Bertie Ahern is the star of the show

national | politics / elections | opinion/analysis Monday April 12, 2004 11:49 by john mc dermott - Remove Fianna Fail Party Dublin

Bertie Ahern plays the lead role in the Dublin Castle Pantomime

A larger -than -life cast of characters;corruption,treachery,intrigue,collective amnesia.The action moves from Leinster house to the Isle-Of-Man ,to the czech republic.Democracy itself is threathened.Will the Junta survive or will the people overthrow them?This show has everything.We cannot reveal the outcome!(yet)

Ireland is a study in microcosm,of subverted democracy.The clock heralding our downfall is already in motion.For a better example ,you would have to look to a ruined sub Saharan state,and’ democracy,’African style. For example.An election is pending. The local tribal boss (Bertie Ahearn) )sits down and calculates with cunning exactitude,who is likely to vote for them,..and why.! Your own “tribal groups” whom you have traditionally “looked after” will certainly vote for you(even if your pals have been caught with your fingers in the till!).
A typically reliable grouping is the Farmers Lobby .Well heeled and well subsidized,(by Bertie and Brussels)
If you have given goodies(benchmarking)to another very sizeable ‘ tribe’i.e. ,all of the Civil Service;they too, will in the main,be a safe vote.
If you promise all “semi state” groups ,Aer Rianta,Aer Lingus etc. jobs for life…bingo…that’s another chunk of votes in the bag.
At this point you can safely ‘rubbish bin’ the rest of the less organized workers votes and whammy them hard with all the stealth taxes you can conjure up ,…If they are in the private sector,without big Union backing, they have no muscle,anyhow.!
This vote buying payoff brings in lots more taxes,so in a way the mugs are only getting a loan of the money.Bertie claws half of it back anyway.
In the long term,this destroys the value of a currency through rampant inflation.(Ireland is the dearest country in Europe).Our Euro becomes of line with the French Euro or the Austrian Euro-nominally the same currency!
Multi –Nationals move on to new emerging low cost/wage economies;-Poland ,The Czech republic,Estonia etc,-despite the low Irish taxes regime on corporate profits .

Unions,accustombed to blackmail, use the muscle they possess,to intensify their demands in a scenario of feeble,self-serving,government; riddled with corruption and cronyism..The become tacit partners in the criminality. The endless cycle of strike threat/and surrender, continues , and the cycle of more taxation repeats itself- to claw back the profligate handouts-driving up the cost of living once more.It’s a circle which feeds on itself and Fianna Fail profit by it,and will never break it.

To undertake the daunting task of representing the interests of all of our citizens equally, for the common good,has never, ever been their agenda. Corruption , cronyism,yes. Corruption yes...competence..never !
Vote buying ,third world style, leads to the eventual impovershment of a country. It is to the detriment of all of the Irish people.
The “spin”,the lies,the promises, the propaganda circus that Fianna Fail will launch for the forthcoming elections will likely succeed once more.
They have already paid the infamous “Luas”contractors a massive bonus ,on top of the of hundreds of millions of Euros budget overrun, so it will be finished to great fanfare as an example of their “achievements?”just in opportune time for the local elections.
The taxpayer will have plenty of time to pay this and the rest of their election expenses …for many years afterwards!
You still have to admire them ‘The Soldiers Of Destiny Show’;-What a pantomime! What a motley crew they make;No Hollywood director could assemble such a magnificent cast.
The larger- than- life ‘Pee Flynn’ Eurocomissioner,and opportunist extraordinare, effortlessly trousering the 50,000 pound cheque;
George Redmond,the unelected Great Facilitator;.. perfectly placed to carry out everyone’s bidding,re-zoning,land speculation,planning permissions,a veritable one-stop-shop for every businessman or builder with a petition and a fistful of cash;
Let us not forget ‘Isle of Man Kennedy’his wealthy,publicity shy,( tax exiled )brother in law, of ‘one armed bandit’(gambling arcade)fame who spent a lifetime bankrolling the land re-zoning strokes with bags of cash, mined from the pockets and paycheques of sundry addicts and unfortunates,all of whom habituated his Dublin casinos ,daily,until the money ran out .
Another now forgotten scandal which our elected councillors ignored for so many years.
Also of course,we must pay tribute to the role of the infamous ‘ money snatchers’,..Burke and Lawlor, digging diligently for gold(not cadavers) in Dublin’s dirt, Edinburg graveyards or the Czech republic !

The lead role is played to perfection by ‘ Blank Cheque Bertie’.or is it.. ‘ Blank Memory Bertie’?
He may not be a true visionary ,a memorable statesman.. in the mould of Martin Luther King.He may not have the style and noble bearing of a Great Garnerer of Wealth,such as his mentor, the legendery C.J.H.
But when Bertie says..”I have a dream..”and the crowd pause for something wonderful to follow,.. the reply goes; ‘Yes..I have a dream..-and it’s to be re-elected… whatever it costs!’ . ‘And here’s news-‘ dat’s your own money dat’s payin for it -suckers!-E-N-J-O-Y!’
(applause from the assembled multitudes please)