From top: Denis O’Brien, Anne Marie McNally
The Dáil’s Committee on Procedures and Privileges meets today to discuss the legal challenge initiated against every one of its members by Denis O’Brien.
Remember. Don’t lose the head.
Anne-Marie McNally writes:
In the spring of 1642, Charles I began assembling a pack of armed men to march towards London and seize Parliament. His stupidity cost him his head and forever enshrined the pre-eminence of Parliament.
Fast forward several centuries and cross the sea to Ireland. We don’t have a pack of blood-thirsty warriors marching towards Kildare Street – this is not Game of Thrones – but we do have what appears to be a modern version of the same tale.
This time the pack wear expensive suits and they’re armed with threatening letters. They are the army of legal eagles assembled by the wealthy commander determined to challenge the power that resides in the democratically elected Parliament. The roles may differ from 1642 but the premise really doesn’t.
In medieval times, the nobility was considered as one of the three estates of the realm (clergy & commons being the other two); things have since moved on and the media is now considered as the 4th estate because of its vital importance to a functioning democracy.
Control the 4th estate and you, in effect, become a Kingmaker – if not the king. Combine such power with extreme wealth (at least on paper), a disdain for Parliament, and a propensity to assemble an army of legal eagles at the drop of a hat and you can see how one individual becomes an intimidating force capable of mounting a siege on democracy.
It may sound dramatic but recent events have shown us just how vulnerable our democracy is to such intimidation. When Catherine Murphy made that speech in the Dáil the outlets that had run it initially immediately pulled it down (present company excepted) at the behest of the aforementioned powerful individual – he who shall not be named.
What followed was an almost comedic interlude of media organisations spinning themselves into a tizzy while legal teams effectively wielded control of our newsrooms. Things got so ludicrous that some individuals took to printing out copies of Catherine Murphy’s speech and handing them out on street corners.
They took this step because they were aware that while most of us take social media and web based news for granted there is still a huge majority who rely on RTÉ et al for their news. When that news is stifled, their knowledge is stifled, their ability to know what has happened in their national parliament is stifled, and thus Democracy is stifled.
This week the Dáil Committee on Procedure and Privileges (CPP) will meet to discuss a legal threat against it, and the TDs who serve on it, from the same powerful individual who previously threatened the media outlets which ran Catherine Murphy’s speech.
This is separate to the legal action the same powerful individual will soon commence against the entire State for allowing an elected parliamentarian to make a speech in the Dáil Chamber. Imagine!
Funnily enough, the same powerful individual is also the founder and current Chairman of international telecommunications company, Digicel – a heavily indebted company which will shortly seek to raise billions with an IPO on the NYSE.
It’d almost make you wonder why such emphasis is being placed on trying to stymie anything that may reflect negatively on Digicel or anyone associated with it.
Interestingly, the NYSE comes under the remit of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). The SEC has a five year statute for criminal prosecutions of companies or company officials involved in corrupt payments.
In 2016 it will be five years since the final report of the Moriarty Tribunal. Perhaps someone should send the SEC a copy, particularly the excerpt which reads that payments from Digicel’s founder to Michael Lowry TD were “demonstrably referable to the acts and conduct of Mr Lowry” and that Lowry “secured the winning” of the 2nd mobile phone licence for that Digicel founder. Perhaps someone already has….
Anne-Marie McNally is a political and media strategist working with Catherine Murphy TD and will be a candidate for the Social Democrats in the forthcoming General Election. Follow Anne-Marie on Twitter: @amomcnally
(RollingNews.ie)
Can’t we just call the Ann-Marie McNally stuff the “You Know What Really Grinds My Gears” section?
“Prose as purple as the Socdems branding”.
The royal purple spotted at every funeral, wedding and shindig in town.
And UKIP Ard Fheis.
As distinct from Mercilles’ dribbling, this piece is useful proper commentary
. I would loose the david mc williams style first 5 paragraphs – totally pointless!!
Hey, Mr. Totally pointless, it’s lose not loose.
…agree Donal…’useful proper commentary’…but are you mixing Dan Boyle and Julien Mercille? Dan could (and has) drivel for Ireland. Julien is the one who uses empirical method to scrutinize the fourth estate.
Brilliant Bisted manages to use empirical, scrutinize and Julien Mercille in the one sentence . Blinded and lobotomised by the emperor’s new clothes.
Thanks for the many lols this morning.
By empirical, you mean “15 minutes spent putting my own biases into Lexis and they appear to be confirmed (please don’t peer review this, kthxbai)”?
Haha
BS drools as Mercille dribbles.
It’s a veritable geriatric hospital around here sometimes. Not that I’m one to throw stones on that front.
Whole country is.
All aging in body but not in mind .
In ancient Anatolia, when a tribesmember would say something one agrees with, the Village Council would…
Nevermind. Agreed, I also dislike McWilliams beating me to death wtih his poxy Good Room. WE GEDDIT
One can simply tweet to the Securities and Exchange Commission this posts URL…
https://twitter.com/SEC_Enforcement
Or perhaps, crazy as it may seem the Irish authorities might think about prosecuting the guy.
Needs more Streisand effect
Has the author perhaps thought of posting a letter to America with the report at any time in the last few years? Floatations aren’t thing that’s are left to last minute.
The last line…..’Perhaps someone already has….”
Read into that what you will :-)
The last line of the piece suggests she already has.
Didn’t Dinny Do De Dodgy Dealings well before he founded Digicel?
Didn’t he found Digicel with the money he made from the money printing machine he bought from Lowry? Is the SEC interested in anything that happened before the company was even founded?
Don’t statutes of limitations apply to the misdeed itself, rather than the publication of a report into it?
Digicel / DOB are also embroiled in the Clinton Foundation controversy around Haiti relief and where American tax payer funds went and the like, and an investigation is currently under way, apparently (or at least I didn’t hear it had finished) – http://freebeacon.com/blog/bill-clintons-irish-billionaire-buddy-under-fire-for-sweetheart-loan-deal/
Then there’s the fact that the Jamaican govt raided Digicel’s offices over suspected underpayment of taxes just a while back, and Digicel launched a campaign to discredit the Jamaican government tax body, accusing them of not knowing what they are doing, that they don’t understand international tax practices or some such… http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120510/lead/lead1.html
I hope the Social Democrats run in my constituency because they’ll get my Number 1.
+1
I’ll be #homotovote just ’cause Cath Murph
Likewise. Voted Green all my life but here’s where that all ends.
I’m still voting Green. I think they deserve another chance… hell all the others have had umpteen chances :)
+1
What are their policies?
take a look… http://www.socialdemocrats.ie/ideas
Ha! Were you also there for the policy session?
not much to see in terms of detail …
I can see what Anne Marie McNally’s gripe is , shes jealous of those that can pay for their own homes and trade in real world activities
hate on, haters.
(if Mcnally was a patriot she would actually be happy should DOB float, then IBRC might have some loans repaid, but no, dimwit tax sucker is blinded by the green eyes)
Yep that’s it – Jealousy. Good man Baz.
“then IBRC might have some loans repaid,”
Yeah, I hope he makes gazillions more and hopefully, fingers crossed he’ll pays us back what he owes us, if him and his lawyers like the rates/write downs etc.
“be happy should DOB float, then IBRC might have some loans repaid,”
What a buffoon you are, people like DOBO don’t repay loans..they have them written off.
1642 wasn’t mediaeval Times ms mcnally