Marking Time

Mr O’Neill said he appreciated that in August 1994 Mr Ahern had lodged £20,000 to an account for his daughters but the previous December he had £50,000 available to him.

“You are not listening to me,” the Taoiseach replied testily and went on to repeat that the £20,000 was already a commitment to his daughters’ education.

“When you have a commitment to something, at least the way I operate, I go before the electorate on commitments. I had a commitment to my wife and daughters to put £20,000 into an account. It was not available to me.

“I had it designated and linked in a commitment to give to my daughters,” Mr Ahern continued.

“I had saved it since 1987 through the whole period of my separation which, I think, is none of your damn business.”

Irish Independent, 21 December, 2007

In a wide-ranging speech on future economic policy in Dublin, Mr Cowen said he had all but ruled out any prospect of fulfilling his promise in last year’s Budget to cut the top rate of income tax to 40pc.

Mr Cowen’s speech drew a rapid reaction from Labour’s finance spokesperson Joan Burton, who said Fianna Fail was getting rid of its general election promises.

“Mr Cowen’s speech today is very different from the message the people were given by the Taoiseach, the minister himself and other Fianna Fail figures prior to the election.

“It appears as if the ground is now being prepared for wholesale reneging on Fianna Fail’s pre-election promises,” Ms Burton said.

Irish Independent, 20 November, 2007

I am the curse of surfers everywhere. Whenever I show up the sea turns to a calm lake. When they finally catch a wave they inevitably fall off as soon as I point my camera at them. I finally caught a few, probably because I was far enough away not to be noticed.

more…

Most media pundits commentating on the state of the country at the moment are akin to pedestrians attempting to lip-read conversations in passing cars. Oh yeah, everyone knows someone who knows someone who knows something.

Meanwhile I’m left speechless. I reckon there’s going to be a reckoning. In Biblical terms we’ve melted everything down to make the Golden Calf and Moses is just about to arrive back from the mountain.

Irish Rail regrets any inconvenience caused due to the late arrival of this train.

This is a familiar refrain over the tannoy to regular rail commuters in Ireland. I question the sincerity of the regret. If they were truly sorry they would be falling over themselves to pay me back the fare. And they’re not the only ones at it. Up and down the country the service industry fobs off consumers with a token apology whenever they mess up or fail to live up to their promises. We’ve heard so many apologies that their value is meaningless. The upper echelons of our government are abusing the tactic wholesale. Exhibit A:

Ms Harney began her 30-minute speech with a series of apologies: to the patients of Portlaoise for the anguish and distress that had been caused, to the nine women whose breast cancer treatment was delayed and to 97 women who found out about their ultrasound scans being reviewed via an Oireachtas health committee.

Irish Independent, 28 March 2007

People have died due to negligence by the HSE. Mary Harney stands up in the Dáil, apologises, feels terrible about all the hurt and pain, sheds a few tears, appeals to the opposition to leave her alone, then sits down and starts playing with her mobile phone. People have died due to negligence by the HSE. No one will resign. No one will be fired. No one will go to jail. People have died due to negligence by the HSE.

I would like to feel sorry for Mary Harney and her troubles. My heart would like to bleed. But given the state of the health service it’s a luxury I cannot afford.

• Most Sincerely Folks: Moses Basket Case
  “Let My People Go -and run their own bleedin’ schools.”�
  (tags: Ireland education religion)

“The irony for me is that last week we had marches on the streets in local communities saying that we dare not touch their cancer services as part of the transformation programme, and this week we face into a Portlaoise situation where we’re being blamed for not having changed it.”

Prof. Brendan Drumm, 5th Nov. 2007

Aside from the crassness of the remark and the boot-boy tactics of blaming the victims, I’m wondering where in the HSE decision-making process that the public has a say? How are we holding up the progress to the promised land? Oh yeah we have marches but where do these have any impact on the machinations of the bureaucracy? Perhaps in the wee small hours, when Professor Drumm feels a tinge of guilt that he might not have fully earned his €80,000 bonus, he can rest assured that the ignorant population brought the misery on themselves despite his valiant efforts. We’re certainly not seeing the impact of people power anywhere else.

Brendan, if you want us to share the blame how about you share some of the bonus? But that wouldn’t be ironic, would it?

Some more added to the derelict set.