The persecution of Mick Wallace TD

national | anti-capitalism | opinion/analysis

Monday June 11, 2012 14:11

by Sean Marks - Socialist Party/CWI

Rightwing parties have rounded on Mick Wallace, a true friend of the working class.

When the story broke about Mick Wallace's minor difficulty with revenue , there was an immediate orgy of gleeful attcaks from the parties and politicians who are collectively responsible for the impoverishment of the Irish working class.

Mick Wallace's explanation is reasonable and measured. Yes he should have payed, and we can be sure he would have payed had things turned out differently. He did his best to keep his workers in employment, a minor accounting exercise becomes a crime of gigantic proportions in the eyes of the usual suspects the friends of Denis O'brien etc.

The Socialist Party TDs have correctly not called for his resignation. We need in the Dail as many fighters for the working class as possible. Mick Wallace has not been found wanting on this front.

When this blows over it will be instructive to see who stood where. Only the truly principled socialists will emerge with credit.

save preference

Comments (5 of 5)

forget mick wallace, I want to see seanie fitz behind bars not drinking in expensive hotel bars.

by poor person

Tue Jun 12, 2012 06:01

meanwhile as the media are keen to point out that mick wallace attended the soccer, none other than Seanie fitzpatrick also attended the soccer, but mick wallace wasn't staying in 550 euro per night accomodation with charlie haughey's buddys, unlike seanie fitz.
I guess some people still get to live the high life while the children of the people they bankrupted get to emigrate with little hope of a future in Ireland.
Maybe mick wallace should have paid his taxes, but if our government really believed that principle was really so important in regard to people's finances, seanie fitz would be doing a long stretch in prison instead of living it up all over the world in the finest hotels and golf courses.
Until the banksters are doing time, mick wallace should continue in his elected position.

my tupenny suspicion?

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party

Tue Jun 12, 2012 08:27

This one is being pumped by our Labour con(sic)rades, as a diversion from their class treachery.

Blow smoke and lie low...

Why is this guy such a hero of the "left"?

by Contrarian

Tue Jun 12, 2012 15:01

He has robbed €2million from the taxman, ie you and I, which he says we will never see again. He was also convicted for failing to pay over pension deductions for his workers.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/1206/1....html

He's a property developer and speculator, whose gambling debts have been offloaded onto all our collective shoulders. Normally, this might be expected to make him one of the most reviled species for those who self-describe as "left." But, no, our Mick has achieved a certain hero status. Puzzling. Seanie fitzpatrick must be wondering where he went wrong and what he needs to do to rehabilitate himself. He's making a good start with a newfound interest in the soccer rather than the rugby. All he has to do now is let his hair grow long and invest in a few pink shirts. Oh, and put up a few anti-American banners on any buildings he owns. http://www.indymedia.ie/article/38740
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/14830
How easy the "left" is fooled. Talk is cheap. Taxes and pension contributions cost money. In Mick's case, other people's money.

from Facebook some sanity

by Trotsky's underpants

Tue Jun 12, 2012 15:04

Saw this on facebook some sanity from the left at last.

"There is no justification for and no explanation/excuse for what
Wallace did.
He (1) took money from his employees as pension contributions and did not pay it into the pension fund (2) took money from people buying apartments in the form of VAT and did not pay it over to the Revenue Commissioners
That's wrong - there should and can be no equivocation about it.
In an Irish Times interview on Thursday he claimed 'I lived simply, I never went crazy, or flew around the place'. His definition of 'living simply' is a hell of a lot different to mine. 'Living simply' in Mick Wallace's book is to own at least 3 - 4 winebars, a vineyard in Italy, several apartments, a couple of construction companies and property management companies... as well as having an annual Dáil salary of €97,000 and claiming expenses of €50,000 last year.
Most of us will spend the next couple of weeks looking at the Ireland games in Euro 2012 in the local pub or at home. Very few of us have employers that will allow us to take off on full pay to go to Poland to attend the games - 'Living simply' in Mick Wallace's book meant that he had no shame in announcing on national radio while this scandal was unfolding around him that while he had no intention of paying back the money he had stolen (Collected under false pretences... any other description for it??) he was swanning off to Poland - does he take the people for fools.
Our Campaign is a campaign of ordinary people. Most of us have no idea what €2.1million even looks like - nor will we ever have unless we win the Lotto. But when the Revenue Commissioners decided to 'make a settlement' with him for that figure, they made a decision that because he is one of the capitalist class (he might be one of the nicer ones but that's what he is) different rules applied to him. Yesterday's Irish Times carried a short story about a father and his twin sons who had been charged at Dublin District Court with alleged social welfare fraud worth about €26,000. If they are found guilty, does anyone think they'll be able to make a 'settlement' which will involve writing it off??
Mick Wallace has no credibility left on issues of taxation justice - if he cares about the issue of the household tax, he will have the good grace to apologise to all the genuine activists and members of the campaign the length and breadth of the country and promise to never appear on a campaign platform again - lest he tarnish the image of the campaign."

the pink shirt distraction...

Tue Jun 12, 2012 17:47

whatever. As another poster pointed out, this issue is still just a distraction to the real issues at hand
(1) shady businessman dennis o'brien now controls newscorp, i.e. most of the influential media in Ireland
(2) the euro is heading for destruction as spain an italy need bailing out.
(3) our country is run by crooked idiots, and it's not just mick wallace
(4) Labour have completely fucked over the Irish people
(5) Activism is now a main target for our national police force

Upcoming Events

New Events

Other Press

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

The Saker

Public Inquiry

Voltaire Network

The persecution of Mick Wallace TD

Comments (5 of 5)