On Sunday 10th December, Brenda Power published an incendiary piece in the Sunday Times under the headline ”Travellers ludicrous and selfish lifestyle”. She more or less accused them of breeding like rats and you could take the inference from her article that some sort of involuntary contraception/sterilisation programme might be part of the solution. She basically wants them to f*** off, but to where she didn’t say.
That day, I sent her a long email, mainly a slightly modified version of my Dec 5th blog “Travellers - Moving on?”, prefaced by the following intro paragraph:
"Brenda, I thought your piece in today’s Sunday Times was provocative to the point of being bad tempered rabble-rousing, which surprised me because I‘ve always found you thoughtful and balanced on radio & tv. The question I’m left asking is this: who is Felim O’Rourke and what are his credentials on this sensitive topic and, frankly, what are yours to justify production of such an inflammatory piece? "
Subsequently I was contacted by the Sunday Times to know would I be willing to allow a heavily abridged version (space constraints on the letters page etc) be published. I agreed and the following letter is published today under the heading “Help Them First”.
Power attacks the “ludicrous and selfish lifestyle” of travellers, despite the fact that much traveller nomadism is now involuntary. They are moved on at 24 hours notice by the gardai, evicted (under Section 10 of the 1992 Housing Act or Section 24 of the 2002 “trespass act”) despite the fact that there is often nowhere for them to go. Such evictions must also severely disrupt education, access to services such as health and social welfare, or employment.
We, the settled community, have clearly failed in our obligations to provide appropriate accommodation, identified by the 1995 Task Force on The Travelling Community. Yet Power demands that travellers meet their obligations to a society that treats them as pariahs. Surely natural justice places the greater onus on the strong to deliver on their obligations first, before making demands on the weak? Only then can we justly adopt anything like a zero tolerance approach.
I, too, would like to see an end to nomadism and a concerted effort to normalise the life outcomes for travellers, but blaming the patient for being ill isn’t going to achieve much.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Xmas Cracker Puzzle for grown-ups
Here’s today’s problem:
You are the Building Manager of a 100-storey office block. The block is occupied by about 120 different companies of various sizes who, between them, have 12,000 employees in your building. All these companies officially start their working day at either 9.00 or 9.30am and finish at 5.30 or 6.00pm respectively.
On top of the building there is a viewing platform, open to the general public, which is very popular because of the panoramic views of the city it provides. The 100th floor is occupied by a restaurant and a couple of cafes and bars which are very popular with both locals and visitors alike.
Somewhat bizarrely, floors 36 to 39 are occupied by the Anlar School, the most exclusive in the city, whose remote sports campus is state of the art. The school has 800 pupils.
Your building is serviced by 40 lifts, each of which has a capacity of 20 people. When full, each lift makes an average of 10 stops, each of 30 seconds duration which contribute to an average “round-trip” time of 7 minutes. In other words, the maximum lift capacity is 800 people every 7 minutes or 6,860 per hour.
Every working day begins and ends with large numbers of workers milling around the various banks of lifts. Younger employees on the first 6-7 floors tend to use the stairs in the morning rather than endure the delay of getting a lift. Departing in the evening, some people from as high as 10-12 will use the stairs, descending being less physically arduous than ascending.
In addition, the Anlar School day starts at 9.00am and many parents, particularly of younger students, insist on accompanying their progeny in the lifts and delivering them personally to the school door. School day ends at 4.00pm, resulting in a relatively minor hold-up of lifts at that time.
Employers are becoming increasingly anxious about the stress faced by their employees in arriving for and departing from work. Some workers have taken to coming in early or leaving late to avoid the crush, but the majority are still working their normal day.
As Building Manager, you are doubly concerned by the increasing incidence of “lift-rage”, arguments and the odd scuffle have become an almost daily occurrence as someone tries to skip the queue. It will only be a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt and the police become involved.
This issue has been top of the agenda at recent tenant meetings and your proposed options/solutions are scheduled for delivery to the next meeting.
In the evening and at weekends, the lobby is a haven of peace and tranquillity, with only visitors to the viewing platform and 100th floor restaurant, cafes and bars using the building.
In considering your solutions, there are a number of constraints which may limit your options:
(1) Because of surrounding buildings and public walkways, it will not be possible to add additional lift capacity to the external frame of the building.
(2) Your architect advises that installation of additional lift capacity internally will cause huge disruption over an extended period to existing users of the building and is likely to be prohibitively expensive, in terms of actual construction costs and payment of compensation to existing tenants, both for disruption of their business and the need to buy back a portion of their leasehold interest.
(3) It will also involve taking some of the existing lift capacity out of service, temporarily compounding the problem while that particular solution is pursued.
Proposed solutions to mollox@ireland.com - if you crack this one you’ll possibly have gone some way towards solving Dublin’s traffic problem.
You are the Building Manager of a 100-storey office block. The block is occupied by about 120 different companies of various sizes who, between them, have 12,000 employees in your building. All these companies officially start their working day at either 9.00 or 9.30am and finish at 5.30 or 6.00pm respectively.
On top of the building there is a viewing platform, open to the general public, which is very popular because of the panoramic views of the city it provides. The 100th floor is occupied by a restaurant and a couple of cafes and bars which are very popular with both locals and visitors alike.
Somewhat bizarrely, floors 36 to 39 are occupied by the Anlar School, the most exclusive in the city, whose remote sports campus is state of the art. The school has 800 pupils.
Your building is serviced by 40 lifts, each of which has a capacity of 20 people. When full, each lift makes an average of 10 stops, each of 30 seconds duration which contribute to an average “round-trip” time of 7 minutes. In other words, the maximum lift capacity is 800 people every 7 minutes or 6,860 per hour.
Every working day begins and ends with large numbers of workers milling around the various banks of lifts. Younger employees on the first 6-7 floors tend to use the stairs in the morning rather than endure the delay of getting a lift. Departing in the evening, some people from as high as 10-12 will use the stairs, descending being less physically arduous than ascending.
In addition, the Anlar School day starts at 9.00am and many parents, particularly of younger students, insist on accompanying their progeny in the lifts and delivering them personally to the school door. School day ends at 4.00pm, resulting in a relatively minor hold-up of lifts at that time.
Employers are becoming increasingly anxious about the stress faced by their employees in arriving for and departing from work. Some workers have taken to coming in early or leaving late to avoid the crush, but the majority are still working their normal day.
As Building Manager, you are doubly concerned by the increasing incidence of “lift-rage”, arguments and the odd scuffle have become an almost daily occurrence as someone tries to skip the queue. It will only be a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt and the police become involved.
This issue has been top of the agenda at recent tenant meetings and your proposed options/solutions are scheduled for delivery to the next meeting.
In the evening and at weekends, the lobby is a haven of peace and tranquillity, with only visitors to the viewing platform and 100th floor restaurant, cafes and bars using the building.
In considering your solutions, there are a number of constraints which may limit your options:
(1) Because of surrounding buildings and public walkways, it will not be possible to add additional lift capacity to the external frame of the building.
(2) Your architect advises that installation of additional lift capacity internally will cause huge disruption over an extended period to existing users of the building and is likely to be prohibitively expensive, in terms of actual construction costs and payment of compensation to existing tenants, both for disruption of their business and the need to buy back a portion of their leasehold interest.
(3) It will also involve taking some of the existing lift capacity out of service, temporarily compounding the problem while that particular solution is pursued.
Proposed solutions to mollox@ireland.com - if you crack this one you’ll possibly have gone some way towards solving Dublin’s traffic problem.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Politics and Gun & Drug Crime
When Nora Owen was Minister for Justice, "The Bull" O'Donoghue attacked her if a sweet shop was burgled, though he wasn’t so hot himself in the same role, his “Zero Tolerance” waffle proved to be a bad joke.
“The Bull” must sometimes feel sorry he’s not sitting across the floor of the Dail from the present justice minister, Michael McDowell, he’d have a field day with a man who's great at the media sound-bites but not so good at solving the gun and drug problems.
“The Bull” must sometimes feel sorry he’s not sitting across the floor of the Dail from the present justice minister, Michael McDowell, he’d have a field day with a man who's great at the media sound-bites but not so good at solving the gun and drug problems.
More BUPA
Responding to my email on Pat Kenny's radio programme today, BUPA MD Martin O’Rourke claimed that the average age of BUPA subscribers is 38 v. 44 for VHI, which doesn’t sound like a major gap. However, when you set this out in an age band table, you can see very quickly what it might actually mean in terms of premium income v. potential claims.
I don’t know the actual age profiles, for either company, but today’s Irish Times states that over one-thirds of VHI subscribers are over 50. In the table below I’ve assumed that 36% of VHI subscribers are 50+.
The following table is illustrative only - but it clearly shows a dramatically different risk profile even with an average age gap of only 6 years.
Age Bands
VHI Base
20-30 (ave 25) 22%
30-40 (ave 35) 21%
40-50 (ave 45) 21%
50-60 (ave 55) 20%
60-70 (ave 65) 11%
70+ (ave 75) 5%
BUPA Base
20-30 (ave 25) 31%
30-40 (ave 35) 27%
40-50 (ave 45) 26%
50-60 (ave 55) 12%
60-70 (ave 65) 3%
70+ (ave 75) 1%
Average Subscriber Age from tables above
VHI - 44.2
BUPA - 38.2
BUPA Ireland Financial Performance
Mr O’Rourke also implied that the company was unprofitable until very recently. BUPA’s website shows reported operating profits of
Year BUPA Operating Profit
2004 €24.3m
2005 €19.7m
In a submission to The Health Insurance Authority dated 26th March 2004, VHI quote underwriting profit figures for BUPA as
Year BUPA Underwriting Profit
2000 €7.5m
2001 €13.8m
2002 €15.3m
I rarely agree with Bertie Ahern, but I think BUPA have taken us for mugs with their “beal bocht ”. BUPA need to be pressed very hard to disclose actual numbers!
I don’t know the actual age profiles, for either company, but today’s Irish Times states that over one-thirds of VHI subscribers are over 50. In the table below I’ve assumed that 36% of VHI subscribers are 50+.
The following table is illustrative only - but it clearly shows a dramatically different risk profile even with an average age gap of only 6 years.
Age Bands
VHI Base
20-30 (ave 25) 22%
30-40 (ave 35) 21%
40-50 (ave 45) 21%
50-60 (ave 55) 20%
60-70 (ave 65) 11%
70+ (ave 75) 5%
BUPA Base
20-30 (ave 25) 31%
30-40 (ave 35) 27%
40-50 (ave 45) 26%
50-60 (ave 55) 12%
60-70 (ave 65) 3%
70+ (ave 75) 1%
Average Subscriber Age from tables above
VHI - 44.2
BUPA - 38.2
BUPA Ireland Financial Performance
Mr O’Rourke also implied that the company was unprofitable until very recently. BUPA’s website shows reported operating profits of
Year BUPA Operating Profit
2004 €24.3m
2005 €19.7m
In a submission to The Health Insurance Authority dated 26th March 2004, VHI quote underwriting profit figures for BUPA as
Year BUPA Underwriting Profit
2000 €7.5m
2001 €13.8m
2002 €15.3m
I rarely agree with Bertie Ahern, but I think BUPA have taken us for mugs with their “beal bocht ”. BUPA need to be pressed very hard to disclose actual numbers!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Breaking News - Solheim Cup for Ireland
RTE News must be rooting for the present government, because they made a big news item today of the announcement by the Minister for Sport, John "the Bull" O’Donoghue, that the Solheim Cup is to be played in Ireland in 2011.
We were told that this is the ladies golf equivalent of the Ryder Cup, but it’s to be played at a course that hasn’t yet been built - the Killeen Castle course in Co Meath, which has been designed by Jack Nicklaus.
The fact that it’s to be played on a course that isn’t even open yet should be a bit of a giveaway that this is a non-news story.
In addition, ladies professional golf must be one of the least well supported professional games in existence, so comparisons with the Ryder Cup are complete nonsense. If it achieves even 1% of the television viewership figures enjoyed by the Ryder Cup it will qualify as a broadcasting miracle.
We were told that this is the ladies golf equivalent of the Ryder Cup, but it’s to be played at a course that hasn’t yet been built - the Killeen Castle course in Co Meath, which has been designed by Jack Nicklaus.
The fact that it’s to be played on a course that isn’t even open yet should be a bit of a giveaway that this is a non-news story.
In addition, ladies professional golf must be one of the least well supported professional games in existence, so comparisons with the Ryder Cup are complete nonsense. If it achieves even 1% of the television viewership figures enjoyed by the Ryder Cup it will qualify as a broadcasting miracle.
Bye Bye BUPA
BUPA has announced that it is leaving the Irish market and, with immediate effect, will write no new business or renew any existing business as current 1-year contracts expire. The company claims that the exit costs will amount to €20m (Stg£13m).
BUPA has operated in Ireland for 10 years, since 1997, and claims to have 475,000 customers. They claim the Risk Equalisation will cost €161m over the next 3 years, compared with projected profits of €64m under the current system of operation.
That’s approx. €21m per annum profit, which is generated through the surplus of premium income over costs, principally staff, marketing and medical claims. This is a reflection of their relatively young customer base whose age profile would automatically mean a lower incidence of medical and hospital claims.
While BUPA is willing to recruit older customers, and has undoubtedly recruited a modest number of them, the reality is that
(a) BUPA's marketing effort has been focused on recruiting company schemes in well paid employments, where typically the average age of employees is probably as low as 30 and
(b) older people are far less likely to move from an insurer they’ve been with all their working lives in case the newcomer proves unreliable - as has turned out to be the case with BUPA.
If BUPA is currently making profits of c. €20m per annum, then presumably it has long ago recouped its set-up costs and has accumulated a healthy surplus over the past 5-6 years. These surplus funds should be invested for future claims, as inevitably an ageing membership base will make increasing claims while, in theory, the premium levels will remain relatively stable in real terms.
By cutting and running now, BUPA is able to pocket the accumulated surplus which should considerably exceed the winding-up costs estimated at €20m.
Meanwhile, VHI & Vivas are obliged to take on these abandoned BUPA subscribers without penalty, but without the cushion of the profit the subscriptions of these customers have generated in their earlier years of cover.
We should be grateful that BUPA has been forced to show their hand now, rather than in 10 years time when they really would have milked the market before folding their corporate tent and dumping their unfortunate members on VHI, with all the increased cost implications for VHI members at that time.
Footnote: Pat Kenny interviewed Martin O'Rourke, MD of BUPA, on 15th Dec and read this email to him in its entirety. Some bits denied e.g. share of corporate market and average age of BUPA subscriber 38 v. VHI 46. Actuarially, that could be quite a significant gap in terms of numbers of claims etc..
Also published as a letter in the Irish Times, the Irish Independent & the Irish Examiner.
BUPA has operated in Ireland for 10 years, since 1997, and claims to have 475,000 customers. They claim the Risk Equalisation will cost €161m over the next 3 years, compared with projected profits of €64m under the current system of operation.
That’s approx. €21m per annum profit, which is generated through the surplus of premium income over costs, principally staff, marketing and medical claims. This is a reflection of their relatively young customer base whose age profile would automatically mean a lower incidence of medical and hospital claims.
While BUPA is willing to recruit older customers, and has undoubtedly recruited a modest number of them, the reality is that
(a) BUPA's marketing effort has been focused on recruiting company schemes in well paid employments, where typically the average age of employees is probably as low as 30 and
(b) older people are far less likely to move from an insurer they’ve been with all their working lives in case the newcomer proves unreliable - as has turned out to be the case with BUPA.
If BUPA is currently making profits of c. €20m per annum, then presumably it has long ago recouped its set-up costs and has accumulated a healthy surplus over the past 5-6 years. These surplus funds should be invested for future claims, as inevitably an ageing membership base will make increasing claims while, in theory, the premium levels will remain relatively stable in real terms.
By cutting and running now, BUPA is able to pocket the accumulated surplus which should considerably exceed the winding-up costs estimated at €20m.
Meanwhile, VHI & Vivas are obliged to take on these abandoned BUPA subscribers without penalty, but without the cushion of the profit the subscriptions of these customers have generated in their earlier years of cover.
We should be grateful that BUPA has been forced to show their hand now, rather than in 10 years time when they really would have milked the market before folding their corporate tent and dumping their unfortunate members on VHI, with all the increased cost implications for VHI members at that time.
Footnote: Pat Kenny interviewed Martin O'Rourke, MD of BUPA, on 15th Dec and read this email to him in its entirety. Some bits denied e.g. share of corporate market and average age of BUPA subscriber 38 v. VHI 46. Actuarially, that could be quite a significant gap in terms of numbers of claims etc..
Also published as a letter in the Irish Times, the Irish Independent & the Irish Examiner.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
In praise of the frying pan
Heston Blumenthal is the wunderkind of British cooking - his Fat Duck restaurant in Bray (England) has 3 Michelin Stars so he's a seriously good chef. However, he’s particularly famous for the application of scientific methods and chemical analysis in the creation of his dishes. Snail Porridge is, perhaps, his best known signature dish.
He’s now got a weekly TV show on BBC and tonight he was cooking up the perfect Spaghetti Bolognese, a standard, quick, one-pot (ok, 2) meal for many families.
Except Heston’s version requires the meat to be cooked for 8 hours. That leaves you plenty of time to prepare and cook a couple of other elements which are added in during the cooking process. All in all, a long and fairly involved process. What he seems to have missed is that Spaghetti Bolognese is popular for 2 main reasons - (i) it’s simple to make and (ii) it’s relatively quick. His version is neither.
I’ve only seen a few bits of the show over recent weeks but I suspect that there’s little to be learned that would be of use to the home cook/entertainer.
A couple of weeks back he was making some sort of dessert for which he used liquid nitrogen to keep the temperature very cold in a food mixer while combining ingredients. He then acknowledged that this wouldn’t be practical at home. “Thank God”, I thought, until his alternative solution for home use turned out to be “dry-ice” instead. I’ll just pop out to Tesco for some!
He’s now got a weekly TV show on BBC and tonight he was cooking up the perfect Spaghetti Bolognese, a standard, quick, one-pot (ok, 2) meal for many families.
Except Heston’s version requires the meat to be cooked for 8 hours. That leaves you plenty of time to prepare and cook a couple of other elements which are added in during the cooking process. All in all, a long and fairly involved process. What he seems to have missed is that Spaghetti Bolognese is popular for 2 main reasons - (i) it’s simple to make and (ii) it’s relatively quick. His version is neither.
I’ve only seen a few bits of the show over recent weeks but I suspect that there’s little to be learned that would be of use to the home cook/entertainer.
A couple of weeks back he was making some sort of dessert for which he used liquid nitrogen to keep the temperature very cold in a food mixer while combining ingredients. He then acknowledged that this wouldn’t be practical at home. “Thank God”, I thought, until his alternative solution for home use turned out to be “dry-ice” instead. I’ll just pop out to Tesco for some!
Monday, December 11, 2006
Age of Consent
RTE's Tonight with Vincent Browne discussed the all-party recommendations on changing the age of consent. Vincent's panel consisted of Nell McCafferty, some legal eagles and one of the TDs from the all-party committee.
Nell sounded like she'd spent several hours in Madigan's before the programme, taunting the other participants about their sexual conservatism, generally having a laugh and trying to shock us. Vincent was his usual mix of lawyerly analysis, sudden rage and incredulity - he couldn't get his head around the fact that it is legally possible to get married, with a special license, before reaching the current age of consent.
Then the subject of "grooming" was mentioned and Vincent asked what that meant - subsequently admitting that he had never heard the term before.
If that's the level of insight, preparation etc that he does for his shows, you can only wonder how much credence to give to any of the output in his multiplicity of media organs - the Irish Times, Village magazine, the Sunday Business Post and, of course, nightly on RTE.
Thankfull, if somewhat belatedly, Nell realised the import of Vincent's ignorance re grooming and pointed it out on air - thus saving me having to send a second email.
Email
The debate on lowering the Age of Consent is coloured by a concern that the law will be seen as sending a signal that sex at 16 is quite acceptable to society.
The reality is that this law is about Statutory Rape, words which transmit quite a different signal.
Perhaps if, in future debate, the topic was referred to as “The Rape Age Law” rather than “The Age of Consent”, it might allow for a little more light and a little less heat.
Footnote: Section in italics published as a letter in the Irish Times, the Irish Independent & the Irish Examiner. Also aired on Tonight with Vincent Browne (RTE) referred to above.
Nell sounded like she'd spent several hours in Madigan's before the programme, taunting the other participants about their sexual conservatism, generally having a laugh and trying to shock us. Vincent was his usual mix of lawyerly analysis, sudden rage and incredulity - he couldn't get his head around the fact that it is legally possible to get married, with a special license, before reaching the current age of consent.
Then the subject of "grooming" was mentioned and Vincent asked what that meant - subsequently admitting that he had never heard the term before.
If that's the level of insight, preparation etc that he does for his shows, you can only wonder how much credence to give to any of the output in his multiplicity of media organs - the Irish Times, Village magazine, the Sunday Business Post and, of course, nightly on RTE.
Thankfull, if somewhat belatedly, Nell realised the import of Vincent's ignorance re grooming and pointed it out on air - thus saving me having to send a second email.
The debate on lowering the Age of Consent is coloured by a concern that the law will be seen as sending a signal that sex at 16 is quite acceptable to society.
The reality is that this law is about Statutory Rape, words which transmit quite a different signal.
Perhaps if, in future debate, the topic was referred to as “The Rape Age Law” rather than “The Age of Consent”, it might allow for a little more light and a little less heat.
Footnote: Section in italics published as a letter in the Irish Times, the Irish Independent & the Irish Examiner. Also aired on Tonight with Vincent Browne (RTE) referred to above.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
The First Time Buyer as Investor
In olden times, when a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, First Time Buyers (FTBs) were almost always young couples who were getting married and buying their first home.
Nowadays a high proportion of FTBs are actually young investors who are “getting their foot on the first rung of the property ladder”, rather than buying a home. In other words, they’re actually behaving as investors.
The presence of these FTB-Investors, combined with the traditional investor who is building a property portfolio, has significantly increased demand for new houses which has, in turn, served to push up the rate of increase in housing prices.
This growth in prices, in turn, increases the pressure on such FTB-Investors to get on the housing gravy train - it’s been a safe and “guaranteed” way to make serious money. What differentiates the housing market from all other forms of investment is the ability to borrow almost all of the purchase price. So, even though you only invest 10% of the original purchase price from your own funds, you get to keep all the gain on the 100% of the purchase price.
E.g. You buy a house for €300k, putting up only €30k yourself. After 1 year, the house has increased in value by, say, 15% so it’s now valued at €345k. That’s actually a 150% return on your own €30k in one year - where else would you get it?
The other factor has been the very low cost of Mortgage finance in the past 8 years, since we effectively entered the Eurozone. Prior to that, Irish interest rates were typically at least double those of Germany, indeed they were often 3 or 4 times German rates.
The availability of housing finance at rates as low as 3% - 4%, when house price inflation has been running at 10%-20% per annum, means that borrowing to invest has been a very attractive proposition. In addition, these low interest rates have meant that borrowers can avail of larger mortgages as the bulk of the monthly repayment is actually dictated by the interest rate rather than repayment of the capital sum.
However, the downside is that all this speculative investment in property, fuelled by the easy availability of cheap money, has been to push demand and prices even higher, leaving the unfortunate “Traditional FTB“, who only wants to buy a home, struggling to compete against the tide of these rapacious investors, many of whom are masquerading as FTBs.
In these enlightened times, and because we now live in an economy rather than a society, it is not possible to discriminate in favour of married couples (including allowance for future legal status for same sex couples) over singles. This principle doesn't necessarily apply in reverse - McCreevy's 1999 Tax Individualisation measures effectively discriminated against married couples where the woman chose to stay at home (let's not pretend they all work there!).
Nor is it possible to discriminate in favour of our “Traditional FTBs” and treat the FTB-Investor as a normal property investor. The FTB stamp duty concessions which already exist apply equally to both categories of FTB. The recent budget changes which increase the level of tax relief on mortgage interest will also apply equally to both.
Short of some politically-incorrect measures which favour families over singles, it's hard to see what might work to make life a bit easier for the Traditional FTB - the ones who merit support.
Nowadays a high proportion of FTBs are actually young investors who are “getting their foot on the first rung of the property ladder”, rather than buying a home. In other words, they’re actually behaving as investors.
The presence of these FTB-Investors, combined with the traditional investor who is building a property portfolio, has significantly increased demand for new houses which has, in turn, served to push up the rate of increase in housing prices.
This growth in prices, in turn, increases the pressure on such FTB-Investors to get on the housing gravy train - it’s been a safe and “guaranteed” way to make serious money. What differentiates the housing market from all other forms of investment is the ability to borrow almost all of the purchase price. So, even though you only invest 10% of the original purchase price from your own funds, you get to keep all the gain on the 100% of the purchase price.
E.g. You buy a house for €300k, putting up only €30k yourself. After 1 year, the house has increased in value by, say, 15% so it’s now valued at €345k. That’s actually a 150% return on your own €30k in one year - where else would you get it?
The other factor has been the very low cost of Mortgage finance in the past 8 years, since we effectively entered the Eurozone. Prior to that, Irish interest rates were typically at least double those of Germany, indeed they were often 3 or 4 times German rates.
The availability of housing finance at rates as low as 3% - 4%, when house price inflation has been running at 10%-20% per annum, means that borrowing to invest has been a very attractive proposition. In addition, these low interest rates have meant that borrowers can avail of larger mortgages as the bulk of the monthly repayment is actually dictated by the interest rate rather than repayment of the capital sum.
However, the downside is that all this speculative investment in property, fuelled by the easy availability of cheap money, has been to push demand and prices even higher, leaving the unfortunate “Traditional FTB“, who only wants to buy a home, struggling to compete against the tide of these rapacious investors, many of whom are masquerading as FTBs.
In these enlightened times, and because we now live in an economy rather than a society, it is not possible to discriminate in favour of married couples (including allowance for future legal status for same sex couples) over singles. This principle doesn't necessarily apply in reverse - McCreevy's 1999 Tax Individualisation measures effectively discriminated against married couples where the woman chose to stay at home (let's not pretend they all work there!).
Nor is it possible to discriminate in favour of our “Traditional FTBs” and treat the FTB-Investor as a normal property investor. The FTB stamp duty concessions which already exist apply equally to both categories of FTB. The recent budget changes which increase the level of tax relief on mortgage interest will also apply equally to both.
Short of some politically-incorrect measures which favour families over singles, it's hard to see what might work to make life a bit easier for the Traditional FTB - the ones who merit support.
Redefining "The Family"
Proposals to redefine the family in the constitution should be approached with the utmost caution. We should not risk reducing the status of the family to the lowest common denominator, merely to satisfy the demands of an increasingly self-indulgent society.
The status of marriage has been significantly undermined in the past decade e.g. in over one-third of births in Ireland the child's parents are not married. But proponents of traditional family values can hardly look to the current Government with any optimism. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's own unfortunate marital situation has been widely publicised, mainly by his own actions, including the decision to bring his then partner as his official consort on Government trips abroad. (The impermanence of that relationship was retrospective proof, if any was needed, of just how inappropriate this was.) In this highly compromised situation, the Taoiseach would be in no position to credibly lead any public debate in defence of traditional marital values.
Much, though not all, of the pressure to make changes to the definition of family is driven by personal financial considerations. Charlie McCreevy’s Tax Individualisation confirmed the FF/PD Government view of the family as primarily an economic rather than a social unit. It is logical, therefore that normal business procedures should apply, where financial benefits generally flow from contractual arrangements, freely entered into.
There is no reason why it should be otherwise in considering what financial benefits may flow from family formation. Arrangements should, of course be put in place for to allow same-sex couples to make such a contract, as they are clearly precluded from forming current civil or church unions.
There may be many areas where non-standard unions can be granted some legal recognition e.g. in medical matters, but any areas involving exchequer considerations should be confined to couples who have made a formal, legally recognised commitment to one another.
The status of marriage has been significantly undermined in the past decade e.g. in over one-third of births in Ireland the child's parents are not married. But proponents of traditional family values can hardly look to the current Government with any optimism. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's own unfortunate marital situation has been widely publicised, mainly by his own actions, including the decision to bring his then partner as his official consort on Government trips abroad. (The impermanence of that relationship was retrospective proof, if any was needed, of just how inappropriate this was.) In this highly compromised situation, the Taoiseach would be in no position to credibly lead any public debate in defence of traditional marital values.
Much, though not all, of the pressure to make changes to the definition of family is driven by personal financial considerations. Charlie McCreevy’s Tax Individualisation confirmed the FF/PD Government view of the family as primarily an economic rather than a social unit. It is logical, therefore that normal business procedures should apply, where financial benefits generally flow from contractual arrangements, freely entered into.
There is no reason why it should be otherwise in considering what financial benefits may flow from family formation. Arrangements should, of course be put in place for to allow same-sex couples to make such a contract, as they are clearly precluded from forming current civil or church unions.
There may be many areas where non-standard unions can be granted some legal recognition e.g. in medical matters, but any areas involving exchequer considerations should be confined to couples who have made a formal, legally recognised commitment to one another.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Money talks - sometimes it makes sense.
Watching highlights of Leinster v Agen rugby match this evening, I was impressed by the number of advertiser's logos on the Agen shirts. It reminded me of the driver's suits in Formula One which are truly festooned with advertising badges.
This is big money territory, the top teams such as Real Madrid and Manchester United probably earn €5m+ per annum from sponsors for the privilege of putting their logo on the team shirts.
Which makes it all the more curious when you see Barcelona with only the Unicef logo on their shirts. Why, you ask yourself, would a charity pay to advertise in this way, wasting the money you’ve contributed? Except that it’s actually the other way around - Barcelona pay Unicef something like €2m per annum for the privilege.
In a money-driven world that has infected all sports, isn’t that a rare bit of sporting decency to gladden even the cynical heart?
This is big money territory, the top teams such as Real Madrid and Manchester United probably earn €5m+ per annum from sponsors for the privilege of putting their logo on the team shirts.
Which makes it all the more curious when you see Barcelona with only the Unicef logo on their shirts. Why, you ask yourself, would a charity pay to advertise in this way, wasting the money you’ve contributed? Except that it’s actually the other way around - Barcelona pay Unicef something like €2m per annum for the privilege.
In a money-driven world that has infected all sports, isn’t that a rare bit of sporting decency to gladden even the cynical heart?
Friday, December 08, 2006
First Time Buyer Mirage
Watching the self-pity of a couple of 20-somethings on tv, one a final-year nursing student, as they bemoaned their inability to get on the housing ladder in Dublin, I wondered if the country has been suffering from some form of national amnesia.
There seems to be a widely held belief that, “in those good old days when summers were just endless sunny days“, first-time buyers had no problem getting on the property ladder.
The reality is that in the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s, before the big banks became active in the mortgage market, the parents of today's tiger cubs had to have their 10% on deposit with a building society for 12 months before they would even entertain a mortgage application. Sometimes that stretched to 24 months when liquidity got a bit tight.
You either saved jointly for a mortgage deposit for several years before getting married, or else you rented for several years after you got married. (note the "married") It was a home you were buying, not an investment.
Then having bought your house, you lived in it with only the bare essential items of second-hand furniture, slowly completing the furnishing process over a period of several years.
Mobile phones didn't exist and you didn't have a landline phone for at least 3 years - a compulsory cost saving courtesy of P&T.
You probably didn’t own a car for several years and relied on public transport - mainly the bus. If you had a car it was several years old and almost no family, young or old, had a second car.
Your social life was limited to a trip to the pub, the cinema or the occasional play or show. You very rarely ate out or entertained at home. You didn't spend money on take-aways or pre-prepared meals - pizzas didn‘t even exist. You bought the raw materials and prepared and cooked your own meals - healthier but also a lot cheaper.
You had one holiday a year, if you could afford it. Usually to Courtown, Tramore or to the family homestead somewhere down the country. If you were lucky enough to be able to afford to "go foreign", you might have a two-week package holiday in somewhere exotic like Torremolinos or Benidorm.
Designer labels didn’t exist. Labels were something you found on the inside of your clothes and they often read “St Bernard”.
You didn’t have credit cards, overdrafts, multiple loans. You had a mortgage and you were often “to the pin of your collar” to make the monthly payment. Until the late 1990’s, mortgage interest rates were never less than double those which have prevailed since we joined the Euro. In fact, they were often 3, 4 or even 5 times that rate.
You scrimped and saved, if you didn’t have the money for something then you simply didn’t get it.
Somehow, all this pain has been airbrushed from the collective memory.
The current generation of young celtic tiger cubs have become used to enjoying instant gratification. They want it all and they want it now. Because they’re worth it, or so they think.
Perhaps they’d actually be better off if they accepted that the norm would be to buy a house in your 30’s, that it would probably entail some painful saving and cutting back on your social life for several years before and after you get the house.
Because what they have done, by all chasing the same property dream, is to create an artificial demand which has only served to push up the cost of houses, out of all proportion to the actual building cost. They have created the builder/developer multi-millionaire - several dozen of them.
The timing of such a move might just be about right as interest rates in the Eurozone have risen in the past year and are set to rise further in the coming year. The ultra-cheap mortgage finance, available since we moved to German-style rates in the late 90’s, simply served to increase the amount of money people could afford to borrow and, as if by market magic, the cost of houses expanded to meet the extra funds available.
All that’s needed is a significant slowing down in the rate of increase in house prices or, better still, some slight reversal. The immediate impact of this will be to slow demand through (a) reduced confidence in residential property as an investment vehicle and/or (b) a reduced sense of urgency in getting on the housing ladder if property values are not actually accelerating away from prospective buyers at a rate they can’t seem to keep up with.
It’s time we reminded ourselves, and them, that buying your first home was never that easy or painless.
There seems to be a widely held belief that, “in those good old days when summers were just endless sunny days“, first-time buyers had no problem getting on the property ladder.
The reality is that in the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s, before the big banks became active in the mortgage market, the parents of today's tiger cubs had to have their 10% on deposit with a building society for 12 months before they would even entertain a mortgage application. Sometimes that stretched to 24 months when liquidity got a bit tight.
You either saved jointly for a mortgage deposit for several years before getting married, or else you rented for several years after you got married. (note the "married") It was a home you were buying, not an investment.
Then having bought your house, you lived in it with only the bare essential items of second-hand furniture, slowly completing the furnishing process over a period of several years.
Mobile phones didn't exist and you didn't have a landline phone for at least 3 years - a compulsory cost saving courtesy of P&T.
You probably didn’t own a car for several years and relied on public transport - mainly the bus. If you had a car it was several years old and almost no family, young or old, had a second car.
Your social life was limited to a trip to the pub, the cinema or the occasional play or show. You very rarely ate out or entertained at home. You didn't spend money on take-aways or pre-prepared meals - pizzas didn‘t even exist. You bought the raw materials and prepared and cooked your own meals - healthier but also a lot cheaper.
You had one holiday a year, if you could afford it. Usually to Courtown, Tramore or to the family homestead somewhere down the country. If you were lucky enough to be able to afford to "go foreign", you might have a two-week package holiday in somewhere exotic like Torremolinos or Benidorm.
Designer labels didn’t exist. Labels were something you found on the inside of your clothes and they often read “St Bernard”.
You didn’t have credit cards, overdrafts, multiple loans. You had a mortgage and you were often “to the pin of your collar” to make the monthly payment. Until the late 1990’s, mortgage interest rates were never less than double those which have prevailed since we joined the Euro. In fact, they were often 3, 4 or even 5 times that rate.
You scrimped and saved, if you didn’t have the money for something then you simply didn’t get it.
Somehow, all this pain has been airbrushed from the collective memory.
The current generation of young celtic tiger cubs have become used to enjoying instant gratification. They want it all and they want it now. Because they’re worth it, or so they think.
Perhaps they’d actually be better off if they accepted that the norm would be to buy a house in your 30’s, that it would probably entail some painful saving and cutting back on your social life for several years before and after you get the house.
Because what they have done, by all chasing the same property dream, is to create an artificial demand which has only served to push up the cost of houses, out of all proportion to the actual building cost. They have created the builder/developer multi-millionaire - several dozen of them.
The timing of such a move might just be about right as interest rates in the Eurozone have risen in the past year and are set to rise further in the coming year. The ultra-cheap mortgage finance, available since we moved to German-style rates in the late 90’s, simply served to increase the amount of money people could afford to borrow and, as if by market magic, the cost of houses expanded to meet the extra funds available.
All that’s needed is a significant slowing down in the rate of increase in house prices or, better still, some slight reversal. The immediate impact of this will be to slow demand through (a) reduced confidence in residential property as an investment vehicle and/or (b) a reduced sense of urgency in getting on the housing ladder if property values are not actually accelerating away from prospective buyers at a rate they can’t seem to keep up with.
It’s time we reminded ourselves, and them, that buying your first home was never that easy or painless.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Paddy (abuse of) Power
On 17th September, I placed an €8 double with Paddy Power on Teofilo - @ 7/4 to win the National Stakes that day & 16/1 ante post to win the 2000 Guineas.
They’ve now advised that it’s a “Related Contingency Bet” and is invalid under their rules - emailed to me and quoted below:
"Related Contingencies: Multiple bets are not accepted where the outcome of one event contributes wholly or partly to the outcome of the other."
I don't see how the OUTCOME of the National Stakes contributes either wholly or partly to the OUTCOME of the 2000 Guineas. I do see how it changes the odds offered, but there's no mention of that in Paddy Power’s rule, as quoted by them.
Paddy Power say that the bet can either be voided and the stake returned to me, or the stake split into 2 separate win bets. Incidentally, they tell me that if the first leg had lost, the bet was forfeit!
If Teofilo wins the 2000 Guineas, my double would return €374. If the stake is split, then my return would reduce to €79 - a difference of €295.
I’m trying to get the At The Races TV channel to raise this with Paddy Power, hoping to embarrass them to reverse their position.
I’m not holding my breath.
They’ve now advised that it’s a “Related Contingency Bet” and is invalid under their rules - emailed to me and quoted below:
"Related Contingencies: Multiple bets are not accepted where the outcome of one event contributes wholly or partly to the outcome of the other."
I don't see how the OUTCOME of the National Stakes contributes either wholly or partly to the OUTCOME of the 2000 Guineas. I do see how it changes the odds offered, but there's no mention of that in Paddy Power’s rule, as quoted by them.
Paddy Power say that the bet can either be voided and the stake returned to me, or the stake split into 2 separate win bets. Incidentally, they tell me that if the first leg had lost, the bet was forfeit!
If Teofilo wins the 2000 Guineas, my double would return €374. If the stake is split, then my return would reduce to €79 - a difference of €295.
I’m trying to get the At The Races TV channel to raise this with Paddy Power, hoping to embarrass them to reverse their position.
I’m not holding my breath.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Snowed Under by Iraq Study Group Report
No one would accuse Jon Snow of being anything other than a steadfast critic of Bush, Blair and the Iraq war. Nightly, Channel 4 News greets bad news from Iraq with a certain smug satisfaction. Another nail in the political coffins of Messrs Bush & Blair.
Today‘s publication of The Iraq Study Group report had Jon Snow all excited. It’s recommendations were a clear repudiation of White House policy and could only be seen as a sharp rebuff to Bush & Co (incl. Blair).
So Channel 4 News had lined up the experts to express their views.
First was the compulsory interview with the retired American general. He liked the political recommendations in the report but thought the military recommendations were dangerous. His advice was that the Baker Commission should have confined itself to setting out the political objectives and leave it to the US military to design the appropriate tactics.
Then came a joint interview with a US-based Iranian expert and a former British Governor of two provinces in Southern Iraq.
The Iranian expert rubbished all the political recommendations - primarily stating that Iran & Syria would do nothing to help, resolving the Israel/Palestine conflict was not a viable objective and the elected Iraqi Government was incapable of achieving any progress.
The former British Governor agreed that most of the political recommendations were undeliverable, except for being a bit more optimistic about what might be achieved by the Iraqi Government.
In summary, the military man rubbished the military proposals in the Iraq Study Group Report, while the political experts rubbished the political recommendations. In short, they thought it a crock of shit.
Poor Snow looked suitably bewildered - his new favourite anti-Bush weapon had been neatly decommissioned in about 10 minutes.
Living proof that it’s an awful lot easier to look intelligent while asking questions than it is when you have to answer them.
Today‘s publication of The Iraq Study Group report had Jon Snow all excited. It’s recommendations were a clear repudiation of White House policy and could only be seen as a sharp rebuff to Bush & Co (incl. Blair).
So Channel 4 News had lined up the experts to express their views.
First was the compulsory interview with the retired American general. He liked the political recommendations in the report but thought the military recommendations were dangerous. His advice was that the Baker Commission should have confined itself to setting out the political objectives and leave it to the US military to design the appropriate tactics.
Then came a joint interview with a US-based Iranian expert and a former British Governor of two provinces in Southern Iraq.
The Iranian expert rubbished all the political recommendations - primarily stating that Iran & Syria would do nothing to help, resolving the Israel/Palestine conflict was not a viable objective and the elected Iraqi Government was incapable of achieving any progress.
The former British Governor agreed that most of the political recommendations were undeliverable, except for being a bit more optimistic about what might be achieved by the Iraqi Government.
In summary, the military man rubbished the military proposals in the Iraq Study Group Report, while the political experts rubbished the political recommendations. In short, they thought it a crock of shit.
Poor Snow looked suitably bewildered - his new favourite anti-Bush weapon had been neatly decommissioned in about 10 minutes.
Living proof that it’s an awful lot easier to look intelligent while asking questions than it is when you have to answer them.
Ever been savaged by a dead sheep?
Attacked today in the Irish Times by the Director of Policy, Progressive Democrats. What an honour! See below for my response, sent today. Probably won’t get published, but fun to write.
Madam, - Peter Molloy takes me to task (December 2nd) for not identifying myself as director of policy for the Progressive Democrats in my letter of December 1st, which was critical of Fr Sean Healy's recent opinion piece in your paper.
I must say that I am hurt and saddened, not by the explicit attack on my integrity but by the implicit attack on my political skills. If Mr Molloy seriously believes that I was engaged in some Machiavellian attempt to manipulate public opinion by concealing my identity, he must think me not only a knave, but a fool.
My name is somewhat unusual, to say the least (if you google "Seamus Mulconry" you will not find another one) and I am well known to my opposite numbers in the other parties, and to these who read the letter columns of The Irish Timesas being the Progressive Democrats' policy director.
The reason I did not write using my title is that I was writing to express my personal opinions and did not wish to convey the erroneous impression, that my criticism of Fr Healy had either the blessing or backing of the party. While I have no doubt that a robust defence of low taxation is as core to the Progressive Democrats as transubstantiation is to the Catholic Church, I did not consult my colleagues before sending the letter and thus felt I had not the right to associate the party with my personal views.
Having reread Fr Healy's article I remain convinced that his diagnosis of the condition of Irish society is seriously flawed and his policy prescriptions fatal to the prosperity and wellbeing of the Irish people.
An article by Dr Eamon Maher (Rite and Reason, December 4th) makes the statement that it is difficult for sincere voices within the church to make themselves heard. In this regard, he points to how the praiseworthy commitment of the Conference of Religious of Ireland to justice and equality can be safely sidelined, even ignored, by those in power.
However, sincerity does not mitigate the effects of unsound analysis, and the reason the advice of CORI is (largely) ignored by politicians is not that its commitment to justice and equality is not respected and indeed shared, but rather that the solutions it proposes will do more damage than good to the very people it seeks to help. CORI has been in existence for 25 years. Had we followed its advice 25 years ago, we would not now enjoy our current prosperity, nor the opportunity it gives us to help the marginalised in society. CORI was wrong then, and it is wrong now.
I might also point out to Mr Molloy that I am an honorary member of the Uzbekistan Komsomol. The experience of having seen at close quarters the suffering caused by state socialism probably has more of an impact on my views on CORI than the fact that I work for the Progressive Democrats. - Yours, etc,
SEAMUS MULCONRY, Ballinatone, Greenane, Co Wicklow.
My response emailed today:
Madam,
Seamus Mulconry’s natural modesty, which caused him to omit his PD party title from his original attack on Fr Healy, may have failed him again. His expectation (Letters 6th Dec) that readers of the Irish Times letters page will be familiar with his PD role just might be a little misplaced. An Irish Times archive search reveals only three letters published, prior to this little spat. One of these (21/10/05) carried his current title, the other two (12/10/02 & 23/9/04) predated his PD appointment. However, I would like to congratulate him on being an honorary member of the Uzbekistan Komsomol. Every former Russian republic should have its own Borat. Regards etc.
Madam, - Peter Molloy takes me to task (December 2nd) for not identifying myself as director of policy for the Progressive Democrats in my letter of December 1st, which was critical of Fr Sean Healy's recent opinion piece in your paper.
I must say that I am hurt and saddened, not by the explicit attack on my integrity but by the implicit attack on my political skills. If Mr Molloy seriously believes that I was engaged in some Machiavellian attempt to manipulate public opinion by concealing my identity, he must think me not only a knave, but a fool.
My name is somewhat unusual, to say the least (if you google "Seamus Mulconry" you will not find another one) and I am well known to my opposite numbers in the other parties, and to these who read the letter columns of The Irish Timesas being the Progressive Democrats' policy director.
The reason I did not write using my title is that I was writing to express my personal opinions and did not wish to convey the erroneous impression, that my criticism of Fr Healy had either the blessing or backing of the party. While I have no doubt that a robust defence of low taxation is as core to the Progressive Democrats as transubstantiation is to the Catholic Church, I did not consult my colleagues before sending the letter and thus felt I had not the right to associate the party with my personal views.
Having reread Fr Healy's article I remain convinced that his diagnosis of the condition of Irish society is seriously flawed and his policy prescriptions fatal to the prosperity and wellbeing of the Irish people.
An article by Dr Eamon Maher (Rite and Reason, December 4th) makes the statement that it is difficult for sincere voices within the church to make themselves heard. In this regard, he points to how the praiseworthy commitment of the Conference of Religious of Ireland to justice and equality can be safely sidelined, even ignored, by those in power.
However, sincerity does not mitigate the effects of unsound analysis, and the reason the advice of CORI is (largely) ignored by politicians is not that its commitment to justice and equality is not respected and indeed shared, but rather that the solutions it proposes will do more damage than good to the very people it seeks to help. CORI has been in existence for 25 years. Had we followed its advice 25 years ago, we would not now enjoy our current prosperity, nor the opportunity it gives us to help the marginalised in society. CORI was wrong then, and it is wrong now.
I might also point out to Mr Molloy that I am an honorary member of the Uzbekistan Komsomol. The experience of having seen at close quarters the suffering caused by state socialism probably has more of an impact on my views on CORI than the fact that I work for the Progressive Democrats. - Yours, etc,
SEAMUS MULCONRY, Ballinatone, Greenane, Co Wicklow.
My response emailed today:
Madam,
Seamus Mulconry’s natural modesty, which caused him to omit his PD party title from his original attack on Fr Healy, may have failed him again. His expectation (Letters 6th Dec) that readers of the Irish Times letters page will be familiar with his PD role just might be a little misplaced. An Irish Times archive search reveals only three letters published, prior to this little spat. One of these (21/10/05) carried his current title, the other two (12/10/02 & 23/9/04) predated his PD appointment. However, I would like to congratulate him on being an honorary member of the Uzbekistan Komsomol. Every former Russian republic should have its own Borat. Regards etc.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
The unknown unknowns of Donald Rumsfeld
There’s something weird about the media response to the leaked Rumsfeld memo regarding the need to change tactics in Iraq, written at a time when he was still Secretary of State and publicly maintaining confidence in the existing approach.
Every leader - in business, sport and politics - attempts to motivate “the troops” and keep them believing in what their doing and their ultimate success. This is often done at a time of crisis when the actions of the leader will determine the ultimate outcome. Many business successes emerge from holding the nerve when you’re in the s-bend, but when the leader throws in the towel then failure is almost a certainty.
Thus, a business leader will continue to exhort the sales team to bigger efforts, extolling the virtues of the team and the product, even in face of disappointing sales. This will happen even when he is actively considering firing half the sales team and replacing them - or even dropping the product altogether.
The coach will be giving the team a pep-talk at half-time, telling the boys to keep at it and the game will be turned around in the second half. This despite the fact that he’s considering a number of substitutions and may himself believe the game to be beyond recovery.
Similarly, in a war situation, a political leader must display a confidence he does not always feel and a determination to pursue the war aims, even in face of current difficulties. He will almost inevitably be considering alternative options/tactics at all times, but only a fool would risk demotivating his own troops and motivating his enemy by debating this in public.
So why has it come as a shock to the media (and his many detractors) that Rumsfeld’s inner thoughts may not have matched his public utterances? Probably because they all regard Bush & Co as two-dimensional cardboard cut-outs, incapable of any level of sophisticated thinking and analysis.
Frankly, the reaction tells you more about the intelligence level of the detractors - most are a lot dumber than they think - and certainly dumber than the objects of their derision.
Every leader - in business, sport and politics - attempts to motivate “the troops” and keep them believing in what their doing and their ultimate success. This is often done at a time of crisis when the actions of the leader will determine the ultimate outcome. Many business successes emerge from holding the nerve when you’re in the s-bend, but when the leader throws in the towel then failure is almost a certainty.
Thus, a business leader will continue to exhort the sales team to bigger efforts, extolling the virtues of the team and the product, even in face of disappointing sales. This will happen even when he is actively considering firing half the sales team and replacing them - or even dropping the product altogether.
The coach will be giving the team a pep-talk at half-time, telling the boys to keep at it and the game will be turned around in the second half. This despite the fact that he’s considering a number of substitutions and may himself believe the game to be beyond recovery.
Similarly, in a war situation, a political leader must display a confidence he does not always feel and a determination to pursue the war aims, even in face of current difficulties. He will almost inevitably be considering alternative options/tactics at all times, but only a fool would risk demotivating his own troops and motivating his enemy by debating this in public.
So why has it come as a shock to the media (and his many detractors) that Rumsfeld’s inner thoughts may not have matched his public utterances? Probably because they all regard Bush & Co as two-dimensional cardboard cut-outs, incapable of any level of sophisticated thinking and analysis.
Frankly, the reaction tells you more about the intelligence level of the detractors - most are a lot dumber than they think - and certainly dumber than the objects of their derision.
Travellers - Moving On?
On the first day of Traveller Focus Week, Monday’s Irish Times contained two interesting pieces regarding travellers:
Lorna Siggins reported a Galway Traveller Movement study which found that travellers are 8 times more likely to be unemployed, have a 1% chance of living past age 65 and are so used to discrimination that they rarely complain.
Then Felim O’Rourke, on the Opinion & Analysis page, reviewed government policy with regard to travellers over the past 40 years and presented a cogent argument as to how nomadism is itself a major contributory factor to social exclusion and criminality among travellers.
He agrees with the recommendations of the 1965 Commission on Itinerancy that, while no compulsion should be used to force travellers to settle, all efforts to improve their lot should have as their aim the eventual absorption of travellers into the general community. To this end, he concludes that nomadism should not be publicly funded, but rather that such funds should be channelled into other areas for the benefit of travellers.
However, the 1995 Task Force on the Travelling Community recommended the provision of 3,100 units of additional Traveller accommodation. This was to include 2,200 Traveller- specific units of accommodation (halting sites and group housing units). The Housing [Traveller Accommodation] Act, 1998 was subsequently enacted in order to ensure provision of Traveller-specific accommodation by Local Authorities. The 1998 Act also specifies that provision should be made by Local Authorities for the annual patterns of movement of Travellers.
In its January 2005 submission to the Commission for Eradication of Racial Discrimination, the Geneva-based NGO Centre on Housing Rights & Evictions (COHRE) reported that progress in the provision of the traveller-specific housing was wholly inadequate and, coupled with a very significant number of evictions of travellers by gardai, under Section 10 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 and Section 24 of the 2002 “Trespass Act”, had resulted in an intolerable situation for travellers and one where the Government of Ireland is in breach of its obligation under Article 5(e)(iii) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
While it is difficult to make any compelling case in support of nomadism, in terms of providing appropriate quality of life opportunities for travellers, Felim O’Rourke fails to address the current nature of that nomadism and the impact that might be having on issues such as criminality.
Much traveller nomadism is now involuntary - travellers are moved on at 24-hours notice by the Gardai, evicted under Section 10 of the 1992 Housing Act or Section 24 of the 2002 “Trespass Act”. These evictions occur despite the fact that often there is nowhere for these families to go. Such evictions must severely disrupt any prospect of children receiving an education, access to services such as health and social welfare or employment in the legal economy.
It would be hard to argue with the inference of the Galway Traveller Movement finding regarding discrimination - it is routine and ubiquitous. In such circumstances, which of us would be good citizens or ideal neighbours?
National and Local government has failed to provide the necessary leadership and NIMBYism has meant that accommodation needs identified over ten years ago has still not been provided, despite our much vaunted economic prosperity.
The current situation is not only grossly unjust to travellers, it’s not working for the settled community either.
For what worth, the following were the COHRE recommendations in 2005:
1. Declare a moratorium on evictions of Travellers and immediately halt current plans for eviction of Traveller families until safeguards, consistent with international human rights law, are in place.
2. Repeal the trespass provisions - Section 24 of the Public Order Act, as amended by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.
3. Issue clear guidelines to Gardaí and Local Authorities that ensure that any eviction carried out under Housing [Traveller Accommodation] Act, 1998 or other piece of legislation complies with international human rights standards. The guidelines should be monitored and Travellers should be given a system of appeal against breaches of such guidelines. In due course, such safeguards should be contained in legislation.
4. Establish a central government agency with the necessary powers to ensure the timely and effective provision of Traveller-specific accommodation under the Housing [Traveller Accommodation] Act, 1998.
Where is the political leadership on this important issue? There are clearly no votes in it!
***************************************************
Some key statistics from COHRE Jan 2005 submission to CERD
In the 4-year period 2000-2003 only 228 new halting sites and 192 new group housing units were made available to Traveller families. Significant progress only appears to have been made in providing standard housing for Travellers, with an increase of 665 units in the same period. In the interim, little progress has been achieved in bridging the shortfall in traveller-specific housing units.
There were 452 eviction notices served against Travellers under Section 10 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 , in the year ended 31 May 2003. In addition, there is anecdotal evidence that the number of evictions under the 2002 Trespass Act is quite high. The latter are verbally delivered by the gardai, no record is available unless an arrest is actually made, which would only be in a minority of cases. This suggests that the combined effect of Section 10 eviction notices and verbal warnings to move on under the 2002 Trespass Act impact on a very high proportion of traveller families, given Department of Environment estimates of approximately 700 Traveller families living by the roadside, with another 350 sharing accommodation with relatives to avoid eviction from the roadside.
www.cohre.org
Lorna Siggins reported a Galway Traveller Movement study which found that travellers are 8 times more likely to be unemployed, have a 1% chance of living past age 65 and are so used to discrimination that they rarely complain.
Then Felim O’Rourke, on the Opinion & Analysis page, reviewed government policy with regard to travellers over the past 40 years and presented a cogent argument as to how nomadism is itself a major contributory factor to social exclusion and criminality among travellers.
He agrees with the recommendations of the 1965 Commission on Itinerancy that, while no compulsion should be used to force travellers to settle, all efforts to improve their lot should have as their aim the eventual absorption of travellers into the general community. To this end, he concludes that nomadism should not be publicly funded, but rather that such funds should be channelled into other areas for the benefit of travellers.
However, the 1995 Task Force on the Travelling Community recommended the provision of 3,100 units of additional Traveller accommodation. This was to include 2,200 Traveller- specific units of accommodation (halting sites and group housing units). The Housing [Traveller Accommodation] Act, 1998 was subsequently enacted in order to ensure provision of Traveller-specific accommodation by Local Authorities. The 1998 Act also specifies that provision should be made by Local Authorities for the annual patterns of movement of Travellers.
In its January 2005 submission to the Commission for Eradication of Racial Discrimination, the Geneva-based NGO Centre on Housing Rights & Evictions (COHRE) reported that progress in the provision of the traveller-specific housing was wholly inadequate and, coupled with a very significant number of evictions of travellers by gardai, under Section 10 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 and Section 24 of the 2002 “Trespass Act”, had resulted in an intolerable situation for travellers and one where the Government of Ireland is in breach of its obligation under Article 5(e)(iii) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
While it is difficult to make any compelling case in support of nomadism, in terms of providing appropriate quality of life opportunities for travellers, Felim O’Rourke fails to address the current nature of that nomadism and the impact that might be having on issues such as criminality.
Much traveller nomadism is now involuntary - travellers are moved on at 24-hours notice by the Gardai, evicted under Section 10 of the 1992 Housing Act or Section 24 of the 2002 “Trespass Act”. These evictions occur despite the fact that often there is nowhere for these families to go. Such evictions must severely disrupt any prospect of children receiving an education, access to services such as health and social welfare or employment in the legal economy.
It would be hard to argue with the inference of the Galway Traveller Movement finding regarding discrimination - it is routine and ubiquitous. In such circumstances, which of us would be good citizens or ideal neighbours?
National and Local government has failed to provide the necessary leadership and NIMBYism has meant that accommodation needs identified over ten years ago has still not been provided, despite our much vaunted economic prosperity.
The current situation is not only grossly unjust to travellers, it’s not working for the settled community either.
For what worth, the following were the COHRE recommendations in 2005:
1. Declare a moratorium on evictions of Travellers and immediately halt current plans for eviction of Traveller families until safeguards, consistent with international human rights law, are in place.
2. Repeal the trespass provisions - Section 24 of the Public Order Act, as amended by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.
3. Issue clear guidelines to Gardaí and Local Authorities that ensure that any eviction carried out under Housing [Traveller Accommodation] Act, 1998 or other piece of legislation complies with international human rights standards. The guidelines should be monitored and Travellers should be given a system of appeal against breaches of such guidelines. In due course, such safeguards should be contained in legislation.
4. Establish a central government agency with the necessary powers to ensure the timely and effective provision of Traveller-specific accommodation under the Housing [Traveller Accommodation] Act, 1998.
Where is the political leadership on this important issue? There are clearly no votes in it!
***************************************************
Some key statistics from COHRE Jan 2005 submission to CERD
In the 4-year period 2000-2003 only 228 new halting sites and 192 new group housing units were made available to Traveller families. Significant progress only appears to have been made in providing standard housing for Travellers, with an increase of 665 units in the same period. In the interim, little progress has been achieved in bridging the shortfall in traveller-specific housing units.
There were 452 eviction notices served against Travellers under Section 10 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 , in the year ended 31 May 2003. In addition, there is anecdotal evidence that the number of evictions under the 2002 Trespass Act is quite high. The latter are verbally delivered by the gardai, no record is available unless an arrest is actually made, which would only be in a minority of cases. This suggests that the combined effect of Section 10 eviction notices and verbal warnings to move on under the 2002 Trespass Act impact on a very high proportion of traveller families, given Department of Environment estimates of approximately 700 Traveller families living by the roadside, with another 350 sharing accommodation with relatives to avoid eviction from the roadside.
www.cohre.org
The mental health of O'Malley's defence
When challenged on areas of non-performance, all FF/PD representatives resort to a standard mantra that “all Governments since the foundation of the State have neglected etc etc…”.
This ignores the fact that all previous governments were effectively broke. The current FF/PD coalition has been in office for 9 years now and has had more money, in real terms, to spend than all previous administrations combined.
Minister Tim O'Malley is just the latest Government representative to offer this lame excuse. Deficiencies in public services arise either because of Government choices on how they prioritise public spending or incompetence in delivery of those services. Either way, the current government must accept political responsibility for the outcomes.
They’re quick enough to claim the credit for the health of the economy!
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent.
This ignores the fact that all previous governments were effectively broke. The current FF/PD coalition has been in office for 9 years now and has had more money, in real terms, to spend than all previous administrations combined.
Minister Tim O'Malley is just the latest Government representative to offer this lame excuse. Deficiencies in public services arise either because of Government choices on how they prioritise public spending or incompetence in delivery of those services. Either way, the current government must accept political responsibility for the outcomes.
They’re quick enough to claim the credit for the health of the economy!
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Black humour lives!
I attended a funeral this morning, enduring a bitingly cold wind which cut into us as we stood at the graveside. It brought tears to my eyes.
I commented to my elderly mother that I too wanted to be buried on such a day, as even people who didn’t like me would have a tear in their eye.
Afterwards I shared the joke with the widow and son of the deceased. I think I got away with it.
I commented to my elderly mother that I too wanted to be buried on such a day, as even people who didn’t like me would have a tear in their eye.
Afterwards I shared the joke with the widow and son of the deceased. I think I got away with it.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Rumsfeld's U-Turn?
The section in italics below is an extract from today's London Observer.
If the leaked Rumsfeld memo came as a shock to the White House, the clear inference that President Bush may actually be calling the shots on US policy will bewilder all those who have long believed him to be merely a glove puppet. A new theory will have to be developed quickly, but this should pose no problem to those who always know what's going on.
The Observer, Sunday 3rd Dec.
In a move that will send shockwaves through the White House a leaked memo from former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in which he admitted American failings in Iraq and called for a major change in policy, emerged yesterday.
The classified memo, obtained by the New York Times, revealed that the ultra-hawkish Rumsfeld believes that US forces in Iraq are not achieving their aims. He submitted the memo to the White House just two days before he resigned his post at the Pentagon.
In the memo Rumsfeld calls for a major change in US actions in Iraq. 'In my view it is time for a major adjustment,' he writes. 'Clearly, what US forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough.'
Some of his ideas - such as troop reductions and the criticism of tactics for Baghdad - seem to fly directly in the face of both his public statements of policy and the advice of the US military. In fact, his proposals often seem to have more in common with the thoughts of some Democratic party critics of the war.
Rumsfeld's call for change will disturb White House officials on two levels. First, in public Rumsfeld has always been a strong advocate of the US commitment to Iraq and of staying the course. Second, it flies in the face of recent statements by President Bush that indicate he is unlikely to change strategy. That could mean Rumsfeld and Bush, formerly seen as close allies, are in fact starting to oppose each other.
Yesterday, news reports showed that few expect Bush to order dramatic changes in US policy even as Washington awaits the arrival of a policy report on Iraq. This week the Iraq Study Group, led by Bush family friend James Baker, will present its suggestions on how to end the war. The report has been widely leaked and is expected to contain a framework for a gradual withdrawal of US combat troops over a period of a year or more.
If the leaked Rumsfeld memo came as a shock to the White House, the clear inference that President Bush may actually be calling the shots on US policy will bewilder all those who have long believed him to be merely a glove puppet. A new theory will have to be developed quickly, but this should pose no problem to those who always know what's going on.
The Observer, Sunday 3rd Dec.
In a move that will send shockwaves through the White House a leaked memo from former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in which he admitted American failings in Iraq and called for a major change in policy, emerged yesterday.
The classified memo, obtained by the New York Times, revealed that the ultra-hawkish Rumsfeld believes that US forces in Iraq are not achieving their aims. He submitted the memo to the White House just two days before he resigned his post at the Pentagon.
In the memo Rumsfeld calls for a major change in US actions in Iraq. 'In my view it is time for a major adjustment,' he writes. 'Clearly, what US forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough.'
Some of his ideas - such as troop reductions and the criticism of tactics for Baghdad - seem to fly directly in the face of both his public statements of policy and the advice of the US military. In fact, his proposals often seem to have more in common with the thoughts of some Democratic party critics of the war.
Rumsfeld's call for change will disturb White House officials on two levels. First, in public Rumsfeld has always been a strong advocate of the US commitment to Iraq and of staying the course. Second, it flies in the face of recent statements by President Bush that indicate he is unlikely to change strategy. That could mean Rumsfeld and Bush, formerly seen as close allies, are in fact starting to oppose each other.
Yesterday, news reports showed that few expect Bush to order dramatic changes in US policy even as Washington awaits the arrival of a policy report on Iraq. This week the Iraq Study Group, led by Bush family friend James Baker, will present its suggestions on how to end the war. The report has been widely leaked and is expected to contain a framework for a gradual withdrawal of US combat troops over a period of a year or more.
Pre-budget speculation
Next Wednesday is Budget Day, and the Government finances have never been in greater surplus. Everyone is expecting a generous pre-election budget, despite the protestations of fiscal rectitude emanating from the Taoiseach and his cabinet.
Today’s (Sunday) papers are full of front-page speculation on what rabbits will be pulled out of Minister Cowan’s hat. Income tax rates, stamp-duty, welfare and pension increases, mortgage interest relief etc are all speculated on.
RTE radio’s hour-long This Week programme devoted serious time to it, with their own George Lee and the Independent’s Business Editor Brendan Keenan pressed to speculate on what the main budget measures will be.
I’ve no doubt that we’ll have media speculation overload for the next 3 days, followed by media analysis overload for the following week
What I can’t understand is, other than filling media space, what function is fulfilled or benefit delivered from pre-budget speculation when the actual outcome will be known with absolute certainty in a couple of days time?
This is standard procedure for the media circus in the lead up to publication of judicial decisions, budget measures, the content of James Baker's Iraq Study Group etc.. Talking heads keeping each other in business (and appearance fees) but ultimately engaged in a pointless exercise, unless there is some likelihood that they will in fact influence the outcome. Which is rarely, if ever, the case.
Footnote: A couple of hours after posting this, I got a call from RTE's Questions & Answers wondering if I'd like to be in the audience on Monday night when one of the main topics under discussion would be the upcoming Budget. They thought I might be interested, based on the content of a couple of letters published. Needless to say, I declined the invitation but couldn't help smiling about the irony of it.
Today’s (Sunday) papers are full of front-page speculation on what rabbits will be pulled out of Minister Cowan’s hat. Income tax rates, stamp-duty, welfare and pension increases, mortgage interest relief etc are all speculated on.
RTE radio’s hour-long This Week programme devoted serious time to it, with their own George Lee and the Independent’s Business Editor Brendan Keenan pressed to speculate on what the main budget measures will be.
I’ve no doubt that we’ll have media speculation overload for the next 3 days, followed by media analysis overload for the following week
What I can’t understand is, other than filling media space, what function is fulfilled or benefit delivered from pre-budget speculation when the actual outcome will be known with absolute certainty in a couple of days time?
This is standard procedure for the media circus in the lead up to publication of judicial decisions, budget measures, the content of James Baker's Iraq Study Group etc.. Talking heads keeping each other in business (and appearance fees) but ultimately engaged in a pointless exercise, unless there is some likelihood that they will in fact influence the outcome. Which is rarely, if ever, the case.
Footnote: A couple of hours after posting this, I got a call from RTE's Questions & Answers wondering if I'd like to be in the audience on Monday night when one of the main topics under discussion would be the upcoming Budget. They thought I might be interested, based on the content of a couple of letters published. Needless to say, I declined the invitation but couldn't help smiling about the irony of it.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Paying your way!
It’s impossible not to feel lucky when you wake up in the morning and find you
- are not living in Darfur, Baghdad, Palestine, Africa, South America and Asia
- don’t have a physically or mentally handicapped child or a parent suffering from alzhiemers
- have access to education, medication and a regular democratic proccess
- have enough money to meet your own and your family’s needs
It’s impossible to watch the daily news and not see that you live a life of safety and privilege which is denied to a majority of the world’s population.
Yet increasingly, with easier and cheaper transport, we really do live in a global village which sits comfortably beside the globalised economy we’re constantly told is essential to pay our way.
As we know that the poor will always trouble (perhaps mug or rob) their rich neighbours, then we must also, however unwillingly, acknowledge that until we achieve some sort of financial/ economic equilibrium within our own society and with our 3rd world neighbours, we ourselves will never achieve real long-term security.
- are not living in Darfur, Baghdad, Palestine, Africa, South America and Asia
- don’t have a physically or mentally handicapped child or a parent suffering from alzhiemers
- have access to education, medication and a regular democratic proccess
- have enough money to meet your own and your family’s needs
It’s impossible to watch the daily news and not see that you live a life of safety and privilege which is denied to a majority of the world’s population.
Yet increasingly, with easier and cheaper transport, we really do live in a global village which sits comfortably beside the globalised economy we’re constantly told is essential to pay our way.
As we know that the poor will always trouble (perhaps mug or rob) their rich neighbours, then we must also, however unwillingly, acknowledge that until we achieve some sort of financial/ economic equilibrium within our own society and with our 3rd world neighbours, we ourselves will never achieve real long-term security.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Boot Camp for Young Offenders?
RTE’s Today show (today) highlighted how little has been achieved in some key areas of public need, despite the unprecedented Exchequer wealth generated over the past decade. Geriatric care and rehabilitation of young offenders were just two of many areas that might have featured.
Defence Minister O’Dea, as expected, rubbished the Fine Gael “Boot Camp” proposal and, when challenged by Pat Kenny re the poor performance of the current Government, resorted to their standard defence that “all Governments since the foundation of the State etc etc…”. This ignores the fact that all previous Govts were effectively broke - the current coalition has been in office for 9 years now and has probably had more money to spend than all previous administrations combined.
As for the boot camp proposal - I have no idea whether this would work or not. However, the image presented by the media and Govt commentators is some brutalising “sgt-major” regime which will turn out "super-thugs". Mary Raftery, in her Irish Times column last week, was fairly typical. She cited the objective of army training as teaching young men to kill. I doubt if anyone, inside or outside the Irish Army, would describe it as a “lean, mean killing machine”. Many of the other negative contributions appear to assume that most of these young offenders are beyond redemption.
What is clear from the debate is that some form of proactive rehabilitation and vocational training programme is required for young offenders. This might well be provided by army instructors, perhaps in a non-military environment, who might well get more respect from the offenders than the normal “screw” would.
If nothing else, this Fine Gael proposal might prompt the Govt into taking some action - at last. But not if the media keep ridiculing it as a “hang ’em & flog ’em” approach.
Defence Minister O’Dea, as expected, rubbished the Fine Gael “Boot Camp” proposal and, when challenged by Pat Kenny re the poor performance of the current Government, resorted to their standard defence that “all Governments since the foundation of the State etc etc…”. This ignores the fact that all previous Govts were effectively broke - the current coalition has been in office for 9 years now and has probably had more money to spend than all previous administrations combined.
As for the boot camp proposal - I have no idea whether this would work or not. However, the image presented by the media and Govt commentators is some brutalising “sgt-major” regime which will turn out "super-thugs". Mary Raftery, in her Irish Times column last week, was fairly typical. She cited the objective of army training as teaching young men to kill. I doubt if anyone, inside or outside the Irish Army, would describe it as a “lean, mean killing machine”. Many of the other negative contributions appear to assume that most of these young offenders are beyond redemption.
What is clear from the debate is that some form of proactive rehabilitation and vocational training programme is required for young offenders. This might well be provided by army instructors, perhaps in a non-military environment, who might well get more respect from the offenders than the normal “screw” would.
If nothing else, this Fine Gael proposal might prompt the Govt into taking some action - at last. But not if the media keep ridiculing it as a “hang ’em & flog ’em” approach.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Al-Qaeda & Papal visit to Turkey
"Earlier, the Pope's efforts to emphasize common ground between Christians and Moslems were sharply rebuffed by Al Quaeda, which accused him of aiding what it called a crusade against Islam."
This is an extract from the RTE website and consistent with the tone and content of the station’s many news bulletins on both radio and tv today.
RTE have today given far greater prominence to Al-Qaeda's hostile comments on the Pope's visit to Turkey than any other aspect of that visit. Why report/publicise their comments at all?
Al-Qaeda are clearly anti-western, anti-christian and unlikely to welcome any visit by a non-muslim religious leader. Has Al-Qaeda become an accepted representative group for any branch of Islam, other than the terrorist one, whose comments are now deemed to carry weight on religious matters by RTE?
RTE chose a tabloid approach, using Al-Qaeda to spice up its reports on the papal visit. In doing so, it accords a weight and legitimacy to that terrorist organisation which it does not deserve. This runs the risk of further influencing young Muslims in Ireland to regard Al-Qaeda and other radical groups as credible spokesmen for some mainstream strand of Islam.
RTE will claim that they are only reporting the news and adopt a “don’t shoot the messenger” stance. But surely even Montrose is aware that the media is an integral part of the terrorist strategy - to spread the word to fellow-travellers across the world, to spread fear among their enemies and mobilise public opinion motivated by that fear. This has long been a recognised fact - the terrorists feed media with spectacular content and the media duly feeds it to a much wider audience than they terrorists themselves could ever reach.
Standard media defence is that it’s on the internet anyway and therefore accessible to all. That’s fine in theory, but putting it on all major news bulletins ensures that it reaches a far wider audience that the small number of adherents who would actually know where to find it on the internet and then take the trouble to access and read it.
This nonsense has been an excellent example of completely unbalanced reportage and should not be repeated. Needless to say, I’ve emailed a strongly-worded complaint to the RTE newsroom - which generated the response below. I'm not holding my breath that it will have any impact.
Thank you for your e-mail. Your comments in regard to RTÉ's reporting on Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey have been logged and circulated for information and discussion to senior RTÉ Management and members of the Editorial Boards.
I am also forwarding your e-mail to the Senior Press Officer for News and Current Affairs who will bring your comments to the attention of the RTÉ News Editors.
Your feedback is appreciated and thank you again for taking the time and trouble to contact us on this matter.
With best regards
Nina Ward
RTÉ Information Officer
This is an extract from the RTE website and consistent with the tone and content of the station’s many news bulletins on both radio and tv today.
RTE have today given far greater prominence to Al-Qaeda's hostile comments on the Pope's visit to Turkey than any other aspect of that visit. Why report/publicise their comments at all?
Al-Qaeda are clearly anti-western, anti-christian and unlikely to welcome any visit by a non-muslim religious leader. Has Al-Qaeda become an accepted representative group for any branch of Islam, other than the terrorist one, whose comments are now deemed to carry weight on religious matters by RTE?
RTE chose a tabloid approach, using Al-Qaeda to spice up its reports on the papal visit. In doing so, it accords a weight and legitimacy to that terrorist organisation which it does not deserve. This runs the risk of further influencing young Muslims in Ireland to regard Al-Qaeda and other radical groups as credible spokesmen for some mainstream strand of Islam.
RTE will claim that they are only reporting the news and adopt a “don’t shoot the messenger” stance. But surely even Montrose is aware that the media is an integral part of the terrorist strategy - to spread the word to fellow-travellers across the world, to spread fear among their enemies and mobilise public opinion motivated by that fear. This has long been a recognised fact - the terrorists feed media with spectacular content and the media duly feeds it to a much wider audience than they terrorists themselves could ever reach.
Standard media defence is that it’s on the internet anyway and therefore accessible to all. That’s fine in theory, but putting it on all major news bulletins ensures that it reaches a far wider audience that the small number of adherents who would actually know where to find it on the internet and then take the trouble to access and read it.
This nonsense has been an excellent example of completely unbalanced reportage and should not be repeated. Needless to say, I’ve emailed a strongly-worded complaint to the RTE newsroom - which generated the response below. I'm not holding my breath that it will have any impact.
Thank you for your e-mail. Your comments in regard to RTÉ's reporting on Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey have been logged and circulated for information and discussion to senior RTÉ Management and members of the Editorial Boards.
I am also forwarding your e-mail to the Senior Press Officer for News and Current Affairs who will bring your comments to the attention of the RTÉ News Editors.
Your feedback is appreciated and thank you again for taking the time and trouble to contact us on this matter.
With best regards
Nina Ward
RTÉ Information Officer
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Multi-tasking woman
We hear a lot these days about the special ability of women to “multi-task”.
This is often mentioned in the context of women juggling jobs, housework and children, but is also put forward by female professionals as a rationale for employing women rather than men.
They tell us that Professional/Executive woman can handle more issues, simultaneously and effectively, than her male counterpart. It seems that men are universally hopeless at this multi-tasking lark.
Where then does it all go wrong when wonder woman gets to the supermarket checkout? Here women are required simply to sequentially pack and pay, while perhaps talking to the checkout operator at the same time. Not only do they generally fail hopelessly to perform these tasks with any acceptable level of efficiency, they also become completely oblivious to those waiting patiently (or in my case, impatiently) in the queue behind.
Is it possible that insufficient demand is made by the checkout experience on their multi-tasking capabilities and they simply fall into a state of bored lethargy as a consequence?
Could supermarkets provide leaflets, videos, in-house training etc for these ladies or, if necessary, find the necessary mechanisms to trigger those famed multi-tasking skills at this critical point in the shopping experience?
This is often mentioned in the context of women juggling jobs, housework and children, but is also put forward by female professionals as a rationale for employing women rather than men.
They tell us that Professional/Executive woman can handle more issues, simultaneously and effectively, than her male counterpart. It seems that men are universally hopeless at this multi-tasking lark.
Where then does it all go wrong when wonder woman gets to the supermarket checkout? Here women are required simply to sequentially pack and pay, while perhaps talking to the checkout operator at the same time. Not only do they generally fail hopelessly to perform these tasks with any acceptable level of efficiency, they also become completely oblivious to those waiting patiently (or in my case, impatiently) in the queue behind.
Is it possible that insufficient demand is made by the checkout experience on their multi-tasking capabilities and they simply fall into a state of bored lethargy as a consequence?
Could supermarkets provide leaflets, videos, in-house training etc for these ladies or, if necessary, find the necessary mechanisms to trigger those famed multi-tasking skills at this critical point in the shopping experience?
Christmas Crib - continued
My complaint about the banning of Christmas cribs, nativity plays etc has drawn a number of responses, including the following in today’s Irish Independent:
Peter Molloy questions why atheists should feel offended at the sight of nativity cribs in public places (Letters, November 23).
Perhaps, like the Angelus and the Constitutional prohibition on atheists becoming the President or judges, it is yet another reminder to them they are not accepted as full active citizens in Irish society.
Let's reverse roles and imagine if atheists insisted that every public place display a sign saying: "God does not exist, religion is make-believe, the nativity is a myth" as an expression of their non-faith. Would Christians be offended by such signs, and demand their removal?
With the season that is in it, maybe atheists and Christians could come together in a spirit of inclusivity and harmony to foster respect and tolerance for the diversity and difference in our increasingly multicultural, multiracial, multiethical, multidenominational, and multidimensional society by accompanying every public display of a nativity crib with a sign dismissing it as superstitious nonsense.
If this is done, then neither atheist nor Christian could complain about religious discrimination because each would be equally offended by the public display of the other.
JASON FITZHARRIS, RIVERVALLEY, SWORDS, CO DUBLIN
This prompted the following response, published in the Indo on 30th November:
I was worried that the phrase “atheist bigots” in my original letter of Nov 23rd might be a bit over the top, but Jason Fitzharris (Letters Nov 28th) has put my mind at ease on that one.
He identifies the Angelus as a reminder that atheists “are not accepted as full active citizens in Irish society”, a situation which is confirmed to him by the sight of cribs in public places.
While offended by the sight of cribs in public places, he sees an equitable solution in sharing that offence by attaching a sign to each crib dismissing it as superstitious nonsense.
There is a world of difference between being offended and being oppressed. Mr Fitzharris's multi-everything world must be a very bland place to live if every word and action must first be held up to the light by him to see if it might just possibly offend anyone else.
Readers can draw their own conclusions as to which of us is most “off the wall“. Regards, etc.
Peter Molloy questions why atheists should feel offended at the sight of nativity cribs in public places (Letters, November 23).
Perhaps, like the Angelus and the Constitutional prohibition on atheists becoming the President or judges, it is yet another reminder to them they are not accepted as full active citizens in Irish society.
Let's reverse roles and imagine if atheists insisted that every public place display a sign saying: "God does not exist, religion is make-believe, the nativity is a myth" as an expression of their non-faith. Would Christians be offended by such signs, and demand their removal?
With the season that is in it, maybe atheists and Christians could come together in a spirit of inclusivity and harmony to foster respect and tolerance for the diversity and difference in our increasingly multicultural, multiracial, multiethical, multidenominational, and multidimensional society by accompanying every public display of a nativity crib with a sign dismissing it as superstitious nonsense.
If this is done, then neither atheist nor Christian could complain about religious discrimination because each would be equally offended by the public display of the other.
JASON FITZHARRIS, RIVERVALLEY, SWORDS, CO DUBLIN
This prompted the following response, published in the Indo on 30th November:
I was worried that the phrase “atheist bigots” in my original letter of Nov 23rd might be a bit over the top, but Jason Fitzharris (Letters Nov 28th) has put my mind at ease on that one.
He identifies the Angelus as a reminder that atheists “are not accepted as full active citizens in Irish society”, a situation which is confirmed to him by the sight of cribs in public places.
While offended by the sight of cribs in public places, he sees an equitable solution in sharing that offence by attaching a sign to each crib dismissing it as superstitious nonsense.
There is a world of difference between being offended and being oppressed. Mr Fitzharris's multi-everything world must be a very bland place to live if every word and action must first be held up to the light by him to see if it might just possibly offend anyone else.
Readers can draw their own conclusions as to which of us is most “off the wall“. Regards, etc.
Supersize Me!
The McKenna Supreme Court judgement of 1995 means that, for constitutional amendments, the Government must provide equal funding to the “for” and “against” sides of the debate, regardless of what might be the apparent levels of support from either the political establishment or the general public.
It strikes me that it wouldn’t take much effort to have the courts establish that a similar even-handedness must apply to all public service promotions or advertising. This would open the door to some novel messages in our multi-media world.
You can just imagine what the pro-smoking campaign would look like. Think of the fun you’d have promoting the pleasures of getting plastered and then driving home. The boy-racers would have a ball demonstrating advanced speeding techniques, while the unhealthy eating, pro-obesity campaign could well provide a cameo role for yours truly. The unsafe sex promotion doesn’t bear thinking about. Etc etc etc
The list is almost endless - it would surely spell the end of the nanny state.
It strikes me that it wouldn’t take much effort to have the courts establish that a similar even-handedness must apply to all public service promotions or advertising. This would open the door to some novel messages in our multi-media world.
You can just imagine what the pro-smoking campaign would look like. Think of the fun you’d have promoting the pleasures of getting plastered and then driving home. The boy-racers would have a ball demonstrating advanced speeding techniques, while the unhealthy eating, pro-obesity campaign could well provide a cameo role for yours truly. The unsafe sex promotion doesn’t bear thinking about. Etc etc etc
The list is almost endless - it would surely spell the end of the nanny state.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Last week's N11 cock-up
Last Wednesday’s major cock-up on the N11 remains a major topic of debate.
The main culprits and various Government Ministers have all found the same hymn sheet to sing off. We are told that it was a major systems failure whereby Dublin City Council failed to notify all the other interested parties about the scale of the disruption planned and, consequently, remedial measures e.g. a contra flow system, were not put in place.
However, the most worrying systems failure on that day was the inability to alleviate matters once traffic had begun to back-up severely from early afternoon. I passed these particular roadworks at about 2.30pm, having been delayed by about 30 minutes. Returning from Wicklow at about 7.30pm, the traffic-jam had worsened to almost unimaginable proportions. In that 5-hour period, no effective remedial action had been taken.
A situation causing the closure of the hard shoulder and one lane of the road could just as easily have arisen through unplanned circumstances - a multiple vehicle pile-up, a truck shedding its load, a spillage of hazardous chemicals etc.. Indeed, it’s a much more likely scenario and one that would probably occur with far greater frequency that a burst main beside the road. One can easily envisage all the lanes on one side of the carriageway being closed by fire brigade, ambulance and garda vehicles in such a situation.
Would we - will we- be faced with similar traffic chaos when such an accident occurs? There was no evidence of any effective plan or capability to recover the situation last Wednesday.
Developing such a plan and rehearsing its effective implementation must become a top priority for Gardai and local authorities.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent
The main culprits and various Government Ministers have all found the same hymn sheet to sing off. We are told that it was a major systems failure whereby Dublin City Council failed to notify all the other interested parties about the scale of the disruption planned and, consequently, remedial measures e.g. a contra flow system, were not put in place.
However, the most worrying systems failure on that day was the inability to alleviate matters once traffic had begun to back-up severely from early afternoon. I passed these particular roadworks at about 2.30pm, having been delayed by about 30 minutes. Returning from Wicklow at about 7.30pm, the traffic-jam had worsened to almost unimaginable proportions. In that 5-hour period, no effective remedial action had been taken.
A situation causing the closure of the hard shoulder and one lane of the road could just as easily have arisen through unplanned circumstances - a multiple vehicle pile-up, a truck shedding its load, a spillage of hazardous chemicals etc.. Indeed, it’s a much more likely scenario and one that would probably occur with far greater frequency that a burst main beside the road. One can easily envisage all the lanes on one side of the carriageway being closed by fire brigade, ambulance and garda vehicles in such a situation.
Would we - will we- be faced with similar traffic chaos when such an accident occurs? There was no evidence of any effective plan or capability to recover the situation last Wednesday.
Developing such a plan and rehearsing its effective implementation must become a top priority for Gardai and local authorities.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Wasting public money on the Dail
Friday’s Irish Times reports that construction of a new state-of-the-art Dail chamber is to be considered as part of a major review of the Leinster House complex. This is because the chamber will not be able to accommodate an increased number of TDs, anticipated in the coming decades as the population grows.
This same Dail chamber is largely empty for the vast majority of Dail sessions, on those few days each year that the Dail is actually in session. Anyone who regularly follows the TV coverage will be aware that most debates are attended by only a handful of TDs. On those rare occasions when the chamber might be filled e.g. election of a Taoiseach, budget day etc., the new arrivals can sit on the steps or stand. The idea of wasting more public money on further cosseting our overpaid politicians is abhorrent nonsense.
The IT also reports that a decision is imminent on the construction of a two-storey underground car-park in Leinster House. This will allow the restoration of Leinster Lawn which has been used as a car-park by TDs for many years, an act of public vandalism which confirms the shameful belief in the political classes that normal rules do not apply to the lawmakers.
Politicians were outraged when Noel O’Gara sought to convert Dartmouth Square, his own property, into a public car-park. He can fairly claim that it’s a case of the kettle calling the pot black.
Politicians are supposed to lead by example. Is it any wonder that we’re becoming a “mé féin” society?
Footnote:Published as a letter in the Irish Times, the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner.
This same Dail chamber is largely empty for the vast majority of Dail sessions, on those few days each year that the Dail is actually in session. Anyone who regularly follows the TV coverage will be aware that most debates are attended by only a handful of TDs. On those rare occasions when the chamber might be filled e.g. election of a Taoiseach, budget day etc., the new arrivals can sit on the steps or stand. The idea of wasting more public money on further cosseting our overpaid politicians is abhorrent nonsense.
The IT also reports that a decision is imminent on the construction of a two-storey underground car-park in Leinster House. This will allow the restoration of Leinster Lawn which has been used as a car-park by TDs for many years, an act of public vandalism which confirms the shameful belief in the political classes that normal rules do not apply to the lawmakers.
Politicians were outraged when Noel O’Gara sought to convert Dartmouth Square, his own property, into a public car-park. He can fairly claim that it’s a case of the kettle calling the pot black.
Politicians are supposed to lead by example. Is it any wonder that we’re becoming a “mé féin” society?
Footnote:Published as a letter in the Irish Times, the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
My Christmas Crib
My letter published in today's Irish Independent:
The case of the British Airways lady suspended because she insisted on wearing her cross (Irish Independent, November 21) reminds me, with a groan, that we're entering the season when the "politically correct police" will be seeking to ban Christian symbols in public places for Christmas. Cribs, nativity plays etc in hospitals, schools, public buildings and open spaces will be the subject of heated debate and charges of causing offence to non-Christian minorities.
Some will argue that we are a secular state and therefore no symbols of any religious group should be sponsored by public funds. For example, Christmas cards must be devoid of religious content and carry the "season's greetings" message, if they are to be sent at all.
I'm at a loss to know what offence could be caused by cribs, nativity plays and so on, other than to religious fundamentalists and atheist bigots who insist on being offended. Nothing in them denigrates other faith groups. Indeed, I suggest that it is quite offensive, in itself, to Christians to claim that such displays cause offence.
Such Christmas activities have been long established by custom and practice in our country. If individual communities decide, preferably by plebiscite, that they don't wish to have such activities in their own hospital, school, or whatever, then that is perfectly reasonable.
However, there should be no blanket ban or diktat from Government, religious fundamentalists or the "politically correct police."
Footnote: On 27th Nov I had a call from the Gerry Ryan Show on 2FM inquiring if I would take a call from Gerry on this topic. Sad to report, I chickened out.
Also published in the Irish Examiner - on Dec 18th, almost a month after I sent it.
The case of the British Airways lady suspended because she insisted on wearing her cross (Irish Independent, November 21) reminds me, with a groan, that we're entering the season when the "politically correct police" will be seeking to ban Christian symbols in public places for Christmas. Cribs, nativity plays etc in hospitals, schools, public buildings and open spaces will be the subject of heated debate and charges of causing offence to non-Christian minorities.
Some will argue that we are a secular state and therefore no symbols of any religious group should be sponsored by public funds. For example, Christmas cards must be devoid of religious content and carry the "season's greetings" message, if they are to be sent at all.
I'm at a loss to know what offence could be caused by cribs, nativity plays and so on, other than to religious fundamentalists and atheist bigots who insist on being offended. Nothing in them denigrates other faith groups. Indeed, I suggest that it is quite offensive, in itself, to Christians to claim that such displays cause offence.
Such Christmas activities have been long established by custom and practice in our country. If individual communities decide, preferably by plebiscite, that they don't wish to have such activities in their own hospital, school, or whatever, then that is perfectly reasonable.
However, there should be no blanket ban or diktat from Government, religious fundamentalists or the "politically correct police."
Footnote: On 27th Nov I had a call from the Gerry Ryan Show on 2FM inquiring if I would take a call from Gerry on this topic. Sad to report, I chickened out.
Also published in the Irish Examiner - on Dec 18th, almost a month after I sent it.
Worst ever traffic chaos on M11/M50
I was delayed for about 30-40 minutes by those roadworks near Bray yesterday afternoon.
I finally passed the actual roadworks at about 2.45pm, at which time a large hole had been dug beside the hard shoulder, but did not actually encroach onto it. However, both the hard shoulder and the inner road lane had been coned-off and all traffic was funnelled through the “fast lane”.
Even at that stage the tailback was at least a couple of miles long.
What crossed my mind was that it should have been possible, with judicious management/policing, to allow traffic through two lanes, closing off just the hard shoulder.
Returning from Wicklow on the same road at about 7.30 pm last night, I couldn’t believe the tailbacks visible as ribbons of light on both the M11 & M50.
Perhaps the roadworks extended further out onto the road at a later stage and it would then have been necessary to block the inner lane anyway.
But I wondered where was the Garda Traffic Corps and what exactly is their function? Are they merely there to enforce traffic laws re speeding, drink driving etc or do they also have some responsibility for ensuring the free-flow of traffic?
If they don’t they should!
Footnote: Aired by Pat Kenny on his RTE radio programme.
I finally passed the actual roadworks at about 2.45pm, at which time a large hole had been dug beside the hard shoulder, but did not actually encroach onto it. However, both the hard shoulder and the inner road lane had been coned-off and all traffic was funnelled through the “fast lane”.
Even at that stage the tailback was at least a couple of miles long.
What crossed my mind was that it should have been possible, with judicious management/policing, to allow traffic through two lanes, closing off just the hard shoulder.
Returning from Wicklow on the same road at about 7.30 pm last night, I couldn’t believe the tailbacks visible as ribbons of light on both the M11 & M50.
Perhaps the roadworks extended further out onto the road at a later stage and it would then have been necessary to block the inner lane anyway.
But I wondered where was the Garda Traffic Corps and what exactly is their function? Are they merely there to enforce traffic laws re speeding, drink driving etc or do they also have some responsibility for ensuring the free-flow of traffic?
If they don’t they should!
Footnote: Aired by Pat Kenny on his RTE radio programme.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Low Tax Regime
You earned €100 overtime and had €52 extra in your pay packet at the end of the week, after deduction of tax (42%) and PRSI (6%).
You had 2 pints (€8) with the lads after work on Friday. On the way home you stopped for petrol (€30) and bought a bottle of wine (€7.50) and 20 fags (€6.50) for the wife.
That's your €100 overtime fully accounted for.
Between PAYE, PRSI, VAT & excise duties the Government had taken almost €77** of it. Plus some small extra proportion of the other €23 by way of corporation tax on the profits of your pub and the garage. If you paid by Laser or Credit Card you'll have been screwed already by the Govt for €10 or €40 in annual stamp duty charges - probably both.
Lucky you live in a low-tax economy!
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner.
**Breakdown of above calculation:
PAYE/PRSI: €48 - PAYE @ 42%, PRSI & 6% of €100 Overtime
Beer: Govt take €2.32 of total sale price €8 (2 pints x €4)
Excise Duty €0.47 per pint + VAT @ 21%.
Petrol: Govt take €18.24 of total sale price of €30 (29.4 litres @ €1.02 per litre)
Excise Duty €0.44 per litre + VAT @ 21%.
Wine: Govt take €3.35 of total sale price of €7.50
Excise Duty €2.05 per bottle + VAT @ 21%
Cigarettes: Govt take €4.94 of total sale price of €6.50
Excise duty €3.81 per 20 pack + VAT @ 21%.
TOTAL Govt Take = €76.85
You had 2 pints (€8) with the lads after work on Friday. On the way home you stopped for petrol (€30) and bought a bottle of wine (€7.50) and 20 fags (€6.50) for the wife.
That's your €100 overtime fully accounted for.
Between PAYE, PRSI, VAT & excise duties the Government had taken almost €77** of it. Plus some small extra proportion of the other €23 by way of corporation tax on the profits of your pub and the garage. If you paid by Laser or Credit Card you'll have been screwed already by the Govt for €10 or €40 in annual stamp duty charges - probably both.
Lucky you live in a low-tax economy!
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner.
**Breakdown of above calculation:
PAYE/PRSI: €48 - PAYE @ 42%, PRSI & 6% of €100 Overtime
Beer: Govt take €2.32 of total sale price €8 (2 pints x €4)
Excise Duty €0.47 per pint + VAT @ 21%.
Petrol: Govt take €18.24 of total sale price of €30 (29.4 litres @ €1.02 per litre)
Excise Duty €0.44 per litre + VAT @ 21%.
Wine: Govt take €3.35 of total sale price of €7.50
Excise Duty €2.05 per bottle + VAT @ 21%
Cigarettes: Govt take €4.94 of total sale price of €6.50
Excise duty €3.81 per 20 pack + VAT @ 21%.
TOTAL Govt Take = €76.85
Al Pacino can act - sometimes
Al Pacino is in town, I think he's picking up some honorary doctorate or other.
I recently saw him play Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and was reminded that the guy can actually act.
I've grown sick and tired of watching him play the same character in far too many movies - the same hard-bitten, shouting gobshite whether he's a blind war veteran or an honest cop.
He should try acting more often.
I recently saw him play Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and was reminded that the guy can actually act.
I've grown sick and tired of watching him play the same character in far too many movies - the same hard-bitten, shouting gobshite whether he's a blind war veteran or an honest cop.
He should try acting more often.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens
I saw Yusuf Islam (a.k.a. Cat Ctevens) on the BBC’s Heaven & Earth programme this morning. He’s released his first new record "Another Cup" in donkeys years (30?) and was also promoting the charitable work in the Muslim community in which he has been actively involved. His message is one of peace and love.
I couldn't help remembering his appearance on RTE's Late Late Show about 15(?) years ago, after he had coverted to Islam and at the time of the fatwa on Salman Rushdie over his book, The Satanic Verses. Gay Byrne, the show's host, asked him if, as a Muslim, he would feel obliged to kill Rushdie if the opportunity arose. He admitted that he would feel obliged by his religion to do so. It was quite clear that he was very uncomfortable with the question. He wasn't advocating the cause and it seemed highly unlikely that he would be taking any steps to find Rushdie.
But it was a very disturbing answer from a man who had always been associated with peace and love. If that is the effect that Islam has on peace-loving converts, then its simplistic fundamentalism is clearly a danger to society and democracy.
It's as if it's a faith firmly rooted in the past, living by literal interpretations , sometimes the most extreme, of the Koran. Is there any respected moderate Muslim faith leadership which is prepared (i.e. physically brave enough) to denounce the fundamentalists and sustain that stand?
In the ongoing debate, we need to readily acknowledge that it's only 3-4 centuries since Christians routinely burned heretics and the inquisitions were a major source of terror. And God alone knows what horrors were perpetrated in his name in Europe’s colonisation of Africa, the Americas, Asia etc..
I couldn't help remembering his appearance on RTE's Late Late Show about 15(?) years ago, after he had coverted to Islam and at the time of the fatwa on Salman Rushdie over his book, The Satanic Verses. Gay Byrne, the show's host, asked him if, as a Muslim, he would feel obliged to kill Rushdie if the opportunity arose. He admitted that he would feel obliged by his religion to do so. It was quite clear that he was very uncomfortable with the question. He wasn't advocating the cause and it seemed highly unlikely that he would be taking any steps to find Rushdie.
But it was a very disturbing answer from a man who had always been associated with peace and love. If that is the effect that Islam has on peace-loving converts, then its simplistic fundamentalism is clearly a danger to society and democracy.
It's as if it's a faith firmly rooted in the past, living by literal interpretations , sometimes the most extreme, of the Koran. Is there any respected moderate Muslim faith leadership which is prepared (i.e. physically brave enough) to denounce the fundamentalists and sustain that stand?
In the ongoing debate, we need to readily acknowledge that it's only 3-4 centuries since Christians routinely burned heretics and the inquisitions were a major source of terror. And God alone knows what horrors were perpetrated in his name in Europe’s colonisation of Africa, the Americas, Asia etc..
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Philip McContempomi
Watching Ireland beat South Africa, scoring four good tries in the process, was a pleasure slightly tempered by the reality that the Springboks were trying out several inexperienced players.
The weekend’s rugby pleasure was enhanced by the Pumas defeat of England at Twickenham and the Italians giving the Wallabies a good scare. However, the slaughter of France by the All Blacks suggests that southern hemisphere rugby is still well ahead of 6-Nations standard. It will be interesting to see how we get on against Australia next week and how England do against South Africa.
After the match, the debate about the 2007 World Cup focused on our lack of strength in depth in certain key positions, most notably at out-half, where David Humphreys has hung up his international boots though he’s currently playing out of his skin for Ulster. The RTE panel seemed fairly confident that he can be lured out of retirement for the World Cup - but at 35 he’s definitely nearing the end of his playing career, with no other obvious international-class out-half identified.
Which brings us back to the Pumas v. England where Felipe Contempomi had an excellent game. He’s been playing for Leinster now for several seasons and, given the failure of the Pumas to secure a slot in either the Tri-Nations or 6-Nations annual competitions, he might be persuaded to declare for Ireland. Just what are the residency/playing rules? I’m sure we can find an Irish grandparent (legitimate or otherwise) and getting him an Irish passport should be a doddle.
Incidentally, how does he spell his surname? If you Google him you get 1240 entries for “ContempoMi” and 967 for “ContempoNi” - so I’ve stuck with the former.
The weekend’s rugby pleasure was enhanced by the Pumas defeat of England at Twickenham and the Italians giving the Wallabies a good scare. However, the slaughter of France by the All Blacks suggests that southern hemisphere rugby is still well ahead of 6-Nations standard. It will be interesting to see how we get on against Australia next week and how England do against South Africa.
After the match, the debate about the 2007 World Cup focused on our lack of strength in depth in certain key positions, most notably at out-half, where David Humphreys has hung up his international boots though he’s currently playing out of his skin for Ulster. The RTE panel seemed fairly confident that he can be lured out of retirement for the World Cup - but at 35 he’s definitely nearing the end of his playing career, with no other obvious international-class out-half identified.
Which brings us back to the Pumas v. England where Felipe Contempomi had an excellent game. He’s been playing for Leinster now for several seasons and, given the failure of the Pumas to secure a slot in either the Tri-Nations or 6-Nations annual competitions, he might be persuaded to declare for Ireland. Just what are the residency/playing rules? I’m sure we can find an Irish grandparent (legitimate or otherwise) and getting him an Irish passport should be a doddle.
Incidentally, how does he spell his surname? If you Google him you get 1240 entries for “ContempoMi” and 967 for “ContempoNi” - so I’ve stuck with the former.
Onward Christian Soldiers
Tomorrow (Monday) it will only be 6 weeks to Christmas Day.
It must almost be time for the annual debate about living in a multi-cultural society and the potential offence given to people of other religions by our national celebration of this Christian festival. The politically correct (atheist or agnostic) commentators will start the rush to condemn us for our heritage and practices, in order to better display how liberal and open-minded they are. I suppose we can also expect to hear the calls for the removal of the Angelus from RTE TV & radio.
Multi-national companies will wish their employees and customers a “happy holiday” or “festive season”, avoiding the dreaded “C” word. Ditto many Christmas cards will carry no religious symbols or references to the “C” word.
Personally, I can’t see how anyone can take offence from the celebration of another religion’s festivals, unless those celebrations involve in some fashion the denigration of non-believers. Wishing a Jew, a Muslim or a Hindu “Happy Christmas” will only cause offence to those who insist on being offended.
Perhaps if we invented a suitable mechanism for demonstrating absolute parity of esteem on all religions it would defuse the debate. One possible solution springs to mind, though there are many others I’m sure.
Let’s convert Halloween! Every community will have a bonfire into which will be thrown an icon of each major religion. The purpose of this action is twofold: (a) the ceremonial burning will symbolise the lack of pre-eminence accorded to any one faith and (b) mankind’s free will in choosing to believe in any faith or none and also to practice his/her faith without interference or interfering with anyone else.
This will be known as “The Bonfire of Divinities”. Non-believers may choose to call it "The Bonfire of Inanities."
It must almost be time for the annual debate about living in a multi-cultural society and the potential offence given to people of other religions by our national celebration of this Christian festival. The politically correct (atheist or agnostic) commentators will start the rush to condemn us for our heritage and practices, in order to better display how liberal and open-minded they are. I suppose we can also expect to hear the calls for the removal of the Angelus from RTE TV & radio.
Multi-national companies will wish their employees and customers a “happy holiday” or “festive season”, avoiding the dreaded “C” word. Ditto many Christmas cards will carry no religious symbols or references to the “C” word.
Personally, I can’t see how anyone can take offence from the celebration of another religion’s festivals, unless those celebrations involve in some fashion the denigration of non-believers. Wishing a Jew, a Muslim or a Hindu “Happy Christmas” will only cause offence to those who insist on being offended.
Perhaps if we invented a suitable mechanism for demonstrating absolute parity of esteem on all religions it would defuse the debate. One possible solution springs to mind, though there are many others I’m sure.
Let’s convert Halloween! Every community will have a bonfire into which will be thrown an icon of each major religion. The purpose of this action is twofold: (a) the ceremonial burning will symbolise the lack of pre-eminence accorded to any one faith and (b) mankind’s free will in choosing to believe in any faith or none and also to practice his/her faith without interference or interfering with anyone else.
This will be known as “The Bonfire of Divinities”. Non-believers may choose to call it "The Bonfire of Inanities."
Saturday, November 11, 2006
McGurk v. Previn
Letter in today's Irish Times:
Madam, - Tom McGurk's live interview with music legend André Previn on RTÉ 1 this morning (Nov 10th) must surely rank as prime car crash radio.Having admitted that he had never seen A Streetcar Named Desire as a play, he then expressed strong but totally uninformed opinions on the play, on opera as elitist art and requested comments from an increasingly incredulous Mr Previn. Resulting in surely the most embarrassing few minutes in recent broadcasting. Stick to the rugby Tom. - Yours, etc,
NOEL DRUMGOOLE, Brighton Square, Rathgar, Dublin 6.
I missed the interview in question, but it sounds typical of McGurk's recent output when he fills the chair for Pat Kenny. Several decades ago, Previn appeared on the Morecombe & Wise show where they took the piss unmercifully, so at least the guy has a sense of humour. He probably just asked his agent to warn him in future when he's booking him on a comedy show.
McGurk also filled in for Kenny during the recent mid-term break and a couple of interviews spring to mind.
One was with the chief environmental advisor to the Bush administration. You always know what McGurk's opinion is because his questions come fully-loaded. So he launched into a top-of-the-head anti-Bush diatribe which was easily rebutted by his guest. The man reeled off several programmes currently underway, listing huge budgets, targets and achievements to date. McGurk was almost completely silenced, the only fact he seemed to possess was that the US has refused to sign up to Kyoto. You'd have been left with the impression that George Bush was the greatest living friend of the environment.
Another interview was about childcare and how to raise and discipline children. Again McGurk wore his heart on his sleeve - "a good slap never did anyone any harm" etc etc.. The tone and content of his questions was completely sceptical. But his contributor stuck to his course and dutifully demolished every statement/argument put forward by McGurk. Even better, he used each case to illustrate how McGurk's approach represented a failure on the part of the parent. McGurk kept digging long after he should have realised he was sounding like stone-age man.
What McGurk best illustrates is that opinions that sound authoritative in a pub are often based on analysis as shallow as a puddle of beer. It's slightly scary that he writes a weekly opinion column in the Sunday Business Post.
McGurk is far from being unique in Irish broadcasting and viewers/listeners should be constantly reminded that (i) asking questions is a lot easier than answering them (ii) generally interviewers know a lot less about the subject than the interviewee and (iii) many interviewers are trying to create headlines for their station’s next news headlines.
Madam, - Tom McGurk's live interview with music legend André Previn on RTÉ 1 this morning (Nov 10th) must surely rank as prime car crash radio.Having admitted that he had never seen A Streetcar Named Desire as a play, he then expressed strong but totally uninformed opinions on the play, on opera as elitist art and requested comments from an increasingly incredulous Mr Previn. Resulting in surely the most embarrassing few minutes in recent broadcasting. Stick to the rugby Tom. - Yours, etc,
NOEL DRUMGOOLE, Brighton Square, Rathgar, Dublin 6.
I missed the interview in question, but it sounds typical of McGurk's recent output when he fills the chair for Pat Kenny. Several decades ago, Previn appeared on the Morecombe & Wise show where they took the piss unmercifully, so at least the guy has a sense of humour. He probably just asked his agent to warn him in future when he's booking him on a comedy show.
McGurk also filled in for Kenny during the recent mid-term break and a couple of interviews spring to mind.
One was with the chief environmental advisor to the Bush administration. You always know what McGurk's opinion is because his questions come fully-loaded. So he launched into a top-of-the-head anti-Bush diatribe which was easily rebutted by his guest. The man reeled off several programmes currently underway, listing huge budgets, targets and achievements to date. McGurk was almost completely silenced, the only fact he seemed to possess was that the US has refused to sign up to Kyoto. You'd have been left with the impression that George Bush was the greatest living friend of the environment.
Another interview was about childcare and how to raise and discipline children. Again McGurk wore his heart on his sleeve - "a good slap never did anyone any harm" etc etc.. The tone and content of his questions was completely sceptical. But his contributor stuck to his course and dutifully demolished every statement/argument put forward by McGurk. Even better, he used each case to illustrate how McGurk's approach represented a failure on the part of the parent. McGurk kept digging long after he should have realised he was sounding like stone-age man.
What McGurk best illustrates is that opinions that sound authoritative in a pub are often based on analysis as shallow as a puddle of beer. It's slightly scary that he writes a weekly opinion column in the Sunday Business Post.
McGurk is far from being unique in Irish broadcasting and viewers/listeners should be constantly reminded that (i) asking questions is a lot easier than answering them (ii) generally interviewers know a lot less about the subject than the interviewee and (iii) many interviewers are trying to create headlines for their station’s next news headlines.
Monday, November 06, 2006
My dog's breath smells!
On the all-too-frequent occasions that the Minister for Justice appears on TV claiming to have been proven right on some topic or other, my dog licks his Michael McDowell.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Friday, November 03, 2006
Cherishing all of the companies of the nation equally
When the history of the 3rd millenium is finally recorded, will the Irish Republic be accorded its proper due as a leader of that political movement which converted societies into economies?
The traditional adage is that you judge a society by how it treats it’s weakest members, but you won’t hear any of that outdated old guff from our elected leaders. Instead you’ll hear about GDP/GNP growth, levels of employment, inward investment, current rates of interest, inflation, taxation etc etc..
For his latest general election marketing campaign, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has decided that the rights of children should be more firmly enshrined in the constitution. The often mis-understood phrase in the 1916 proclamation springs to mind - “cherishing all of the children of the nation equally”.
The success of the Irish economy is largely attributable to the fact that we have become a tax haven for corporate enterprise. The Irish Corporation Tax rate of 12.5% compares with standard rates of 30%-40% which apply to companies in all our major EU partners, the USA, Japan, China, Australia etc etc.
However, Ireland is also the only one of those countries where the standard rate of Personal Tax (20%) is higher, and materially so, than that paid by companies. And remember, for ordinary citizens, tax rates are applied to gross income before deduction of normal living expenses whereas companies are taxed on after-expense income i.e. on their profits.
So any redrafting of our constitution should logically recognise the pre-eminence of the corporate entity rather than the citizen and the principles of any new constitution should reflect that new and more relevant aspiration of “cherishing all of the companies of the nation equally”, reflecting the new reality of the country we seem to be living in.
No-one in their right mind would wish a return to the days of the one-way mailboat ticket, but surely some of our politicians can articulate a vision of what the economy can do for our society, rather than the other way around?
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Examiner.
The traditional adage is that you judge a society by how it treats it’s weakest members, but you won’t hear any of that outdated old guff from our elected leaders. Instead you’ll hear about GDP/GNP growth, levels of employment, inward investment, current rates of interest, inflation, taxation etc etc..
For his latest general election marketing campaign, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has decided that the rights of children should be more firmly enshrined in the constitution. The often mis-understood phrase in the 1916 proclamation springs to mind - “cherishing all of the children of the nation equally”.
The success of the Irish economy is largely attributable to the fact that we have become a tax haven for corporate enterprise. The Irish Corporation Tax rate of 12.5% compares with standard rates of 30%-40% which apply to companies in all our major EU partners, the USA, Japan, China, Australia etc etc.
However, Ireland is also the only one of those countries where the standard rate of Personal Tax (20%) is higher, and materially so, than that paid by companies. And remember, for ordinary citizens, tax rates are applied to gross income before deduction of normal living expenses whereas companies are taxed on after-expense income i.e. on their profits.
So any redrafting of our constitution should logically recognise the pre-eminence of the corporate entity rather than the citizen and the principles of any new constitution should reflect that new and more relevant aspiration of “cherishing all of the companies of the nation equally”, reflecting the new reality of the country we seem to be living in.
No-one in their right mind would wish a return to the days of the one-way mailboat ticket, but surely some of our politicians can articulate a vision of what the economy can do for our society, rather than the other way around?
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Examiner.
Bertie, a part-time republican?
Yesterday Taoiseach Bertie Ahern met with Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness to discuss the current state of progress in meeting the November 24th deadline for agreement on the restoration of devolved Government in Northern Ireland.
The visit included a photo opportunity in the Taoiseach’s office, with a black and white portrait of Padraic Pearse hanging on the wall behind the Taoiseach’s desk.
However, on RTE News last night, the camera angle revealed a small framed landscape painting resting against the wall, directly behind the Taoiseach’s swivel chair. The implication was obvious - the Pearse portrait was a temporary installation for the benefit of the cameras and, perhaps, the Sinn Fein delegation. The landscape would be back in place after the meeting.
There’s not much you could teach Bertie about spin!
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent.
The visit included a photo opportunity in the Taoiseach’s office, with a black and white portrait of Padraic Pearse hanging on the wall behind the Taoiseach’s desk.
However, on RTE News last night, the camera angle revealed a small framed landscape painting resting against the wall, directly behind the Taoiseach’s swivel chair. The implication was obvious - the Pearse portrait was a temporary installation for the benefit of the cameras and, perhaps, the Sinn Fein delegation. The landscape would be back in place after the meeting.
There’s not much you could teach Bertie about spin!
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
That Iraq Joke
The most telling thing about John Kerry's botched Iraq joke is that George W. Bush's many detractors can no longer believe that he was the only idiot running for President in 2004.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Times & the Irish Independent.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Times & the Irish Independent.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
For Fawkes Sake
Justice Minister Michael McDowell has been issuing dire warnings about the penalties for those caught attempting to import illegal fireworks from Northern Ireland, including the confiscation of cars.
Meanwhile, garda spokesmen have been quoted in broadcast media all day yesterday and today warning of arrests and fines for anyone caught with fireworks.
McDowell’s warnings prompted the following letter (not one of mine) in Monday’s Irish Times, while the whole night tonight has been filled with sound and light as two fingers have been given to the law by the younger population of the borough.
Madam, - I note Minister for Justice Michael McDowell's statement that customs officers have the power to confiscate cars carrying fireworks across the Border. Does this apply if you are driving an old banger? - Yours, etc, M.Kelly
Meanwhile, garda spokesmen have been quoted in broadcast media all day yesterday and today warning of arrests and fines for anyone caught with fireworks.
McDowell’s warnings prompted the following letter (not one of mine) in Monday’s Irish Times, while the whole night tonight has been filled with sound and light as two fingers have been given to the law by the younger population of the borough.
Madam, - I note Minister for Justice Michael McDowell's statement that customs officers have the power to confiscate cars carrying fireworks across the Border. Does this apply if you are driving an old banger? - Yours, etc, M.Kelly
Law for the little people
In today’s Irish Examiner (“de paper”) Harry McGee reports that Transport Minister Martin Cullen has backed Gay Byrne’s criticisms of lenient treatment of speeding drivers by the courts.
Has either man commented publicly on the Taoiseach’s response to recent media claims that his official car exceeded the speed limit? Bertie Ahern’s comment that he was merely a passenger was hypocritical and arrogant.
This isn’t the first time the Taoiseach or one of his ministers have demonstrated their belief that the law only applies to the little people.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent & the Irish Examiner.
Has either man commented publicly on the Taoiseach’s response to recent media claims that his official car exceeded the speed limit? Bertie Ahern’s comment that he was merely a passenger was hypocritical and arrogant.
This isn’t the first time the Taoiseach or one of his ministers have demonstrated their belief that the law only applies to the little people.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent & the Irish Examiner.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
The cost of land.
We have one of the least densely populated countries in Europe and yet we also have among the highest land prices. This defies logic until you factor in the zoning and planning laws which can turn landowners into multi-millionaires overnight.
The inflated value of development land has enriched landowners, impoverished house buyers and significantly increased the risk of corruption in the planning system.
The controversy over the cost of land for the new prison at Thornton Hall, at c. €200k per acre, surely suggests that it’s time we tried looking at this through the other end of the telescope.
Instead of incremental rezonings to meet anticipated demand for housing and commercial development, which are open to all sorts of political and financial chicanery, we should be rezoning large swathes of the country with the deliberate objective of creating a significant oversupply of land zoned for residential and commercial purposes.
For example, it might become policy to rezone all land within a certain radius of all towns and villages, with specific exclusions for existing public amenities, heritage and cultural sites etc..
The immediate effect of this oversupply should be to significantly reduce the cost of a site, while concentrating future development in clusters around existing population centres. Availability of more affordable sites should alleviate the demand, with consequent political pressure, for ribbon-development. It should also increase the incidence of one-off houses, providing greater variety in the housing stock and, hopefully, removing the anomaly of “town-house” estates in the middle of nowhere.
The creation of an oversupply of rezoned land should not result in a significantly increased number of houses actually being built - normal market supply/demand factors should take care of that.
The benefits to the house purchaser are clear - far greater choice of location and significantly reduced site costs.
Such a policy would have limited benefit in Dublin, given the scarcity of available land. But expansion of development opportunities in the commuter belt and improved affordability would presumably have some knock-on impact on house/site prices.
The only downside I see is the potential cost of provision of water, sewage and electricity services and there might be a need to revise the regulations regarding provision of some of these services. And, of course, the distress caused to those who currently hold development land of hugely inflated paper value, whose bubble would be burst.
The inflated value of development land has enriched landowners, impoverished house buyers and significantly increased the risk of corruption in the planning system.
The controversy over the cost of land for the new prison at Thornton Hall, at c. €200k per acre, surely suggests that it’s time we tried looking at this through the other end of the telescope.
Instead of incremental rezonings to meet anticipated demand for housing and commercial development, which are open to all sorts of political and financial chicanery, we should be rezoning large swathes of the country with the deliberate objective of creating a significant oversupply of land zoned for residential and commercial purposes.
For example, it might become policy to rezone all land within a certain radius of all towns and villages, with specific exclusions for existing public amenities, heritage and cultural sites etc..
The immediate effect of this oversupply should be to significantly reduce the cost of a site, while concentrating future development in clusters around existing population centres. Availability of more affordable sites should alleviate the demand, with consequent political pressure, for ribbon-development. It should also increase the incidence of one-off houses, providing greater variety in the housing stock and, hopefully, removing the anomaly of “town-house” estates in the middle of nowhere.
The creation of an oversupply of rezoned land should not result in a significantly increased number of houses actually being built - normal market supply/demand factors should take care of that.
The benefits to the house purchaser are clear - far greater choice of location and significantly reduced site costs.
Such a policy would have limited benefit in Dublin, given the scarcity of available land. But expansion of development opportunities in the commuter belt and improved affordability would presumably have some knock-on impact on house/site prices.
The only downside I see is the potential cost of provision of water, sewage and electricity services and there might be a need to revise the regulations regarding provision of some of these services. And, of course, the distress caused to those who currently hold development land of hugely inflated paper value, whose bubble would be burst.
Friday, October 27, 2006
The Celtic Pimple
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder has just published his memoirs “Decisions: My Life in Politics”. As the leader of one of the most influential countries in the EU from 1998 to 2005 and a committed European, he must rank as a key observer of the political scene during that period.
We Irish like to think that we exercise a disproportionate weight within the EU, with Bertie Ahern credited in our media with almost superhuman powers of negotiation and conciliation. The last Irish presidency achieved agreement on two highly contentious issues, the draft EU Constitution and the EU Commission presidency. Bertie Ahern was feted in the Irish media as the “Negotiator Supreme”. The Irish media told us of the standing ovations from his fellow premiers which greeted each of his triumphs.
How strange then that Bertie doesn’t rate even a single mention in the Schroder memoirs, much of which are devoted to European and EU politics.
Perhaps it’s an appropriate wake-up call to remind us that the “Celtic Tiger” economy actually represents only 1% of the overall EU economy. The reality is that we’re only the pimple on the backside of the EU economy and our politicians should stop deluding us that everyone else in Europe is looking at us with envy and to us for leadership on how to build a successful economy.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Times, the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner.
The following letter in response published in the irish Independent:
I was perplexed to read Peter Molloy's attempt to link the fact that Bertie has not appeared in Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's memoirs with the notion that Ireland does not have a good economy and that our economic transformation is nothing to be proud of (Letters, November 3).
Having read Mr Molloy's communist diatribes many times I'd have to doubt if there's ever been an Irish citizen more willing to put down his own country's successes. It is appropriate that he was reading Schroeder's memoirs though.
Mr Molloy's hero is a man who presided over the virtual collapse of the mighty German economy mining for fool's gold in a socialist pit.
KEITH REDMOND, HOWTH ROAD, SUTTON
My response, published by the Independent:
I laughed out loud when I read Keith Redmond‘s attack (Letters, November 8) on my "communist diatribes." His letter significantly misrepresented the content of my earlier letter on which he has chosen to comment, while his attempt to label me "communist" suggests that McCarthyism is alive and well and living on the Howth Road.
We Irish like to think that we exercise a disproportionate weight within the EU, with Bertie Ahern credited in our media with almost superhuman powers of negotiation and conciliation. The last Irish presidency achieved agreement on two highly contentious issues, the draft EU Constitution and the EU Commission presidency. Bertie Ahern was feted in the Irish media as the “Negotiator Supreme”. The Irish media told us of the standing ovations from his fellow premiers which greeted each of his triumphs.
How strange then that Bertie doesn’t rate even a single mention in the Schroder memoirs, much of which are devoted to European and EU politics.
Perhaps it’s an appropriate wake-up call to remind us that the “Celtic Tiger” economy actually represents only 1% of the overall EU economy. The reality is that we’re only the pimple on the backside of the EU economy and our politicians should stop deluding us that everyone else in Europe is looking at us with envy and to us for leadership on how to build a successful economy.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Times, the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner.
The following letter in response published in the irish Independent:
I was perplexed to read Peter Molloy's attempt to link the fact that Bertie has not appeared in Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's memoirs with the notion that Ireland does not have a good economy and that our economic transformation is nothing to be proud of (Letters, November 3).
Having read Mr Molloy's communist diatribes many times I'd have to doubt if there's ever been an Irish citizen more willing to put down his own country's successes. It is appropriate that he was reading Schroeder's memoirs though.
Mr Molloy's hero is a man who presided over the virtual collapse of the mighty German economy mining for fool's gold in a socialist pit.
KEITH REDMOND, HOWTH ROAD, SUTTON
My response, published by the Independent:
I laughed out loud when I read Keith Redmond‘s attack (Letters, November 8) on my "communist diatribes." His letter significantly misrepresented the content of my earlier letter on which he has chosen to comment, while his attempt to label me "communist" suggests that McCarthyism is alive and well and living on the Howth Road.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Port Tunnel Height
Remember all that controversy about the height of the Port Tunnel and its inability to take the minority of “supercube” trucks?
PD Transport spokesman Tom Morrissey, unveiling the party’s plan to move Dublin Port to Bremore, is quoted in today’s Irish Times Motoring Supplement on that tunnel height topic: “The engineers and policy-makers will not admit that there was a massive mistake in building the port tunnel at 4.65 metres.”
You’d swear that the PDs haven’t been in Government for the past 9 years and have no input to or influence on those policy-makers.
Presumably the tunnel will be high enough to take all those 4x4 SUVs when the yuppies start commuting to their riverside apartments, if the PD plan is ever executed.
PD Transport spokesman Tom Morrissey, unveiling the party’s plan to move Dublin Port to Bremore, is quoted in today’s Irish Times Motoring Supplement on that tunnel height topic: “The engineers and policy-makers will not admit that there was a massive mistake in building the port tunnel at 4.65 metres.”
You’d swear that the PDs haven’t been in Government for the past 9 years and have no input to or influence on those policy-makers.
Presumably the tunnel will be high enough to take all those 4x4 SUVs when the yuppies start commuting to their riverside apartments, if the PD plan is ever executed.
Where's Caviston when you need him?
The Government is now proposing to ban drift net fishing for salmon, buying out the fishermen who have traditionally been involved in this activity.
There are news reports that Fianna Fail backbenchers from coastal constituencies are coming under pressure to reverse this position (or presumably to get the maximum possible compensation for this inevitable step).
But here’s the puzzle: Wild salmon is rarely available in your local fishmongers, but when it is it’s one of the most expensive fish you can buy.
However, wild salmon is always available in your local supermarket and is one of the cheapest types of canned fish you can buy.
Has anyone talked to John West to see how he does it? What are we doing that's so different?
Has anyone asked him if, instead of canning the fish, he could freeze it and send it to Ireland where we could presumably enjoy it for a fraction of the cost of the local wild salmon, even allowing for transport costs?
These are the big questions we need answers to! Where’s Caviston?
There are news reports that Fianna Fail backbenchers from coastal constituencies are coming under pressure to reverse this position (or presumably to get the maximum possible compensation for this inevitable step).
But here’s the puzzle: Wild salmon is rarely available in your local fishmongers, but when it is it’s one of the most expensive fish you can buy.
However, wild salmon is always available in your local supermarket and is one of the cheapest types of canned fish you can buy.
Has anyone talked to John West to see how he does it? What are we doing that's so different?
Has anyone asked him if, instead of canning the fish, he could freeze it and send it to Ireland where we could presumably enjoy it for a fraction of the cost of the local wild salmon, even allowing for transport costs?
These are the big questions we need answers to! Where’s Caviston?
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
More Govt Policy that ignores Govt Strategy
Within 12 months of the publication of Transport 21, thePDs have proposed moving Dublin Port to Bremore in what would be one of the biggest infrastructural changes in the history of the state.
The Taoiseach, attending an EU meeting in Finalnd, said he was "broadly supportive" of the idea.
Yet there is no provision for such a move in Transport 21, the Government strategy which is supposed to set out a coherent infrastructure development plan for the next 15 years.
This mirrors the situation where the 2003 Decentralisation scam completely ignored this same Government's National Spatial Strategy, published only a year earlier.
Is it any wonder that local authorities routinely ignore Government policy when they see the Government completely ignores its own major strategies?
How much money has been wasted on such strategy development exercises over the past decade when this Chump Coalition will continue to do their planning on the back of an envelope?
Footnote: Aired by Pat Kenny on his RTE Today programme (minus final paragraph). Published as a letter in the Irish Independent.
The Taoiseach, attending an EU meeting in Finalnd, said he was "broadly supportive" of the idea.
Yet there is no provision for such a move in Transport 21, the Government strategy which is supposed to set out a coherent infrastructure development plan for the next 15 years.
This mirrors the situation where the 2003 Decentralisation scam completely ignored this same Government's National Spatial Strategy, published only a year earlier.
Is it any wonder that local authorities routinely ignore Government policy when they see the Government completely ignores its own major strategies?
How much money has been wasted on such strategy development exercises over the past decade when this Chump Coalition will continue to do their planning on the back of an envelope?
Footnote: Aired by Pat Kenny on his RTE Today programme (minus final paragraph). Published as a letter in the Irish Independent.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Sauce for the goose
So Minister for Justice Michael McDowell proposes to review the rights of the accused in criminal trials. Specifically he’s questioning the right to silence and the withholding from the jury of the criminal record of the accused.
How ironic that this comes at a time when the Government seems to have granted similar rights to itself, as Bertie Ahern and his supporters demanded the right to silence and the past record of Fianna Fail in this area was not deemed to be admissible. Both avenues of escape will, in future, be denied to the accused if Minister McDowell has his way.
This reaction to recent events suggests that criminal court standards of proof are now required in matters of public probity. If it cannot be demonstrated that favours have been done in return, it is now acceptable for politicians to fill their pockets with cash from personal benefactors. Indeed, any suggestion of impropriety is met with charges of an unacceptable intrusion into the personal life of the recipient.
Caesar’s wife must be rotating in her grave, or else damning her husband for his lack of imagination and all those opportunities foregone.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Examiner. Section in italics published as a letter in the Irish Independent.
How ironic that this comes at a time when the Government seems to have granted similar rights to itself, as Bertie Ahern and his supporters demanded the right to silence and the past record of Fianna Fail in this area was not deemed to be admissible. Both avenues of escape will, in future, be denied to the accused if Minister McDowell has his way.
This reaction to recent events suggests that criminal court standards of proof are now required in matters of public probity. If it cannot be demonstrated that favours have been done in return, it is now acceptable for politicians to fill their pockets with cash from personal benefactors. Indeed, any suggestion of impropriety is met with charges of an unacceptable intrusion into the personal life of the recipient.
Caesar’s wife must be rotating in her grave, or else damning her husband for his lack of imagination and all those opportunities foregone.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Examiner. Section in italics published as a letter in the Irish Independent.
Friday, October 20, 2006
What's a democracy?
What exactly do we mean by democracy?
The question arises because I’m hearing on the news that one of the most oppressive regimes in the world has just tested a nuclear weapon. That would be the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, a.k.a. North Korea. The former East Germany, one of the most repressive regimes in communist Europe, was of course titled the German Democratic Republic (DDR).
Then we have the USA & UK, the champions of western democracy and determined to export this wonder drug to the rest of the world. George W Bush won a very narrow victory over Al Gore, and a little more over John Kerry, but he has proven to be a very divisive leader in his own country, never mind the wider international community. Margaret Thatcher was equally divisive in her long reign as UK Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. Even today, 16 years later, she is revered and reviled in equal measure, but no-one is neutral about her.
The problem with a “winner takes all” approach in these countries is that it can prove highly divisive. One could reasonably argue that Northern Ireland was a democracy from partition to the dissolution of Stormont as the Unionists would always have enjoyed an overall majority, even without gerrymandering. Surely within “democracy” there rests an inherent understanding that the winner must seek to represent the best interests of all the people to the best of his ability, not just the interests of those who voted for him?
Bush and Thatcher had something in common - they’re examples of leaders driven by right-wing ideologies which deviated significantly from the accepted political norms of their predecessors. Hugo Chavez (Venezuela) and Evo Morales (Bolivia) in South America risk being equally divisive, driven by left-wing ideologies.
For decades post-WWII, “coalition” was dirty word politically. People would point at Italy as a classic case of a political basket-case, with weak coalition Governments frequently lasting less that a year. In a parliament of musical chairs, Romano Prodi is the 37th Prime Minister in 60 years. (Amintore Fanfani is the record holder, having held the office on five different occasions between 1954 & 1987.)
The composition of any Israeli Government appears, on paper, to defy political gravity and parties regularly leave and enter office without governments falling. UK politicians react with horror to the prospect of a hung parliament and the thought of having to form a coalition government.
However, our own experience of coalition governments has been generally very stable and relatively positive. The alignments of right and left together in government has blunted political ideologies and all parties have relative consensus on a broad range of policy areas. It may be relatively dull, the only real excitement coming from financial scandals, but is has been productive.
Based on our own experience and contrasting it with the US & UK experiences, it may be less exciting but it looks like evolution is a more desirable political approach than revolution.
Hugo and Evo please note!
The question arises because I’m hearing on the news that one of the most oppressive regimes in the world has just tested a nuclear weapon. That would be the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, a.k.a. North Korea. The former East Germany, one of the most repressive regimes in communist Europe, was of course titled the German Democratic Republic (DDR).
Then we have the USA & UK, the champions of western democracy and determined to export this wonder drug to the rest of the world. George W Bush won a very narrow victory over Al Gore, and a little more over John Kerry, but he has proven to be a very divisive leader in his own country, never mind the wider international community. Margaret Thatcher was equally divisive in her long reign as UK Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. Even today, 16 years later, she is revered and reviled in equal measure, but no-one is neutral about her.
The problem with a “winner takes all” approach in these countries is that it can prove highly divisive. One could reasonably argue that Northern Ireland was a democracy from partition to the dissolution of Stormont as the Unionists would always have enjoyed an overall majority, even without gerrymandering. Surely within “democracy” there rests an inherent understanding that the winner must seek to represent the best interests of all the people to the best of his ability, not just the interests of those who voted for him?
Bush and Thatcher had something in common - they’re examples of leaders driven by right-wing ideologies which deviated significantly from the accepted political norms of their predecessors. Hugo Chavez (Venezuela) and Evo Morales (Bolivia) in South America risk being equally divisive, driven by left-wing ideologies.
For decades post-WWII, “coalition” was dirty word politically. People would point at Italy as a classic case of a political basket-case, with weak coalition Governments frequently lasting less that a year. In a parliament of musical chairs, Romano Prodi is the 37th Prime Minister in 60 years. (Amintore Fanfani is the record holder, having held the office on five different occasions between 1954 & 1987.)
The composition of any Israeli Government appears, on paper, to defy political gravity and parties regularly leave and enter office without governments falling. UK politicians react with horror to the prospect of a hung parliament and the thought of having to form a coalition government.
However, our own experience of coalition governments has been generally very stable and relatively positive. The alignments of right and left together in government has blunted political ideologies and all parties have relative consensus on a broad range of policy areas. It may be relatively dull, the only real excitement coming from financial scandals, but is has been productive.
Based on our own experience and contrasting it with the US & UK experiences, it may be less exciting but it looks like evolution is a more desirable political approach than revolution.
Hugo and Evo please note!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
GAA International Rules series
The GAA’s International Rules series kicks off later this month in Galway and is being actively promoted through radio advertising with the tag-line “It's time to play - HARD”.
Given that the future of this series has been regularly threatened because of on-field violence, such advertising seems highly inappropriate.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish independent.
Given that the future of this series has been regularly threatened because of on-field violence, such advertising seems highly inappropriate.
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish independent.
Monday, October 16, 2006
The White & Black Minstrels?
Do you remember the "Black & White Minstrels"? A bunch of white guys who used to black-up their faces and do supposedly black song & dance routines. They went out of fashion when political correctness decided that they were potentially a racist slur of some sort. Maybe it was also the time when that type of show just went the way of Val Doonican.
Well, just back from South Africa where we were entertained by "The Cape Minstrels" - a bunch of black kids who whiten their faces. I hadn't the heart to tell them.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Surge in support for Government
Some reaction to recent Irish Times & Sunday Tribune opinion polls, showing a surge in support for the Government, seems a tad naïve in light of the long-standing refusal of the Irish electorate to punish, at the ballot box, those involved in previous financial scandals.
The funds “lent” to Mr Ahern were only pin-money compared to the gifts showered on his mentor, Charles Haughey.
Mr Haughey, in turn, must have viewed with admiration the corporate stroke of Fianna Fail founder Mr de Valera in taking control of the assets of the Irish Press for a nominal personal investment.
Nowadays such a stroke would probably constitute a corporate fraud, perpetrated on the american investors, but the de Valera family continue to benefit from those assets.
Footnote: Section in italics published as a letter in the Irish Independent
The funds “lent” to Mr Ahern were only pin-money compared to the gifts showered on his mentor, Charles Haughey.
Mr Haughey, in turn, must have viewed with admiration the corporate stroke of Fianna Fail founder Mr de Valera in taking control of the assets of the Irish Press for a nominal personal investment.
Nowadays such a stroke would probably constitute a corporate fraud, perpetrated on the american investors, but the de Valera family continue to benefit from those assets.
Footnote: Section in italics published as a letter in the Irish Independent
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Flatpack Poetry
Here's a new concept that should be a big seller - flatpack poetry that the reader can assemble and customise to suit his/her own outlook on life or just their mood at a particular time. Check out the example below.
Carpe Diem
From starting gun
To closing bell
Elapsed so soon
Employ it well
Now try customising your own last line. e.g. Traditionalist RCs and depressives might substitute "Endure" for Employ, while hedonists might change the entire last line to "Enjoy your spell" or even "Party like Hell!"
So Seamus Heaney
Amend your craft
At flatpack poems
Prepare to graft
Carpe Diem
From starting gun
To closing bell
Elapsed so soon
Employ it well
Now try customising your own last line. e.g. Traditionalist RCs and depressives might substitute "Endure" for Employ, while hedonists might change the entire last line to "Enjoy your spell" or even "Party like Hell!"
So Seamus Heaney
Amend your craft
At flatpack poems
Prepare to graft
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Irish Times Opinion Poll
You wouldn't get a cigarette paper between the PDs & FF on ethical standards.
And the Irish Times poll suggests that Michael McDowell is right to abandon any pretence of occupying the high moral ground.
Footnote: Aired on RTEs Saturday View by Rodney Rice.
And the Irish Times poll suggests that Michael McDowell is right to abandon any pretence of occupying the high moral ground.
Footnote: Aired on RTEs Saturday View by Rodney Rice.
Friday, October 13, 2006
St Andrew's Agreement
Let’s all hope that today’s “St Andrew’s Agreement” achieves it’s objective and finally brings about implementation of the 1998 “Good Friday Agreement”.
However, watching the various press briefings by the party leaders, it strikes me that a new precondition should be added to the draft proposals: that Gerry Adams should stop murdering the Irish language!
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent and the 2nd paragraph aired on RTEs Saturday View programme by Rodney Rice.
Tues 17th Oct - I had a phone call, purporting to be from the Ulster Unionist Party HQ, thanking me for my letter in the Indo!
However, watching the various press briefings by the party leaders, it strikes me that a new precondition should be added to the draft proposals: that Gerry Adams should stop murdering the Irish language!
Footnote: Published as a letter in the Irish Independent and the 2nd paragraph aired on RTEs Saturday View programme by Rodney Rice.
Tues 17th Oct - I had a phone call, purporting to be from the Ulster Unionist Party HQ, thanking me for my letter in the Indo!
Thursday, October 12, 2006
New English
Just returned from 2 weeks holidays with another married couple.
Watching them in action together prompted me to invent a new phrase and I commented that while she might be suffering, he was definitely “in naggony”.
On mature reflection, I realise that this exchange took place in the airport café - on the way out!
Watching them in action together prompted me to invent a new phrase and I commented that while she might be suffering, he was definitely “in naggony”.
On mature reflection, I realise that this exchange took place in the airport café - on the way out!
TCD's Pantomime Horse
Caligula appointed his horse to the roman senate and for years TCD has matched this impertinence by sending both ends of a pantomime horse to Seanad Eireann, in the form of Messrs Ross and Norris.
Today's Irish Times report that 742 TCD electors will be excluded because of a mix-up in the registration process raises some slight hope that one or both of these accomplished self-publicists (windbags) may finally be taken off the public payroll.
Today's Irish Times report that 742 TCD electors will be excluded because of a mix-up in the registration process raises some slight hope that one or both of these accomplished self-publicists (windbags) may finally be taken off the public payroll.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Put the PDs out of their misery
Surely there remains no logical reason for the Progressive Democrats to delay rejoining Fianna Fail?
You now wouldn't get a cigarette paper between them on ethical standards.
Footnote: Published as a letter (last tuesday) in the irish Independent & the Irish Examiner
You now wouldn't get a cigarette paper between them on ethical standards.
Footnote: Published as a letter (last tuesday) in the irish Independent & the Irish Examiner
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)