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Bertie Ahern, Ray Burke And Independent Newspapers - Why RTE Is Being Attacked - To Keep Them In Line

category national | arts and media | news report author Saturday March 24, 2012 19:13author by Randy Tail - The Human Scientists Report this post to the editors

Mahon Tribunal prevented from investigating Ray Burke payment

Another thread speculated that recent attacks on RTE by the Sunday Independent were due to a generalised attack on the public sector, on relatively independent journalism in the publicly owned RTE during a period of recession, on disappointment at the election of Michael D Higgins and defeat for the right wing entrepreneur, Sean Gallagher (and the part played by RTE in exposing Gallagher). That story is here:

Sunday Independent that defended Bertie Ahern - on anti RTE, President Michael D Higgins, crusade
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/101574

There could be more to it than that.
Ray Burke jailed 2005 - his role in taking donation from Independent Newspapers company missing from Mahon Tribunal report
Ray Burke jailed 2005 - his role in taking donation from Independent Newspapers company missing from Mahon Tribunal report

The campaign against RTE may have been an expression of the Sunday Independent's ability to control and to distort the political agenda.

Specifically, it may have been designed to stop RTE and other media from investigating what the Mahon tribunal was prevented from investigating by the Supreme Court, the links between disgraced and jailed politician Ray Burke and Independent newspapers.

In 1989 Burke was given a donation of £30,000 by an executive of Fitzwilton, a company founded by Tony O'Reilly, in the name of a subsidiary called Rennicks. Burke pocketed most of the cash. This was first revealed in Vincent Browne's Magill magazine, one reason why he is subject to relentless attacks in the Sunday Independent. In the first article in the attached (PDF) dossier of articles the author states:

  • Fifteen years ago, executives of companies controlled by Tony O'Reilly, the then controlling shareholder in Independent News and Media (INM), had a meeting with officials working for the then Taoiseach, John Bruton.

    At that meeting, the INM people made it clear that, unless Bruton's Rainbow government acceded to O'Reilly's demands on the MMDS television transmission system, it would lose the Independent Newspaper Group "as friends''.

    In the final days of the 1997 general election campaign, the most prestigious newspaper in the INM stable, the Irish Independent, published a front page editorial under the headline ''It's payback time'', urging readers to reject the incumbent government and vote Fianna Fáil.

    Previously, newspapers in that group had been generally favourable to Fine Gael but, over the following decade, newspapers in the INM group - notably the Sunday Independent - appeared to be generally supportive of Fianna Fail-led governments, the same governments that dragged the country into the calamity we are now enduring.

    Some eight years previously, in June 1989, executives of Fitzwilton, another company controlled by Tony O'Reilly, visited the then communications minister, Ray Burke. They gave him a cheque for £30,000 from a subsidiary company, Rennicks, as a contribution to Fianna Fáil. O'Reilly said he had no knowledge of the donation.

    During the course of the 2007 election campaign, the then Taoiseach and the then finance minister, Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen respectively, had a private meeting with Tony O'Reilly. There was no official disclosure that the meeting had taken place and, when it eventually became public, nobody would say what transpired, other than the claim that the meeting and discussion were of no consequence, ie, it was just a ''normal'' meeting with a media owner.

    Sunday Business Post July 24 2011


  • Another article from 2007 sets out what happened when the Supreme court decision was announced. This is when the political offensive against the Mahon tribunal went in to high gear. The Mahon Tribunal may have felt unable to report this context when it reported 'disgraceful' attacks on the Tribunal by Fianna Fail politicians:

  • of this matter would have involved examination of an investment by Sir Anthony's Independent News & Media group, and others, in MMDS, a television transmission system venture, the licences for which were issued in 1989 when Mr Burke was communications minister. The Supreme Court ruling, however, appears to mean that the findings of extensive private inquiries conducted by the tribunal will not now be made public. Time, effort and money expended by Mahon has apparently been to no avail.

    The political offensive against Mahon has been relentless. Successive government ministers have wondered aloud whether the tribunal has outlived its usefulness.

    Backbench deputies, not renowned for thoughtful contributions to public debate, have been wheeled onto radio and TV discussion programmes to suggest, more in sorrow than anger, that the inquiry be wound up.

    Sunday Times, July 8 2007


  • When the story broke of Burke's relationship with Independent newspaers associated companies, this is how the Irish times explained it - for more, read the attached PDF dossier of articles.

    How Independent Newspapers subsidiary obtained MMDS undertakings from Ray Burke
    Geraldine Kennedy Irish Times June 6 1998

  • There were three basic facts in the lead report in The Irish Times last Saturday:

    1. Mr Ray Burke agreed to all of the main terms sought by Independent Newspapers plc for the operation of the exclusive MMDS television relay licences granted to its associate company, Princes Holdings Ltd.

    2. He departed from official advice in his Department in early 1991, and gave the then managing director of Independent Newspapers, Mr Joe Hayes, most of the "written reassurances" Mr Hayes had sought for "planning, banking and investment reasons" in a memorandum dated October 8th, 1990.

    3. The subsequent letter of comfort, issued by Mr Burke to Mr Hayes on February 4th, 1991, came from the Minister's private office. In the Department's MMDS files, the letter is marked "Signed and Despatched from Minister's Office" to highlight the fact that it was a Ministerial decision.
    Copies of what Mr Hayes sought, what Mr Burke granted, and the Civil Service advice were published on an inside page of The Irish Times.



    The Independent Group's newspapers carried the following reports in relation to The Irish Times story:

    1. Sunday Independent, Sunday Tribune, Monday's Irish Independent: Mr Ray Burke adhered rigidly to detailed advice by his Department about the issuing of MMDS licences. An internal report by the assistant secretary of the then Department of Communications sets out the opinions of independent consultants, Stokes Kennedy Crowley, now KPMG, and those of the Department's officials. The report clearly shows that Mr Burke issued the licences in line with their advice.

    2. Monday's Irish Independent: The "assurances" given by Mr Burke to Independent Newspapers had previously been given to the Irish Cable Operators' Association. Tuesday's Irish Independent: Mr Hayes's "sample letter" to Mr Burke merely sought confirmation of "undertakings already made to Joe Seely, chairman of the Irish Cable Operators' Association, five months earlier."

    3. All of the Independent Group's coverage disputed the interpretation of the "What was Sought" and "What was Given" letters published in The Irish Times.

    The Independent has not answered any of the detailed points made in The Irish Times's story.

    1.It was never suggested that Mr Burke did not adhere to official advice on the issuing of the MMDS licences. The story related to the additional written assurances sought and given to Independent Newspapers for its subsidiary, Princes Holdings, after the licences had been issued. The first paragraph spoke of terms sought by Independent Newspapers "for the operation of the exclusive MMDS licences" granted to Princes Holdings.

    The Independent was denying something, therefore, which was never stated.

    2. Mr Hayes's "sample letter" to Mr Burke did not seek just "undertakings already made to Joe Seely, chairman of the Irish Cable Operators' Association, five months earlier". Mr Hayes sought, and received, much more.

    The sequence of events was as follows:

    On May 6th, 1988, the Department of Communications invited applications for exclusive MMDS licences in public advertisements.

    On June 7th, 1989, a £30,000 cheque payable to cash was given to the outgoing Minister for Industry, Commerce and Communications, Mr Burke, by the Rennicks company, a subsidiary of Fitzwilton, during the general election campaign.

    In July, 1989, Mr Burke retained the Communications portfolio on appointment as Minister for Justice and Communications.

    On September 29th, 1989, some 17 months after applications were invited, licences were issued to Princes Holdings and other companies.

    The formal application for MMDS licences issued by the Department said: "Application for an exclusive licence for provision of a Programme Transmission System". A draft of the "Proposed Statutory Regulations" on the MMDS system said: "Exclusive licences in particular areas will be issued. Licences will remain in force for up to 10 years". Neither of the official documents defined the word "exclusive". Mr Hayes set out to get such a definition from Mr Burke.

    Mr Burke's letter to Mr Seely, secretary of the Irish Cable Operators Association, on May 28, 1990, which has not been published, stated:

    "Dear Mr Seely, I wish to refer to my meeting with you and your colleagues some weeks ago regarding the concerns of Cable and MMDS operators in relation to illegal television retransmission systems.

    "I wish to reaffirm my stated position that cable and MMDS are the only legally authorised means of providing multi-channel television choice to the public. Other systems, operating in parts of the country are doing so in breach of the Wireless Telegraphy Acts 1926-1988.

    "As soon as the alternative MMDS service, which will provide multi-channel choice for the general public, is available it will be my intention to bring the full rigours of the law to bear on the illegal operations and to ensure that they are put off, and remain off, the air.

    I trust that the foregoing provides any reassurance you and your colleagues may need in this matter. Yours sincerely, Ray Burke."

    Mr Hayes was not seeking just a confirmation of the assurances given to Mr Seely when he approached Mr Burke a short time later. He was looking for much more - as can be seen from the document published in The Irish Times last weekend.

    Mr Eugene Fanning, solicitor in Arthur Cox and Co, was asked by Independent Newspapers Plc to prepare a submission for seeking extra written reassurances from Mr Burke. His "draft letter", dated September 20th, 1990, sought, among other things, that the Minister would state: "Upon revocation (or expiration) of any licence or alteration or amendment of the terms of any licence which render the operation thereof impracticable or uneconomic, you shall be entitled to reasonable compensation (from the funds received by me from all MMDS project licensees) in respect of your MMDS project equipment and start up costs relating to that licence (if you are unable to recover same within a reasonable time from a successor licensee)".

    This was written as a "best response" letter to be considered by Independent Newspapers for presentation to Mr Burke. One of the Independent negotiators discussed its terms with Department officials without formally presenting the letter to them. He was told by the officials that they were not prepared to concede many of the points being sought. He was also told that the Minister would be prepared to write a letter but there was "a difference" about the "reassurances" being sought.

    The draft letter was modified after such soundings were taken. The "What was Sought" letter, published in last Saturday's Irish Times, was forwarded to Mr Burke. This was Mr Hayes's submission, dated October 8th, 1990, seeking "absolute reassurances" on a number of points "for planning, banking and investment reasons".

    An analysis of Mr Hayes's submission, the official Departmental response and Mr Burke's "letter of comfort" of February 4th, 1991, shows that Mr Burke departed from Civil Service advice on three of the ten "reassurances" sought by Independent Newspapers Plc - on points 2,4 and 6 in the documents.

    On Point 1, exclusivity of the franchise, Mr Seamus O Morain of the Radio and Broadcasting Division, said: "It was always our (Irish Times italics) intention that . . ." The use of the word our indicates that the Department and the Minister are at one.

    But on Point 2, closure of illegal broadcasters, it is worth noting that the Department distinguishes itself from the Minister when Mr O Morain writes: "The assurance sought seems to be in line with your (Irish Times italics) stated position on the closure of illegal rebroadcasters". Mr Hayes wanted the Minister to ensure that there would be no illegal operations affecting the franchise region "within a maximum period of 6 months after your commencement of retransmission".

    Mr O Morain advised: "We cannot give an absolute guarantee that all rebroadcasters in a particular area will be off the air by a particular time. We can only say that our best endeavours will be used to make such situation possible".

    Mr Burke's letter stated: "My Department will use its best endeavours to ensure that there are no illegal rebroadcasting systems affecting that region within six months (Irish Times italics) after the commencement of MMDS transmissions".

    On Point 4, Mr Hayes sought that there would not be more than one "must carry" service on MMDS. Mr O Morain said "it would be imprudent to give such an undertaking". He suggested that "we undertake to examine the possibility of allocating further channels for MMDS should this situation arise". Mr Burke responded: "On the question of additional `must carry' channels, while I do not see such a requirement arising at this time, should it arise in the future I would seek to link it if at all possible with making additional channel capacity available to MMDS operators".

    On Point 6, the renewal of the 10-year licence period at an early stage, Mr Hayes sought that the licensee could, after three years, apply for the renewal of the licence. The Minister would undertake to renew the licence within three months of receiving the application. Mr O Morain said that such an undertaking "does not really make much sense to us". He suggested that the renewal of the 10-year period could be decided well in advance with an indication that it was unlikely that a licensee who performed in a satisfactory way would be changed.

    Mr Burke's letter allowed licensees to apply for a renewal of their 10-year licence three years after the MMDS systems were established. He would let the applicant know his decision three years before the expiry of the licence. "I should say that I do not see changes of franchise being made simply for the sake of change. Unless my Department has had cause to express grave dissatisfaction to an MMDS licensee, it will be safe to assume that agreements under regulation 7 will be given to existing licensees", he added.

    The examination of the three documents must be viewed also in the context that Mr Burke's letter of comfort to Mr Hayes was hand-marked: "Signed and Despatched from Minister's Office". This was initialled "BMD 4/2". Official sources have confirmed that "BMD" was Mr Bernard McDonagh, then secretary of the Department. It was his way, they say, of ensuring that the letter was a Ministerial decision, not a Departmental one. The sources claim that that coding has never, before or since, been appended to correspondence in the Department.

    Continuing developments, meanwhile, give testament to the significance of the written assurances sought and received by Mr Hayes from Mr Burke in the letter of comfort. Princes Holdings Ltd will rely on that letter to defend the exclusivity of their licences in their legal action against the State.


  • The Sunday Independent will make for interesting reading tomorrow.

    Related Link: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/101574

    Report of jailing Ray Burke 25 january 2005 - one page redacted for legal reasons
    Report of jailing Ray Burke 25 january 2005 - one page redacted for legal reasons

    Story of Ray Burke and money from Independent Newspapers associated company -  reported 30 May 1 June 1998 - see PDF dossier
    Story of Ray Burke and money from Independent Newspapers associated company - reported 30 May 1 June 1998 - see PDF dossier

    Ray Burke and Independent newspapers connection Irish Times 6 June 1998 - see text of article and PDF dossier
    Ray Burke and Independent newspapers connection Irish Times 6 June 1998 - see text of article and PDF dossier

    PDF Document Dossier of Ray Burke articles 1998-2011 - the news not so far updated in mainstream press - are they afraid - is RTE afraid - has RTE been cowed? 0.23 Mb


    author by Conor O'Brien - Former Editors Incpublication date Mon Mar 26, 2012 19:41author address author phone Report this post to the editors

    Sindo trying desperately to be in tune with public mood. Bertie Ahern's last hurrah - and what better place for him to have his say.

    Eoghan Harris, in his defence of Bertie, refers to 'republican-socialist activist Frank 'Colombia' Connolly' (thinking that mouthful an insult), whereas Jody Corcoran, in a somewhat confused piece, acknowledged Frank Connolly's role in exposing corruption. Well done Jody, keep it going, think for yourself.

    No mention of Ray Burke payment from Rennicks, but perhaps other media should bring that up. I'm sure Ray is still doing everything to protect his interests and reminding his former friends of their mutual interests.

    Very interesting info in PDF dossier, above.

    See contrasting Sunday Independent front pages 197, 2012 - what a difference nearly four decades make. Why was Joe McAnthony forced out of ireland in 1976 after exposes like the one against Ray Burke in 1974? CLICK on the Newspaper pages to see them better.

    Interview with Gilmartin son, RTE Radio One This Week yesterday - also wrote article below Irish Times today.

    The Irish Times - Monday, March 26, 2012

    'Ireland owes my father a debt of gratitude for doing what he has done'

    "Without my father, Ireland would never have found out about the corrupt activities of people like Frank Dunlop, nor the existence of a corruption ring at the heart of planning in Ireland."

    THOMAS PATRICK GILMARTIN

    OPINION: THE MAHON tribunal report has come as a nearly complete vindication of my father, Tom Gilmartin.

    Without my father, Ireland would never have found out about the corrupt activities of people like Frank Dunlop, nor the existence of a corruption ring at the heart of planning in Ireland.

    It is due to my father that the tribunal discovered that Bertie Ahern had huge amounts of money going through his accounts for which his explanations do not hold water.

    My father led the tribunal to perhaps its biggest success – it was he who, in early 1998, told the tribunal about his suspicion Dunlop was being used as a “bagman” for corrupt payments to politicians.

    He showed it accounts which included payments to a company called “Shefran Ltd” – whose very purpose was to hide the scale and purpose of the large round-figure, VAT-free, invoice-free payments being made to Dunlop.

    My father openly demanded, in front of witnesses, to know what the purpose of Shefran Ltd was, and he was not told precisely because it was known my father had complained vociferously about corruption several times.

    When the tribunal contacted my father in 1998, he immediately told it what he believed, but could never prove, had been going on.

    We now know that Dunlop, contrary to the dominant narrative, did not have a Pauline conversion to the truth in April 2000. He continued to cover for developers and senior politicians.

    My father’s allegation about what he was told about payments from Owen O’Callaghan to Ahern has also been found to be true.

    The report agrees that O’Callaghan did tell my father that he had paid Ahern, but it couldn’t, because of Ahern’s untruthful evidence, establish whether the payment took place – it could neither prove nor disprove it. My father was telling the truth all along.

    My father was brought to the attention of the tribunal by a Garda report in 1989 which included a number of allegations, now found to be true, that the Garda then dismissed without even interviewing several of the main witnesses.

    It was admitted at the tribunal that Liam Lawlor was probably not interviewed because he was a TD. My father received a phone call during the investigation from someone purporting to be a garda who told him to “f--k off back to England”.

    The tribunal found that the phone call did happen and that its purpose was to intimidate my father into keeping quiet. He was told in that call that he should not be making allegations against decent men (such as Liam Lawlor and George Redmond), that their names would emerge “unsullied”.

    The tribunal found that my father was indeed, contrary to the evidence given by a long line of former ministers (except Mary O’Rourke), at an informal meeting with Charles Haughey and other ministers at Leinster House in February 1989.

    It also agreed that he was subjected to a demand for £5 million immediately outside the room in which that meeting took place and threatened when he refused to pay.

    Here is a man who was honestly motivated (and this is mocked by some commentators – but he could have stayed and made money in England where he was already successful) by a desire to try and provide jobs in Ireland being threatened inside the national parliament for refusing to pay up.

    George Redmond, then assistant city and county manager, on the payroll of a rival company, was deliberately obstructing my father’s plans because my father had refused to pay him or Lawlor.

    The rival company was tipped off by Redmond about a land deal my father was completing so it could intervene and try to take the land off him. Meetings between my father’s team from England and Northern Ireland and the city’s road engineers were cancelled at the last minute by Redmond, without telling the city engineers.

    Then, when rearranged, the meetings were obstructed and made tense by Redmond. Lawlor turned up at another meeting between my father and potential investors to tell them that west Dublin was “mad dog country”, successfully ending any interest the investors had.

    It was against this background that my father gave £50,000 to Fianna Fáil, via the then minister for the environment, Pádraig Flynn. My father had complained to Dublin Corporation about the corruption he was encountering. He had complained to government ministers Pádraig Flynn and Bertie Ahern. He had complained to the Garda. Nothing was done.

    A number of politicians suggested his problems might stop if he made a donation to the party, that the party could then rein in Redmond and Lawlor. He had refused to do so several times but finally relented in desperation when he realised no one, not even the police force, would help.

    The tribunal established that Flynn took the money despite the money being clearly intended for Fianna Fáil. We know it was intended for Fianna Fáil because my father had told several people within months, including Ahern, that he had already made a donation to the party when it asked him for one.

    The tribunal also established that Flynn’s asking for and taking the money was corrupt, but did not find that the giving was corrupt. It recognised that it was only given to Fianna Fáil under duress.

    It was extreme duress. It has been wrongly (and sometimes deliberately) said or implied that it was a bribe on my father’s part. It was no such thing. It was blackmail by an utterly corrupt political establishment.

    The rezoning of Quarryvale, contrary to the dominant perception, was utterly necessary.

    The original town centre site at Neilstown was badly designed, badly located and poorly accessed. It was not a choice between Quarryvale and Neilstown, it was a choice between Quarryvale and nothing.

    What exists at Quarryvale today, however, bears absolutely no relation to what my father had planned. The local people have been completely overlooked. The enduring victims of the corruption that infested Ireland during that period are the people who have to live in places where they have been sidelined and left to rot.

    My father has been through a huge trauma. His period trying to do business in Ireland was despicable enough in the treatment he received at the hands of the officials, politicians and police of this country. He had no need to come to Ireland. He was already very successful in England, but he hoped to do something to help Ireland – he thought that he could create jobs to stop young people having to emigrate like he did at a time Ireland was on its knees economically.

    Then, when he came back to give evidence, he was not only disbelieved, he was put through a sustained and systematic process of vilification and ridicule by politicians up to and including the taoiseach and his cabinet, and also by prominent journalists and commentators.

    His evidence made possible the exposure of a litany of corruption that would never have been exposed otherwise. Ireland owes my father a debt of gratitude for doing what he has done. He is owed an apology by the State and by certain parts of the political and media establishment for what was done to him.

    Joe McAnthony exposes Ray Burke June 23 1974 - the Sunday Independent exposed crooked politicians  then (listen to McAnthony interview)
    Joe McAnthony exposes Ray Burke June 23 1974 - the Sunday Independent exposed crooked politicians then (listen to McAnthony interview)

    Sunday Independent March 25 2012 - late (Monday satirical) edition - today crooked politicians write for the paper
    Sunday Independent March 25 2012 - late (Monday satirical) edition - today crooked politicians write for the paper



    Interview with Tom Gilmartin's son (RTE Radio One 25 March 2012) - criticises newspaper and political attacks on his father
    audio Interview with Tom Gilmartin's son (RTE Radio One 25 March 2012) - criticises newspaper and political attacks on his father 1.63 Mb



    Interview with investigative journalist Joe McAnthony (RTE Radio One 25 March 2012) - exposed Ray Burke Sunday Independent 1974 - nothing done, apart from forcing McAnthony out of Ireland in 1976
    audio Interview with investigative journalist Joe McAnthony (RTE Radio One 25 March 2012) - exposed Ray Burke Sunday Independent 1974 - nothing done, apart from forcing McAnthony out of Ireland in 1976 0.8 Mb

    Related Link: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0326/1224313895423.html
    author by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite partypublication date Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:29author address author phone Report this post to the editors

    ..is a long time embedded.

    When I set up the Regressive Hypocrite Party back circa Spring '88(turbulent times, the calendars are ragged) I dropped the wo/manifesto all round RTE and assorted outlets trying to find a mic...

    To my surprise I then got a call from Liveline(herself was holding the window at that time) and a highly aggressive interrogation down the line...I told her to cool her porridge and ask one question at a time and I'd answer...which she then did.

    There was an EU(or EEC)election running and I was seeing could I make a few points, the main one being that the PD Thatcher/Reagonomix was NOT the solution to our problems and would prove disasterous, except for the already over-rich. The interview probably lasted a half hour, and I felt I got my points across.

    I think the program may have been weekly at the time, because I listened in the next week and she had a studio full of candidates...grand sez I, she'll play at least a bit of the recording...or maybe even call me to make a live comment..

    Dream on. Not a focal. The usual platitudes and hymnsheets.................amen. I concluded then she was an O'Malley admirer and had placed her bets on the PD nag. Subsequent listenings confirm she's one of the good ol gals.

    Biggest surprise?Couple of weeks later I get a cheque for £33 in the post...for the unbroadcast interview....that was money in the late '80s. Evidence of just how much loose brass sloshes around in those gilded echelons. And how tight the news management lid is held down.

    author by Harold Loudpublication date Sun Mar 25, 2012 18:48author address author phone Report this post to the editors

    Very good article on how the Sunday Business Post under Damien Kiberd and Frank Connolly broke the Gilmartin-Burke-Dunlop story - in today's Sunday Business Post.

    No mention of Frank Connolly's role in exposing corruption on Marian Finnucane RTE Radio One programme this morning. I wonder why. As someone with ties to the property sector Marian is possibly feeling terribly conflicted.

    author by C.O. Ruptpublication date Sun Mar 25, 2012 11:20author address author phone Report this post to the editors

    Confronting Power - Part 1- an Interview with Frank Connolly
    http://www.mediabite.org/article_Confronting-Power---Pa....html

    References to 'embarrassing' Sunday Independent.

    author by C.O. Ruptpublication date Sun Mar 25, 2012 10:58author address author phone Report this post to the editors

    Best account of Mahon Tribunal findings in Irish mail on Sunday - you won't get this in the Sunday Independent.

    Connolly was hounded out of the Centre for Public Inquiry by the last FF-PD government. Justice minister Michael McDowell was the trigger man. Ahern was the political beneficiary.

    Now, Connolly is vindicated, Ahern and friends in the dock. There is some justice after all.

    Download the Centre for Public Inquiry's report into the oil & gas sell off here:
    http://www.shelltosea.com/sites/default/files/images/04...t.pdf

    Frank Connolly, hounded by Ahern, Independent Newspapers - vindicated by Mahon Tribunal (Irish Mail on Sunday today 25th March 2012)
    Frank Connolly, hounded by Ahern, Independent Newspapers - vindicated by Mahon Tribunal (Irish Mail on Sunday today 25th March 2012)

    Ray Burke and Bertie Ahern together - from Centre for Public Inquiry Oil-Gas report PDF  (download link here)
    Ray Burke and Bertie Ahern together - from Centre for Public Inquiry Oil-Gas report PDF (download link here)

    author by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite partypublication date Sun Mar 25, 2012 10:30author address author phone Report this post to the editors

    ..is a fair hand at the welfare scam himself.

    His original fortune resulted from taking over the state food sector(co-op founded and tax-funded)Erin Foods and selling it into Heinz, who's ladder he topped while building his oil and media tentacles.

    he should know what he's on about.

    Current state of play? Ye ol Indomediots are attacking 'oligarch' Dinny Boy O'Brien as himself and Dermot Desmond inch their way into the empire of Citizen Anto.

    Anto being just a singular dynastic plutocrat.

    author by leftypublication date Sat Mar 24, 2012 23:50author address author phone Report this post to the editors

    So, after all the hoohah stops, will this crook Bertie Ahern who, along with fellow crook Ray Burke, was responsible for greatly weakening our oil and gas exploration licence terms and hence greatly improving "sir"TonyO'Reilly's balance sheet at providence resources (not to mention shell), still be getting over 100k per annum from the Irish taxpayer whom he totally shafted

    Indeed, will Ray Burke continue to get >89k per annum pension?

    This is an outrage!!

    O'reilly's rag are always going on about welfare cheats.
    Well I say we Cut off these two big time welfare cheats NOW

    author by Nod Slaverypublication date Sat Mar 24, 2012 22:14author address author phone Report this post to the editors

    According to the RTE 9pm News, Ahern is to contribute an exclusive article to the Sunday Independent tomorrow, announcing his resignation from Fianna Fail.

    As RTE reporter David McCullagh said, an appropriate place since the Sindo was Ahern's "main cheerleader".

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