What you want to say… Open Thread, 11th July July 11, 2012
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Culture, Economy, European Politics, Irish Politics, Northern Ireland, The Left, US Politics.trackback
As always, following on Dr. X’s suggestion, it’s all yours, “announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose”, feel free.
Have to say, I am appalled and dismayed at Owen Patterson’s decision to rearrest Martin Corey. Blatant political interference which is simply grist to the mill for anti agreement republicans of all varieties.
Very dangerous decision
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jul/09/northernireland-northernireland
Again on a totally different note and somewhat rare on these pages, those of you who have seen me recently will have noted that I was sporting some facial hair, I can now reveal the reason. On Saturday 28th July from 8.30 in The Annesley House on North Strand there will be a head / beard shave in support of
Ireland’s first Children’s Hospice, anyone wishing to support this worthy cause can contact me with sponsorship.
Those who wish to sponsor in relation to the above can also do so here
http://www.mycharity.ie/event/malachy_steensons_beard_shave/
i have to say that i’m keen to get any information avialable from the learned people here on this:
https://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/the-ira-1956-69-rethinking-the-republic-matt-treacy/#comment-123805
Just noticed that BBC3 is doing a programme on Irish rappers tonight (11th July) at 10pm.
Thanks for that Gari
No problem. Thought it might be of interest to yourself and the other music fans here.
In fact, it’s on again at 1.10am tomorrow morning and then on Saturday at 12am, Saturday at 3.10am, Sunday at 4.25am and Monday at 12.30am for anyone who missed the start of it this evening.
Was a documentary on Drum n’Bass here shown on DCTV on UPC 802. Repeated tomorrow at nine on http://www.aertv.ie/#dctv
Anybody heard the Ulster bank”sorry” ads on the radio?Some fellow call Ryan form Ulster bank says “We’ve made a promise that no customer would be left permanently out of pocket and we intend to keep it”.It struck me that the Irish state could replace customer with banks or bondholders and run similar ads for our infamous bank guarantee of September 2008.
Funny thing Ulster is part of NatWest and owned by RBS which is owned by the British government.So, the taxpayer might just be out of pocket again
Has the Joe Higgins/Clare Daly expenses story died a death quite suddenly or am I not following the news as closely as I should? From almost wall-to-wall coverage last week to almost nothing this week, that I can see. Have journos been ‘spoken to’ that dragging up the 12 grand a year unvouched ‘travel expense’ as a stick to beat the Left has unintentionally exposed government and FF TDs to the possible loss of a substantial subsidy if anything was actually done about it.
I suspect the travails of James Reilly may have something to do with this. The contrast between 12 thousand which may or may not have been improperly used and 1.9 million which was not paid despite a High Court order is glaring enough to dazzle even the blindest blueshirt.
Reilly’s Dail explanation can be boiled down to, ‘my ass is covered on this one. And even if it isn’t, we’ve got the numbers.’ Damien English on Browne last night gave one of the great stuttering defending the indefensible performances and looked like he was channelling the political ghost of Joe Jacob.
When I saw English was on VB last night I switched channels. Given Reilly’s performance thus far I’m more convinced than ever that ‘chutzpah’ is not yiddish but Irish.
Kenny’s claim that Reilly’s business affairs were “entirely in order” was nice. I expected a show of support, but that’s just by definition not the case; the whole story is that they’re not “in order”. Strange choice of phrase.
Very true A.S.
And it is true what EC says re CMK’s point. The Reilly fiasco is unwelcome news for FG, to put it mildly. I was highly entertained by the Irish Times editorial which poured cold water on the idea that there could be any conflict of interest for a Minister who has private health interests…
Perish the thought!
And lo and behold, FG desperately tries to divert attention from Reilly’s behaviour by getting one of its PR firms to place a (more than usually dreadful) article in the Indo:
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/paul-allen-why-the-loudmouth-ignorant-politics-of-the-angry-is-distorting-our-political-debate-3167720.html
As someone said on facebook, Carr Communications must be busy coaching Reilly at the moment so they had to get Paul Allen on the case
+1
“Sir, – It appears that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste are satisfied with Dr James Reilly’s explanation of why he failed to comply with a High Court order in relation to a bill for €1.9 million.
Might we now suggest that Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore ask Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan to extend the same degree of understanding to those who fail to comply with local court orders to pay the €100 household charge? – Yours, etc,
TOMMY McKEARNEY,
Coolshannagh Road,
Monaghan.”
I call it the O’Reilly opt out. We cannot pay the household tax. Because we don’t have the money, The dog eat the notice. It does not apply to me.It will be paid when I get a really good job or win the lottery. Read the Dail transcript and take an excuse at random
Kenny making a complete ass of himself with his observation that ‘justice was not done’ because the two accused in the McAreavey murder case were acquitted. That old FG Law and Order gene kicking in, if the cops say you did it, you did it fullstop.
+1
It’s a very tough case and harrowing for the families, but…
It was and no-one should lose sight of that.
But this was a remarkable comment for a Taoiseach to make, not least because a state which has given the world The Toscan Du Plantier affair, the Frank Short case and many more is hardly in a position to condescend towards, ‘lesser breeds without the law.’
Ah, no definitely you’re right. It really does have the aspect to it. I was just thinking that the families response is understandable given the context, but his (and some of the broader commentary) is dismal.
Has anybody got any good information on the current situation in Mexico? I’m hearing claims about 15 million protesting the results of an unfair election and some sort of media blackout.
http://socialistworker.org/2012/07/10/mexicos-election-or-imposition
http://www.rebelion.org/seccion.php?id=31 In Spanish.
I remember when during the Olympic Games they managed to murder many woithout much in the way of publicity.
LASC is usually good
https://www.facebook.com/#!/lasc.solidarity
But nothing up to date on it either.
Thanks Jim!
http://socialistaction.blogspot.ie/2012/07/evidence-mounts-of-scam-to-buy-votes-in.html
At least this writer appears to have been there.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/david-quinn-root-cause-of-our-economic-woes-isnt-economic-at-all-its-moral-based-on-a-lack-of-selfcontrol-3167975.html
Hilarious. I’m genuinely puzzled as to whether this is serious or not.
The giveaway word in all of Quinn’s piece is ‘we’.
Thanks rmtoh. That’s a brilliant example of what’s wrong with the commentariat.
Surprise, surprise. Ardent supporter of the Catholic Church blames the victims…again.
Coming soon, ‘It’s all your fault assholes,’ writes God.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0715/armed-robbery-in-dublin-pub.html
Is this the Cedar Lounge?
Do they know who they’re messing with?
I think it is. It’s weird they phrase it that way though. And why are they so coy about the name?
Guess what! The cops were at me ma’s house today cos car was abandoned around the corner! Strange but true. They checked the back garden but don’t think they found anything. Presuming it was the car used by the robbers.
These people were no amateurs. They obviously left the car there in order to point the finger of suspicion at me. But it wasn’t me, WBS, honest.
So you say…
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/armed-robbers-target-pub-used-in-the-snapper-3168807.html
A PUB that featured in Roddy Doyle’s ‘The Snapper’ has become the latest to be targeted by armed robbers as a crime spree swept Dublin in the last few days.
A sum of money was taken during a raid by three armed and masked men at the Cedar Lounge in Raheny in the early hours yesterday……
Death of a legend…
And a nice tribute…
I always liked this one.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Wqb3-Tzx0&w=420&h=315%5D
And this is nice too. KD Lang’s early stuff was instrumental in leading a lot of rock fans to this terrific older music.
Economist columnist in `takes notice of reality’ shocker:
http://www.economist.com/node/21558584
Death of another legend. The great Jon Lord of Deep Purple died today as well, cue keyboard riff from Child In Time.
Not however a song that shows Ian Gillan at his best.
Ah come on, I love that scream.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OorZcOzNcgE&w=420&h=315%5D
Apparently the Irish Independent are planning to do an in-depth expose of the Socialist Party on Saturday. Expect shocking revelations that the Socialist Party is very influential in the household charge campaign and even more shocking revelations that its TDs give most of their salary away. This is, it appears, going to be an extended general attack on the SP rather than an article about some particular issue.
It is actually quite interesting that there’s been such an onslaught of attacks on the SP in Independent News and Media papers over the last couple of weeks. The Socialist Party after all is pretty marginal in electoral terms, and the various right wing hacks who churn out political copy for IN&M usually view politics as one big electoral game, all about gossip, careerist maneuvers and interchangeable politicians getting one over on each other.
Just the SP or will their ULA partners be included?
I predict that the Indo will saddle the SP with Mick Wallace’s tax burden.
It seems that it’s going to be a big long diatribe against the Socialist Party specifically, or at least that’s what it looks like from the questions put to the SP.
The Socialist Party have already been told by people from other left wing groups that the journalist concerned has contacted them looking for “dirt” on the SP. Those people told him to fuck off. But it’s indicative of a targeted attack on the SP rather than a general one on the left.
That explains a number of things that puzzled me this week. Sensible to get that statement out the other day. Though I fear Rosencrantz is correct.
The questions put to the Socialist Party don’t mention Wallace. I would be surprised if they didn’t try to use him to smear the SP in their article, which is clearly meant to be a wide ranging hatchet job, but that doesn’t seem to be their central line of attack.
As I understand it, this particular mouthpiece of Ireland’s rich will be primarily concerned with trying to imply that there’s something corrupt about TDs living on the average industrial wage and on trying to undermine the CAHWT. In particular, they seem to be taking the angle that the CAHWT is controlled by the SP who supposedly have it in for rural Ireland.
The assault on the SP by IN&M is at least as much aimed at the CAHWT as it is at the SP.
Another thing they seem particularly interested in is the Socialist Party’s terrifying support for raising corporation tax, which as we all would know would make the sky fall in.
“The assault on the SP by IN&M is at least as much aimed at the CAHWT as it is at the SP.”
I think you’ve got it in one. Anything they can do to discredit the campaign, and more broadly those who aren’t paying beyond the campaign, they’ll use and if the SP is in the line of fire and they can inflict collateral damage all the better from their perspective.
Yes. If the Socialist Party was simply raising criticisms of the right wing consensus in the Dail and running various low profile campaigns, as has often been the case since 1997, it wouldn’t be attracting this sort of vicious, coordinated, media hostility. In fact, Joe Higgins would still be getting patronising media pats on the head for being witty and honest and giving good copy.
It’s the CAHWT, a campaign which goes far beyond the SP and far beyond the organised left, but which the SP clearly plays an important role in, which changes that. Both because that campaign has already shown the ability to involve masses of people in direct action and because of the possibility of people drawing wider oppositional political conclusions from it.
Part of the broader attacks on the opposition in the last few weeks rather then a vendetta against the SP in particular though no? Wallace gave them the taste for blood and the government had to get busy after that inconvenient referendum.
There’s certainly been a wider attempt to delegitimise opposition, and in particular opposition even slightly to the left of the consensus, but there has been a vastly disproportionate amount of it directed against the Socialist Party. Particularly, to be blunt about it, when you take into account the rather modest social weight of the Socialist Party.
I think the disproportionate attention, and yes it is such, is a very obvious function of a number of issues. There’s what’s already been mentioned re the property tax. There’s the hangover from a number of weeks back, some boredom with economic issues that the Indo can’t really deal with and can’t critique because they agree with the general approach of the orthodoxy, yes- a genuine dislike and sneering at the SP ideologically, but they also believe it to be largely an irrelevance (as is their opinoin on the ULA), the fact the SP is part of a broader and very vocal opposition that in some cosmetic respects is quite different to previous ones we’ve seen in this state and the Indo are all too willing to put the boot in and also not unimportantly a significant of it is because the SP has been able to take the high moral and political ground in some instances (and justifiably so in some cases) in the past and therefore the Indo are keen to cut it out from under them if they can find any means of painting them as a party ‘just like t’others’.
Broadening it out a bit further let’s not downplay the fact that the opposition as a whole, at least on the TG side is an individual and flamboyant lot from pony-tailed politicians to whatever. The personality aspect of that is huge and of course they’re going to be interested in that. It makes great copy. They sell newspapers.
But this is really the sort of outcome of that some of us warned weeks back, that people had to be very clear on various issues otherwise it would bring unwarranted and unfair attention and political attacks on themselves from the media and political opponents.
There’s no doubt this is part of an attack on the radical left. The Indo group might also just want sensationalised stories to sell their newspapers. The one doubt I have about whether it is specifically aimed at the CAHWT is the amazing but neglected story the Sindo recently ran (July 8th) on Phil Hogan, whom they described as the minister for collecting the household charge:
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/nationwides-soft-loan-to-hogan-3161567.html
In addition to the demonising of ULA there is the rehabilitation of FF.Even in bourgeois terms surely they should ask FF how this crisis started, who signed the deal with the troika, who guaranteed the senior bond holders, etc.I expect a campaign to elevate altarboy Lenihan into the sainthood. Instead we get almost left criticism of the government by FF taken at face value.Obviously to me an attempt to make sure that tweedleedum will be in place when and if FG/Labour blow it. At all costs they want to prevent a further rise of SF and ULA.
It’s worth pointing out that while the ULA as a whole has been on the receiving end of some of the recent spate of media attacks, many more of them have been aimed specifically at its Socialist Party component. Why that is, I’m not entirely sure, but it’s certainly true. And it seems to be the SP rather than the ULA that the extended Indo hatchet job is being prepared for.
I see you keep saying the same thing in every post. Spit it out. What do you think is the reason? Do you think they fear the vitality of the SP programme and that it is about to sweep the nation? I mean you’ve got to have some idea.
I’m not trying to be glib, but you seem very exercised by all this.
Given the SP has 2 TDs and not one, and that it is seen as being the closest to Wallace, I’d say it makes the most natural target. In some senses the wonder is it has taken so long for them to try and direct people’s attention away from other things towards some of what they would regard as some of the more evil/eccentric/colourful aspects of the ULA.
Don’e be silly.
I keep making the same point in response to people who post comments which either specifically call it into question (doctorfive) or collapse the barrage of IN&M attacks on the Socialist Party into a wider attack on the “radical left” (DD) or the ULA (Jim). If we’re going to talk about what they are doing, we should be clear on the details – and that is that while the IN&M outlets have attacked the wider ULA and, for that matter, Sinn Fein recently, they are expending a wildly disproportionate amount of energy and column inches on the Socialist Party specifically.
I am sure that’s happening, because I have eyes and can read. I’m not sure precisely why their main focus is the SP rather than say PBPA or the WUAG or the ULA as a whole. My best guess, as expressed above, is that it’s because of the prominence of the SP in the household tax campaign. Plus their usual trite focus on Dail politics and personalities – Joe and Clare are probably more prominent at that sort of level than, say, Joan or Seamus, and Joe in particular has a long history as an effective, if minor, thorn in the side of right wing governments. But I’m genuinely not quite sure. It may be as straightforward as the SP being a better known brand to right wing journalists than PBP or whatever.
Don’t be obnoxious Mark P.
There’s been plenty of reasons aired as to why this might be so. I was just curious as to why given all those aired you still seem to be wandering along in your ‘I’m not entirely sure’ state.
I don’t think it was particularly obnoxious to refer to your question, about whether I thought that the SP were the focus of recent attacks by IN&M because the right wing media fear our programme sweeping the country, as silly.
And yes, there have been quite a few reasons suggested here, some of them by me. And most of those reasons make a certain amount of sense. But there doesn’t seem to be much obvious reason to prefer any one of them over another, or even to prefer any combination over any other. Which is to say, I’m not sure.
Mark’s best guess is that it is the Sp’s role in the household tax campaign. I suspect a lot of other people’s best guess is that Wallace thing, followed by the expenses thing, left the SP more open than the rest of the ULA to some sort of “exposé”, especially when the other component parts were quicker out of the blocks with a definitive statement on Wallace or took a different attitude to the expenses like RBB. I’ll be interested to see if this report links the statement released recently to the planned story (I don’t know what the chronology is in terms of questions being put to the SP versus the statement, but I’m sure the media wouldn’t be above a little fudging of that issue).
Mark, I despair if you cannot understand that I wasn’t being serious as regards the programme. I really do. Without for a second wanting to sound condescending you’re someone whose thoughts I often enjoy and usually find interesting and informative but you come over incredibly po-faced on occasion in online interactions.