The dead hand of Fianna Fail

// January 25th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

One has to wonder just what will be the impact of so many outgoing FF TDs who are going to absent themselves from the campaign under whoever the new leader is. I have to wonder if some people in Fianna Fail aren’t wondering if retiring TDs shouldn’t do the decent thing and refuse to vote tomorrow. I’ve lost count (and it is hard to keep up with 3 more going in the last 18 hours) at this stage how many of them are going but they will almost surely be more than the margin of any victory the new leader will have.

Imagine that allowing the dead hand of party to strangle its possible rebirth. There is good reason why most parties sensible let a leader carry the can for defeat before deciding on what direction to take for the future.

More Music – Strawberry Switchblade

// December 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

I rather liked Strawberry Switchblade back in the day,

and who would have thought I’d end up surrounded on all sides by this Kawaii look a decade later.

In defense of Kerry exceptionalism

// November 30th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

It is hard at times to believe that the two men pictured come from the same place and in many ways a very similar background. Yet for all their common rural Kerry backgrounds Jackie Healy-Rae and Joe Higgins couldn’t be farther apart in their political ways. Jackie views himself as the ultimate political pragmatist while Joe is so often appears concerned with ideological purity that he has pretty much cast himself away from ever taking a leading role in government in Ireland .

Joe comes across as  righteous and moral, someone for whom learning and extensive time spent reading is probably a massive part of his life. You can picture him at home, sitting in Spartan surroundings, reading copiously by candle light as he seeks to take in the arguments and be  influenced by only the greatest thinkers who had the most genuine of intentions. Joe turns these various ideas over in his mind and mulls about how can they serve the workers while not being available to be exploited by the speculators, and the bankers and the developers.

Jackie meanwhile seems to have no interest in thinkers, doers is what attract him, no matter what the end result might mean, just so long as it was the end result that people told him that they wanted. If people wanted a new hospital in Kenmare then that’s what Jackie would work to get, it matters not to Jackie if a minimalist hospital building in Kenmare would be detrimental to the long term care of the people. That if it uses up scarce resources that could be invested in increased capacity and a higher quality of care at an existing location for less money. So long as the people ‘think’ it does them good what matter whether it does or not. If the people want something that not good for them then it’s not Jackie’s place for him to say No to the people. Jackie is a Yes man pure and simple.

Joe meanwhile would be opposed to a hospital in Kenmare or at a central location no matter what services it offers if it breached his principles. If a major company was to offer to fund part of the hospital infrastructure, say the canteen, in exchange for exclusive rights  to sell some product like a beverage then Joe would oppose the entire undertaking. Better that the people be keep pure and protected from the evils of the multinationals than they might get the health care they need to stay alive.

Both of these men are products of a kind of Kerry exceptionalism, that peculiar mindset that rears thinkers and poets who can’t stand doers and doers who can’t spare a moment to think.

One of the largest and most successful Co-ops and later agri-food business in the country has grown out of one of the smallest of the countries agricultural bases. Kerry didn’t have the same large pool of milk suppliers but they worked what they had. There are other local enterprises that have flourished in Kerry.

Kerry has exceptional examples of cute hoors, but also of the virtuous and hard-working self sacrificing who organised Siamsa Tire and other local drama groups. There is lovely scenery but also those who would spoil the tourism industry based on that scenery by seeking to build housing of a type and where none existed before. Festivals that genuinely date back in the middle ages and more recent making-uppy soft focus glamour stuff to bring in some tourist cash. Kerry in many way is all the flaws and virtues of Ireland writ large. The problem isn’t the Jackie Healy Rae’s or the Joe Higgins of this world, it’s that if you’re not one or the other you don’t get a look-in. The revolution of the radical middle that Ireland needs can’t happen unless the middle has a voice and neither Jackie nor Joe are that voice.

Could Pearse Doherty be DSW’s Pascal Donohue?

// November 26th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

It’s unlikely but it is just potentially possible that Senator Pearse Doherty could run in to a problem that Senator Pascal Donohue faced in Dublin Central which is that despite being the person must likely to win at the next general election that there was simply too many people who were not prepared to vote for his party at a bye-election.

I think this is a minority opinion and I’d still stick with my original view from earlier that Doherty will poll in the mid 30s and should get more than enough transfers to stay ahead from the 1st count on.

Could it all have been so different?

// November 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Indulging myself for a moment in some further speculative history based on the notion that FG, Labour and DL won enough support in 1997 to form a minority government with independents help that lasted as long as the FF/PD one.

Come the 2002 election FG and Labour (the merger with DL might well have happened away) would have romped home (given the prevailing economic situation) to a solid overall majority with over 90s seats between them, 30 plus for Labour and around 60 for FG. I think the PDs would have flourished more in opposition than FF and could have seen them return with a dozen seats in 2002. FF would have ended up with just about 50 seats and serious questions as to what was to be it’s raison d’etre. Having lost a 2nd election in a row Bertie Ahern steps down in disgrace and he is succeeded by Michael Martin who undertakes a radical reinvigoration of the party organisation but he is repeated criticised for his lightweight contributions in the Dail chamber. In 2007 FG leader Michael Noonan leads FG in an election where they were facing a renewed FF organisation even if many in the media are asking what it stands for.

Micheal Martin is preceived to have lost the leader’s debate in the face of the combative onslaught of Noonan but it doesn’t matter. Both FG and Labour front benches are perceived as too tired and familiar and the public have simply grown tired of them, Martin is heard to remark that no goverment should ever serve more than decade in power. Faced with a very diverse opposition of SF, Greens and PDs along with a populist FF they simply can’t stem the tide, leaking support in multiple different directions. They lose just under 20 seats between them (Labour end up on 21 seats with FG on 53) and FF (66) and the PDs (12) supported by the Greens (6) are able to enter government just as the global financial situation goes south and just as the government introduces reforms to stamp duty to give the market what it terms a dig out, the local property expansion runs out of steam. The reforms fail to have any positive effect and are erroneously blamed by the public and the media for sparking the downturn in the property sector.

FG under new leader Richard Bruton attack the government relentlessly for breaking the economy “it was in good stead when we left government, creating 10,000s of jobs and a budget in surplus and with some school boys errors they’ve ruined it almost overnight. They’re trying to get a quick fix by doling out tax breaks for their pals, like snuff at a wake”

The revelations in mid 2009 of the monies given to Bertie Ahern at the time of his taking over the FF leadership undermine the coalition when elements within FF that feel they’ve been unjustly left out of the cabinet and that FF are too accommodating of the Greens and PDs take to the airwaves in a robust defence of the former leader. That this defence is fatally flawed in the eyes of the public is demonstrated when the former FF leader claims in an appearance on the Late Late that he probably won the money on the Lotto but can’t, when asked for them, recall the numbers involved. Fellow panellist Eoghan Harris is heard to guffaw and say that he might as well be claiming that he won it on a horse, while Eamon Dunphy defends Bertie as a decent skin and ordinary man of the people. The Greens and PDs made uncomfortable with these revelations finally exit government in late 2009 citing a fundamental failure of trust with FF.

The election of the summer of 2009 is quite something.

Why not a tax debit for negative equity mortgages

// November 11th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

As an alternative to debt forgiveness for those who are finding it hard to pay mortgages for houses that are in significant negative equity I have to wonder if the creation of a tax debit charged against their future estates for a portion of the mortgage might be an idea. It would in effect defer but not eliminate the mortgage debt and lighten the load of servicing their mortgage repayments.

If you took 40% of the principle of a mortgage away from someone that would make their mortgage significantly more manageable and if that 40% would only grow inflation minus 0.5% and was redeemed against their estate upon their death we wouldn’t necessarily be losing that much money in the long run. Of course there would have to be safeguard to ensure people didn’t spend every last penny before popping their clogs but the idea itself has some merit I reckon. I’m much prefer that to simply writing off 40% of someone’s debt.

Further detail on the Gilmore’s school sale

// November 1st, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Uncategorized

I had a gander at the Galway planning enquiry site* and it would appear from what is there that the land in question had prior conditional planning permission reference no. 03222 granted for a 6 room school back in 2003 long before the actual sale took place. This is different to the more recent application of this year reference 10383 which involved an 8 room school. The 2003 applicant is listed as Ciaran Kitching (who appears to be the Parish Priest for Killimor), and the townload is listed Garrynastillagh as opposed in 2010 when it was the Board of Management Iomair National School, and in Killimor but the GIS places the two applications at the same site.

Which prompts the following questions in my mind, when was the advertising stage that Eamon Gilmore refers to actually done, was before that planning application in 2003 or before the sale in 2006? And who was the owner at the time of the first application, was it Gilmore’s wife or her parents? Was an agreement made in principle prior to 2003 but then revisited (and if so what was the price and why did it fail) before being sold  later on at a higher price? Was the sale stalled after planning was granted in order to obtain a higher price later?

The thing about someone else getting planning permission on your land before you sell to them is that if you back out of the sale, there then exists a precedent granting a development of that size and scale on the land. Hence, you could more easily apply for an equivalent sized development, say a two storey apartment development or offices. The granting of Planning permission raises the price of land. So if the first application caused the price to raise was that considered when making that application? It would seem odd for the applicant and hence the one forking over the cash to act in a manner that would cost them more money. There again it was the state/ taxpayer that appears to be on the hook for the purchase price so did anyone involved really care?

The political problem here is that if you’re the beneficiary of a type of behaviour that you then seek to make hay in your career out by criticising then you’re a hypocrite, pure and simple. That is Gilmore’s problem in a nutshell, he is criticising behaviour in the property boom that he and his own have benefited from. In other countries this would considered a major political problem and would demand a full and frank disclosure.

The other problem is whether Eamon Gilmore erred in not declaring this in his members interests, the interwebs were full of those commenting on Ivor Callely’s failures to declare property that was in his wife’s name. Fact is that to the best of my knowledge community property operates as regards what you should declare to SIPO.

* to use the site, you have to use Internet Explorer and also install the ActiveX autodesk plug-in to view the application details, maps etc.

The laziness of the near distance paint bomber

// November 1st, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

So someone believed to be an elected public rep, Eirigi councilor Louise Minihan, throws a paint bomb at Mary Harney and this is supposed to be a mark of that the wider public is thinking. Really, this self serving publicity stunt is somehow reflective of public opinion? If it is reflective of anything it’s the inablity of public reps to do the thing that they claim they are able to do and for which they are paid by the taxpayer. Engage in rational argument and convince the public that their view is the right one.

It’s not like she bested Mary Harney in a heated public debate and by doing so convinced the public that the minister’s course of action is wrong while hers is right. It’s a publicity stunt, pure and simple. It’s not like it would be that hard to take apart the minister’s approach to the health service and to highlight the various failures that she has presided over. And of course we have the usual ‘opinion formers’ who run to the front of the mob so that they might be seen to lead it.

Naturally we must accept that as a former member of SF it’s not like the cllr is  exactly opposed in principle to the throwing of bombs of various types as a substitute for rational argument. Still one would hope that someone paid to represent the views of the public would be able to articulate their message more than the average toddler.

Response to cllr John Gilligan from An Taisce Limerick Association re: the Opera Centre and LGC report on boundary extension

// October 26th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Uncategorized

I don’t normally use the blog for local stuff but in this instance I’m going to step outside the norm. A former Mayor of Limerick stated last week that An Taisce were responsible for the failure of the Opera Centre to get off the ground. This is completely wrong and below is the text of a letter I’ve sent to the cllr seeking to correct the public record. He also repeated his claims on local radio, Live 95 later this week again getting the reality entirely wrong.

Cllr. Gilligan

I am writing with regard to your reported comments in the debate about the Limerick Local Government Committee report.

Specifically I have to take issue with the content of the paragraph that states “Independent councillor John Gilligan criticised the “ugly sisters” who supported Mr Brosnan’s recommendations. He said heritage group An Taisce take a “we know better than you” attitude, and they are “the main reason” why the Opera Centre has not got under way.“ and also the claim that we gave a complete endorsement to the LGC report and were acting as the LGC’s ugly sister. I will take this in 3 parts the Opera Centre, the Brosnan Report and your unwarranted criticism of a voluntary organisation in your city whose only remit, where Limerick city is concerned, is the perseveration of the best aspects of the city and its sustainable development for everyone that lives and works here.

Opera Centre

The An Taisce Limerick Association did not object to the Opera Centre at any stage in its application and we are certainly are not the main reason why it has not got underway. I’m sure I don’t have to go into the in and outs of the ownership of the Opera Centre, the saga of Anglo-Irish Bank, or the travails of great recession. The fact remains we are not part of any reason that the Opera Centre has not proceeded not to mind the “main reason”. That you would make this sort of wild and inaccurate statement, in a council meeting and for the public record, is very disappointing and a matter of considerable concern to us. If you have made the comments as reported in the Limerick Leader then we would expect that you would seek to correct the record at the earliest possible opportunity and ensure that they receive a degree of publicity at least equal to the original comments.

With respect to the original application reference number 05548 by Regeneration Developments the An Taisce Limerick Association did not make any submission to either the local authority or An Bord Pleanala.

With respect to the revised application reference number 08173 by Regeneration Developments, we made one submission in support of the development. A copy of our submission is available from the city planning department which as a city councillor I’m sure you have access to but I will include the following quotes from it for your consideration.

“We are broadly favourable to the general thrust of the development, and we believe that addressing the points outlined should allow it to proceed quickly to making a significant contribution to the city centre environment.“

“That we would be eager that the development should proceed quickly to the construction phase in accordance with the direction already given by An Bord Pleanála,” while noting “That the new design revisions are a significant improvement on the previous iteration” and that “that the increased openings onto and footfall for Patrick St. and Rutland St. are to be welcomed”.

You are free to read the rest of the submission in your capacity as a paid elected representative by requesting it from the planning department of the city council. There again, you must have done so already since you felt able to comment about it in public which begs the question of how you came to make this statement.

Brosnan Report

As regards the Bronsnan report, your claims that we, in any way, gave it 100% endorsement are also incorrect. In our submission to the LGC we said that our favoured option was a single strong city core that encompassed the entirety of the urban areas of the city, our boundaries were roughly contiguous with the boundaries the city council had previous indicated in its own representations to the minister and if anything were more extensive. This is detailed in our submission which is on the LGC website. I’m sure that you would as a paid elected representative passing comment on our position will have taken the time to read it. We did not suggest that the city and county be merged, in fact the opposite we suggested that if the LGC had a difficulty with a reduced Limerick County that it should be merged not with the city but with Clare and North Tipperary to form a hinterland authority. This received considerable public comment and reaction especially from Clare and Tipperary, you would have been aware of this too.

In speaking with the press after the Brosnan report was released, we noted that it did not deliver what we had wanted in it. We also noted that while it did not fulfil our ambitions for the city that nevertheless there were potentially positive aspects of the report. Our focus in saying this was to ensure that no one was under the impression that the report represented a win for the county position that a single authority was takeover of the city by the county. In truth the report leans more towards suggesting a take-over of the county by the enlarged city. That almost the entirety of the body of the current city councillors appears unable to see this raises a question mark over whether they have properly read the report at all.

What support we extended to the ‘Brosnan’ report was in respect of the recognition that the status quo is not longer an option and that it offered an opportunity to move away from the status quo for all that it offered anything else. We said in speaking with the Limerick Leader that if the choice was forced on us was to remain with the status quo or the report then we would go with the report. If we had our preferred option it would be to use the proposals in our submission that would have resulted in a strong authority for the city confined to the new extended city boundaries and with automatic revisions that would ensure all new medium density development at the fringes would be included in the city boundaries without a need for new commissions into the future. Evidently if forced into a choice you and most of your fellow city councillors would choose to stay with the status quo.

Your attack on An Taisce

To suggest that An Taisce was in anyway responsible for the delay in the development of the Opera centre or that we gave a ringing endorsement to the Brosnan report is wholly wrong. I have no problem with public and robust criticism of positions that An Taisce may hold but I will not stand by as a voluntary organisation, made up of people living in Limerick and who are committed to the prosperity of the city and the region, is used as a punch bag for what it has not done and not said, purely to provide political cover for elected representatives paid for out of taxes of the general public.

I believe that you served as an excellent Mayor and have long been a committed representative of our city. However, you are also capable of being wrong and on this occasion you were seriously wrong. Your misrepresentation of the positions of An Taisce is unbecoming your position as someone serving in the council chamber. If you do not retraction your comments then it will stand on the record that when the occasion demands it you will look for the nearest, convenient, unpopular minority and aim a kick at them for your own political ends.

Yours respectfully

Daniel K. Sullivan

Chair – An Taisce Limerick Association

P.S. As regards the reference to ‘ugly sisters’, while I don’t believe either of us will be winning beauty contests in the near future I think this sort of political grandstanding and terminology undermines the seriousness with which such an issue should be treated. When every issue involves disasters, decimation and ugly sisters and the cast and crew from Beauty and the Beast, it makes it that bit harder for the public to take real matters seriously. The city deserves better from all of us.

ENDS

Link to Limerick Leader article with cllr Gilligan’s comments

Press Release by An Taisce Limerick in respect of the Opera Centre development at the time permission was granted.

“An Taisce Limerick Association chair Daniel Sullivan has welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanála to preserve in part the existing character of the north city quarter in granting planning permission for the development of the Opera Centre. “It was always on the cards that An Bord Pleanála was likely to require that the historic facades on Ellen St. be retained given that their retention had been a condition of their original decision to grant permission. We’re pleased that Regeneration Developments eventually realised this and revised their application again on foot of their interaction with An Bord Pleanála.”

We would be hopeful that Limerick city council will grasp with both hands the opportunity given by the conditions from An Bord Pleanála with regard to their approval of materials to be used in the internal and external finishes to ensure that the quality of materials used in this development is consistent with the highest possible standards. This particular application also highlights the need for a more consultative approach in development. At no point in the entire process has Regeneration Developments sought to take advice from other local organisations or interested parties such as An Taisce. Perhaps if there had there been some engagement with local interest groups it is likely the protracted delay could have avoided. And contrary to what some candidates in the recent local elections had to say, these local groups were not blocking this development but were instead seeking that it should proceed according to the best possible standards. The city deserves no less and had those views been listened to the development would have proceeded much more quickly.

We would now look forward to seeing the project progress quickly to the construction phase, bringing much need employment and activity to the city. We remain open to engaging positively with anyone that has thoughts about contributing to the reinvigoration of the city centre. We would be hopefully that this development will re-energise those thinking of revamping this quarter of the city in manner that respects what is best about what we have and makes the most of the excellent location in the heart of the city.”

Why do we bother with colouring Diesel?

// October 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

With another report of a Diesel laundering operation, I’m given to wonder why do we bother with colouring Diesel and not simply let those who would use it legitimately claim back the duty that they would have to pay for the regular stuff?

After all the laundering appears to be very lucrative for those involved and it seems so much part of border culture that stopping people from buying it may be neigh on impossible.