Friday, September 22, 2006
Has Bertie been a bold boy?
So the head of Fianna Fáil and Prime Minister of the country is being investigated over payments from a wealthy businessman...geez now why does that sound so familiar? It seems Bertie Ahern is getting a bit hot under the collar after huge question marks were raised over his personal finances. Oh what fun it was to see Mr Popular (if you believe the polls) squirming as he was bombarded with question after question regarding claims he received between €50,000 and €100,000 from businessman David McKenna, and perhaps others, in 1993.
The Mahon Tribunal is examining four payments made to the Taoiseach in December 1993, some of which were in cash. If you have read today's papers, you will see the latest story doing the rounds is that Bertie took the money to pay for his legal separation from Miriam Ahern. Tut-Tut Taoiseach!
I find this delightful particularly since earlier this month, in a Sunday Tribune poll when asked who they wanted as Taoiseach, exactly 50% of the electorate opted for Bertie Ahern. Even more worrying, an Irish Examiner/Lansdowne poll found that Ahern commands a greater degree of public confidence than his potential successor Enda Kenny. Perhaps these morons who have backed Ahern will now reflect on their foolishness in light of recent developments...
So what's been Bertie "I am not a crook" Ahern's response to the questions on his finances? Well in regard to how much he was paid:
"[This] allegation is just an unfair, unjust leak."
"I'm not answering what I got for my holy communion money, my confirmation money, what I got for my birthday, what I got for anything else."
Well unless you went knocking on the doors of wealthy powerful businessmen for your communion and confirmation, we don't actually care about that Bertie. What we care about is you being honest with the electorate. So who gave Ahern money? Well according to the Taoiseach...
"What I got personally in my life, to be frank with you, is none of your business."
Oh is that right? I'll be sure to make a note of that when the next general election comes round in nine months.
'The money was just resting in my account'
This is the biggest crisis of Ahern's political career and it couldn't have come at a worse time for him. Hopefully those Irish people who are deeply embedded up the man's rear end will pry their eyes out from that dark abyss and instead join the rest of us in seeing the light - that Fianna Fáil's gangsterism hasn't gone away.
I'm so sick of my country's political figures going around acting like characters in The Sopranos.
"Hey Mr Minister. I got a very pretty package comin' your way."
"I appreciate that Tony."
"Forget 'bout it!"
Well hopefully the Irish public won't forget about it but instead keep a close eye on the goings on in the Mahon Tribunal.
We all remember how earlier this year every main political player in the country fell over themselves fawning over Charles Haughey upon his death. The man who bent over to every businessman that looked at him with a twinkle in their eye had his sins apparently cleansed from memory as his murky past was allowed to go unacknowledged in a wave of brownnosing bullshit.
This kind of ridiculousness can't be condoned. Every Minister, be they a humble backbencher or the highest office-holder in the land, must be answerable to the electorate. It is the essence of democracy and of a republic.
Ahern of course was one of those who poured words of praise upon Haughey at his funeral.
I'd hate to think there was a deeper significance to that outpouring...
"History will have to weigh up the credit and the debit side more dispassionately than may be possible today but, I have no doubt its ultimate judgement on Mr. Haughey will be a positive one." - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, June 2006.
# posted by United Irelander @ 4:41 PM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
