JUSTICE Minister Alan Shatter has appointed another personal donor to a state position.

Accountant Declan O’Neill made a €1,000 donation to Mr Shatter’s war chest for the 2007 General Election.

He was appointed Taxing Master yesterday — a job which comes with a €145,000 salary.

The appointment of Mr O’Neill means two of Mr Shatter’s five listed donors in 2007, when he received €5,500, have now been appointed to state jobs.

Mr O’Neill, who specialises in legal costs, also carried out work for Mr Shatter’s legal firm, Gallagher-Shatter.

 

Recent appointments include:

Barrister Kevin Cross, who donated €1,200 to Europe Minister Lucinda Creighton and who is a son-in-law of a former Fine Gael minister, and Michael White, who has political and personal links to Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore, as High Court judges, as revealed by the Irish Independent. The links were not highlighted by the Government.

A former Fine Gael senator and running mate of Taoiseach Enda Kenny; a Labour election agent; and the sister of a Labour councillor and Labour senator as District Court judges.

A further raft of Fine Gael or Labour linked State board appointments, including former TDs, by ministers such as Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney, Pat Rabbitte and Mr Shatter.

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Shatter Gives Another Of His Election Donors A Key State Job (Fiach Kelly, Irish Independent)

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MAD magazine’s Al Jaffee is the legendary creator of the fold-in and the Snappy Answers To Stupid Questions feature from which this is his first ever live reading.

The feisty 90 year-old’s performance was recorded last year at Joe’s Pub in New York City, hosted by HEEB Magazine.

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Kåre ‘Zenta‘ Halvorsen’s MorpHex robot is a segmented ball that can sprout six legs, shimmy, writhe and walk around in a deeply unnerving fashion.

It must never be fitted with an energy weapon or all humans will be killed.

via

THE CENTRAL Bank has emerged as the most likely purchaser of the concrete shell of Anglo Irish Bank’s unfinished headquarters on North Wall Quay in Dublin, The Irish Times has learned.

Negotiations between the Central Bank and Nama, which wants to dispose of the site as part of its resolution of the debts of Liam Carroll’s Zoe Developments group, are at an advanced stage and a decision is imminent.

One well-placed source said the North Wall Quay site is the only one in Dublin with sufficient office space to accommodate all of the Central Bank’s staff, currently based in three main locations in or near the city centre: “We’re on the point of deciding to buy the Anglo site. It’s exactly the right size and fits our staff numbers well. It’s also the cheapest option available. Just because it was being built for Anglo doesn’t mean it should be jinxed.”

Central Bank likely purchaser of Anglo HQ shell on quays (Irish Times)

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