Libertas & Rivada – Part II

Following on from yesterday’s post about Libertas, Rivada, and the relationships between the two, Wagger has some more dirt to dish…or at least muddy water to sort of flick around the place.

First to Mr Ganley’s defence in today’s Irish Times.  (This time by Alison Healy, rather than Colm Keena, who wrote yesterday’s piece).

To quote from the article:

Asked if there was any overlap between Libertas and Rivada Networks, he said “no, none”.

That’s strange.  When I look up the phone number for Rivada in Galway, it’s exactly the same number as is listed for Libertas on their site.  The fax number is also the same.  Naoise Nunn, as outlined yesterday, was definitely a Rivada employee last Summer, when he was coordinating the Forum on Public Safety, sponsored by Rivada, and using a @rivada.com email address to do so.

David Cochrane, while he’s listed at Libertas’ Dublin offices on their website for now, was living and working in Galway “full time in the political arena” as early as March 2007.  And today Wagger has uncovered specific evidence showing that Cochrane was working for Rivada on the Forum on Public Safety last summer.  He is listed as a contact person on that website as of July 2007.

Add those two facts to John McGuirk’s claim to Colm Keena in yeterday’s Irish Times that he is the only employee of Libertas, and the fact that the Libertas website lists both Cochrane and Nunn as staff on a page marked in large font “Libertas Staff”, and you’ve got yourself a very large lump of coincidence.

I’ll repeat that quote again – this is from today’s edition of The Irish Times:

Asked if there was any overlap between Libertas and Rivada Networks, he said “no, none”.

No overlap at all, Mr Ganley?  Apart from three of the four self-proclaimed staff at Libertas (none of whom are Libertas staff according to the Communications Director, who is staff) being, at the least, former Rivada staff?  And currently being apparently without other gainful employment?  What about the revelations in yesterday’s article that five of the seven directors of Libertas are employees of Rivada?

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Over to one of the other items from yesterday’s post, regarding Libertas’ lack of expenditure in 2007, according to McGuirk (or spending being done via personal cheques from Directors, according to his earlier statement).  Semper Idem points out, quite correctly, that Libertas launched its campaign in 2007.  That’s a campaign with a lot of nice graphics, a professionally designed website and an ad trailer being towed around Dublin.  Semper also reminds us of Libertas’ vital input into the Energy debate in the same year – a detailed policy document that was published in October 2007.  Libertas was so well thought of at this stage across Europe, that the Polish Defence Minister even invited its Chairperson to present that same paper in November 2007 at a special conference in Poland.

All of that, and not a penny spent.  That’s quite thrify, Wagger must admit.  And all of that done without a single staff member on the books (Mr McGuirk only having joined this year apparently – at least he was working for Bracken PR in January, so presumably wasn’t double-jobbing on the Libertas employee roll at the same time).

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Mr Ganley yesterday accused the Government of being “wilfully misleading and telling outright lies”.  Wagger would never suggest the same about him, and hopes there’s a reasonable explanation: that all the above is just coincidence.  But it seems unwise of Mr Ganley to comment on others before he has his Communications Director at least being consistent on what’s happening.

Wagger asked Libertas if they’d care to respond to yesterday’s article, and made them aware of today’s article (although not its content).  John McGuirk politely declined.