Category Archive for ‘politics’ at Resign Mr. Ahern

Archive for the 'politics' Category

What Have You Got To Hide, Bertie?

Published

on February 11, 2008

in ahern, bertie, corruption, irish, mahon, politics, resign and tribunal

. 26 Comments

News has broken this afternoon that Bertie Ahern has launched a High Court challenge in an attempt to stop the Mahon Tribunal cross-examining him based on statements he has made in the Dáil. I wonder does this have anything to do with recent “slip-ups” in the Dáil?

Ahern is also trying to claim legal privilege over the advice given to him by a financial expert. Presumably, this is the same financial expert that Bertie claims “proved” that there is no way that he could have lodged US Dollars, as suggested to him by the Tribunal’s council. In which case, you would think that Bertie would want to show the world this proof as quickly as possible, not attempt to prevent it’s disclosure to the Tribunal in a manner similar to the good Cardinal. Did Bertie not see the damage this kind of action can cause to those who initiate it in the court of public opinion? Doesn’t this kind of action to prevent information coming out go against the full explanation we were promised pre-election?

Updated: More information coming on this from The Irish Times/ireland.com - “He also secured a temporary stay on a production order until Thursday afternoon, when the matter will come back before the High Court. The documents, which contain advice from banking expert Paddy Strong, had been due to be handed to the Mahon Tribunal at 4.30 this afternoon.”

Facebook Group Growing Fast

Published

JohnQ

on February 7, 2008

in ahern, bertie, corruption, irish, mahon, politics, resign and tribunal

. 0 Comments

The Resign, Mr. Ahern group on Facebook which inspired this website is growing at a healthy pace and today gained it’s 1500th member. Kudos to Gavin for setting up the group as well as for putting so much information on the Mahon Tribunal out there with his blog and his Mahon Tribunal wiki. Discussion among group members is a lot more lively than a few weeks ago when I joined first and the first group event was proposed yesterday. In the few short hours (less than 48) since the event invites were distributed on Facebook over 60 have already responded to say they will attend, with another 150 maybes. I hope the group continues to grow as it’s currently doing, I’m excited about the possibilities and hope the group can affect positive change in ensuring accountability and transparency in public office. If we the ordinary citizens don’t take control and ensure that those who transgress take responsibility then we will continue to have the kind of corruption that has held the functioning of our government back for so long.

Eat The Greens

Published

JohnQ

on January 31, 2008

in Uncategorized, ahern, bertie, corruption, irish, mahon, newstalk, politics, resign and tribunal

. 3 Comments

It’s amazing how quickly things change in politics. This morning on Newstalk’s Breakfast Show, Ciaran “Dance with the Devil” Cuffe followed Mary O’Rourke’s indignant, obfuscating defence of Bertie Ahern with a nauseating refusal to stand up for what used to be Green principles. Let’s have a look (or listen via podcast) at what he had to say at the start of the interview:

“Claire Byrne: Are you rattled by this passport business?

Ciaran Cuffe: Ah, no, not at all … eh, I …

CB: Have you dropped your standards, in the Greens then?

CC: No, I don’t think so … look, we set out by saying we’re not the … the guardians of our colleagues in office”

This is hardly the kinda weak response to serious allegations of wrong doing that I would have expected from the guy who wrote the following about Bertie Ahern after the election (not during or before the election in order to win votes):

“I worry about his moral compass……I still worry about a story told about Bertie when the old Sorting Office on Sheriff Street was still operating. A small crack in a pane of glass was letting in a draft and the Super wasn’t prepared to fix it. Bertie’s advice was to advice the post sorter to throw a brick through the window and ensure that the whole window got fixed.”

Has Deputy Cuffe got the wrong end of the stick in relation to the Broken Window Theory? Eight months ago he was worried about the Bertie’s moral compass and was considering spending some of his free time post-election monitoring the Mahon Tribunal:

“Maybe I’ll even take some time off to see how the Mahon Tribunal unfolds”.

But now that the Green Party are keeping this morally questionable leader in place by supporting the coalition, Cuffe is not worried (rattled) by Ahern’s dealings with a millionaire businessman who donated $10,000 to Fianna Fail (FF) which seems to have gone missing. There seems to be a contradiction here.

I’d be interest to know how Deputy Cuffe squares this circle both to himself and his party membership. Maybe he considers supporting a Haghey-esque figure, like Ahern, as a necessary evil in order to fulfill his climate change related goals. If that’s the case then all I can do is paraphrase Toby Ziegler from The West Wing and say: “Ah it’s real easy to stick to principles when nothing’s at stake Ciaran”. It seems like there’s only one (or should that be ten thousand) kind of green that makes a difference in modern Ireland ……..

Almost Half Think Ahern Should Resign

Published

JohnQ

on January 25, 2008

in ahern, bertie, corruption, irish, politics and resign

. 0 Comments

A poll by TNS mrbi published in today’s Irish Times shows that 78% of the Irish public doubt that Bertie Ahern has given a full honest explanation in relation to his questionable acceptance of cash from business interests. Personally, I find Mr. Ahern’s account grotesque, unbelievable and bizarre but unfortunately not unprecedented. Let’s face it, we’ve seen this all before with another Fianna Fail leader. As it stands now, Mr. Ahern has the support of less than half of those polled to continue in his role as Taoiseach and leader of the government with only 46% expressing an opinion that Mr Ahern should not resign.

Contrast Mr. Ahern’s undignified stance in the face of evidence of serious financial irregularities with that of former Northern Secetary Peter Hain who yesterday resigned in order to allow his government to continue functioning while he attempts to clear his name. Rather than step aside and allow a leader who enjoys the confidence of a large majority of the public to lead the country through this difficult time, Mr. Ahern has done everything he can to obfuscate, mislead and stall, including dragging his family arrangements into the public domain in a despicable attempt to emotionally blackmail the public and those pursuing the truth. In the meantime governing in Ireland has ground to a halt at one of the most difficult times for the country in recent history. Mr. Ahern, it’s time to go!