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Brian writes:

You’ll remember that the glorious leader promised a debate this week on the subject of IRA abuse claims? Well, this week’s Oireachtas schedule shows no such thing.
Puzzled, I rang the FG press office and spoke to a nice young man called Stephen who told me the debate would take place next week as they were having trouble framing the language as the issue was ‘legally sensitive’. Further to this, I was informed by another source within Leinster House that the debate was pulled from the schedule last week directly after a cabinet meeting attended by the Attorney General. I rang back the FG press office to see if I could get this confirmed and funny enough, no answer.

Anyone?

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Tony’O’Reilly at the INM AGM in 2004 (Top) and David Duffy on The Real Deal last night.

You may recall how this summer AIB secured judgements against Tony O’Reilly and companies controlled by him for €45million.

In June the Commercial Court heard that he owed approximately €195 million to eight different banks – with AIB reportedly calling him ‘insolvent’ three times during the hearing.

On The Real Deal, a documentary on Tony O’Reilly (by  RTÉ’s David Murphy) broadcast last night, David Duffy, CEO of AIB, pictured above, said:

“People will make all kinds of comments about what they perceive is the reality. We engage in a very simple process, it’s very consistent and it’s equitable and fair and does not differentiate between one person and another. So there is absolutely no question whatsoever that we took an action for a purpose, other than to treat people exactly as everybody else is treated.”

Further to this, readers may also recall how in June, Colm Keena reported in the Irish Times:

“The purchase of three major Irish businesses over the past two years by the billionaire businessman Denis O’Brien involved total bank write-offs of more than €300 million. The deals saw the businessman invest €230 million to acquire the Siteserv Group, the Topaz Group and the Beacon Private Hospital.”

“Mr O’Brien, who has a 29.9 per cent stake, is the biggest shareholder in the Independent News & Media. In April last year the group did a deal with its eight banks, which include AIB and Bank of Ireland, where the banks wrote off €138 million of an overall debt of €422 million, in exchange for a shareholding in the group worth approximately €10 million.”

Good times.

Watch back in full here

Related: Ignominious end to career of Ireland’s first business superstar (Ciaran Hancock, Mark Paul, Irish Times, June 27, 2014)

Sir Anthony O’Reilly described as ‘insolvent’ by AIB (Tom Lyons, Irish Times, June 24, 2014)

Banks write off over €300m in three deals with Denis O’Brien (Colm Keena, Irish Times, June 13, 2014)

(Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland)

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How many of us think about our moral code, the set of values and beliefs that we live by. I Heard of a parent recently who sent the child to a Catholic school and then insisted that the child should have nothing to do with with Communion, Confirmation, Prayers or religious activities. So much for the rights of the child! As a nation we have a very ambivalent attitude to morals and values. On the one hand we espouse predominantly Christian beliefs and yet on the other hand, we act in very unchristian ways. There is plenty of evidence that we actually follow the premise of “do as I say not as I do “ when it comes to giving moral direction to children and teenagers. Sadly many parents have become detached from the religious significance of the sacraments and so the focus switches to the secular aspects, purchase of Communion clothes, family celebration (bouncing castles), who to invite and how much money do I give as a present ( to be continued next week).

Parish Notes, St Joseph’s Church (above), Glasthule, Co Dublin

Thanks Brian

small_you_have_to_fucking_eatScreen Shot 2014-11-04 at 02.22.49 Screen Shot 2014-11-04 at 02.23.18 Screen Shot 2014-11-04 at 02.23.00
A new book by Alan Mansbach (he of GoThe F**k To Sleep) to wit:

From the author of the international best seller Go the F*** to Sleep comes a long-awaited sequel about the other great parental frustration: getting your little angel to eat something that even vaguely resembles a normal meal. Profane, loving, and deeply cathartic, You Have to F***ing Eat breaks the code of child-rearing silence, giving moms and dads new, old, grand- and expectant, a much-needed chance to laugh about a universal problem.

BUY IT: You Have To F*****g Eat (Alan Mansbach)

It’s only a matter of time before Werner Herzog narrates the audiobook.

biotv

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