Our subservient way of thinking as a people bestows impunity on those in positions of power in the Irish Times December 1, 2009
 
‘IT IS the deaf people that create the lies.’ Irish proverbs are full of phrases about the power of silence.
 
Fr Donal Gallagher from the Dublin parish of St Peter’s in Phibsboro, horrifically exploited [...]

Fás and O’Donoghue are the latest examples of unethical behaviour deeply entrenched within our system, writes ELAINE BYRNE in THE IRISH TIMES September 15, 2009

POLITICAL LANGUAGE is a curious animal. The Dáil record shows that debate on corruption was least when it was almost certainly happening the most.

Although the beef, McCracken, Mahon and Moriarty tribunals revealed the extraordinary extent of political favouritism, conflict of interest and corruption that took place during the 1970s and 1980s, Dáil discussion on such issues was less than previous or subsequent decades.

We need to ditch our innate conservatism and seize the opportunity for fundamental systematic change

IRISH TIMES September 8, 2009

THIS COLUMN is at a crossroads.

In the manner of Robert Frost, two roads have diverged in a wood and I’m not sure which one to travel by.

The first road is the one we have looked down as far as we could to where it bends in the undergrowth. This is the Ireland with new international monikers: Eirn Go Broke (New York Times), Direland (Financial Times) and Tin Hat Time (Economist). On this path, we accept the need for sober and responsible action, in the national interest. We need to do the right thing for the long-term future of the country. I would like to travel on this road.

Faced with Nama and the McCarthy report, our political parties lack the will to mount an effective campaign, writes ELAINE BYRNE in THE IRISH TIMES August 18, 2009

IT IS now 44 days until the second Lisbon referendum. At this same point in last year’s failed referendum campaign, Mark Hennessy wrote an opinion piece titled Pro-Lisbon campaign still to get off ground. Hennessy quoted the Spanish philosopher George Santayana, who said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Deja vu anyone?

With 44 days to go, our politicians are still on their holidays. When the Dáil and Seanad return on September 16th, it will only be two weeks to referendum day.

Just as Watergate transformed journalism internationally, it appears the recession will do likewise. Elaine Byrne in The IRISH TIMES, August 11 2009
 
THE FORTUNES of journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein rose considerably when they broke the biggest story in American politics.
 
Between 1972 and 1976, Woodward and Bernstein uncovered political dirty tricks that ultimately resulted in [...]

Hiding decision-making processes behind the cloak of ‘commercial sensitivity’ is no way to build trust in the asset management agency, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the IRISH TIMES, August 4 2009

BRIAN LENIHAN scares me sometimes. When Áine Lawlor asked him on Morning Ireland last Friday about Nama’s process of valuing toxic assets, he had this to say: “Some of the land is at present not sellable in what is a very illiquid market and some allowance can be made, and it’s a limited allowance, but some allowance can be made for that in determination of what’s a fair price . . . some allowance can be made for longer term economic value.”

His liberal use of “allowance”, which translates as “discretion”, was very disconcerting.

By being able to define what something is then we can understand how to prevent it.  That is not the same as suggesting that you ignore corruption. It is the opposite. Blandly labelling something as corruption is meaningless. For example, we can not cure cancer unless we know what type of cancer it is.
 
Traditionally, [...]

Perceptions of corruption discourage private and foreign direct investment and limit economic growth, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the Irish Times July 28, 2009

TAOISEACH EAMON de Valera’s patience was worn out by the end of the 1940s. He told the Dáil that persistent corruption allegations reminded him of “the primpealláin, a beetle, which from the moment in the summer time when it began to use its wings and fly about, went about, not attracted by any flower in the field or any flower in the garden, no matter how beautiful they were, whether they were roses or lilies. The primpealláin went about looking for some cow dung or horse dung in which they might roll themselves”.

In a 12-year period, the De Valera government initiated three tribunals of inquiry and a parliamentary investigation into alleged corruption, concerning for the most part, the department of industry and commerce’s role in awarding licences, leases, export quotas and the improper disclosure of confidential information.

Of the 20 allegations investigated, 18 were dismissed and two lesser charges were found. Then minister for industry and commerce, Seán Lemass, took the allegations very seriously. His response was unequivocal and in one case a senior civil servant was compulsorily retired.

Are Our Institutions Fit for Purpose? Political Reform in the Republic of Ireland.

Conference Programme

Monday, June 22nd

More Information:

http://irishpoliticalreform.wordpress.com/conference-programme/

www.politicalreform.ie

This year marks the ninetieth anniversary of the first Dáil session at the Mansion House. In keeping with this spirit of regeneration, this conference will provide a forum for Ireland’s leading political scientists, political commentators, and interested practitioners to come together to discuss their views on political reform. The conference will seek to provide an accessible analysis of our current political institutions, as well as laying out options for future reform, based on extensive academic research.

The conference will be structured into three sessions and will close with a round table discussion involving participants from all three sessions as well as members of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution. Each session will include two expert speakers who have published academic research on the institution being discussed, and two respondents, who have intimate knowledge of that institution from the worlds of politics and journalism.

OPINION: We have a responsibility as citizens to adopt a mindset which accepts and embraces the exposure of wrongdoing, writes ELAINE BYRNE

FRANK DUNLOP is not the first Irish person to be convicted for corruption.

In the mid-1940s, a former chair of Dublin County Council and a civil servant from the Department of Education were found guilty of bribing councillors to vote for senators in Seanad elections.

An undercover sting operation caught the men red-handed. In the subsequent court cases, it emerged that Nelson’s Pillar on O’Connell Street and the Ormond Hotel on Abbey Street were the bribing meeting points for those travelling from the country looking for money for their votes.

Indeed, such was the entrepreneurial spirit of the two men that they were known to sell a first preference vote which they then converted into a 10th preference, thus selling the first preference vote again.