46 thoughts on “De Easter Sunday Papers

  1. MaryLou's ArmaLite

    May John Delaney’s fall be as spectacular and extravagant as the subsidised lifestyle he expensed

  2. A force for justice

    How is he still being paid?
    Also why when this story is being discussed, is there no mention of ‘loans’ he gave his other companies.

    1. The Great Wall of Gammon

      He’s an employee of the FAI. Like any employee he has protections. Simple as that. If due process is not followed and he sues, he will win and make a bigger mess for them in the long run.

  3. eoin

    Hmmm, “at least” four bank transfers from the FAI to a bank account supposed to be owned by John Delaney’s ex-girlfriend? And the ex-girlfriend, Susan Keegan claims not to have received any payments at all?

    Was there an invoice from Susan Keegan to the FAI for the “at least” €60,000? Seemingly not. Under what heading was the €60,000 recorded at the FAI? The FAI isn’t saying.

    Was it public money? Almost definitely not. It’s just another curiosity from a business which generates huge commercial income on the back of a product (the players) which costs peanuts. With that amount of potential profit swilling around the place, you’d need to be a strong character to withstand the temptation.

    1. eoin

      I’m sure that, by comparison with the FAI, the GAA is a paragon of good corporate governance but why do they refuse to reveal the salary and benefits of the top management? And is it true, the remuneration of the top brass is “benchmarked to similar sporting organisations”? I wonder which would be a closer benchmark for the GAA, the FAI or the National Handball crowd?

  4. eoin

    The speakers list is in for Paul Williams (INM crime hack)/Stephen Rae (ex-INM managing editor) “international fraud prevention conference” next month.

    https://www.internationalfraudprevention.com

    It’s got top FGers, Charlie Flanagan and outgoing MEP/incoming banker, Brian Hayes.

    I wonder will any of the speakers have any thoughts on how you’d stop a public company being defrauded by senior management for the profit of the biggest shareholder? How you’d stop secret success fees being paid to the biggest shareholder? Or how you’d stop the biggest shareholder charging you twice the market value for a loss-making asset he wanted to offload? Or how you’d stop all your data being taken off site to another country for a hacking exercise paid for by your biggest shareholder? Or how you’d react when the country’s corporate watchdog sought to have inspectors appointed? Or indeed, how you’d deal with false allegations about a kiddie fiddling Garda sergeant?

    The conference is €697 a head, under “who attends” they say “500+ [blah, bah]”. Quite spectacular for a company incorporated a fortnight ago, whose domain name was only registered in February 2019. I wonder how many members of An Garda Siochana will be attending and how much they’ll be paying, I’m sure a Freedom of Information request in a couple of months will provide answers. Somehow, I seriously doubt this is a €400,000 conference.

    The event is sponsored by the FAI auditors (Deloitte), the Sindo (whose biggest shareholder is Denis O’Brien), Newstalk (100% owned by Denis O’Brien and worth half what Denis seems to think it’s worth), Stubbs (the interesting credit info people, James Treacy of Stubbs also happens to be a director of this conference company) and AL Goodbody (ex-INM chairman Leslie Buckley’s solicitors in the legal proceedings where Leslie is being sued for his conduct and actions at INM).

    1. bisted

      …do I detect a soccer theme in your posts this morning Eoin…I belive they’re known as ‘testimonials’ in soccer parlance…

      1. eoin

        “soccer theme”? Nah, bisted, more like a horse racing theme, you’d need a neck like a jockey’s janglies to promote a fraud conference after what has happened at INM.

  5. eoin

    The owner of (or at least the person who nominally acquired) the Sunday Business Post is reportedly considering putting it up for sale just six months after buying it (did he ever seek approval for the purchase from the Competition Commission?)

    The Sunday Times claims Enda O’Coineen “is exploring the option of floating his media interests, including the Sunday Business Post”

    “Media interests”, as in, plural? Doesn’t Irish competition law require media owners to seek Competition Commission approval when acquiring another media interest, like, say, the Sunday Business Post. And yet, an FOI at the Commission last November revealed zilch in terms of any request for approval. How very strange.

    Meanwhile, the SBP today is a husk of what it was a year ago. Opinions, arts with the odd smattering of business and economics. Are they even shifting 20,000 copies a week these days?

  6. eoin

    How do you reconcile the two opinion polls in today’s papers? Both opinion polls, the Sunday Times and Sunday Business Post claim to have 3% margins of error, but that’s stretched to the absolute limit with FF’s result and those limits are exceeded by SF’s result. According to the Sunday Times, FF has leapfrogged FG for the first time in years, and is 1% ahead. But the Sunday Business Post shows FF not only behind FG, but 10% behind. No wonder (1) opinion polls were wrong with Trump and Brexit and (2) people no longer have confidence in such polls. These are the main results Sunday Times first (SBP in brackets).

    FF 29 (23)
    FG 28 (33)
    SF 21 (14)

  7. eoin

    RIP Lyra. Her killing is being blamed on dissident Republicans.

    At the last local elections in 2014 in the Moor in Derry, which covers the Creggan, an Independent Gary Donnelly topped the poll with 1,154 first preference votes, which exceeded the quota and Gary was elected on the first count. Who is Independent Gary Donnelly? He’s a former Real IRA prisoner and a current member of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement; the 32CSM would be widely regarded as a dissident republican *political* group. He has come out with this statement in the wake of Lyra’s killing.

    https://www.derryjournal.com/news/crime/desist-an-innocent-woman-is-dead-because-of-your-reckless-actions-says-councillor-gary-donnelly-1-8898125

    The PSNI is blaming last week’s killing on the New IRA, which is affiliated with a political group, Saoradh, the boys and odd girl on the front cover of most of the Irish papers today after their parade in Dublin yesterday. That’s a different grouping to the Gary Donnelly’s 32CSM. However, it shows there is support in the Creggan for dissident republicanism no matter how often the great and the good claim there isn’t. It may only be in the low thousands, but it is a fact.

    Probably the best way to confront the dissidents is to show them that politics and political collaboration works and delivers real improvements to people’s lives. I hope Thursday’s killing leaves some good in its wake and gets SF and the DUP back around a table at Stormont.

  8. Charlie

    Beard, check. Beret, check. Sunglasses, check. Camouflage, check. Tricolor, check. Timing, Doh!!!

    1. Catherine costelloe

      I’m surprised that they were allowed to march at all ;- imagine issuing a statement accepting responsibility for the murder of Lyra & petrol bomb throwing &less than 48 hours later marching in Dublin? It’s incitement to hatred , grossly offensive to Lyra’s grief stricken family. Disgusting shower promoting violence – ye are a disgrace to Ireland and ye need your heads examined.

    2. SOQ

      GO’D is at it again. Apparently Lrya’s murder is part of a global conspiracy- or something.

      Journalist Leona O’Neill who was with Lrya when she was shot, is threatening legal action.

      1. Johnny

        speaking of ‘at it again’-keeping the mods busy last night huh-how’d it go at Sunflower,was anyone around from Broadsheet:)
        -it’s truly like living vicariously my worst life, teaches me gratitude so thanks….

    1. GiggidyGoo

      To put polls into perspective. They say that 1000 gives a good indication of the views the 3,200,000 approx eligible to vote.
      That’s like saying 25 people out of the 80,000 that attend an all-ireland final, if they were to give their views on politics, gives a good indication of the mood of the rest of the 80,000.
      And that’s why polling companies are full of it.

        1. Lilly

          Kieran Mulvey saying they can’t get anyone to audit the FAI, that no one wants to touch ‘em. How bout it Frilly?

          1. Curated by Vanessa for Frilly Keane

            Time to name and shame their Finance Director/ Financial Controller

            But what I would do
            And btw

            Mulvey is talking out’ve turn here
            He’s a professional NED and currently Chair of Sports Ireland
            It is up to the members and who ever is still standing at Governance level in the FAI to discuss FAI matters
            Sweet F.A. to do with Mulvey
            So he’d be better off finding another bandwagon for the time being
            Get someone to go on strike or sum’ting

            So what I would do is bring in a team of Financial Accountants. From a wide range of levels
            Get the Banks Reconciled
            The Payroll corrected
            The Creditor Control up to Year End scratch

            Get 2018 Year End 100% spot on
            Take in all the corrections from the previous years

            And call an EGM
            Elect a Board
            Appoint new Auditor

            With a bit of luck they’ll only need a couple of weeks on site

            Sign off
            Call an AGM
            Re-present all the other previous years that requires corrections in their disclosures
            Along with 2018
            Get them approved

            Move on

          2. eoin

            Mulvey as chair of Sport Ireland does have questions to answer himself. Why did Sport Ireland approve and pay €700,000 to the FAI at the end of March 2019, one or two weeks after the story of the €100,000 loan was first published. Sport Ireland complains that it hasn’t been provided with proper answers surrounding the loan, yet it gave €700,000 of our money, 25% of the total budgeted allocation for 2019, and handed it over to the FAI without getting to the bottom of the loan and other issues.

            Maybe Mulvey has too many jobs, what with his FG-appointed role in the north inner city and he’s Denis O’Brien’s nominee on the board of INM, and he has a host of other public sector roles.

          3. GiggidyGoo

            And Cricket Ireland, or whatever they’re called, have a €100,000 loan of their own now. All accounted for. But begs the question as to why people are being paid colossal amounts of money, and then end up loaning back to the employer.

          4. Curated by Vanessa for Frilly Keane

            Hi Eoin

            Mulvey simply cannot comment on the 700k
            Although we all know he will
            ’cause he loves himself too much to shut up

            He has no function
            The paying/ disbursement of already approved Sport Ireland grants is 100% an operational function
            Mulvey or any other member of the SI Board have – well shouldn’t have – any input
            And they should at least attempt to look like they’re not directing or influencing any specific operational function / task
            Consider the Month End Finance Reports to Board is where their commentary should be limited to

            Everything else is what the CEO is for
            That is what their Strategic Plan is for

            But what does need to be asked by the Directors of Sports Ireland
            Is What Da’ Actual ..CK
            Their own internal auditors or field staff or whoever they are,
            were at out in Blanch that they gave the FAI Finance Dept a clean bill of health

            And on more than one occasion too

            I promise ye lads
            The Board of the FAI themselves
            Ok the 10 Non-Execs specifically
            While it’s no excuse, and they have only themselves to blame

            They were entitled to better oversight from their Finance Director/ Financial Controller
            And especially more from Deloittes

            I did say here somewhere
            A few weeks back
            That a strong Financial Controller would have put the foot down on all this

            John Delaney ran the place like a family business
            And the Board of the FAI, The Head of Finance, and any external Audit Teams let him get on with it
            No one ever said Stop

            Not even the Clubs that participate in the League of Ireland
            Many of whom are in debt and are already hand to mouth
            Ever

            And I’m stunned at this
            None of them got confirmation that the Prize Money for the competition was actually available

            Vulture Funds here won’t accept an offer on a pothole of a site without proof of funds

            Yet these clubs, their players, their owners and their fans dug even deeper into their own pockets
            ’cause Deloittes said all was in order

          5. eoin

            Happy Easter Vanessa!

            I would disagree with you about the role of the chairman at Sport Ireland. When the Sunday Times broke the story on 18 March, the chairman should have known that Sport Ireland gives 5%, around €3m to the FAI. He should have known the €100k loan raised all sorts of governance issues, and he should have known Sport Ireland would be drawn into the crosshairs because it channels taxpayer funding to the FAI. He should have called a meeting to ensure Sport Ireland’s relationship with the FAI was all above board, and if he had, the €700,000 payment by Sport Ireland to the FAI at the end of March 2019, a fortnight perhaps after the Sunday Times expose on the loan, would have been conditional on receiving proper answers from the FAI. Sport Ireland didn’t do that, and I say the buck stops with Mulvey.

          6. Curated by Vanessa for Frilly Keane

            Only saw that now Eoin

            We’ll have to disagree here I’m afraid

            The disbursement of legitimately approved taxpayers grants is
            AFAIC anyway
            A day-to-day operational matter in Sports Ireland
            And the responsibility of the CEO
            Who had already confirmed with SIs own Field Officers /Visiting Auditors that all was ok with how the FAI were allocating the monies received from the tax payer
            eg: Spending it for the purposes it was intended for and in-line with whatever policies and procedures; Assurances and compliance whatsits

            Mulvey is a Director and Board Chair of SI
            His remit is Sports Ireland
            And should STFU
            Let the FAI worry about their own sh1+

            It is an operational matter for Sports Ireland
            One of the most widely played games across the State is now not functioning at any level
            Particularly at underage and development
            Where SI have no replacement

            Sports Ireland without Soccer ?

            They might as well lay off a third of their manpower and save the taxpayer a few million

            Bump up the National Teachers Pay and have them step in at development & underage level at schools
            And let the clubs sort themselves out

            Somehow I don’t think Sports Ireland would like loosing soccer from their reach
            Do you?

            Tracy would be sacked for starters
            Mulvey will make it all about himself

            Meanwhile schools parishes clubs etc won’t be getting their coaching and mentoring academy development squads
            Or whatever they’re called

  9. Ben Redmond

    During this Easter season in Ireland and worldwide we have witnessed the crucifixion of the innocent and the resurrection of old hatreds and corruption. Is there any redemption in sight?

      1. Dub Spot

        Check this Thursday’s Irish Times Residential Property section in SPAR:

        “Priced out of Letterkenny? Try Legendderry.”

        No, I don’t think so.

    1. Lilly

      ‘When they carted him off to hospital to pump the tablets out of his stomach, his mother didn’t go with him.‘

      This is why people kill themselves. Not because of the Troubles.

  10. jusayinlike

    My wife and I narrowly avoided the bombs in Colombo. We flew out at 3am. A huge bomb detonated in Negombo about five minutes from where we were staying.

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