Comments on: Bertie: The view from overseas, via Dublin

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Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:16:03 +0000

[...] Comment on Bertie: The view from overseas, via Dublin by Conor… The fact that Ahern and Co. managed to swap a national debt for an equally-crippling personal debt is hardly worthy of praise. [...]

By: SOS

SOS — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:03:45 +0000

Is €600,000 ($944,358) awaiting moderation?

If so, when we might expect him to repay it all?

Are the millions of US$ and the Gold Bars in the FF Safe Deposit Box in the Bank of Ireland Vaults (still ignored by CAB) signs of moderation?

Is Beverly Flynn moderate, when advising bank customers how to evade Irish Taxation?

Was Charlie moderate? He managed to spend over 400 times his after tax income.

And the Mercedes Benz & BMW motor cars; Farmleigh; the junkets on St.Patrick’s & countless other Days ; the Gulf Stream; the helicopter; etc…

Are these the manifestations of moderation? financial prudence?

Moderation is living within ones’ means.

It means NOT scrounging from friends; taking Bungs from developers; fiddling expenses;

It means behaving honestly; honourably and giving good example.

All qualities unknown to Bertie Ahern & his cronies in Fianna Fail.

In criticising their lack of moderation, I am understating their perfidy.

By: Gordon DAVIES

Gordon DAVIES — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:54:29 +0000

“While Mr. Ahern has helped to bring his country’s economy into the 21st century, he failed to do the same for Ireland’s political culture. The prospects for progress are dim.”

Any party that canwelcome the awful Bev back into the fold has a long way to go to meet 21st standards!

Gordon

By: Gavin

Gavin — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:25:32 +0000

He might be using Keena’s figures, which included accounts not held by Ahern directly. My own list only uses accounts held by Ahern, and in some cases, amounts that are disputed/questioned.

Keena included all accounts related to St Luke’s that are also under investigation.

By: Conor McCabe

Conor McCabe — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:37:08 +0000

Thing is, even now we don’t know the truth – what I mean is, Bertie STILL has to come clean. Diarmuid Ferriter had an interesting point in his assessment of Ahern. Again, he checked all the normal boxes – peace process, economy – but said that when it came to views of Ahern in the future, the evidence thrown up by the Mahon tribunal could lead to some interesting conclusions.

I reckon that stands even today, never mind in 40 or 50 years’ time.

As regards the economy, and “chief architect”, well, that’s just nonsense. The “celtic tiger” effectively ran out of steam around 2001. Now, that could have led to a more lower, and sustainable, growth, but Bertie Ahern and Charlie McCreevey wanted to keep construction in the lolly, to the effect that We’ve been living off the effects of a housing bubble ever since. The fact that Ahern and Co. managed to swap a national debt for an equally-crippling personal debt is hardly worthy of praise. They had the chance to wipe out one, and contain the other, but didn’t because it was not in the interests of those whose interests are the interests of FF.

Anyway, it looks like FF are going to escape criticism for this one, as the mantra of “international forces” is working for them. Not helped, it has to be said, by the free ride FG and Labour gave FF over the economy as well.