Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘Corruption’ Category

Unelected Irish Government signs letter to European Commission advocating legalized crime – Airlines Robbing Money – Cancelled Flights, No Refunds

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Airline companies collect money from passengers who book a flight, often months in advance. Like all other merchants, operators like Aer Lingus and Ryanair are supposed to refund customers when they cannot supply the service. That is the law.

Paul Murphy TD asks : “ It seems Ryanair may be using dirty tricks to delay refunds. This person was unable to get their refund as the computer said the CAPTCHA was wrong. It looks right to me though, what do you think? Are there others who have had trouble getting a refund from Ryanair?”

Ryanair’s Never-Ending Loop

A customer supplies the answer :

The CAPTCHA is not the problem. When I applied for the refund it said:  
“Sorry we can’t process your application at the moment. Please try  
again later.” When I tried it again I get the message about the  
CAPTCHA. When I clicked on OK, the CAPTCHA changed. I put in the new  
one, and the message appeared: “Sorry we can’t process…” You’re in a  
never-ending loop.

If you are in this position, don’t waste your time on one of these never-ending loops. Just like “Customer Information” Phone Services where you never get a refund – instead you are put on hold, asked to wait, told to press “One for Gibberish, Two for Garbage….” and so on. Read the rest of this entry »

Private hospital deal will cost the Irish State €115 million per month – CoronaVirus: Confidential deal to take over private hospitals “expected to cost State €115m per month” – Irish Times Report

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It looks like the Irish Government is paying far more money to private hospitals compared to the British Government.

Irish Government Uses CoronaVirus Crisis to Pay Private Hospitals

Many of these hospitals are owned by Denis O’Brien & Larry Goodman who made their fortunes from sweetheart deals. In fact, some of these deals have ended up the subject of costly tribunals. But now we are told to just take them at their word that this is a not-for-profit deal? If it is, why does it seem to be so much more expensive than the deal struck by the NHS with private hospitals in the UK?

The government should publish today the full details of this deal, including a break down of the costs. The private hospitals should open their books, so we can see the real costs, rather than just pay them whatever they say.

Rather than lining the pockets of Denis O’Brien & Larry Goodman, what we really need is to bring these private hospitals permanently into the public system, to build a unified, single-tier National Health Service.

Open the books. – Source LetUsRise.ie

Paul Murphy TD has raised this matter in Dáil Éireann, and has followed up with a letter addressed to Acting Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe.

I wrote to the Minister of Finance on Monday requesting more information about the deal with the private hospitals. I still haven’t heard back. So far at least €90 million has been handed over. We need a break down of those costs published.

Read the rest of this entry »

Green Politics or Gardening? Saoirse McHugh Versus Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan – FFFG plus Green-Gombeen Coalition Emerges

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The Irish Green Party is entering a coalition government FFFGGG (Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Greens and Gombeens). One prominent member, Saoirse McHugh from Achill Island in Mayo, disagrees. Something has got to give.

Green Politics or Gardening?

The Irish Times reports on Friday April 24 2020 :

Senior figures in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil believe they can progress to negotiations on a coalition government with the Green Party on the basis of the party’s 17 demands, published on Thursday.

The Greens confirmed that a challenging commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 7 per cent every year was the primary “red line” in its list of 17 demands to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

While Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil politely welcomed the Greens’ document and said they would study its contents before replying, senior figures in both parties who spoke on condition of anonymity believe they can now move towards forming a coalition. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/green-coalition-demands-doable-for-fianna-fáil-and-fine-gael-1.4236455

Do not overlook Team Gombeen in the new Irish Coalition Government.

A team of Racists (Noel Grealish and Verona Murphy); Lifers (Peter Fitzpatrick, Peadar Tóibín, Marian Harkin); Climate Change Deniers (Michael Healy-Rae); Former Ministers Who Left Office “Under A Cloud” after allegations of “financial irregularities” (Michael Lowry, Denis Naughten)

Ciúin House Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim – Gombeen State Racism in Ireland

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Donal O’Kelly’s article should be circulated far and wide – Action is Necessary.

Ciúin is a word I love. It’s the Irish word for quiet. It has a peaceful, secure and sleepy feel to it, ideal for a lullabye. Suantraí. Ciúin, ciúin, a stór .. as baby closes her eyes .

Last May I used my facebook page to highlight the fact that Ciúin House Carrick-on-Shannon, the then newly-opened emergency accommodation centre for asylum seekers, had just received 38 male international protection applicants who’d been transferred from Hatch Hall Direct Provision centre in Dublin. Hatch Hall was being converted into a luxury hotel. Ciúin House was accommodating these people on a general basis of two per room. It had a sign and a book in the reception hall that everyone had to sign. The sign said that all residents had to be in their rooms by 10pm nightly.

I met three of the residents on their second evening in Carrick-on-Shannon. I know about the curfew because the men, all in their thirties or thereabouts, wanted to get back to Ciúin House in case there was an unknown penalty for not observing the curfew. I dropped them back at 10pm sharp.

After the facebook post drew a lot of public attention, the curfew was dropped. The owners at first said it was a language misunderstanding, then that the note only referred to not using the washing machine after 10pm. It was neither of those things. It was a curfew. And the owners obviously considered they had a right to impose it.

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Renewable Heat Initiative at Stormont …where incompetence carries no sanction – Cash for Ash| Tommy McKearney

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In the North of Ireland the Chuckle-Sisters Foster and O’Neill (Democratic Unionist Party-Sinn Féin) Escape Sanction.

Renewable Heat Initiative – Arlene Foster Stormont First Minister Must Go

The minister in charge of the department responsible for the scheme was briefed of its flaws by whistleblower Janette O’Hagan as early as 2013. Nevertheless, in spite of this she remained oblivious to what thousands of others knew and exploited. Moreover,  having inexplicably failed to read the legislation she presented to the Assembly, Mrs Foster felt and continues to feel under no obligation to do the honourable thing and offer her resignation. On the contrary, the DUP leader has actually been rewarded and now acts as First Minister of Northern Ireland.

Across the corridor from Mrs Foster sits Michelle O’Neill who throughout the years of the ‘Cash for Ash’ scandal was Stormont’s Minister for Agriculture. Notwithstanding the fact that a majority of those installing biomass boilers were poultry farmers, the minister apparently remained blissfully unaware of the lucrative scheme that many of her constituents and supporters were availing of. However, as with Arlene Foster, this prolonged period of somnambulance has had no detrimental impact on Ms O’Neil’s career. She now holds the position of Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister

Foster and O’Neill the Stormont Chuckle-Sisters

— Read on http://www.tommymckearney.com/blog-/stormont-where-incompetence.html

Fumbling in the Greasy Till – Paul Murphy TD Campaigns Against CoronaVirus Price Gouging

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CoronaVirus Price Gouging


We need to speak out about the profiteering taking place.

Just like September 1913 – the Worst Elements of the Irish Middle Class “fumbled in the greasy till” – and “added prayer to shivering prayer” – determined to wage war on the poor. The workers were on strike, led by the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union. The employers were led by William Martin Murphy, owner of the Irish Independent Newspaper, Spiritual Godfather of today’s Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Parties.

Paul Murphy Declares :

I’m organising a press conference tomorrow to highlight the huge number of examples people have sent me. This is a chance to show the real impact this greed is having, and to demand price controls are implemented. The government must take action to ensure those who need masks and hand gel most get it first.

We need more people willing to speak up on this, and tell their story. Get in touch to share your story, and help end this rip off

https://www.facebook.com/paulmurphytd/


‘September 1913 is a devastating piece of satire in which Yeats takes the well-off Catholics to task for not only their meanness and materialism but also for the shallow nature of their religious devotion. The image of the shopkeeper fumbling in the ‘greasy till’ captures the greed while the image of them adding ‘prayer to shivering prayer’ sums up their terrified devotion to the Catholic Church who were enormously influential at the time.

Yeats declares that through their greed the middle classes have made Ireland a materialistic and un-Romantic place: ‘Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone.’ By doing so they have betrayed the legacy of past heroes. The middle classes are incapable of understanding the heroes’ courage and self-sacrifice.

The repetition emphasises Yeats’ contempt for the state of contemporary Irish society. Also like many Irish political ballads it personifies Ireland as a female figure

https://prezi.com/qly2zy81pfqx/september-1913/

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Pat Finucane – A De Silva British State Whitewash?

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Read this – and see that the British State is very unlikely to hold a Public Inquiry into the killing of Pat Finucane

The Broken Elbow

Corrected 14.40 EST

Correction – December 27th 2012 – The Force Research Unit member we identified as Peter Charles Jones from the two photos taken of the unit was in fact a soldier called Kevin Dodds. He was/is a friend of another well known special forces soldier, Charles Pettifer, a former member of the SAS who married Tiggy Legge Bourke, friend of the late Lady Diana Spencer and nanny to her two sons. Dodds and Pettifer, according to our sources, went into business together after military service and set up a risk assessment company (business-speak for private detectives). However as you can see here, Pettifer has since moved up in the world, literally.

Meanwhile the former SAS soldier turned thriller writer known as Andy McNab was obviously indulging in some sly humour at the expense of the former FRU member when he wrote the novel described below (cue tipsy laughter…

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Dublin Government Climbs Up International Corruption Table

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Corruption – Dublin Government – International Achievers!

NAMA Wine Lake

“Ireland’s ranking shows how little faith investors have in our ability to prevent the abuse of power. Our failure to hold people to account for wrongdoing is also having a negative impact on international perceptions of Ireland. There appears to have been very little action taken on foot of the publication of the final Moriarty Tribunal report, while The Taoiseach’s decision to make public appearances with Denis O’Brien after the publication of the report will have done our international reputation no favours” Transparency International, 5th December 2012

The man who owns 29.9% of Independent News and Media, the country’s biggest private media group and who is widely seen as controlling the group with a long-term associate installed as chairman and two nominated directors on the board, is also the man who controls the country’s largest private radio group, Communicorp and indeed his so-called “right hand man” Paul Connolly owns 50%…

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