I love elections. Not just Irish elections - but elections on a global scale. Democracy is a fragile soul – a waif-like creature who is only allowed to give her blessings to one third of the worlds estimated six billion populations.
For that, we should be both grateful and ashamed. Grateful for what we have in democracy for all of its faults. Ashamed that as a member of the United Nations, we participate in a sham of so-called representation of all the worlds sovereign states, and yet allow five of the great powers dominate and control the agenda. An agenda that is designed to ensure that democracy will never will never reach the remaining four billion people on the planet.
I could go on about the United Nations and the veil of silk it wears to hide the running sores but you probably would get as completely pissed off reading about it as we do writing about it.
Instead, let us focus on the American primaries for the US presidential elections in November. It is certainly one of the most exciting races in years, particularly the Democratic nomination contest. Anti-post favourite, Hillary Clinton, looks in grave danger of being caught on the final uphill furlong by Obama. John McCain on the Republican side looks home and dry having at one point early in the campaign being on the verge of quitting because of lack of funding.
So what does all of this mean for us here in Ireland?
A good friend of mine surprised me during the week when questioned about his views on the US elections. He claimed to have no interest in them at all, stating that we had enough to do about running our own country to be wasting time watching the Americans go through their admittedly torturous procedure of electing their President.
The reason for our surprise was that this was intelligent guy who ran his own business, which supplied outsourced computer services to about ten multi-national companies in the medical and pharmaceutical fields. Eight of the ten companies were American!
Yet this businessman professed no interest whatsoever in the policies or promises of any candidate in relation to Ireland. He felt that once the peace process in the North had settled in there would be no interest in Ireland by American politicians, as they had no gains to make by making Ireland an issue.
If he had taken the time to study the matter, he would realize that the opposite is true. Ireland is an issue but not in the beneficial sense. Hillary Clinton has long promised that if she gets into power she will impose a 30% tax on American multi-nationals who base themselves in low tax environments to avoid paying US taxes.
Any American companies based in Ireland only pay 12.5% tax on profits to the Irish state coffers at present and none in the US as there is a place a bi-lateral taxation agreement in place between the two countries.
Whether Clinton is elected or not will not matter. The US is heading into deep recession and whether it is McCain or Obama who occupies the Oval office instead of Clinton, making wealthy foreign-based companies pay more tax at home is a popular proposal.
American companies are well known for artificially boosting their profits in a low tax regime such as Ireland. If they are going to be hit with a 30% tax on those profits this country will suddenly become a much less attractive place to do business.
The grey suits in these companies will do the numbers and arrive at a cold ruthless conclusion; there are better places to be than here.
I thinks it is time that our good friend starting taking a more active interest in American politics!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
WHY BUILD ANOTHER STADIUM IN DUBLIN?
Last Saturday the Irish rugby team played Scotland in Croke Park, in heart of north side Dublin. Since the first games of rugby were played in Croke Park in 2007, following the decision of the GAA to allow games other than Gaelic games be played there, there have been many wonderful highly charged occasions following the Irish rugby team.
The most notable and inspiring game was when Ireland beat England in February 2007. This scribe was lucky enough to be present at what was a wonderful sporting occasion that did more for Anglo-Irish relations than decades of political arguments had failed to achieve.
The first game of rugby played at Croke Park two weeks before the England encounter resulted in a last minute robbery try by France, which ultimately deprived us of the Grand Slam.
After that, things went downhill and we had a disastrous World Cup in France of which enough has been said already.
Italy played in Croke Park in the first of the Six Nations championship and Ireland scraped home against them. France then gave us a walloping in Paris and we now arrive at the Scotland game needing to win.
The form of the team is not the point we are trying to arrive at; instead, one only has to look at the interest for the game to realize that Croke Park was full to the rafters with over 82,000 people. Tickets were like gold dust, even with an obnoxious 100-euro price tag. The rugby brigade is a hardy animal and will support the team through thick and thin, irrespective of the importance or not of the game.
Croke Park, particularly after that historic English game has become a new home to the Irish rugby team, almost a temple indeed, because of the manner of that victory and all the political ramifications that went with it.
With the price of the tickets as a barometer, the GAA are obviously cleaning up and laughing all the way to the bank.
The supporters, many of whom would break every traffic light in Drumcondra on their way to the airport, such was their fear of the area, are now happily downing pints in Quinns and The Big Tree and even in Fagans, Berties favourite watering hole after a tough day at the Mahon Tribunal.
In short, the rugby crowd has taken to Croke Park like ducks to water and why wouldn’t they? It is one of the best stadiums in Europe and yet in their ostrich-like position with their head in the sand, the IRFU are building a mini Croke Park at Landsdowne Road that will only hold half of the capacity of the Drumcondra venue.
Is there no degree of common sense amongst blazers in both organizations to do a deal and keep Croke Park as the main rugby venue?
It is too late now of course, but I feel that if the IRFU and the GAA know now what they didn’t know then, you can be sure Landsdowne Road would be a building site – for offices and apartments!
The most notable and inspiring game was when Ireland beat England in February 2007. This scribe was lucky enough to be present at what was a wonderful sporting occasion that did more for Anglo-Irish relations than decades of political arguments had failed to achieve.
The first game of rugby played at Croke Park two weeks before the England encounter resulted in a last minute robbery try by France, which ultimately deprived us of the Grand Slam.
After that, things went downhill and we had a disastrous World Cup in France of which enough has been said already.
Italy played in Croke Park in the first of the Six Nations championship and Ireland scraped home against them. France then gave us a walloping in Paris and we now arrive at the Scotland game needing to win.
The form of the team is not the point we are trying to arrive at; instead, one only has to look at the interest for the game to realize that Croke Park was full to the rafters with over 82,000 people. Tickets were like gold dust, even with an obnoxious 100-euro price tag. The rugby brigade is a hardy animal and will support the team through thick and thin, irrespective of the importance or not of the game.
Croke Park, particularly after that historic English game has become a new home to the Irish rugby team, almost a temple indeed, because of the manner of that victory and all the political ramifications that went with it.
With the price of the tickets as a barometer, the GAA are obviously cleaning up and laughing all the way to the bank.
The supporters, many of whom would break every traffic light in Drumcondra on their way to the airport, such was their fear of the area, are now happily downing pints in Quinns and The Big Tree and even in Fagans, Berties favourite watering hole after a tough day at the Mahon Tribunal.
In short, the rugby crowd has taken to Croke Park like ducks to water and why wouldn’t they? It is one of the best stadiums in Europe and yet in their ostrich-like position with their head in the sand, the IRFU are building a mini Croke Park at Landsdowne Road that will only hold half of the capacity of the Drumcondra venue.
Is there no degree of common sense amongst blazers in both organizations to do a deal and keep Croke Park as the main rugby venue?
It is too late now of course, but I feel that if the IRFU and the GAA know now what they didn’t know then, you can be sure Landsdowne Road would be a building site – for offices and apartments!
Monday, February 18, 2008
5 and 6 of 10 THINGS THEY DON’T TELL YOU ABOUT AN IRELAND VACATION.
5. The dangers of driving in Ireland: Ireland has one of the worst road accident fatality rates in Europe despite numerous campaigns to stop the carnage by the Road Safety Authority (RSA). There are many factors involved in trying to identify the causes and isolate the segment of the population that contributes to these horrific accidents.
The one common denominator that that stands out is that the majority of deaths are of young people under the age of 25.
The other compelling statistic is that most deaths take place between midnight and 8am.
A third element that stands out is that approximately 20% of the accidents in which there is a fatality involve non-nationals – mostly east Europeans from Poland, Leftie, Romania and other neighbouring countries in that region.
Drink and drugs, combined with the irresponsibility of certain sections of our adolescent society, along with high-powered cars, small as they might be, lead to the creation of a lethal cocktail that invites disaster. In the past number of years the incidents of tourists on an Ireland vacation, being involved in fatal car crashes has increased year on year with many more suffering serious injuries.
Driving in Ireland is fraught with danger so just be careful out there!
6. Do not get sick whilst on an Ireland Vacation: Before departing on your vacation to Ireland, make sure to have a thorough medical check up. Any little problems you might have that have a possibility of flaring up in Ireland, get them sorted.
The Irish healthcare system is the worst in the world. In poorest Africa, they have better care facilities. Our hospitals are an unmitigated disaster zone, particularly in the A+E area. There is not enough of staff to manage what would be considered the normal daily problems that any hospital could expect.
If you, as a visitor to Ireland, have the gross misfortune to have to go to an A+E department of any Irish hospital then prepare yourself for a nightmare. You will be left waiting for hours on end in a crowded waiting area. The extent of your injuries, or illness, will not merit any speedy response above those who may have less pressing problems.
On average, you will wait 7-8 hours before a harassed junior doctor will see you. He or she will make an initial diagnosis and tell you that they will try to find a bed for you and will be right back with some medication. You will never see them again.
Many hours later, an orderly might appear and tell you the good news that a bed has been secured for you. He will then tell you that it is a temporary bed, which turns out be a trolley, on which you will lie on for at least four days, parked in a narrow draughty corridor with people rushing by ignoring your plaintive pleas for help. Your loved ones will visit and make angry requests for better treatment for you. The response will be a vacant stare and a Gallic-type shrug of the shoulders, an utter indifference to the torture you are going through.
Such is the Irish healthcare system.
You have been warned!
The one common denominator that that stands out is that the majority of deaths are of young people under the age of 25.
The other compelling statistic is that most deaths take place between midnight and 8am.
A third element that stands out is that approximately 20% of the accidents in which there is a fatality involve non-nationals – mostly east Europeans from Poland, Leftie, Romania and other neighbouring countries in that region.
Drink and drugs, combined with the irresponsibility of certain sections of our adolescent society, along with high-powered cars, small as they might be, lead to the creation of a lethal cocktail that invites disaster. In the past number of years the incidents of tourists on an Ireland vacation, being involved in fatal car crashes has increased year on year with many more suffering serious injuries.
Driving in Ireland is fraught with danger so just be careful out there!
6. Do not get sick whilst on an Ireland Vacation: Before departing on your vacation to Ireland, make sure to have a thorough medical check up. Any little problems you might have that have a possibility of flaring up in Ireland, get them sorted.
The Irish healthcare system is the worst in the world. In poorest Africa, they have better care facilities. Our hospitals are an unmitigated disaster zone, particularly in the A+E area. There is not enough of staff to manage what would be considered the normal daily problems that any hospital could expect.
If you, as a visitor to Ireland, have the gross misfortune to have to go to an A+E department of any Irish hospital then prepare yourself for a nightmare. You will be left waiting for hours on end in a crowded waiting area. The extent of your injuries, or illness, will not merit any speedy response above those who may have less pressing problems.
On average, you will wait 7-8 hours before a harassed junior doctor will see you. He or she will make an initial diagnosis and tell you that they will try to find a bed for you and will be right back with some medication. You will never see them again.
Many hours later, an orderly might appear and tell you the good news that a bed has been secured for you. He will then tell you that it is a temporary bed, which turns out be a trolley, on which you will lie on for at least four days, parked in a narrow draughty corridor with people rushing by ignoring your plaintive pleas for help. Your loved ones will visit and make angry requests for better treatment for you. The response will be a vacant stare and a Gallic-type shrug of the shoulders, an utter indifference to the torture you are going through.
Such is the Irish healthcare system.
You have been warned!
The Irish Patient
In 1996, British director, Anthony Minghella, had a massive hit with his film, The English Patient, a tale of love, lust and the horror of war set in Italy towards the end of World War 11. The film, which won nine Academy Awards, and deservedly so, and starred Ralph Fiennes. The film depicted the triumph of love in the midst of the torture and terror of war that engenders awful depravity in human beings. .
We are reminded of that thought-provoking film this week by the announcement that the Irish Film Institute has commissioned a film to be called The Irish Patient. This has no connection with the above film or novel.
The film is set in Ireland, a wealthy country located in northwest Europe. The film, which has an over-18 rating, will in our view, find it difficult to pass the scrutiny of the Film Censorship Board such is the high content level of horror and violence.
The plot is a little far-fetched to sustain credibility. It is based on a 1981 novel by noted fantasy author C.J. Haughey, (1925-2006) called The Tightening of the Belt. Producer, Albert Ahern, a confessed fan of all Haugheys’s works, has allowed considerable artistic licence to director Mary Harney to expand the theme.
Harney is, of course, well known from previous hit movies such as No More Smoking Chimney Stacks (1987) which really got her noticed in LA. She got two Oscar nominations for the 1998 unforgettable thriller that struck terror into the heart of taxi drivers in much the same way as Fatal Attraction did to wandering husbands, Deregulate the Bastards! This really set her on her way to success.
The Irish Patient portrays what can happen to a wealthy, smug, middle-class society when a very rare virus, called HSE, breaks out in this island nation of four million people.
HSE is a disease of the brain, thought to have originated in the island of Madagascar, off the African coast. Returning missionaries and health care workers unwittingly bring the disease into Ireland where it wreaks havoc in a chilling and most unusual way. HSE is a selective killer attacking the brain of medical and administrative health workers and Government civil servants. Death is a slow tortuous process as the brain cells melt away over a prolonged period. We do not want to spoil the cinema experience for our readers by giving away too much of the storyline, but suffice it to say that this is not for the faint-hearted. As the HSE attacks the brain, delusion combined with denial of this delusion creeps into the unfortunate victim. Doctors imagine that they are working in the Third World and act accordingly. They complain that their equipment is out of date, some of it is twenty years old, they shriek maddeningly. Health officials, meanwhile, are affected by particularly virulent strains of HSE causing them to close down hospitals and refuse admission to those whom the doctors deem not sick enough. But - and here is where Harney excels at twisting the knife and subjecting the viewer to mental agony - the doctors are no longer able to judge whether their patients are well or not. Their brains are disintegrating and they no longer have the ability to function properly. Chaos reigns and there are some terrible scenes which fully justify the over-18 cert.
Patients lie moaning and screaming on trolleys, the hospital cleaners won’t do any cleaning and stench and filth emanate from the operating theatres. Hospital porters become so deluded that they think they are now radiologists, and in a particularly harrowing chapter of the film, hundreds of women are recalled because they were given incorrect results of breast cancer screens, analyzed presumably by the porters. Unfortunate women are now told that they have cancer having been given the all clear months earlier. Scenes of heartbreak and emotion are too much to take at times, but Harney is gifted at projecting fantasy as reality. However, she may in some peoples eyes have overstepped the mark with The Irish Patient, and many critics feel it is not ethical to project such unrealistic images.
The disease spreads quickly throughout the country. Riots and panic erupt in the mid-west and the police are forced to baton charge an angry crowd in Westport. Many people are injured but unfortunately there are no ambulances to bring them to hospital as the medical administrators, now in the last throes of the awful disease, refuse to put fuel in the ambulances and instead put the funds into their pension plans. We would be acting unfairly to reveal any more of the plot but suffice it to say it gets worse.
Ahern, the producer, has stated to Variety magazine that he feels The Irish Patient is his best work, but the critics have savaged the movie, branding it as implausible and too much over the top for a horror movie. Ahern has taken umbrage at such criticism and threatened not to make any more movies. He indicated that was going to retire at 60 anyway, and said he didn’t give a damn what the critics and film goers thought about him.
As for Harney, given her previous success with unlikely material – Don’t Tell The Tanaiste springs to mind - do not be surprised if The Irish Patient horror movie defies the critics and is a box office success.
All we can say is just hope that the HSE bug never becomes a reality.
Sleep well!
We are reminded of that thought-provoking film this week by the announcement that the Irish Film Institute has commissioned a film to be called The Irish Patient. This has no connection with the above film or novel.
The film is set in Ireland, a wealthy country located in northwest Europe. The film, which has an over-18 rating, will in our view, find it difficult to pass the scrutiny of the Film Censorship Board such is the high content level of horror and violence.
The plot is a little far-fetched to sustain credibility. It is based on a 1981 novel by noted fantasy author C.J. Haughey, (1925-2006) called The Tightening of the Belt. Producer, Albert Ahern, a confessed fan of all Haugheys’s works, has allowed considerable artistic licence to director Mary Harney to expand the theme.
Harney is, of course, well known from previous hit movies such as No More Smoking Chimney Stacks (1987) which really got her noticed in LA. She got two Oscar nominations for the 1998 unforgettable thriller that struck terror into the heart of taxi drivers in much the same way as Fatal Attraction did to wandering husbands, Deregulate the Bastards! This really set her on her way to success.
The Irish Patient portrays what can happen to a wealthy, smug, middle-class society when a very rare virus, called HSE, breaks out in this island nation of four million people.
HSE is a disease of the brain, thought to have originated in the island of Madagascar, off the African coast. Returning missionaries and health care workers unwittingly bring the disease into Ireland where it wreaks havoc in a chilling and most unusual way. HSE is a selective killer attacking the brain of medical and administrative health workers and Government civil servants. Death is a slow tortuous process as the brain cells melt away over a prolonged period. We do not want to spoil the cinema experience for our readers by giving away too much of the storyline, but suffice it to say that this is not for the faint-hearted. As the HSE attacks the brain, delusion combined with denial of this delusion creeps into the unfortunate victim. Doctors imagine that they are working in the Third World and act accordingly. They complain that their equipment is out of date, some of it is twenty years old, they shriek maddeningly. Health officials, meanwhile, are affected by particularly virulent strains of HSE causing them to close down hospitals and refuse admission to those whom the doctors deem not sick enough. But - and here is where Harney excels at twisting the knife and subjecting the viewer to mental agony - the doctors are no longer able to judge whether their patients are well or not. Their brains are disintegrating and they no longer have the ability to function properly. Chaos reigns and there are some terrible scenes which fully justify the over-18 cert.
Patients lie moaning and screaming on trolleys, the hospital cleaners won’t do any cleaning and stench and filth emanate from the operating theatres. Hospital porters become so deluded that they think they are now radiologists, and in a particularly harrowing chapter of the film, hundreds of women are recalled because they were given incorrect results of breast cancer screens, analyzed presumably by the porters. Unfortunate women are now told that they have cancer having been given the all clear months earlier. Scenes of heartbreak and emotion are too much to take at times, but Harney is gifted at projecting fantasy as reality. However, she may in some peoples eyes have overstepped the mark with The Irish Patient, and many critics feel it is not ethical to project such unrealistic images.
The disease spreads quickly throughout the country. Riots and panic erupt in the mid-west and the police are forced to baton charge an angry crowd in Westport. Many people are injured but unfortunately there are no ambulances to bring them to hospital as the medical administrators, now in the last throes of the awful disease, refuse to put fuel in the ambulances and instead put the funds into their pension plans. We would be acting unfairly to reveal any more of the plot but suffice it to say it gets worse.
Ahern, the producer, has stated to Variety magazine that he feels The Irish Patient is his best work, but the critics have savaged the movie, branding it as implausible and too much over the top for a horror movie. Ahern has taken umbrage at such criticism and threatened not to make any more movies. He indicated that was going to retire at 60 anyway, and said he didn’t give a damn what the critics and film goers thought about him.
As for Harney, given her previous success with unlikely material – Don’t Tell The Tanaiste springs to mind - do not be surprised if The Irish Patient horror movie defies the critics and is a box office success.
All we can say is just hope that the HSE bug never becomes a reality.
Sleep well!
Monday, February 4, 2008
PRACTICE NOT WHAT YOU PREACH !
We live in an Ireland that is experiencing incredible change. Cultural, social, economic and religious values now have different barometers. Migration to this country has created a multi-coloured mural of interaction in all areas of society from the home to the school and workplace.
Alas, in one segment of Irish life the more things change, the more they remain the same.
We speak about an institution with a venerable veneer that now ranks lower in the league of the Machiavellian arts of deceit, dishonour and denial than the Pentagon.
The Roman Catholic Church, of course, always worked in an under-handed and facile fashion, particularly in this God fearing island that we inhabit.
As we write today, on the Feast of St Brigid, we learn that former archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, is attempting to secure a high court injunction to prevent the Commission of Enquiry into clerical child abuse from accessing 5000 documents in his possession relating to various cases.
Connell is now retired, aged 81, and yet he continues to behave just as he did when he was in power. This so-called academic of the cloth, aloof and arrogant in all his mannerisms and pronouncements, presided over a diocese where priests routinely abused children in the most awful manner.
The victims of this abuse – many of whom took their own lives because of it- were overwhelmed by the relentless power of the Drumcondra crosiers when they tried to get justice, led by this two-faced coward, whose only action when informed of abuses was to move the offending cleric to another parish where fresh opportunities lay.
It is no wonder then that he will use every available resource to keep his hands on those 5000 documents. The legal obstacle course that he has now constructed will probably buy him a few years. He may be dead by the time the contents of the documents are revealed, if they are indeed ever revealed. It may be his most fervent wish that he will have passed from this Valley of Tears before the truth is out.
However, let us all hope this will not be the case. It would be nice to see the hypocrite humbled, brought down from his gold-leafed pulpit to face the ordinary people his intellect openly disdains.
The perpetrators of the abuse, sick and twisted people that they were, used the power of the cloth to intimidate and silence their victims. In the suppressed society created by the likes of Connell, and McQuaid way before him, there was no avenue of rebuttal for the victims, not even in their own home.
Credence was the weapon of the Church, moral authority the enforcer and ignorance the weakness of the flock. It was no contest.
The greater sin was for those on high to know, and then to ignore. Combine this unholy alliance and you give birth to consent. This is the only implication that logic allows.
Now Connell and his ilk, bereft of their once powerful cloth, seek a new weapon and another alliance, even more unholy. The Common law and Canon Law will create a potent elixir of distraction in the search for the truth. It will probably buy all the time Connell needs to depart this life festooned with suitable theological epitaphs from his peers.
During his time in office as Cardinal of Dublin and Primate of All-Ireland, matters of clerical abuse were passed on to a senior Cardinal in the Vatican, appointed specifically to deal with such unpleasant business.
His name was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Now where have I heard that name before?
Alas, in one segment of Irish life the more things change, the more they remain the same.
We speak about an institution with a venerable veneer that now ranks lower in the league of the Machiavellian arts of deceit, dishonour and denial than the Pentagon.
The Roman Catholic Church, of course, always worked in an under-handed and facile fashion, particularly in this God fearing island that we inhabit.
As we write today, on the Feast of St Brigid, we learn that former archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, is attempting to secure a high court injunction to prevent the Commission of Enquiry into clerical child abuse from accessing 5000 documents in his possession relating to various cases.
Connell is now retired, aged 81, and yet he continues to behave just as he did when he was in power. This so-called academic of the cloth, aloof and arrogant in all his mannerisms and pronouncements, presided over a diocese where priests routinely abused children in the most awful manner.
The victims of this abuse – many of whom took their own lives because of it- were overwhelmed by the relentless power of the Drumcondra crosiers when they tried to get justice, led by this two-faced coward, whose only action when informed of abuses was to move the offending cleric to another parish where fresh opportunities lay.
It is no wonder then that he will use every available resource to keep his hands on those 5000 documents. The legal obstacle course that he has now constructed will probably buy him a few years. He may be dead by the time the contents of the documents are revealed, if they are indeed ever revealed. It may be his most fervent wish that he will have passed from this Valley of Tears before the truth is out.
However, let us all hope this will not be the case. It would be nice to see the hypocrite humbled, brought down from his gold-leafed pulpit to face the ordinary people his intellect openly disdains.
The perpetrators of the abuse, sick and twisted people that they were, used the power of the cloth to intimidate and silence their victims. In the suppressed society created by the likes of Connell, and McQuaid way before him, there was no avenue of rebuttal for the victims, not even in their own home.
Credence was the weapon of the Church, moral authority the enforcer and ignorance the weakness of the flock. It was no contest.
The greater sin was for those on high to know, and then to ignore. Combine this unholy alliance and you give birth to consent. This is the only implication that logic allows.
Now Connell and his ilk, bereft of their once powerful cloth, seek a new weapon and another alliance, even more unholy. The Common law and Canon Law will create a potent elixir of distraction in the search for the truth. It will probably buy all the time Connell needs to depart this life festooned with suitable theological epitaphs from his peers.
During his time in office as Cardinal of Dublin and Primate of All-Ireland, matters of clerical abuse were passed on to a senior Cardinal in the Vatican, appointed specifically to deal with such unpleasant business.
His name was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Now where have I heard that name before?
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