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The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

The Saker >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link News Round-Up Thu May 01, 2025 01:37 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Faux-Radicalism of Kneecap Wed Apr 30, 2025 19:00 | Andrew Doyle
Kneecap's vocal support for Hamas and call for fans to murder Tory MPs is obviously reprehensible. But it's just for show, says Andrew Doyle. The police shouldn't waste their time investigating rappers.
The post The Faux-Radicalism of Kneecap appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Green Party Continues to Persecute Me for My Belief That Men Can?t Become Women Wed Apr 30, 2025 17:00 | Shahrar Ali
Dr Shahrar Ali was the Green Party justice spokesman when he was removed over his gender critical views. He won an unlawful discrimination claim in 2024. But the party then ejected him! He's now taking it to court again.
The post The Green Party Continues to Persecute Me for My Belief That Men Can’t Become Women appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Royal Marine Says Standards are ?Being Lowered? for Female Trainees and He Was Treated Like a Terror... Wed Apr 30, 2025 15:00 | Will Jones
A Royal Marine has gone public with his concerns that standards are being lowered for female trainees, claiming lives could be at risk and that he was treated like a terrorist for raising his worries.
The post Royal Marine Says Standards are “Being Lowered” for Female Trainees and He Was Treated Like a Terrorist for Raising Concerns appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Met Officer Cleared of Murdering Gangster Chris Kaba Faces Sack for ?Gross Misconduct? Wed Apr 30, 2025 13:00 | Will Jones
Sgt Martyn Blake, the armed Metropolitan police officer who was cleared of murdering violent gangster Chris Kaba, now faces a gross misconduct disciplinary over the shooting and could be sacked.
The post Met Officer Cleared of Murdering Gangster Chris Kaba Faces Sack for “Gross Misconduct” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Broadband: Another Privatisation Mess

category national | sci-tech | press release author Friday October 19, 2018 22:10author by pbp - People Before Profit Report this post to the editors

Press Release - People Before Profit - 17th Oct 2018

Over half a million households in rural Ireland are missing out on broadband because of a disastrous privatisation policy.

Up to 1999, the telephone network was run by a state company, Telecom Eireann. But the Fianna Fail government decided to copy Margaret Thatcher and sell it off. Ever since then, disaster has piled on disaster.

Instead of providing long term investment to install broad band, a series of private owners simply asset stripped the company, which had been re-named Eircom.


By October 2010, for example, Ireland was ranked 29 out of 30 countries, ahead only of Mexico for broadband speed. Only a fifth of the population had access on that date.

Yet this disaster presented another opportunity for private companies to further blackmail the government.

Eir, which is the latest name for the company proposed, to charge €20 for every pole that the fibre optic cables would be hung on.

It was also allowed to cherry pick the easiest houses to connect and separate these out the more difficult ones.

The result as that only one private bidder, Enet, was left to negotiate a contract for the last half a million homes. It was actually backed by money from the state’s own Irish Infrastructure Fund which was set to take control of the company.

But suddenly Enet was downgraded to becoming only a supplier to a new consortium, Granahan McCourt. A Denis O Brien controlled company was then discovered to be part of the new consortium. They set about trying to squeeze even more money from the taxpayers for the contract.

Secret meetings between the former Minister for Communication, Denis Naughton, and the company’s chairperson, David McCourt, were all about getting these extra ‘incentives’.

Behind the whole sorry affair is a tale of greed for profit.

If the state retained control of its own telecommunications company, broadband would have been completed by now.

Yet again privatisation has proved a disaster.

We need a state owned company that completes the National Broadband plan in the interests of people – not profit

Related Link: http://www.pbp.ie/broadband-another-privatisation-mess/
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