Yearly Archives: 2017

Ben-Folds

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Dumped?

Fired?

Other unpleasantness?

As part of our weekly contest for a crisp, freshly minted €25 voucher for Golden Discs, redeemable in any of thirteen locations around the country, we asked you to complete the following sentence:

‘The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be__________________because_________________’

The competition was stiff.

But there can be only one winner…

Clampers Outside: with the clincher:

“The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Song For the Dumped by Ben Folds Five because the lyrics are brilliantly simple, real …and cutting with bitterness, and a tinge of humour. After all, no one wants to lose their favourite t-shirt in a break-up. Gotta love his priorities.”

Other contenders from the running:

Ivan: “Well, look, ordinarily I’m rather humble in my choices, and bow to other views but frankly there’s only one and so… the greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Yes, by McAlmont & Butler because the lyrics, the voice, the swirling orchestra, the crunch of the guitars and production that Phil Spector himself would have called OTT”

Sham Bob: “The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Queen of Denmark by John Grant because of the way it builds up to a completely devastating crescendo of defiance. If you were the target of this wall of fupp you-itude, you’d hide under a rock for six months after hearing it.”

Me: “The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Dead Kennedys’ (version) of Take This Job and Shove it because who hasn’t wanted to shout that at our boss at some point?”

Kenny U-Vox Plank: The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Philo’s Ode to a Black Man because it’s it sticks it to Ireland and anyone who can’t deal with the fact we are a multi-ethnic society. And because he’s Irish.

Mourning Ireland: “The greatest “fupp you” song in my experience would have to be Fupp Me Pumps by Amy Winehouse because it’s Amy saying that talking a walk in someone else’s shoes is skanky.”

Pearl: “The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Untouchable Face by Ani DiFranco because it’s a hate song about love.”

Scundered: “Nirvana, Territorial P**sings, because I’m too depressed to finish this sentence.”

Thanks all.

Golden Discs

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Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty

Yesterday evening.

The Dáil debated Sinn Féin’s motion of no confidence in Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan.

During the debate, Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty spoke about another Donegal Garda whistleblower Kieran Jackson, who is now retired.

Mr Doherty said:

“There are many reasons why Nóirín O’Sullivan should leave her position as Garda Commissioner and there are many Members in the House who have outlined those reasons. I support the motion, obviously, that Sinn Féin has tabled.

I will recall for the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, the case of a former garda in the Donegal division, with whom I have engaged over the past number of years and who has engaged with the Garda Commissioner over that period. In May 2001, a former garda in the Donegal division met two detective inspectors from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation in a hotel in County Monaghan. Accompanied by a witness, the detectives had invited the officer to meet them. During this exchange, the now retired garda disclosed to the interviewing detectives a number of very serious allegations against a former Garda superintendent, since retired, who was also stationed in Donegal. These allegations related to suspected tax evasion, social welfare fraud and persons being in possession of a fraudulent bank account into which thousands of pounds were being lodged regularly. This meeting in Monaghan lasted for over five and a half hours. As the meeting drew to a close, the detectives stated that they would be in contact again with the whistleblower shortly in order to take a written statement. However, this did not happen.

In September 2014, a solicitor acting on behalf of the whistleblower wrote to then acting Garda Commissioner, Noirín O’Sullivan, in which he divulged all of the allegations of criminal wrongdoing suspected of having been committed by the whistleblower’s former colleague. The letter also expressed his client’s alarm at the apparent lack of any follow-up having been carried out on the part of the investigating gardaí. A similar letter, dated 24 September 2014, was subsequently sent to the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, around which time the whistleblower himself contacted me to request that I bring the case to the Minister’s attention, which I did.

On 16 December 2015, the Minister replied to me in a letter in which she stated that inquiries were being made with the Garda Commissioner regarding the whistleblower’s complaint. A further letter, issued in May 2016, declared that inquiries into the claims were ongoing. Then, last September, the whistleblower finally received the news that he had long suspected. The Garda advised him that, following an extensive search of files and records held locally and at Monaghan Garda station, no record of his complaint or of any subsequent investigation could be found. The correspondence went on to say that inquiries made with the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation revealed that no investigation was ever carried out by personnel in respect of the whistleblower’s allegations.

The whistleblower to whom I refer is former Garda Kieran Jackson. His story leads us to one of two conclusions. First, either Kieran Jackson is lying – I have no reason to believe that he is and there are other former gardaí who will corroborate his story – and no meeting between him and the detectives ever took place. The other conclusion is that somebody in An Garda Síochána has gone out of his or her way to cover it up and to ensure that his claims never saw the light of day.

If the latter conclusion is the case, then questions need to be asked as to who took the decision? Kieran Jackson informs me that a failure to follow up or investigate a criminal incident is, in itself, a crime. Questions must be asked about who took the decision to not pursue his complaint. Why has Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan – who has known about this for over two and a half years – done nothing about it?

The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, and her Government say that they have full confidence in the Garda Commissioner. Try telling that to Garda whistleblowers across the State. Try telling that to Kieran Jackson who has had no response from the Commissioner in respect of the allegations he brought forward many years ago, and again in 2014, to the Garda Commissioner and to the Minister, with absolutely no action whatsoever taken.

We hear time and again, however, that the Tánaiste and the Commissioner embrace whistleblowers. The results are clear. There is only one course of action left for the Government, namely, to express no confidence in the Commissioner.”

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Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan, and other senior gardaí, at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality on March 30

You may recall how Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan’s recent appearance before the joint Oireachtas committee on justice and equality, in the wake of the near 1million false breath tests and 14,700 wrongful convictions. See a timeline of the matters here.

After the meeting, the committee asked Ms O’Sullivan to respond to 27 questions by noon yesterday.

The following are some of the questions sent to Ms O’Sullivan, parts of her answers that are pertinent to the questions and some notes on the same.

It would appear Ms O’Sullivan and the Medical Bureau of Road Safety’s accounts of events still do not tally.

Q1. Can you confirm that the anonymous April 2014 letter from the Garda reservist in the Western Region was the only prompt for the initial audit of breath test figures in the Southern Region, and the subsequent national audit? Or is it the case that the information from the MBRS given to An Garda Siochana had a role to play in the audits being ordered?

A. The anonymous letter originating from a Garda Reserve in the Western Region was the catalyst for the examination in the Southern Region and the subsequent national examination. A number of other actions were also taken before the examinations commenced, which are set out below. An Garda Síochána had no information in July 2015 from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety to influence the decision to initiate the examination in the Southern Region.

The examination in the Southern Region had already commenced when concerns were first mentioned, informally, to a Superintendent from the Garda National Traffic Bureau by the Director of Medical Bureau of Road Safety. He stated, at the time, that these concerns were not raised as a ‘red-flag’ issue, however reassurance was given that any concerns he had in this regard would be addressed in the context of the examination underway.

…The letter, dated 22nd August, 2014, from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety pertained solely to procurement matters. It did not highlight discrepancies in the records held by An Garda Síochána and those of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety.

Broadsheet: During an interview with RTÉ’s Cathal Mac Coille, on Morning Ireland, on March 28, 2017, Denis Cusack of the MBRS said that the MRBS wrote to An Garda Siochana in July 2014 about discrepancies between the figures the MBRS had for the breath test mouthpieces that they had supplied to the gardaí and the number of breath tests that the gardai claimed to be carrying out. Of this letter in July 2014, Mr Cusack said:  “It was an alert that something wasn’t adding up.”

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From top, left to right: Charlie McConalogue TD, Barry Cowen TD, Jim O’Callaghan TD during government formations talks last year; Derek Mooney

On Monday, Derek Mooney speculated on the possible outcome  of a deal between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael suggesting water charges were dead for both parties.

Derek writes:

While the agreement on the future funding of domestic water as hammered out at the Oireachtas committee is not a bad one – the issue now is more about the process and the path to its arrival.

It proves the truth of the old adage, usually attributed to Bismarck: if you want to keep your appetite then there are two things you should never watch being made: laws and sausages.

The Committee report does include an important climbdown from the government that now accepts that there should be a future referendum on the public ownership of Irish Water.

The fate of individual metered water charges was sealed politically at the last election and sealed technically at the committee with the evidence given by the officials from Scottish Water.

Scotland does not have individual metering, the charge comes from the council tax (in our case from income tax) and they are held to be in compliance with EU Directives.

Most discussion at the Committee since that evidence has been a proxy battle between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael fought on extremely narrow grounds via lawyers and competing legal advice.

The outcome was a draw nil all draw, not that the result matters too much as the crowds had been so frustrated and irritated by the carry-on on the pitch that they stopped watching and went home ages ago.

The only outstanding questions are: why did no one in Government look at the Scottish model before now and what was all that furore and activity between 2011 and 2016?

Expensive wasted water under the bridge it seems.

Derek Mooney is a communications and public affairs consultant. He previously served as a Ministerial Adviser to the Fianna Fáil-led government 2004 – 2010. His column appears here usually every Monday. Follow Derek on Twitter: @dsmooney

Earlier: They Think It’s All Over

Monday: Pointless Water Torture

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Bare is a magazine based in the National College of Art & Design, Dublin that aims to show the “breadth of talent and dedication present in students and recent graduates”.

Conor Foran writes:

I am the Co-Editor of Bare,  After a very successful first issue and launch in 2016, we have decided to create a second issue which will launch in the NCAD Gallery this May.

We would be thrilled if you could share our  video (above) crowdfunding campaign (at link below) as a way of sharing the talent and dedication of the students of NCAD, Bare Magazine aims to show the future of creativity in Dublin.

Bare Magazine (Indiegogo)