A string of bullshit from Dermot Desmond on page 3 of the SBP today. Basically consists of some background on how great he is, him calling for reform, then his denial that he left Ireland to avoid paying tax, but that the politicians and journalists here suffocated business and he wanted to escape from them. That a piece like this is possible at this point in time says a lot about why we are where we are.
Canny McCreevy saved for rainy day
By Thomas Molloy
Monday November 29 2010
CHARLIE McCreevy is often remembered for his jaunty comment that if he had money, he would spend it.
In fact, the former Finance Minister was not adverse to saving and the National Pension Reserve Fund was one of his best innovations.
The fund has a reassuring name but it should really be called the Civil Servants’ Pension Fund because its sole purpose is to save money to pay civil servant pensions.
At present, we operate a pay-as-you-go system which means public sector pensions are paid from taxes.
As the State began to employ more civil servants, Mr McCreevy believed it was prudent in 2001 to begin to save for the not-so-distant day when there would be a greater percentage of the population which was retired.
From the beginning, Mr McCreevy’s deep scepticism about other politicians meant he went to great lengths to ensure that the fund could not be raided to pay for day-to-day spending before 2025.
He also gave control of the fund to the National Treasury Management Agency, which was much loved by the former Finance Minister.
However, Mr McCreevy’s fears that a large pot of money would prove irresistible to his successors have been realised sooner than anybody suspected.
- Thomas Molloy
Canny McCreevy saved for rainy day
By Thomas Molloy
Monday November 29 2010
CHARLIE McCreevy is often remembered for his jaunty comment that if he had money, he would spend it.
In fact, the former Finance Minister was not adverse to saving and the National Pension Reserve Fund was one of his best innovations.
The fund has a reassuring name but it should really be called the Civil Servants’ Pension Fund because its sole purpose is to save money to pay civil servant pensions.
At present, we operate a pay-as-you-go system which means public sector pensions are paid from taxes.
As the State began to employ more civil servants, Mr McCreevy believed it was prudent in 2001 to begin to save for the not-so-distant day when there would be a greater percentage of the population which was retired.
From the beginning, Mr McCreevy’s deep scepticism about other politicians meant he went to great lengths to ensure that the fund could not be raided to pay for day-to-day spending before 2025.
He also gave control of the fund to the National Treasury Management Agency, which was much loved by the former Finance Minister.
However, Mr McCreevy’s fears that a large pot of money would prove irresistible to his successors have been realised sooner than anybody suspected.
- Thomas Molloy
Aside from the fact that McCreevy got us into this mess as much as anyone the bolded sentence is patently untrue and the type of reckless journalism that’s all too common. The fund was supposed to pay public service pensions and social welfare pensions for everyone (i.e. OAP stuff).
:lol:
For anyone who’s seen Charlie Brooker’s daily mail island sketch
http://bigmentaldisease.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/daily-mail-sex.jpg
RTE Radio News reporting that at their peak Celtic Bookmakers were earning €180 million per year.
Yes, yes they were. :lol:
Would they even turnover that much in a year?
Bit of a woeful stunt from the Mail on Sunday
UPDATED 1pm: What a low blow! The Irish edition of the Mail on Sunday published several thousand copies today with a spoof wrap-around as if it was the Sunday Tribune, the title that went into receivership last week.
It masqueraded as the Tribune by reproducing its masthead, as the picture above illustrates. Unsurprisingly, it outraged the Tribune’s editor, Nóirín Hegarty, who called it “pernicious” and “a false representation”.
In my view, it’s an obvious case of “passing off” and there could well be copyright implications, even though it carries the line: “This paper is a special edition designed for readers of the Sunday Tribune.”
I also think it was in bad taste, given that some 40 journalists, advertising and back office staff, face losing their jobs. Yet there is still a chance, if somewhat remote, that the paper could be saved.
As one tweeter pointed out, it is as if the MoS is dancing on the Tribune’s grave before it is formally declared dead. Publication is suspended, but there may be investors willing to risk acquiring the title.
In a statement issued this morning - as reported by RTE - the Tribune referred to it as “a shameless act” by a rival. Hegarty is quoted as saying:
"The Mail On Sunday has shown in this act that it will leave no stone unturned in the race to the bottom.
The Tribune management and staff and, indeed, Jim Luby the receiver, are working flat out in the hope of keeping the newspaper afloat.
We are talking about 43 jobs in Ireland here, not extra remuneration for Associated Newspapers back in the UK.
“This attempt at burial of a still alive corpse and grave robbing by the Mail group is a shameless act of commercial vandalism and I would beseech the fair-minded Irish Sunday newspaper audience to fight back by refusing to buy its titles.”
As a marketing stunt, I also find it rather odd. After all, the Irish Mail on Sunday sells 112,000 while the Tribune sells many fewer. According to the last set of ABC figures, it recorded average sales per issue of 54,400.
So the MoS was willing to compromise its own brand by running the fake Tribune front on the off-chance of picking up a few more readers.
In fact, if the Twittersphere response is anything to go by, the MoS has shot itself in the foot. There is no sympathy for the Mail on Sunday’s shoddy gimmick.
UPDATE 1pm: An updated RTE story carries a statement from the Irish Mail On Sunday’s editor Sebastian Hamilton in which he explains that the wrap-around was a “marketing exercise… to persuade as many Tribune readers as possible to keep buying newspapers.”
He claimed that Hegarty urged readers yesterday to buy “an Irish paper” and said: "We wanted to make sure those readers were aware that the Irish Mail on Sunday is an Irish paper.
“It employs 161 people here in Dublin - almost four times as many as the Tribune… is written here, edited here, printed and produced here… today’s marketing exercise encourages more people to buy a paper today, surely that is something we should encourage.”
good on the MOS- a reall piss take of sir anto :lol:
I don’t know why this is so shite, maybe because I expected more facts than an 8am straw poll in one consitituency.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/election/news/dublin-sees-rise-in-election-turnout-494864.html
Dublin sees rise in Election turnout
25/02/2011 - 13:47:26
Voting is continuing in the General Election and early indications in Dublin suggest the turnout has gone up compared to the last election.
A reporter with the Evening Herald, Conor Feehan, said turnout in parts of the capital is up on previous elections.
Mr Feehan said: [b]" I was out in Dun Laoghaire just after 8am this morning and they were reporting a 2% turnout at that stage which they say was up a little bit on previous elections.
“We spotted people of all ages getting up early to vote and some of them voting on their way to work.”[/b]
It is seven hours since the stations opened, and while all party leaders have now made their decisions, a flurry of activity expected at polling booths in the coming hours.
That is very funny.
Isn’t there a legal restriction on exit polls on the day of the election itself? Tomorrow morning the fun will start.
Exit poll at eight o’clock on Morning Ireland tomorrow.
Is it not 7am Larry? Guardian were saying earlier it’s at 7 but had heard 8 too.
There are no legal restrictions on turnout counts WTB, just on exit polls.
Irish Independent Legal Editor Dearbhail McDonald has an article on the mobile phone license court case today and has done some copying and pasting and then minor tweaking to avoid plagiarism from a strikingly similar Sunday Business Post article (by John Burke) from last weekend.
“Persona sought substantial damages arising from what the consortium alleged was ‘‘dishonest assistance’’ for the successful bidder, Denis O’Brien’s Esat Digifone.”
has been altered to:
“Persona sought substantial damages from what the consortium claimed was “dishonest assistance” for Esat Digifone.”
Then this
“Comcast claimed in the High Court that, while it believed that the competition at the time was ‘‘wrongful’’, it argued that the failed consortium did not have access to the details of the tendering process or how it applied to Esat to establish key facts.”
has siomply had the order of the words changed to become:
“Comcast said in the High Court proceedings that while it believed that the competition was “wrongful” at the time it was making its bid, the consortium said that it could not establish key facts because it did not have access to details of the tendering process.”
And this paragraph:
“Mr Justice Gilligan, who delivered the High Court judgment in the case, said that both consortia had adopted a ‘‘wait and see’’ tactic, but that this had resulted in an inexcusable delay in bringing proceedings against the state.”
has been altered to:
“Judge Gilligan said that both consortia had adopted a “a wait and see” tactic that had resulted in an inexcusable delay in bringing proceedings against the State.”
Fuck’s sake. Wouldn’t have taken them long to write their own article on the topic. The only really bit they’ve added is the following:
"TWO unsuccessful bidders for the State’s second mobile phone licence will ask the Supreme Court tomorrow to allow their multi-million euro compensation actions against the Government to proceed.
The attempted revival of the actions by losing bidders Persona and Comcast comes after the Moriarty Tribunal found former Communications Minister Michael Lowry assisted businessman Denis O’Brien in his successful bid to secure the licence for Esat Digifone."
which implies they only revived the case after the Moriarty Tribunal which is of course either misleading or plain wrong.
Great spot Rocko, fucking jokers. If they’re not using syndicated news from The Guardian or Telegraph they’re plagiarising stuff from rival papers. :rolleyes:
Careful Andrew, there are skeletons in Ireland’s closet , too
MARTIN SAMUEL
After a week of Irish glory and glorification at Cheltenham and two very jolly days in Dublin to follow, many Englishmen would have felt the bond between our countries had become rather civilised these days.
So it came as something of a surprise to pick up the newspapers on Monday and discover what really inspired Ireland’s Six Nations victory over England at the Aviva Stadium: hatred.
Andrew Trimble, the Ireland wing, let this slip, describing a rallying call from lock and most recent Lions captain Paul O’Connell prior to the game. ‘I always love listening to him during England week,’ Trimble said.
Irish eyes are smiling: Andrew Trimble (right) celebrates with Ronan O’Gara after beating England
‘We wanted to get everything right technically, but we also wanted to use our physicality, our intensity, just a real hatred. We never get sick of beating England; that is why we enjoyed the win so much. There’s a lot of history there.’
Indeed there is. Like the European Union’s £73.7billion bailout for the failing Irish economy last November, that could end up costing British taxpayers in the region of £6.07bn.
Not many songs about that on Saturday, though, just the usual one about prison ships, prison walls and a terrible famine that took place 160 years ago yet is still thrown in the face of every visitor in an England shirt, as if it was cooked up in the Harlequins dressing room last Tuesday.
Maybe next time Martin Johnson visits he could give a rousing and equally relevant speech before the game based on vengeance for all the little kiddies abused by Ireland’s paedophile priests.
Or is it only the English who have entries in the history books of which their modern descendants might be ashamed?
:o
mickee 321 style shock tactics from Samuel here.
Review of the White Ribbon 3d in today’s Irish Times contains the following
" yet the proto earthly intensity of the sub Monstrovian narrative remains visibly , uncomfortably stratified. Val Kilmer’s deranged turn as the austere Baptist preacher, whose unterdruckung of his own children precipitates violent juvenile anti conformity, illustrates how easily … deep belief can mutate into militant pop nihilism. "
Woeful. If it’s an April fool it’s even more woeful
For Totti
I appreciate this Runt.
I have encountered a rather bemusing article in todays Irish star which I will try and scan now. I’d like to see if anyone can make sense of it. :unsure: