Author Archives: Admin

Head of HR at An Garda Siochana, John Barrett, speaking at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee in May

Earlier this week.

The head of HR at An Garda Siochana John Barrett wrote an 88-page document to the Public Accounts Committee to assist it further in its inquiries into the financial irregularities at the Garda College in Templemore.

Further to this.

Fiachra Ó Cionnaith, in the Irish Examiner, reports that in his statement, Mr Barrett has told the PAC:

He was subjected to a “whispering campaign”, with his “reward for my persistence” in highlighting garda college financial concerns being “spurious criminal allegations” that he breached the Official Secrets Act by keeping notes on what he found;

That one senior garda sent him documents at the time of his discoveries about the garda college “to suggest that I was aware of all the issues at play and that I did nothing for a number of months”, a claim against Mr Barret that has been proven to be untrue;

That Ms O’Sullivan’s PAC evidence about when she was informed about the garda college concerns is contradicted by clear, private records from the period kept by Mr Barrett;

That garda head of legal affairs Ken Ruane and director of communications Andrew McLindon were subjected to “revised reporting arrangements” and different management structures after highlighting the college issue alongside Mr Barrett.

In a separate section of his 80-page letter, Mr Barrett also called for a forensic examination of the St Raphael’s Garda Credit Union since 1999, which he said is needed to uncover whether EU funds and other money related to the garda college passed through accounts.

He concluded by quoting a book called Lies In The Mirror by current Disclosures Tribunal chair Mr Justice Peter Charleton, in which the retired judge writes that “deceit is the primary instrument for doing evil”.

Claims of ‘whispering campaign’ over Garda College scandal (Irish Examiner)

‘I probably don’t see us in Donnybrook for a start. The radio centre is way way too big and outdated and I don’t think anyone knows about the two floors of cables and wires under the centre and nobody knows what those wires do and are terrified to cut them!

I think what we will have to do is build a smaller centre somewhere near the M50, ideally I would like it in Dublin City and be part of the regeneration of the city. And for the handover we would shut down the old radio centre and do a countdown with Larry Gogan doing the handover!

Everything in TV and indeed radio is changing each year, we need new hi tec studios and a new smaller site has to be a logical way to go. What we have to also keep is the trust from the public too. When something big happens people will turn to RTE. We have to keep that trust and make sure that what we do is truthful and representative.

We don’t have hidden agendas, for example at the minute the government and water charge protesters think we are biased, we can’t win! We have a contract and a vested interest to the the people of Ireland to keep that trust.”

Joe Duffy talking to Mike O’Brien of Dublin City Photos

FIGHT!

Has Video Killed The Radio Star (DublinCityPhotos)



This afternoon.

Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2

Members of the Irish Falun Dafa Association meditate in protest at the alleged murder and organ harvesting of Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) followers in China.

Irish Falun Dafa Association representatives are presenting at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and Defence at the Oireachtas today.

Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Above: the Grand Hotel de l’Europe in Bad Gastein, Austria; Stadt-Bad Gotha in Gotha, Germany; Spadina road, Toronto; Hotel Polonia in Warsaw; Hamble-Warsash Ferry Shelter in Hampshire; Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare, England; a door in Kiev, Ukraine; a conference Room in North Korea and (our favourite) a VW van in Berlin by Ulfar Loga.

A subtreddit in which people from around the world post images of places that aren’t, but could easily be film sets from Wes Anderson films.

mymodernmet

Natasha Browne is right when she says that the decision of the British think tank Policy Exchange to advise Ireland to follow the UK out of the EU demonstrates “the British superiority complex” in feeling they can determine the fate of this country.

The think tank advises that Ireland should consider leaving the EU. It is not quoted as saying we should rejoin the UK but the implication is clear.

After centuries of colonial exploitation, we still have to put up with the neighbouring former imperial power telling us what to do – or else.

It wants us to follow it in tearing up the agreement it signed with its fellow European citizens to join the EU.

The EU represents the cooperation of nearly 30 European democracies in matters of mutual interest. It replaces centuries of imperial and totalitarian conflict in Europe and is the most advanced example of such cooperation in the world.

All Ireland can say to the UK in reply is no, we will not tear up that agreement. But we should also respectfully suggest that the UK should reverse what the UK’s own think tank defines as the “massively damaging” decision to tear it up.

A Leavy,
Sutton,
Dublin 13.

FIGHT!

Europe, Brexit, Ireland (Irish Times letters page)

Minister for Employment Regina Doherty

This morning.

On Today with Sean O’Rourke, presented by Cormac Ó hEadhra.

Fine Gael TD and Minister for Employment and Social Protection Regina Doherty spoke about the story on the front page in today’s Irish Times in which it’s reported that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will not name and shame “welfare fraudsters”.

And that, under a compromise deal with Fianna Fáil, only people found guilty of defrauding the State of welfare payments in excess of €5,000 will be named in a public register.

From Ms Doherty’s interview with Cormac Ó hEadhra…

Regina Doherty: “Let me be very clear, lest you think that we’re going soft on anybody that’s defrauding the State of money and taking money out of other peoples’ pockets is acceptable. There’s no defrauding of the State that’s acceptable and we will pursue people in the courts that has not changed one jot.

“What has changed here is that a piece of legislation that we were hoping to introduce has been reached a compromise so the piece of legislation can be passed. And the Fianna Fail party, on foot of the proposal to me, to make an amendment so that instead of starting at zero, we will start at six months of somebody defrauding the State even though that person, at five and a half months, three and a half months, whatever length of time that has been taken, the department has saw fit to take a criminal case against somebody, the police has saw fit to take a criminal case against somebody, that will still pursue. The only thing that changed…”

Cormac Ó hEadhra: “Where did that €5,000 figure come from? Is it based on any research whatsoever? Or is it something that yourself and Fianna Fail cooked up?”

Doherty: “Well, first of all, I take offence at the fact that. Politicians don’t cook things up, Cormac, when we’re putting legislation together for the good of the people….

Later

Doherty: “Can I be very clear? Customer fraud is defined in statute from €1 to whatever it happens to be, some of the recent cases you can see of €60,000, €160,000, €7,000. There is nobody who is defrauding the State in any shape or form or size of money that is acceptable. Because what it does, Cormac, is it takes the capacity of the department and me as the minister remove money from being able to distribute that money to vulnerable people who actually need it. So there is no level of acceptable fraud.”

Meanwhile…

The Meath Chronicle reported last night:

The National Union of Journalists has called on the Minister for Employment and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, to clarify her role in the decision of members of An Garda Síochána to interview a freelance blogger and academic about comments written by the blogger about Ms Doherty.

Acting General Secretary of the NUJ in UK and Ireland, Séamus Dooley, also called on the Garda Commissioner to urgently clarify the circumstances in which Catherine Kelly was approached by Gardai from Pearse Street Garda Station and interviewed about tweets which it is understood referred to Ms Doherty.

NUJ asks Minister Doherty to clarify role in Tweet investigation (Meath Chronicle)

Previously: Chilling

Listen back here

 

People Before profit TD Bríd Smith (top) calling for the remunicipalisation of waste services.

Bríd writes:

I hope you get a chance to view and share this video. I spoke in the Dáil on Tuesday night and reminded the Minister of the rotten history of these charges…privatisation, loss of waivers, increasing costs and illegal dumping, and the Tony Suprano operators who hide how much they make off us.

People Before Profit propose instead that we start a return to local authorities running the services, and meantime, an immediate price freeze before abolition of all charges.

Bríd Smith TD (Facebook)