What does the Siteserv deal say about the standard of journalism in Ireland today?

kneemos · 28-04-2015 12:31PM

SeamusFX wrote: »

The tax payer was swindle by O'Brien multiple times. It sad, but at the time of Esat Digifone won the mobile phone licence, it was quite obvious to me and many others that something was wrong, but it took years before all the dirt came out. O'Brien and Esat Digifone won the licence even though their offer wasn't the best and to this day with all the cover ups, we still don't know all the details, hence the Country got less than it could have and should have and when the government gets less money on a deal, who foots the bill? The taxpayer!!!!!!!! To top it off, he made millions on the back of Digifone and the Irish people and then moved his residence out of the state for tax avoidance reasons, this was despite the fact that at the time the large majority of his earnings were in Ireland.

Then for Siteserv he got another sweet deal. He bought Siteserv for 45.4 million euro after the Government and the tax payer took a hit for 150 million euro, despite the fact that Siteserv had revenues of 92.2 million Euro in the six months prior and Siteserv shareholders received a 5 million Euro payout, which was a 96% premium over the share price, despite the fact that Bank debt is supposed to come before shareholders. This is also despite the fact that The Altrad Group a French Company which owns several companies specialising in the same business area as Siteserv offered to pay more for Siteserv, but they were told it wasn't for sale and a few days later it was sold to O'Brien for less. Meanwhile Richard Woodhouse, the group head of specialised management at IBRC, just happens to be a close personal friend of O'Brien and in the meantime he has no problem pursuing other defaulting companies to the ends of the earth. Did the taxpayers get the best deal there?? If you say yes then you either you must have a very low IQ or you received a brown envelop from O'Brien. Then to put the icing on the cake, the State gives Siteserv the water meter installation contract.

Finally, do you think struggling mortgage holders and actual tax payers will get anything close to a sweet deal like this ever? Certainly not, in some cases the banks will be pursuing them and their children for years, but smug DOB is literally laughing all the way to the bank. It's just sad!

The French bid had stipulations and delayed payments,plus it wasn't clear that the offer would go through. They went(rightly)with the solid offer.

Don't think anything underhand has been has been leveled at DOB regarding Digifone,he made an offer and it was accepted is all we know.
If you're suggesting a business is not going to avoid tax where possible you're crazy.

SeamusFX · 28-04-2015 12:45PM

kneemos wrote: »

The French bid had stipulations and delayed payments,plus it wasn't clear that the offer would go through. They went(rightly)with the solid offer.

Don't think anything underhand has been has been leveled at DOB regarding Digifone,he made an offer and it was accepted is all we know.
If you're suggesting a business is not going to avoid tax where possible you're crazy.

Do you actually believe that? If so, then you are the one that is clearly CRAZY! Just curious, are you a FG supporter? It's nice to be innocent, but lets face it, where there's smoke there's fire!!! There are too many smokey clouds and too many inconsistencies following O'Brien. Yes, in the case of Digifone "he made an offer and it was accepted", but it was accepted by Michael Lowry and he's as crooked as a barrel of fish hooks and it was "Sealed bids". How is this allowed!!!!! I know the brown envelope needs to be sealed, but the bids shouldn't be sealed. Is this a Banana Republic we are living in?????? Now with the Siteserv deal, too many lies, inconsistencies and dirty dealings, you have to be an idiot to believe it is on the level!!! "They went(rightly)with the solid offer.", yes it was the right offer if you are Denis O'Brien!!

everlast75 · 28-04-2015 01:22PM

Its amazing how easily manipulated the press can be.

Here's a conspiracy for you.

Say there is another scandal in the background and FG want to detract from that, when it does break.

So they check out the Siteserve story and acknowledge that it does look suspect on the face of it, but are certain they are covered. Say they tip off this independent TD and she goes sniffing around, finds these papers and goes to the press. Cue outrage, calls for investigations and the like. It dominates the headlines for weeks and then ultimately an investigation holds that there is nothing untoward (hypothetically)

THEN FG leak info on the next scandal, and when there are suspicions raised, they refer to the previous "scandal" and say it is nothing and in all likelihood, the public's appetite for complicated investigations etc will not be there and it will pass by relatively smoothly.

The two morals of the story are
1) PR Companies should be fecking done away with in the context of political parties. Fancy name for propaganda.
2) No one person should hold that much sway in the press.

michael999999 · 28-04-2015 01:29PM

walkingshadow wrote: »

Well at least Kim Kardashian has big tits

Denis owns two big tits as well.

They go by the name Noonan and Enda Kenny!

Skullface McGubbin · 28-04-2015 02:33PM

SafeSurfer wrote: »

Why is there no serious investigative journalism in Ireland? Page after page of drivel in all the main papers and no capacity or resources for real investigative journalism from most online sources.

Yellow journalism seems to be the norm these days. And as another user on this thread said, news media companies are businesses.
Plus, news outlets also serve as mouth pieces for ideologues to push their agendas. They'll only cover anything resembling investigative journalism if it fits their chosen narrative.

joe swanson · 28-04-2015 06:57PM

It seems if you would would rather wait and see the evidence and outcome of an investigation, your an fg troll and corruption enabler.

BoJack Horseman · 28-04-2015 07:11PM

joe swanson wrote: »

It seems if you would would rather wait and see the evidence and outcome of an investigation, your an fg troll and corruption enabler.

Seeking evidence eh?

The hallmark of the blueshirt fascist.

SeamusFX · 28-04-2015 09:12PM

joe swanson wrote: »

It seems if you would would rather wait and see the evidence and outcome of an investigation, your an fg troll and corruption enabler.

What kind of drugs are you on? This isn't a witch hunt, but to anyone with half a brain it's quite obvious that there were serious financial and auditing improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations. I guess the FG trolls just want to wait to see if Denny and the boys can do a good cover up and whatever lies they spin, the suckers will buy it for whatever reason. Let's face it, if it looks like a pig, walks like a pig and squeals like a pig, then it's a PIG!!

michael999999 · 28-04-2015 09:19PM

SeamusFX wrote: »

What kind of drugs are you on? This isn't a witch hunt, but to anyone with half a brain it's quite obvious that there were serious financial and auditing improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations. I guess the FG trolls just want to wait to see if Denny and the boys can do a good cover up and whatever lies they spin, the suckers will buy it for whatever reason. Let's face it, if it looks like a pig, walks like a pig and squeals like a pig, then it's a PIG!!

And the FG pigs snout is firmly in the trough!

Fine Gael are certainly DOBs best ever purchase!

hatrickpatrick · 28-04-2015 09:28PM

joe swanson wrote: »

Love it when people jump to conclusions. That's why there is going to b an investigation. Not his biggest fan but Alan dukes sounded quite convincing.

Maybe we should wait to see if anything unto ward actually happened. But id imagine the usual anti everything lobby will shout and shout once d ob is mentioned.

I wouldn't call myself anti everything, but I'm definitely part of the crowd you mention. My belief is that if once you are found to have been involved in any sort of corrupt conspiracy (DOB has been found to have given money to Michael Lowry, Lowry has been found to have given information to DOB which helped him secure the contract) this should preclude you from getting any further state contracts or involvement whatsoever. We tolerate far too much bullsh!t in this country. So even if nothing untoward happened in this case, in my view people would still have the right to be pissed off, just as with his involvement with IW. We need to adopt a "an shenanigans, and you're out" approach to the political elite, or we'll never root out the cronyism we have to put up with at the moment.

Letree · 28-04-2015 09:49PM

It says that Irish journalists are scared stiff of the big DOB

Laois_Man · 28-04-2015 10:42PM

SafeSurfer wrote: »

But for Catherine Murphy the Siteserv scandal would never have come to light. Why is there no serious investigative journalism in Ireland? Page after page of drivel in all the main papers and no capacity or resources for real investigative journalism from most online sources.
Relatively petty crimes are sensationalised while possible corruption insider trading betting millions is ignored.
The elite in our society are never held to account by the media while the most disadvantaged are vilified.

I have no idea what you're on about. I have known about the Siteserv deal for ages. Catherine Murphy brought nothing new to light!

joe swanson · 29-04-2015 03:13AM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

I wouldn't call myself anti everything, but I'm definitely part of the crowd you mention. My belief is that if once you are found to have been involved in any sort of corrupt conspiracy (DOB has been found to have given money to Michael Lowry, Lowry has been found to have given information to DOB which helped him secure the contract) this should preclude you from getting any further state contracts or involvement whatsoever. We tolerate far too much bullsh!t in this country. So even if nothing untoward happened in this case, in my view people would still have the right to be pissed off, just as with his involvement with IW. We need to adopt a "an shenanigans, and you're out" approach to the political elite, or we'll never root out the cronyism we have to put up with at the moment.

I actually agree with a lot you say in that post, but my point is everyone is entitled to due process from Denis o brien to thugs attacking Gardaí whilst shouting 'peaceful protest'.

If the EVIDENCE supports the accusations as findings of a proper investigation absolutely, face the consequences. But shouting the loudest and saying something again and again doesn't necessarily mean its true.

hatrickpatrick · 30-04-2015 03:21PM

joe swanson wrote: »

I actually agree with a lot you say in that post, but my point is everyone is entitled to due process from Denis o brien to thugs attacking Gardaí whilst shouting 'peaceful protest'.

If the EVIDENCE supports the accusations as findings of a proper investigation absolutely, face the consequences. But shouting the loudest and saying something again and again doesn't necessarily mean its true.

The evidence as per Moriarty supports the allegation that he gave money to Lowry and Lowry helped him get a state contract.

My point is, having found that, he should have been banned from having literally any more involvements with any more state or semi state contracts, or anything to do with exchequer money. We put up with too much bullsh!t in this country - the law should make it clear that you have one strike before you're kicked out of the elite. Permanently.

So in my view what happened with Siteserv isn't even all that relevant. DOB shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near it to begin with, based on his previous behaviour.

michael999999 · 30-04-2015 06:33PM

Denis O Brien has now applied for a High Court injunction, trying to prevent RTE from transmitting an investigative programme about hes finances!

Flood · 30-04-2015 06:36PM

michael999999 wrote: »

Denis O Brien has now applied for a High Court injunction, trying to prevent RTE from transmitting an investigative programme about hes finances!

And he probably will get it.

hatrickpatrick · 30-04-2015 07:09PM

Flood wrote: »

And he probably will get it.

It doesn't matter if he does in my view, the fact that he's sought it will do as much damage to his reputation as the program itself would - possibly more, in fact. The program could well have had no credibility and left us all thinking "poor journalism, nothing to see here" but now that he's trying to block it, everyone's going to be thinking "Little f*cker has something to hide, sure we all knew it"

michael999999 · 30-04-2015 07:14PM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

It doesn't matter if he does in my view, the fact that he's sought it will do as much damage to his reputation as the program itself would - possibly more, in fact. The program could well have had no credibility and left us all thinking "poor journalism, nothing to see here" but now that he's trying to block it, everyone's going to be thinking "Little f*cker has something to hide, sure we all knew it"

Reputation?

I think that was lost after the findings of The Moriarty Tribunal!

steddyeddy · 30-04-2015 08:34PM

kneemos wrote: »

The French bid had stipulations and delayed payments,plus it wasn't clear that the offer would go through. They went(rightly)with the solid offer.

Don't think anything underhand has been has been leveled at DOB regarding Digifone,he made an offer and it was accepted is all we know.
If you're suggesting a business is not going to avoid tax where possible you're crazy.

A government contract issued to someone implicated as corrupt by a tribunal is far from solid.

Timberrrrrrrr · 30-04-2015 08:35PM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

It doesn't matter if he does in my view, the fact that he's sought it will do as much damage to his reputation as the program itself would - possibly more, in fact. The program could well have had no credibility and left us all thinking "poor journalism, nothing to see here" but now that he's trying to block it, everyone's going to be thinking "Little f*cker has something to hide, sure we all knew it"

I wonder how many on here would be happy to have all of their financial and personal details broadcast without their permission.

steddyeddy · 30-04-2015 08:37PM

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

I wonder how many on here would be happy to have all of their financial and personal details broadcast without their permission.

I'd be less happy to have it broadcast if I was the type of man implicated in bribing people. Luckily I have integrity.

Happyman42 · 30-04-2015 08:41PM

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

I wonder how many on here would be happy to have all of their financial and personal details broadcast without their permission.

I presume RTE are not going to publish anything private, rather info that is in the public domain for those with ease of access.
All they are doing is making that info more accessible. Unless I am missing something?

darkpagandeath · 30-04-2015 08:48PM

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

I wonder how many on here would be happy to have all of their financial and personal details broadcast without their permission.

If it's relevant to the public interest.

darkpagandeath · 30-04-2015 08:49PM

Happyman42 wrote: »

I presume RTE are not going to publish anything private, rather info that is in the public domain for those with ease of access.
All they are doing is making that info more accessible. Unless I am missing something?

Exactly like CEO's of different company's all publicly available information for example.

Happyman42 · 30-04-2015 08:58PM

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Exactly like CEO's of different company's all publicly available information for example.

Yep.
Funny though the poster concerned is very keen for information from other quarters and individuals to be made public even stuff that might be invented but not any publically available facts that might embarass the government.

driver02 · 30-04-2015 09:00PM

Apparently Catherine Murphy had to ask 19 questions in the Dail to the information on this. Something rotten here with FG connections happened before with the phone license. Noon an must know something when it took him 19 questions to give any info very much under pressure with sean o rourke yesterday

michael999999 · 30-04-2015 09:03PM

driver02 wrote: »

Apparently Catherine Murphy had to ask 19 questions in the Dail to the information on this. Something rotten here with FG connections happened before with the phone license. Noon an must know something when it took him 19 questions to give any info very much under pressure with sean o rourke yesterday

Noonan will tough it out, and it'll be forgotten about in a few months!

Its the fine Gael way of doing things.

Remember Rehab and Enda Kenny sacking the Garda Commissioner!

_Kaiser_ · 30-04-2015 09:17PM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

It doesn't matter if he does in my view, the fact that he's sought it will do as much damage to his reputation as the program itself would - possibly more, in fact. The program could well have had no credibility and left us all thinking "poor journalism, nothing to see here" but now that he's trying to block it, everyone's going to be thinking "Little f*cker has something to hide, sure we all knew it"

In reality though it makes fook all difference what the "peasants" think of him.. it's what his friends and contacts in Government, media and elsewhere think.. or more accurately, how they think it might affect THEM.

As long as enough of the "little people" continue to vote FG/FF, and continue to pay up to keep the Gravy Train rolling, then you can be sure that no-one with any real power in this country gives a toss what is reported.

Banjo String · 30-04-2015 09:19PM

michael999999 wrote: »

Noonan will tough it out, and it'll be forgotten about in a few months!

Its the fine Gael way of doing things.

Remember Rehab and Enda Kenny sacking the Garda Commissioner!

This one won't go away as easily I would hope.

A couple of months from now Irish Water will be reporting (maybe even truthfully) about how many have paid/not paid their bills. Siteservs acquisition, and and meters contract will be brought up.

General election less than a year away. Siteservs acquisition, and meters contract will be brought up.

This is the bad smell that won't go away I reckon.

dr.fuzzenstein · 30-04-2015 09:30PM

ScumLord wrote: »

News media is a business, they meet the demand and Irish people have more interest in celebrities and the possibility there's a peadophile waiting around the corner to steal their children, than they have in serious news.

Plus, there is little to none truly independent media here, they are all sponsored directly or indirectly by most businesses.
That means that any news "story" concerning any business in Ireland, be that Joe's grocery store that advertises in the local rag, or AIB or anyone else, will either be an inofficial press release dressed up as journalism or a groveling piece of arse licking to their paymasters.
George Hook, Vincent Browne and Matt Cooper are doing their best on radio it has to be said, but that is where public apathy comes in. During the boom Eamon Dunphy and later Matt Cooper where on the radio shouting "Look! This is what's going wrong! If we don't do something, this will end badly!", but everyone just said "yeah, grand, I just bought my third property in Bulgaria, so I'm happy". These where the same people who screamed blue murder and jumped up and down shouting "why didn't de gubbermint stop this! Why did the banks lend me money! Nobody told me! Bertie said it was going to be alright! This is everyone else's fault!"
This is the reason why an anti war protest in London will attract 1 million people and in Dublin 17 will turn up. I'm grand, I have my money, everyone else can fcuk off, especially those dirty refugees, Jaysus, where to they keep coming from?
People here want their cushy office or government job, go to the pub, go to spain and live their tiny, little lives and they don't even want to hear anything else. These people live in a tiny, tinly pink bubble and god help anyone who pops that world of theirs.

What does the Siteserv deal say about the standard of journalism in Ireland today?

Comments