28 January 1999 Edition
Workers in struggle: Crisis across the political divide'
What did he know? When did he know it? Yes, it is time once again for the now ritual dissection of a political figure and possibly another Dublin Government. This time it is Bertie Ahern in the hot seat. There seems to be no end to the ongoing repercussions from EU Commissioner and former Fianna Fáil minister Padraig Flynn's Late Late Show appearance two weeks ago.
Flynn's denial of ever receiving £50,000 from property developer Tom Gilmartin has prompted Gilmartin in a series of orchestrated media strikes to reveal more of his contacts with both Padraig Flynn and the now Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern. The upshot of the dispute between Gilmartin and Flynn is that opposition parties in Leinster House and many media commentators are calling for Mary Harney to pull the plug on the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrat coalition.
Coalition's Failures
Apart from concerns about the peace process and how parties in Leinster House would ensure the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement there are few reasons to wish a full term to the FF/PD coalition. They have failed to reduce economic and social inequalities. They have failed to tackle the housing crisis, to reform the tax system, to punish the evaders, to halt the crisis in rural Ireland leaving thousands of farmers in poverty. They have stalled on the promises to guarantee a minimum wage, union recognition. They have ignored the huge inequalities and underfunding in our education system and health services. They have paid only lip service protecting our environment.
However it is for none of these reasons that Bertie Ahern is being hounded out of office. The reasons for the Gilmartin/Flynn debacle are part political opportunism, part media fuelled. Yes there is a crisis in democracy but not because of an accounted for £50,000 or a forgotten meeting.
Economic Elite
There is a crisis because the Flood Tribunal, like the other 1990s tribunals held by Justices Hamilton, McCracken and Moriarty has shown clearly the underside of political life in the 26 Counties. It has shown an economic elite able to bypass the democratic processes and make substantial profits in the process.
Even if the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrat government did collapse there is no reason to believe that anything would change and the processes that led to the slush funds and council votes for sale would end.
Rezoning
``There were five or six councillors that could organise or maximise the votes of Dublin County Council and that he was in a position to cross the political divide''.
This was the testimony of James Gogarty last week at the Flood Tribunal. He was explaining the contents of a letter written to him by property developer Michael Bailey who Gogarty alleges could get Dublin County Council to rezone land.
The claims made by James Gogarty are being contested but his testimony makes interesting reading. He worked for companies that were avoiding tax, that were planning developments which were often highly profitable and that when things got difficult in terms of red tape or other difficulties like the odd planning regulation they could call on top level political aid to help their cause.
Meet the People
Speaking on television this week Bertie Ahern explained the context in which he would meet people like Tom Gilmartin. Ahern said ``It is a good thing in this democracy to meet people. It is a very good idea I think for ministers to meet people and at times they are business people and they are trying to bring forward projects''.
Mr Ahern may be right but the import of all of the tribunals of the 1990s is that clearly the public rules of how democracy works do not apply to all cases. They did not apply to the Goodman companies. They did not apply to Ben Dunne, Michael Lowry, Charlie Haughey and others.
It is interesting to note that despite the collapse of Dublin's development plans since the 1960s as the profiteering developers and builders built housing estates across the county, often without proper services, access roads, sewerage and water supplies, we still have a housing crisis in Dublin.
Thousands of families are on local authority waiting lists and thousands more are being exploited in high rent accommodation.
Arrogance
However perhaps the worst aspect of the Flynn/Gilmartin affair and the Flood Tribunal is the fact the real costs of the tribunal itself and the profits that have lined developers' and some politicians' pockets have been and will be paid by the taxpayers and by house buyers. Nothing that has come to light will recompense the Irish public for what has happened.
Padraig Flynn spoke on the Late Late Show of the difficulties of keeping up three houses in his meagre tax free income of £120,000 plus. His attitude is symptomatic of the evidence presented in the four tribunals of the 1990s.
An economic and political elite has been allowed to use their wealth to bypass the democratic process. If Bertie Ahern wants, as he claims, to ``find all the truth and nothing but the truth'' he needs to do more than await the outcome of another Tribunal. What is needed is fundamental economic and social change. It's up to you, Bertie.
As more and more people live in cities and urban areas concern and undestanding of rural poverty in Ireland dissipates. Late last year An Phoblacht highlighted the inequities of CAP funding where 10% of farmers received 66% of the funding from the EU. These inequities have contributed to the dire economic situation that many small farmers find themselves in.
A recent study by the Roscommon Smallholders Action Group shows the true extent of rural poverty in one small rural area. Their study found that 27% of farm households had annual household incomes of less than £7,500. This figure is less than half of the average industrial wage.
When looking at income from farming alone the study found that one farmer in two was earning less than £5,000 a year. This figure includes the money from EU grants.
The Action Group probed the issue of who was getting the EU grants in the Roscommon area. They found that households with a gross income of over £35,000 were getting approximately four times the amount of direct payments compared to households with gross incomes of less than £7,500.
The report titled A Rural Living - Myth or Reality clearly highlights the inequities in rural life. As the EU agriculture ministers discuss CAP reforms bewteen now and March the need for an equitable system of funding should be the cornerstone of any new rural development package.
The price of a house increased by 44% for Dublin buyers in 1998, according to figures produced by the First Active bank. Though the inceases in areas outside Dublin were considerably lower - averaging 14.7% - they were still considerably higher than the wage increases most people earned in 1998.
It goes to show that the unfortunate reality of life in the so called Celtic Tiger is that thousands of its workers cannot afford to live in the economy they are supposed to be the main beneficiaries of.
Flynn's denial of ever receiving £50,000 from property developer Tom Gilmartin has prompted Gilmartin in a series of orchestrated media strikes to reveal more of his contacts with both Padraig Flynn and the now Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern. The upshot of the dispute between Gilmartin and Flynn is that opposition parties in Leinster House and many media commentators are calling for Mary Harney to pull the plug on the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrat coalition.
Coalition's Failures
Apart from concerns about the peace process and how parties in Leinster House would ensure the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement there are few reasons to wish a full term to the FF/PD coalition. They have failed to reduce economic and social inequalities. They have failed to tackle the housing crisis, to reform the tax system, to punish the evaders, to halt the crisis in rural Ireland leaving thousands of farmers in poverty. They have stalled on the promises to guarantee a minimum wage, union recognition. They have ignored the huge inequalities and underfunding in our education system and health services. They have paid only lip service protecting our environment.
However it is for none of these reasons that Bertie Ahern is being hounded out of office. The reasons for the Gilmartin/Flynn debacle are part political opportunism, part media fuelled. Yes there is a crisis in democracy but not because of an accounted for £50,000 or a forgotten meeting.
Economic Elite
There is a crisis because the Flood Tribunal, like the other 1990s tribunals held by Justices Hamilton, McCracken and Moriarty has shown clearly the underside of political life in the 26 Counties. It has shown an economic elite able to bypass the democratic processes and make substantial profits in the process.
Even if the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrat government did collapse there is no reason to believe that anything would change and the processes that led to the slush funds and council votes for sale would end.
Rezoning
``There were five or six councillors that could organise or maximise the votes of Dublin County Council and that he was in a position to cross the political divide''.
This was the testimony of James Gogarty last week at the Flood Tribunal. He was explaining the contents of a letter written to him by property developer Michael Bailey who Gogarty alleges could get Dublin County Council to rezone land.
The claims made by James Gogarty are being contested but his testimony makes interesting reading. He worked for companies that were avoiding tax, that were planning developments which were often highly profitable and that when things got difficult in terms of red tape or other difficulties like the odd planning regulation they could call on top level political aid to help their cause.
Meet the People
Speaking on television this week Bertie Ahern explained the context in which he would meet people like Tom Gilmartin. Ahern said ``It is a good thing in this democracy to meet people. It is a very good idea I think for ministers to meet people and at times they are business people and they are trying to bring forward projects''.
Mr Ahern may be right but the import of all of the tribunals of the 1990s is that clearly the public rules of how democracy works do not apply to all cases. They did not apply to the Goodman companies. They did not apply to Ben Dunne, Michael Lowry, Charlie Haughey and others.
It is interesting to note that despite the collapse of Dublin's development plans since the 1960s as the profiteering developers and builders built housing estates across the county, often without proper services, access roads, sewerage and water supplies, we still have a housing crisis in Dublin.
Thousands of families are on local authority waiting lists and thousands more are being exploited in high rent accommodation.
Arrogance
However perhaps the worst aspect of the Flynn/Gilmartin affair and the Flood Tribunal is the fact the real costs of the tribunal itself and the profits that have lined developers' and some politicians' pockets have been and will be paid by the taxpayers and by house buyers. Nothing that has come to light will recompense the Irish public for what has happened.
Padraig Flynn spoke on the Late Late Show of the difficulties of keeping up three houses in his meagre tax free income of £120,000 plus. His attitude is symptomatic of the evidence presented in the four tribunals of the 1990s.
An economic and political elite has been allowed to use their wealth to bypass the democratic process. If Bertie Ahern wants, as he claims, to ``find all the truth and nothing but the truth'' he needs to do more than await the outcome of another Tribunal. What is needed is fundamental economic and social change. It's up to you, Bertie.
Rural Poverty - 27% of farm households earn less than £7,500
As more and more people live in cities and urban areas concern and undestanding of rural poverty in Ireland dissipates. Late last year An Phoblacht highlighted the inequities of CAP funding where 10% of farmers received 66% of the funding from the EU. These inequities have contributed to the dire economic situation that many small farmers find themselves in.
A recent study by the Roscommon Smallholders Action Group shows the true extent of rural poverty in one small rural area. Their study found that 27% of farm households had annual household incomes of less than £7,500. This figure is less than half of the average industrial wage.
When looking at income from farming alone the study found that one farmer in two was earning less than £5,000 a year. This figure includes the money from EU grants.
The Action Group probed the issue of who was getting the EU grants in the Roscommon area. They found that households with a gross income of over £35,000 were getting approximately four times the amount of direct payments compared to households with gross incomes of less than £7,500.
The report titled A Rural Living - Myth or Reality clearly highlights the inequities in rural life. As the EU agriculture ministers discuss CAP reforms bewteen now and March the need for an equitable system of funding should be the cornerstone of any new rural development package.
44% increase in house prices
The price of a house increased by 44% for Dublin buyers in 1998, according to figures produced by the First Active bank. Though the inceases in areas outside Dublin were considerably lower - averaging 14.7% - they were still considerably higher than the wage increases most people earned in 1998.
It goes to show that the unfortunate reality of life in the so called Celtic Tiger is that thousands of its workers cannot afford to live in the economy they are supposed to be the main beneficiaries of.