates were built with no plan to install infrastructure like schools, roads, shops etc. In other words, developers with money and access to political pals could build virtually anything anywhere they wanted.
Finally.
In the eyes of the world Ireland is seen as a great example of economic success but, the reality is that for many people, the cultural and social life that we were so famous for is fast disappearing as the scramble for material possessions intensifies. The smell of money has driven large sections of the population mad.
You can see the full picture here: http://www.eirbiz.com/
Paddy Martin.
For the last ten years Ireland has been governed by a two party coalition made up of Fianna Fail and The Progressive Democrats. Even though our economy has gone from strength to strenght, the lives of a huge number of ordinary people have not changed for the better. In fact, as a result of our government's ineptitude at managing this strong economy, the cultural and day-to-day life of it's people has suffered irreparable damage.
Political corruption exists in every country in the world but, because a lot of it is on a small scale, a blind is turned and if, through negligence etc., the corruption is discovered, it generally means that someone has to resign.
We in Ireland have a different way of dealing with such problems. In Sep 2006 our Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern
admitted to taking €50,000 from businessmen back in the 90's while Minister for Finance. Some of these people were appointed to lucrative and handy little jobs working for the government later.
You would think that this admission would would lead to calls for his resignation. Not alone did he not have to resign but, his ratings in the opinion polls went UP.
This man's career in sculduggery began when he was Secretary of the Fianna Fail Party working under Charles J Haughey back in the 80's.
According to himself, while working in this capacity, he used to sign books of blank cheques for his master without asking any questions as to what the purpose of the cheques was.
It has since emerged through various Tribunals of Inquiry that Mr. Haughey was embezzling money from his own party and acepting millions from big business interests to finance his own extravagant lifestyle. He maintained that no favours were given in return for the money and that these 'friends' shovelled money his direction because they liked him.
The Tribunals of Inquiry also found that many members of the Fianna Fail Party and other political parties in were in on the fiddle too.
Reports from the Tribunals can be seen at:
http://www.flood-tribunal.ie/asp/index.asp and: http://www.moriarty-tribunal.ie/asp/index.asp?ObjectID=636&Mode=0&RecordID=399 and: http://www.eirbiz.com All this sets the scene for today's 'Celtic Tiger' Ireland where the rise in corruption coincided with an explosion of economic activity...a race to the top for everyone who had their thumb in the pie.
Unfortunately for the population in general, our politicians were either busy facilitating greedy businessmen or busy covering up both sets of tracks. They just didn't have the time to attend to the work that they were elected to do and now we have a country awash with money and where nothing works properly.
Some examples:
Health System.
Our Health System is a total shambles with...as I write this...339 sick people waiting on trollys in our hospitals because there is a shortage of beds. Some of these patients are elderly and may have to wait for days in crowded corridors until a bed becomes available. Just yesterday Jan 16 in a Limerick hospital ambulances were detained at the A&E section because ambulance trollys had to be used. Ambulances could not leave the hospital without their trollys.
A good number of people would have turned up at A& E Departments as a last resort to get treatment as waiting lists to see consultants can be years long. Of course, if you have insurance, you can be seen almost straight away.
More details:
http://www.eirbiz.com/index-health.html Crime Rate.
Ireland is now a country awash with drugs and guns and, this, combined with government failure to anticipate
along with it's failure to do anything worthwhile to curtail the huge escalation of crime, means that we now have a country that is a criminal's paradise with foreign gangs feeling right at home. Gang wars are ongoing and tit-for-tat murders are a regular occurrence with the judiciary allowing serious criminals out on bail, when arrested, to continue as before. Street violence is increasing and many people are afraid to walk the streets.
More details:
http://www.eirbiz.com/index-crime.html Transport...Gridlock on our roads.
Because of our economic success, the numbers of vehicles on our roads is growing at such a fast rate that any road improvements are immediately being overwhelmed. It can take 90 minutes to travel 18km in Dublin City. If, on any day there are a couple of vehicle breakdowns, the whole city grinds to a halt. Just before Christmas we had the longest traffic jam in the history of the state when there was 22km of vehicles virtually parked on the M50. This moterway was built with no rest areas and during the backup, people, including women had to urinate in plastic bags while others had hungry babies on board which were screaming to be fed.
More details:
http://www.eirbiz.com/index-gridlock.html Housing.
The price of an average house in Dublin is now close on €400,000 and there are families with two parents spending three or four hours a day commuting to work in an effort to pay a 35 yr mortgage and who only see their children for an hour or two every day. This scenario is a direct result of our government's propensity to facilitate building developers at every turn instead of maintaining a balance. Planning laws were largely ignored and huge housing estates were built with no plan to install infrastructure like schools, roads, shops etc. In other words, developers with money and access to political pals could build virtually anything anywhere they wanted.
Finally.
In the eyes of the world Ireland is seen as a great example of economic success but, the reality is that for many people, the cultural and social life that we were so famous for is fast disappearing as the scramble for material possessions intensifies. The smell of money has driven large sections of the population mad.
You can see the full picture here:
http://www.eirbiz.com/ Paddy Martin.
Paddy Martin