Say Goodbye To FF Corruption & Say Hello To FG and Labour Corruption

UsernameInUse · 27-03-2011 12:30AM #1

Dublin North Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell has hired his wife as his PA on a salary paid for by the taxpayer. Deputy Farrell failed to get his wife replace him on the Council. Once again we head down the road of cronyism.

But here's some nepotism for you, thrown in for good measure. Gilmore has his daughter working on a huge case regarding Shell. This is hardly a niche area - add to that she only got her particulars...rubbish.

Say Goodbye to Fianna Fail's corrupt goons and say hell to Fine Gael and Labour's corrupt goons...I say we call another GE and replace these primary school teachers with professional finance wizards who have experience running multi-billion dollar industries.

*sigh*...will we ever learn? :rolleyes:

Chaotic_Forces · 27-03-2011 12:34AM

Well now hang on, hang on.

We don't know how corrupt these fellas are.

We just need to find the ideal level of corruption for ourselves. I'm sure we'll get it this time around.

Captain_Generic · 27-03-2011 12:34AM

UsernameInUse wrote: »

Gilmore has his daughter working on a huge case regarding Shell. This is hardly a niche area - add to that she only got her particulars...rubbish.

Look on the bright side, at least she's not pregnant with his child

gbee · 27-03-2011 12:36AM

The bleedin country is ruined by teachers, they think they are Gods. One even started a riot in a post office a hundred years ago and the repercussions are still ongoing.,

Add to this, I work as a photographer and in EVERY facet it's populated by civil servants, teachers being the most common, leaving me not able to make a tax return again this year.

ejmaztec · 27-03-2011 12:36AM

Ireland's version of the theory of relativity.

spider guardian · 27-03-2011 12:37AM

If at first you don't succeed try nepotism

Naikon · 27-03-2011 12:46AM

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"

Roger Daltrey, The Who

mlumley · 27-03-2011 12:46AM

To be honest, I don't know what to say, but if people got up off of their arses and started shouting about it, maybe, just maybe, something might get done about it. It must be up the to people in Gilmores constituancy to go to him and ask him why he (if he did) get her this job, was it advertised, what was the qualifications for the job. Look, if I were in the same position and could get my daughter a nice cushy job with no one asking questions , I would. Gilmores constituants have got to say to him, no more of this ****, we had enough under FF, cleand up the house. If people dont shout, no one hears.

Naikon · 27-03-2011 12:50AM

mlumley wrote: »

To be honest, I don't know what to say, but if people got up off of their arses and started shouting about it, maybe, just maybe, something might get done about it. It must be up the to people in Gilmores constituancy to go to him and ask him why he (if he did) get her this job, was it advertised, what was the qualifications for the job. Look, if I were in the same position and could get my daughter a nice cushy job with no one asking questions , I would. Gilmores constituants have got to say to him, no more of this ****, we had enough under FF, cleand up the house. If people dont shout, no one hears.

The people at the top control and distribute the wealth as they see fit. Slavery in some shape or other will always exist, even if it's reduced.

We're nothing more than simple serfs I am afraid. Nothing will change.

UsernameInUse · 27-03-2011 01:01AM

Naikon wrote: »

The people at the top control and distribute the wealth as they see fit. Slavery in some shape or other will always exist, even if it's reduced.

We're nothing more than simple serfs I am afraid. Nothing will change.

I fear you are correct. Is rampant shadiness similar to Ireland at work in other countries one must wonder and if so, what is it about us that encourages such corruption?
I mean, here we are - not one month removed from the GE and we're back to square one.

Sonics2k · 27-03-2011 01:05AM

I'm not exactly a FG fan, but what exactly is the problem with Mr Farrell hiring his wife to be his P.A., it is quite common after all for people to hire partners as Secretaries, Assistants etc

bigwormbundoran · 27-03-2011 01:12AM

Sonics2k wrote: »

but what exactly is the problem with Mr Farrell hiring his wife to be his P.A., it is quite common after all for people to hire partners as Secretaries, Assistants etc

The fact that we must pay for it

UsernameInUse · 27-03-2011 01:14AM

Here's another one for you...Ivor Callely got away scot-free after he sued for his Seanad suspension. The High Court made the Irish tax-payer fit the bill for all of this crap. Was 80,000Euro a year not enough for this man? In the recent election, the people voted for change, and that included an end to blatant cronyism. This applies to all parties, and politicians irrespective of who they are. A marker needs to be set down early for the current administration that there will be no repeats of 'the old practices' less they labour under any delusions that the public will tolerate that sort of behaviour.

Words fail me..

Mark200 · 27-03-2011 01:14AM

bigwormbundoran wrote: »

The fact that we must pay for it

It's not costing us any more than it'd cost for him to hire a stranger

She's a qualified barrister, and he trusts her. It's an important job. I don't see what the huge deal is.

Offy · 27-03-2011 01:16AM

Captain_Generic wrote: »

Look on the bright side, at least she's not pregnant with his child

Have you proof of that? Provide a link please

Goldenegg · 27-03-2011 01:17AM

This is going to be a case of déjà vu!

UsernameInUse · 27-03-2011 01:19AM

Mark200 wrote: »

It's not costing us any more than it'd cost for him to hire a stranger

She's a qualified barrister, and he trusts her. It's an important job. I don't see what the huge deal is.

The money is going straight into his pocket when he chose his wife - same household. Oh wait - I forgot, politicians need 3/4 cars and that extra holiday home!

Mark200 · 27-03-2011 01:20AM

UsernameInUse wrote: »

The money is going straight into his pocket when he chose his wife - same household. Oh wait - I forgot, politicians need 3/4 cars and that extra holiday home!

As I said, it is costing us the same regardless of who he hires. She's not unqualified either.

Ruu_Old · 27-03-2011 01:21AM

We need another tribunal I think. >_>

UsernameInUse · 27-03-2011 01:22AM

Mark200 wrote: »

As I said, it is costing us the same regardless of who he hires. She's not unqualified either.

I understand what you're saying but you must accept that he is the one benefiting from his actions.
As opposed to picking someone else - in which case, he wouldn't be benefiting.

Da Shins Kelly · 27-03-2011 01:22AM

Were people really expecting anything different? Every major party is rotten to the core. They need to have a clean out from the top down. New blood is needed.

Offy · 27-03-2011 01:24AM

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Were people really expecting anything different? Every major party is rotten to the core. They need to have a clean out from the top down. New blood is needed.

Time to build guilotines?

UsernameInUse · 27-03-2011 01:25AM

Ruu wrote: »

We need another tribunal I think. >_>

Good point. Let's not forget there is the Moriarty Tribunal working to suss out corruption in Fine Gael's past as we speak.

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Were people really expecting anything different? Every major party is rotten to the core. They need to have a clean out from the top down. New blood is needed.

Couldn't agree more. My next door neighbour is a member of Fine Gael - he is saying that even the grassroots are pissed about these revelations.

Rubik. · 27-03-2011 01:26AM

UsernameInUse wrote: »

But here's some nepotism for you, thrown in for good measure. Gilmore has his daughter working on a huge case regarding Shell. This is hardly a niche area - add to that she only got her particulars...rubbish.

She was offered the job but turned it down.

omega666 · 27-03-2011 01:29AM

UsernameInUse wrote: »

I understand what you're saying but you must accept that he is the one benefiting from his actions.
As opposed to picking someone else - in which case, he wouldn't be benefiting.

big deal, as long he's not scaming the tax payers who gives a crap who he hires.

whydoibother? · 27-03-2011 01:29AM

I don't think any position being paid by the state, be it PA or barrister, should be given to a person without the normal procedure for public jobs. I mean advertising publicly, application forms, interviews etc. There needs to be a fair competition.

Corsendonk · 27-03-2011 01:38AM

Captain_Generic wrote: »

Look on the bright side, at least she's not pregnant with his child

Thats true about Gilmores daughtor but Farrell announced yesterday that his Wife/PA is pregnant. So the maternity leave of her new job in the Dail must be pretty good,

Mark200 · 27-03-2011 01:49AM

whydoibother? wrote: »

I don't think any position being paid by the state, be it PA or barrister, should be given to a person without the normal procedure for public jobs. I mean advertising publicly, application forms, interviews etc. There needs to be a fair competition.

What makes you think that there wasn't? Maybe she was the best qualified.

UsernameInUse · 27-03-2011 01:55AM

Very interesting. Somebody has a lot of questions to answer for. If it's not Gilmore and co, then it is the Attorney General (former Labour Party) who must resign. One or the other. Here's a piece I found..

Still waiting and for what precisely? a list of Junior Counsel who specialize in Environmental Law? Here's a list of counsel who do Bar Council of Ireland And by the way, where is Ms Gilmore on this list? Nowhere! So perhaps, you should contact each one and ask them (particularly those who qualified in the last five years) if they have ever received a state brief?

Perhaps the following passage, might be helpful (it comes directly from the Attorney Generals Website

The Attorney General briefs counsel to give legal advice and to appear on behalf of State parties in litigation.

The Attorney General is subject to the provisions of s. 7 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1974 which provides:

"The Attorney General shall ensure that barristers briefed by him (or her) in his (or her) official capacity … are chosen, from amongst those barristers who have indicated their willingness to so act or advise, in such manner as to effect a distribution of such retainers amongst them that, in the opinion of the Attorney General, is fair and equitable taking one year with another, having regard to their suitability in relation to any particular retainer, to the public interest and to the distribution of retainers under subsection (2) of this section."

Now back to the main point.

Eamon Gilmore before and during the election campaign 'made a vow' that he would end cronyism (but don't take my word for it here's the link

On about the 9th March 2009 a new Attorney General is appointed, who happens to be the former financial secretary of the Labour Party. Her nomination was made by the leader of the Labour Party, Eamon Gilmore. Approximately two weeks later, Broadsheet.ie raise a question about the instruction by the new Attorney General of the daughter of Eamon Gilmore to a case in which the state is a party. Coincidence? For two days, March 24th-25th, there is silence about this until the story starts to generate some attention online before eventually being picked up by the Daily Mail who ran with its story today.

According to the article in the Mail as reported by Ian Cary "Grainne Gilmore, 28 who has worked for the previous Attorney General...declined the offer (so the offer was made) According to a spokeswoman (presumably affiliated with the Labour Party) "She turned down the work not because of her father, but because she had previously advised people who were close to the case." This may or may not be true - but it comes from "a spokeswoman" - so you can take it or leave it unless there is firm evidence to say one way or the other. It may or may not be spin.

There are a couple of questions that need to be followed up here.

(1) When was the appointment made (Letters of instruction must exist)

(2) When did Ms Gilmore decline the case (was it before or after the story entered the public domain, and how was this communicated)

(3) When was the other Junior Counsel appointed, before or after Ms Gilmore declined instructions

(4) Did the Attorney General instruct two junior counsel to begin with or just one? When were the SC and the other JC instructed?

Just to say at no juncture, is there any question about the competence or ability of Ms Gilmore - what is in question is the ethics of the instuction, namely the instruction by the chief law officer of the state (or the civil service) of a lawyer who happens to be the daughter of the deputy prime minister (who appointed the chief law officer of the state, to wit the Attorney General) It may not be a conflict of interest, but it raises ethical questions.

Finally it would appear that the replacing JC (if it is a replacement) has 17 years professional practice experience and is therefore well established. This begs the question, why was this person not instructed in the first place? Perhaps the Attorney General has some questions to answer, and given that she holds her office under the constitution and is remunerated by the tax payer - she should answer them and be given an opportunity to answer those questions in good faith.

Poccington · 27-03-2011 01:55AM

I'd just like to point out that Gilmore's daughter turned down the job offer as she said there was a conflict of interest.

But in true AH fashion, let's not let the facts get in the way of a rant.

UsernameInUse · 27-03-2011 01:57AM

Poccington wrote: »

I'd just like to point out that Gilmore's daughter turned down the job offer as she said there was a conflict of interest.

But in true AH fashion, let's not let the facts get in the way of a rant.

Well then, Poc - it's the Attorney General (Labour) who has a lot of questions to answer.

Say Goodbye To FF Corruption & Say Hello To FG and Labour Corruption

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