No, it's not the travellers, who still bank fortunes every time a bar decides not to serve them because the last one that did ended up like this.And it's certainly not the asylum seekers refusing to leave their holiday camp accommodation.Needless to say, it is Irish people returning to Ireland from abroad.While the quasi-bankrupt state continues funding Pamela Izevbhekhai's millions of euro in legal fees and hands six figure cheques or luxury houses out to squatting travellers, it refuses welfare to Irish people returning home.What a sick inversion of priorities this morally vacant government has, that they would plough tax money into zombie banks and gombeen developers, and throw money, education and accommodation at any liar off the plane from Nigeria, yet they deny basic welfare to...
According to the spoofers, vested interests and eejits in the ESRI, the rich are suffering in what they euphemistically call 'the downturn' (a diminution akin to calling the civil war in Northern Ireland 'troubles'.)Has anyone told Sean FitzPatrick yet? Or David Drumm? Or any of the other millionaire banksters who cut and run with their swagbags to their sunny hideyholes, laughing all the way?The ESRI should really be wound down at this stage. It's nothing more than a national gag generator, and I mean gag in both senses, creating comedy and vomit in equal measure.Remember, these are the same loons who were still predicting boom even after the bust had arrived, still wittering about 'soft landings' when the economy was in freefall....
According to this morning's Bangkok Post, Europe is the last region to recover economically from the global financial disasters of the past few years.While the US is showing the fabled green shoots, and Asia is en route to booming again, sluggardly old Europe is lagging behind with barely perceptible growth, major unemployment and ongoing banking crises.And of course, Ireland is one of the weakest economies in Europe, which given the stiff competition from other messes like Portugal and Greece is pretty dire indeed.The moral of the story is that we are last of the last, likely to still be suffering from NAMA hangovers long after the rest of the world economies are back on track.It must be remembered that this is a direct result of the failures in government; the blatantly corrupt and...
Twenty Major reckons the obligatory pension (translation: more tax) is his tipping point. He's leaving if it's implemented.I couldn't blame him.I'd do it myself if my circumstances permitted it. After all, when the rats are leaving the ship, why should the hard-pressed crew remain as the tide rises above the neck?The bankers have fled to their hidey-holes in Spain or Canada already. The cabinet are bailing out one by one.Why stay to pay for their mistakes, their incompetence and yes, their crimes?If you can, go. No one will thank you for remaining behind, except of course the aforementioned bankers (whose debts you'll pay) or the aforementioned politicians (whose pensions your 'pension levy' will fund).There's a really simple choice here - stay and get shafted, stay and fight back, or...
The name Darius Guppy probably doesn't provoke much recognition in Ireland, even though he lived her for some time.A brief precis of his life thus far might run: privileged schooling at Eton, followed by more of the same at Oxford where he chummed around with top Tories David Cameron and Boris Johnson as part of the odious Bullingdon society, followed by his father's spectacular bankrupcy, which in turn led to Guppy Jr scamming Lloyds insurance to make up for the cash he believed Lloyds had stolen from his family.Guppy was caught, prosecuted and jailed, then vanished into obscurity on release, firstly in Ireland and latterly in South Africa.In short, he's the sort of rum bloke that the British aristocracy churn out all the time - the well-spoken crook.But he's no fool and no idiot. And...
Courtesy of Amhran Nua, I bring you the unofficial guide to NAMA (click for big):...
Are you annoyed that 4 billion euro has just been added to the national debt in order to bail out the big property speculators and Fianna Fail funders who owe around 7.5 billion in bad debt to Anglo-Irish bank?Do you feel sickened that your grandchildren will still be paying taxes in order to save the asses of a small golden circle of ultra-rich elite?Well, then it's time to ask the EU to block the deal. Brian Lenihan cannot go ahead with this robbing of the taxpayer to bail out his cronies if Europe blocks it.So, let the EU know what the Irish people think of this shoddy backroom backscratcher of a deal.Send an email to this address, SG-PLAINTES@ec.europa.eu , and highlight your feelings about the bailout NOW. Tell Europe you object to this deal and believe it is a betrayal of the Irish...
We've been thrown our bone.Brian Cowen said something had to be seen to be done, and hence now we're getting some token action months after it might have been relevant.The Gardai, at the instigation of the Financial Regulator (the new one, not the utterly incompetent one who quit and swanned off into the sunset with a big swagbag of a golden handshake), have gone into Anglo Irish Bank yesterday evening seeking evidence of wrongdoing.They follow the path beaten by the Fraud Squad only a day earlier.There is now a faint outside chance that some of the gobshite criminals responsible for the mess that we're in will actually face criminal charges.But it's only a bone. The time for all this activity was four months ago not now. You can shred a lot of incriminating evidence in four months.Don't...
Remember, what happened in the US happened here too. This is a cautionary tale from leading economist, Dr Wile E. Coyote....
Now that economic armageddon has been averted/postponed/cancelled (delete as your confidence in the future dictates), who's going to carry the can?Taxpayers, of course, will be paying in real terms for the banking and trading sectors' mistakes.But will any of the criminals who brought us to this point be held accountable?In Britain, it seems that despite nationalisation of four banks the only penalty for the bankers will be the removal of their bonuses this year. Big swinging mickey. How about removing their pay packets too, then removing their freedom?In America, the bankers will be inflicted with 'oversight'. Apart from the fact that oversight should have been going on from day one, this seems to indemnify those responsible for this mess from any responsibility.So we remain in the...
In a few hours, in New York, a little bell will ring.And then all your hard work, a lifetime's effort of diligence and sacrifice, will begin to vanish. All that you saved, all that you invested, all that you salted away in pensions for when you're old which is sooner than you'd like it to be, will start to erode, like salt in a rainstorm.You think it's been bad already, with indices like the Dow and Nikkei falling 7-10% a day, and the Iseq a mere fraction of what it was only a year ago.But once that little bell rings, complex mathematics overseen by overpaid shouting white men will take over, and all the many hours of your effort, all the careful scrimping and saving, the self-denial, the sacrifices you made, they'll all begin to fall in value.Not in real value. You put those hours in,...
An actual Iseq crash yesterday.A 7% or so collapse in the Dow.The Nikkei heading south tonight amid Japanese sub-prime problems adding to the international concerns from the USA.And the likelihood of the FTSE going lower still tomorrow on the back of more concerns about British banks.And no chance of legislation in America till Thursday because the Jews are celebrating their new year.And all this on top of the disastrous market year globally already.Now we're really for it.Wave goodbye to your pension plans, your stock portfolios, and start worrying about the safety of wherever your savings are.Buckle up. It's going to be a very bumpy ride....
So the national pay talks fell apart as everyone succumbed to recession fever.So far, so predictable.The trade unions threaten to pull out and start cutting individual deals with employers. The employers are warned by their representatives not to do any individual deals with unions. These are standard negotiating positions in a stand-off.Someone sensible in government suggests everyone go and have a holiday and calm down for a couple of weeks. And everyone does so, happily. Except for one bunch of greedy unionised bastards who just aren't prepared to wait, and who want to kick off their pay claim at a truly stratospheric 10%.Who are these cheeky bollixes?Why, bankers, of course.Yup, the very sector who ballsed up the world economy are the first in Ireland with their hands out for a bumper...
It's not often that Irish daytime radio does anything impressive.In a country where people like Roisin Ingle or Joe Duffy are allowed on air, it's obvious that the powers that be want you to work, goddammit, during daytime hours, and broadcasters facilitate this by having the most abysmal radio on Earth clog the airwaves while it's light outside.There have been exceptions, rare exceptions. Dunphy's 'Last Word' was one. 'The Right Hook' is occasionally another. I'm about to make a case for Brenda Power as another.Brenda's first and foremost a journalist. A real, actual journalist. Not a former rugby player or some refugee from Radio Kerry or a student agitator or any of the other strange pastimes that seem to permit one access to the airwaves in Ireland. She's actually a journalist who...