Sunday, May 06, 2007
Labour and FG please save us from these crooks
What a week this has been in politics. In Scotland, the Scottish National Party defeated Labour ending decades of Labour dominance there.Meanwhile, here in Ireland, things just got a whole hell of a lot more interesting as yet more questions emerged about the Taoiseach's finances, with the PDs leaving Ahern to explain himself to the people.
The issue centres around whether or not the Planning Tribunal is investigating £30,000 given to Ahern by businessman Micheál Wall. On Thursday, Ahern came under fire from journalist Vincent Browne:
"The problem about this money that you got from Micheál Wall is, that it ain't credible that it was for the purpose of the renovation of a house".
A flustered Taoiseach replied:
"This has nothing to do with the tribunal. I allocated my money for uses and I'm entitled to do that. I earned the money."
Unfortunately for Bertie, the PDs have been sticking the knife in with speculation that they would even choose to leave government. Today leader of the PDs Michael McDowell backed away from that idea but called on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to make a full public statement about his finances. He added it was now appropriate that a full statement be made by Mr Ahern stating that the information given by the Taoiseach last autumn was very different from the information now available from other sources.
So then, yet another scandal surrounding Ahern and his government. Charlie Haughey would be proud wouldn't he?
My take on this is that Fianna Fáil have proven themselves to be totally untrustworthy for government. How many brown envelopes was the Taoiseach receiving back then I wonder? His postman must have been very busy.
Unmissable
I happened to tune in to RTE 1 this morning where I found an Election 2007 special. In a very amusing turn of events Progressive Democrat TD, and current Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Tom Parlon, phoned in to the programme and his performance was simply woeful. He ended up making a mockery of McDowell's tough stance on Ahern by effectively suggesting Ahern be given the benefit of the doubt! But that was not all - Mr Parlon revealed that a Fine Gael deputy had told him Fine Gael are set to trigger a "bomb of information" on Day 21 of the election which will apparently shake the current government to its core. Man, this election is coming across like an episode of 24.
Labour's Ruairi Quinn, Fine Gael's Brian Hayes and the Green Party's John Gormley were in the studio and the general consensus was Parlon's performance had been "pathetic". I concur. As Hayes pointed out, the real reason Parlon was not going for Fianna Fáil's jugular was more likely down to the fact that he faces a stiff challenge from Fine Gael's Charles Flanagan in his Laois-Offaly constituency and he desperately needs Fianna Fáil transfers to retain his seat. Nice to know that that Mr Parlon puts selfish interests before the interests of the country. I hope people in Laois and Offaly were watching.
Amazingly, the revelations about Ahern's finances could end up proving to be a positive for the embattled Prime Minister. A Red C poll in today's Sunday Business Post shows that despite the controversy, support for Fianna Fáil has increased by two points to 37%. You may also remember that the last time there was controversy about Ahern's dodgy dealings, support for him increased then too. Proof if any were needed that there are a lot of morons in this country. In most other countries when a Prime Minister engages in questionable activity support would dip but in this country, you can actually prosper from it. It's probably why Haughey did so well in Irish politics.
Maybe Fianna Fáil should acknowledge that Ahern has been using his position improperly. Maybe throw in some information about people he had "whacked". I reckon Fianna Fáil would then win an overall majority such is the idiocy inherent in so many people here. I despair sometimes I really do.
Even so, Ahern is under real pressure right now and I am hopeful and confident that his past will ultimately come back to haunt him.
I can now reveal that I have made my mind up which way I will be voting in the General Election. With Fianna Fáil showing themselves to be both gangsters and a waste of space, with the PDs proving they are cynical opportunists with no real policies, with Sinn Féin being Sinn Féin, it leaves me with only one real alternative - a rainbow coalition.
My first preference will go to Labour and I will give transfers to Fine Gael and perhaps the Greens. Possibly an Independent as well. Damn the other shower of gangsters.
# posted by United Irelander @ 2:17 PM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
