Media silence over Niall Collins story

blanch152

https://www.ontheditch.com/kenny-bruton-gilmore/

And so we get the "major relevations" from the Ditch. 83 jobs that were announced as planned, didn't actually happen, but ConnectIreland didn't get paid for them, so the country didn't lose out, but this is somehow a huge scandal!!!!

Well, blow me over, boys, what outstanding journalism again, to make a story out of nothing.

Dimwitted barrel-scraping.

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120985505#Comment_120985505

It as good as the one about the tax on a TD's car.

The "investigative journalist" at work

Imagine finding a site to the tune of 200k a year and getting that quality of work as a result. I’ve always heard rumours that Cosgrave is not very intelligent, just has buckets of private school confidence, but surely even he must see it’s throwing away money?

I’d be devising a performance improvement plan for Roman and the other lad at the very least.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120957911#Comment_120957911

What a pair of smug eejits, look like they enjoy nothing better than a good fart auto-inhaling session. "Senior Hurlers", jaysus wept.

Overheal

10 years ago their announcement of jobs was inaccurate. what a scandal, theyre headed to the hague

VinLieger

So as many knew Paddy's principles only last for as long as his wallet is unaffected.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121250593#Comment_121250593

Didnt take long for him to realise his business trumps principles.

hometruths

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121253016#Comment_121253016

He should go into politics, he'd be in good company.

corks finest

FG are a disgrace

hoodie6029

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121250593#Comment_121250593

This TD lied to Planners!

This TD lies to Planners!

The motor tax is out on this TD’s car for 4 months!

‘I am exposing the true rotten core and hypocrisy of Ireland’

’What about your ties to Qatar, self dealing with your companies?’

’Shut your mouth or my lawyers will shut it for you and put you in the poor house’

Amazing how these things come back to bite people….

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121253451#Comment_121253451

Wait what did I miss that happened off thread

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121254328#Comment_121254328

Paddy decided to post about the Israel/Palestine situation and it did not go well. The irony is I pretty much agree with his take but Paddy being Paddy he came across as snide and acting like he knows more than everyone else as well as doing his usual thing to make it about himself. Then he was rightly called out on numerous points, like his absolute over simplification of such a complex issue, his links to Qatar and their links to Hamas etc. So people started threatening to not attend web summit and he then doubled down saying they actually sold more web summit tickets etc. He said he wouldn't stop and less than 24 hours later had apologised and announced he was taking a break from twitter.

It was quite fun to watch in real time.

hoodie6029

One of these days Paddy will realise that he’s an events planner and not some Oracle. (That will never happen)

Bobson Dugnutt

Intel and Siemens have pulled out from Web Summit. All going very wrong for the man who once said he didn’t need a PR agency as he was skilled enough at it himself.

A whale only gets harpooned when it comes up to blow.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121260109#Comment_121260109

Hoist by one’s own petard.

VinLieger

The speed of the downfall is quite spectacular, you get the feeling these people and companies always knew he was a spoofer but managed to throw an event where he made them feel like royalty so they put up with him.

Dav010

You get the feeling this is going to snowball in the coming days, this could be a Gerald Ratner moment for Paddy and WS.

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121260164#Comment_121260164

It already has, just reading that Intel didn't just pull out of attending they pulled their sponsorship

Hotblack Desiato

Not looking good for Tech Gemma is it?

VinLieger

Theres a fun paddy specific thread over here so we dont derail the ditches "journalism" thread.....

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058106824/is-paddy-cosgrove-the-biggest-wanker-in-ireland/p6

Bobson Dugnutt

I wonder can Ditch founder Chay Bowes actually come home to Ireland or is he “stuck” over in Moscow?” He is pushing his blog these days. I’ll save you the bother - it’s incredibly poorly written pro-Russian propaganda.

What a malcontent he is.

Dav010

So let’s do a round up here of the main players, past and present in The Ditch.

We have, a wealthy benefactor who appears to use it to push his own agenda, and is now in real trouble with the very business people he courts, and his partners in WS, we have a pro Russia propagandist, and, a complete scumbag who fleeced his LL for €50k and had to be thrown out on foot of a court order.

And this are the people some loons are looking to for investigative journalism.

Cluedo Monopoly

FF cllr’s son built house on land he lost in receivership (ontheditch.com)

Fianna Fáil councillor’s son built house on land he lost in receivership – with no planning permission.

Whatever about the Ditch finding this stuff, how is it that these kinda shenanigans are never uncovered and resolved by agencies in the state? Why is the 2015 reform bill promised since the Mahon tribunal stalled by FFG? Why do we still live in a banana republic where the elite can do what they want? Did no planner/engineer notice that this house was being built without planning?

I live in Galway and had to jump thru hoops to get planning permission. I should have used the local corrupt FF councillor. Is that how it's done?

Fine Gael's New Politics promised to overhaul the planning system in 2011.

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121266896#Comment_121266896

Because people up and down the country flout planning permission and mostly get away with it. It is not the reserve of politicians.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121266896#Comment_121266896

Firstly, he isn’t “the elite”, secondly, the obvious question is, is there planning for a house on that site? The article says he built it though he didn’t have planning, did anyone have planning?

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121266912#Comment_121266912

The Mahon tribunal cost 300m over 5 years. It finished in 2012 and reform was promised. Nothing has happened. You cannot excuse that.

Put penalties in place that make it impossible to "get away with it".

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121266929#Comment_121266929

I'm not excusing it. A "councillor's son" was really, really not the focus of the Mahon tribunal.

I am fine with penalties for flouting planning - I'm all aboard with forcing people to demolish their buildings they have built without permission. I'm just saying it is not the preserve of people related to minor local politicians. The reason it's not enforced more is likely because so many people flout it and it has nothing to do with power or connections.

Cluedo Monopoly

When RTE Investigates uncovered yet more corruption, reform was promised in the Dail the next day. We all knew it wouldn't happen. Why do you accept this?

Council chamber secrets: Misconduct, falsehoods & waste (rte.ie)

Council chamber secrets: Misconduct, falsehoods and waste

A new era of accountability in local government was promised ten years ago, but has yet to be delivered.

In our analysis, two predominant themes persist in the local government sector.

One is the lack of accountability. Another is the persistent absence of real transparency.

Reforms?

In 2015, the prospect of ethics law reform was on the political agenda when a proposed piece of legislation, the Public Sector Standards Bill, was presented to the Dáil.

Under this legislation, a new Office of Public Sector Standards Commissioner was proposed, in addition to various other reforms that had been initially recommended in the Mahon Tribunal.

The commissioner would have the power to initiate investigations, even in the absence of a complaint. (Currently, the Standards in Public Office Commission can only initiate inquiries upon receiving a complaint.) It would also have powers to impose fines.

"For the first time, a uniform framework of ethical regulations will apply at national and local level in Ireland," said Brendan Howlin, the then-Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, in a Dáil debate in January 2016.

"There will now be a consistency of approach to ethical obligations across the public sector and, in a new departure, overarching integrity principles for public officials will be enshrined in legislation."

Of course, all of this sounded promising. But progress on the legislation later ground to a halt.

In August 2017, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe wrote to the Oireachtas Finance Committee to warn that it was "essential that the Committee now quickly moves" to schedule the completion of thecommittee stage of the proposed legislation.

Progress on ethics law reform has ground to a halt, some 10 years after the Mahon Tribunal

Mr Donohoe said that this was necessary because of the "public interest in implementing the recommendations" of the Mahon Tribunal.

But this request had little impact.

When asked for an update on the legislation in June 2019, an Oireachtas official replied that the Dáil term was due to finish the following month and that "All our remaining meetings are fully accounted for, and there are no plans to deal with this Bill in the remaining time".

The delays continued, and once the 2020 General Election was called, the bill died.

With the Public Sector Standards Bill now a distant memory, the Government's latest initiative is a "review" of ethics legislation. In November 2021, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath, told the Dáil that this review had begun, describing it as "a very significant body of work".

"We still have outstanding recommendations from tribunals of inquiry that reported several years ago, and I am determined to make progress in that area," said Mr McGrath.

Given the pace of reform, it doesn't appear that anything meaningful will happen anytime soon.

As John Devitt of Transparency International Ireland put it, "Turkeys don't vote for Christmas."

---------------

Reform will not happen. The idiot voters will accept that.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121266960#Comment_121266960

Before you make anymore of a Ditch report, surely the important question is, was there valid pp?, not who built the house.

downthemiddle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121267314#Comment_121267314

Are The Ditch giving much coverage to the Web Summit resignation?