Monthly Archives: April 2012

Laura White, who managed to get a write-down on her mortgage debt, talked to Gavin Jennings on RTE R1’s Morning ireland.

We don’t know about you but we reckon there’s something a bit strange about this story.

Gavin Jennings: “ Bank of Ireland agrees €152,000 mortgage write down with Dublin Nurse’, that’s the headline on the front of the Irish Times this morning. The nurse is Laura White and she’s on the phone. Good morning to you Laura.”

Laura  White: “Good morning, how are you Gavin?”

Jennings: “What happened?”

White: “Yeah, well back in 2005 I bought a place out in Coolock [Dublin], and then I was struggling to pay back the mortgage and I asked the bank could I hand it back … and you know so there was negative equity and everything and there was a lot of debt and eventually negotiations and they showed a reasonable side and agreed a debt payment of €18,000 over six years”

Jennings: “Sorry to go into detail with you on this Laura, you borrowed €245,000 to buy the house in Coolock but when it was sold there was still an outstanding debt of €152,000”

White: “There was still €170,000. So when it was sold there was still a debt of €170,000. So it was like an answered prayer. I didn’t have any money to get barristers, I earn too much to get free legal aid, lots of people helped me. Ross Maguire Senior Counsel came on pro bono ”

Jennings: “He worked with ‘New Beginnings’ is that right?”

White: “Yeah, and Marie Mullarkey, she’s a barrister who came on board. The two of them were brilliant. They did it pro-bono [free]. If it wasn’t for these two people. They negotiated the deal.”

Jennings: “And the deal is, instead of you paying off €170,000 you pay €18,000?”

White: “I pay back €18,000 over six years, €250 per month for the next six years”

Jennings: “It must be a huge relief to you?”

White: “It is an absolute huge relief. I’m absolutely delighted. I think it’s really important that we do honour debt and I did made a payback commitment to pay. I took out a mortgage years ago. You do have to honour your debt but I just think that this is great that there’s great mercy that the banks are showing. You know, the banks are showing great mercy out there”

Jennings: “You said that the banks have shown you great mercy, is that right?”

White: “Yeah, I think the banks are showing great mercy, do you know what I mean? If it wasn’t for Ross Maguire and Marie Mullarkey negotiating this deal pro-bono that the banks are now showing mercy”

Jennings: “Laura, there will be plenty of people listening to you today who are in similar difficulties and wondering what did you do that they could do or should do

White: “Well first of all, obviously, I prayed to God, he was the answer to prayer, it’s definitely the kind of thing he will hear, and I just left it with him, and Myra Malarky, she did it pro bono for me. There are such amazing, good people out there in New Beginnings; Ross Maguire Senior Counsel, absolutely brilliant. This country is full of really good people, do you know what I mean? So, definitely, my advice would be not to panic. There is great hope. The banks are showing mercy and they are being lenient but I think the most important thing is to honour your debt and to pay something back. Do you know what I mean?”

Hmmm.

Listen here

Earlier: One Of The First Mortgage Debt Settlement/Write-Offs Happened Yesterday.


An animation by Globaia showing the road systems, shipping lanes and flight paths that encircle the globe. Part of the Welcome To The Anthropocene project highlighting mankind’s impact on Earth.

A 3-minute journey through the last 250 years of our history, from the start of the Industrial Revolution to the Rio+20 Summit.

The film charts the growth of humanity into a global force on an equivalent scale to major geological processes.

There’s also a narrated version here.

laughing squid

(Hat tip: John Gallen)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5aZjE15Ye0&feature=youtu.be

The Rocky Road to Poland.

Released on May 4.

From Today Fm:

The track was written by Ray D’Arcy Show listeners and recorded in Windmill Lane Studios by super-group Damien Dempsey, Bressie, Danny O’Reilly (Coronas) and The Dubliners (John Sheehan, Barney McKenna, Eamonn Campbell, Patsy Watchorn).  The Irish Euro 2012 Squad and Ray D’Arcy Show listeners also feature on the track which was produced by legendary producer John Reynolds.

Leslie Buckley (right) was appointed as Denis O’Brien’s representative to the board of Independent News and Media (INM) in 2009.

The following correspondence took place during the final stages of the Moriarty Tribunal. Journalist Sam Smyth was covering proceedings for The Irish Independent. Gavin O’Reilly (left) was CEO of INM at the time.




From: Gavin O’Reilly
Sent: 08 November 2010 17:43
To: ‘Leslie Buckley’
Subject: PRIVATE
Importance: High
Dear Leslie,
I got your last text message sent on Sunday morning at 8am.
Frankly, I am somewhat bemused by the plethora of calls and texts; I am not sure what is so incredibly urgent that it has required the host of phone calls and texts in the past week or so.
You called me last Friday week (29/10/10 – when I was in Delhi) – and said that you and Denis felt that Sam Smyth should not continue his Moriarity coverage, as you believed that he had a vendetta and that his coverage was not balanced. However, in no discussion (then or since), have you specifically indicated where Sam’s coverage is either deficient or incorrect, except to say that the Tribunal was winding down and that other coverage was more positive. Instead, you referenced Sam’s participation on RTE’s Primetime with Sarah Carey. In fact, you’ll recall that you actually said that Sam’s article in the Indo that day (Friday, October 29th) was “very good”!!
I said to you that I couldn’t see any basis on which the Editor or Sam himself would agree to any change – and furthermore, I counselled that it’d be a page 1 story in The Irish Times. I also reminded you that Sam’s involvement with this story goes all the way back to the start, Lowry/ Dunne etc… You seemed to accept this pretty self-evident logic, and so I naturally thought the issue was dead.
We then spoke again on Tuesday (after the Board meeting), when you asked me to call you. You said that you and Denis accepted that Sam couldn’t be stood down, but that you’d both like to see another person covering the Tribunal (in addition to Sam). I responded by text saying that there were a number of reporters that cover Tribunals, and that the decision of which writer and which copy was used was the preserve of the Editor and News Editor.
You then left me another voice message on last Thursday evening, saying that there had been positive events at the Tribunal and that Sam’s coverage was pretty negative. I responded by text on Friday evening saying – not only were the Tribunal’s public hearings ending – but that I had reviewed the coverage (which seemed to me to be exactly the same as the other papers) and I couldn’t see any lack of balance that you suggested.
Leslie, I have listened to, and considered very carefully, your various messages again and again and looked again at all the coverage, and frankly, I can’t agree that there is anything wrong, inconsistent or unbalanced with Sam’s coverage. I know that there are obviously personal issues between Denis and Sam (threatened legal actions etc…), but I’d suggest that any objective review of the Indo’s Tribunal coverage – which is, in effect, just plain ole Court coverage – confirms that Sam has played a very straight bat with the facts (all of which are in the public domain). I advised you last week that the issue that you are raising goes to the very heart of INM’s policy of editorial independence. In addition, you must surely agree (privately) that Tribunal coverage cannot be adjudicated or influenced by people that are a party to the Tribunal.
And all that said, this entire debate seems entirely redundant at this stage anyhow, for the specific reasons set out above (not least, the Tribunal having ended). Therefore, I can see no sensible basis for raising this matter with the Editor, as to do so would be viewed (in public, at the very minimum) as direct interference on editorial matters — which not only would represent a major deviation from the past (and the Board’s policy) — but I’d strongly suggest, would be a hugely retrograde step for this Company and our brand.
If you feel we need to discuss this further, it would probably be better if we met in person (rather than short phone calls/ texts/ voice mails) on your return from China and when I am back from Australia/ NZ (which is w/c 22nd November.)
Hope your trip to China proves fruitful.
Regards,
Gavin

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Original post: Denis O’Brien And Editorial Interference: The Smoking Gun?

Previously: Denis O’Brien Versus INM: Round 2

Denis O’Brien: Cynical Media Are Depicting Me As A Pariah

A Boy Named Sue

 

Bite, the new restaurant in Dublin that rather defensively claims to be ‘hip, not hipster’, have offered a free meal for you and three of your friends to the value of €160.

To enter just finish this sentence.

I deserve to take three of my friends To Bite because…

Lines close at 3pm.

Bite at 29 South Frederick Street, Dublin 2, is the latest place for destination dining (and drinking, and hanging out, and whatnot. Led by restaurateur Ronan Ryan and concert promoters (and VVIP Awards creators) Brian Spollen and Anthony Remedy, Bite is hip, not hipster with a focus on fish and chips, with a full bar, cocktails and an outdoor terrace for a relaxed vibe.