North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?
US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty Anti-Empire >>
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
Fraud and mismanagement at University College Cork Thu Aug 28, 2025 18:30 | Calli Morganite UCC has paid huge sums to a criminal professor
This story is not for republication. I bear responsibility for the things I write. I have read the guidelines and understand that I must not write anything untrue, and I won't.
This is a public interest story about a complete failure of governance and management at UCC.
Deliberate Design Flaw In ChatGPT-5 Sun Aug 17, 2025 08:04 | Mind Agent Socratic Dialog Between ChatGPT-5 and Mind Agent Reveals Fatal and Deliberate 'Design by Construction' Flaw
This design flaw in ChatGPT-5's default epistemic mode subverts what the much touted ChatGPT-5 can do... so long as the flaw is not tickled, any usage should be fine---The epistemological question is: how would anyone in the public, includes you reading this (since no one is all knowing), in an unfamiliar domain know whether or not the flaw has been tickled when seeking information or understanding of a domain without prior knowledge of that domain???!
This analysis is a pretty unique and significant contribution to the space of empirical evaluation of LLMs that exist in AI public world... at least thus far, as far as I am aware! For what it's worth--as if anyone in the ChatGPT universe cares as they pile up on using the "PhD level scholar in your pocket".
According to GPT-5, and according to my tests, this flaw exists in all LLMs... What is revealing is the deduction GPT-5 made: Why ?design choice? starts looking like ?deliberate flaw?.
People are paying $200 a month to not just ChatGPT, but all major LLMs have similar Pro pricing! I bet they, like the normal user of free ChatGPT, stay in LLM's default mode where the flaw manifests itself. As it did in this evaluation.
AI Reach: Gemini Reasoning Question of God Sat Aug 02, 2025 20:00 | Mind Agent Evaluating Semantic Reasoning Capability of AI Chatbot on Ontologically Deep Abstract (bias neutral) Thought
I have been evaluating AI Chatbot agents for their epistemic limits over the past two months, and have tested all major AI Agents, ChatGPT, Grok, Claude, Perplexity, and DeepSeek, for their epistemic limits and their negative impact as information gate-keepers.... Today I decided to test for how AI could be the boon for humanity in other positive areas, such as in completely abstract realms, such as metaphysical thought. Meaning, I wanted to test the LLMs for Positives beyond what most researchers benchmark these for, or have expressed in the approx. 2500 Turing tests in Humanity?s Last Exam.. And I chose as my first candidate, Google DeepMind's Gemini as I had not evaluated it before on anything.
Israeli Human Rights Group B'Tselem finally Admits It is Genocide releasing Our Genocide report Fri Aug 01, 2025 23:54 | 1 of indy We have all known it for over 2 years that it is a genocide in Gaza
Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has finally admitted what everyone else outside Israel has known for two years is that the Israeli state is carrying out a genocide in Gaza
Western governments like the USA are complicit in it as they have been supplying the huge bombs and missiles used by Israel and dropped on innocent civilians in Gaza. One phone call from the USA regime could have ended it at any point. However many other countries are complicity with their tacit approval and neighboring Arab countries have been pretty spinless too in their support
With the release of this report titled: Our Genocide -there is a good chance this will make it okay for more people within Israel itself to speak out and do something about it despite the fact that many there are actually in support of the Gaza
China?s CITY WIDE CASH SEIZURES Begin ? ATMs Frozen, Digital Yuan FORCED Overnight Wed Jul 30, 2025 21:40 | 1 of indy This story is unverified but it is very instructive of what will happen when cash is removed
THIS STORY IS UNVERIFIED BUT PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO OR READ THE TRANSCRIPT AS IT GIVES AN VERY GOOD IDEA OF WHAT A CASHLESS SOCIETY WILL LOOK LIKE. And it ain't pretty
A single video report has come out of China claiming China's biggest cities are now cashless, not by choice, but by force. The report goes on to claim ATMs have gone dark, vaults are being emptied. And overnight (July 20 into 21), the digital yuan is the only currency allowed. The Saker >>
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Parse failure for http://humanrights.ie/feed/. Last Retry Friday October 03, 2025 21:51
|
Home About Join News & Analysis World News Theory & History Privacy Policy “Caviar culture”, John Delaney and the crisis in the FAI
national |
miscellaneous |
opinion/analysis
Sunday December 22, 2019 22:42 by sp - Socialist Party

This opinion/analysis piece written by Kieran Mahon Socialist Party is reproduced here because it presents a view on the FAI farce that the mainstream media are unlikely to present.
Former FAI CEO John Delaney recently claimed the FAI would be debt free by 2020. They may not even make it that far. On Monday December 17th the shambolic board turned up at Government buildings requesting an €18 million bailout after Deloitte- the FAI auditors declined to class the FAI as a “going concern” meaning its future viability is in severe doubt.In May this year FAI workers, represented by SIPTU, had raised concerns over the financial position and their future with Minister For Sport Shane Ross.
 Minister Ross’ newly found love for Irish football does not extend as far as his love for the Irish banking sector. The idea of using public funding to bail out the FAI would jar sharply with a watching public that has witnessed the excesses of the FAI and John Delaney. That, however, doesn’t mean the public don’t want to see the situation resolved and the future of Irish football secured.
Obscene extravagance
The “caviar culture” as Socialist Party member and Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger called it, is exemplified by Delaney’s €69,000 50th birthday bill, the €462,000 pay off, his claim for a €2.9 million settlement and the €40,000 six month company credit card bill. It’s a culture that has taken the FAI to the brink. With the organisation estimated to be €62 million in debt there’s a real question over whether €18 million would even cut it. The organisation- if it can be called an organisation- has already been cap in hand to UEFA for a reported €10 million. It is set to lose its sponsorship deal with Three in July 2020, a deal worth €16 million over the last 10 years. Qualification for the 2020 Euros will require a huge effort on the park from the Boys in Green if we are to make the finals which will be partly hosted in Dublin. The financial ramifications of not qualifying could be huge.
The FAI owes the banks €28 million and is under investigation by the Director of Corporate Enforcement after Sport Ireland handed over the KOSI Report (an independent audit of the FAI ) to the authorities. The report recommends that the FAI is not fit to receive public funding but full details of that report remain outside the public realm. Full transparency is needed on any content that relates to the financial situation in the FAI. The legal investigation reportedly centres around a sponsorship deal with Sports Direct worth €6.5 million. A clause in the deal gave Sports Direct a withdrawal option that enabled them to recoup their investment.
Financial gymnastics
The FAI took the €6.5 million up front and used it to reduce bank debts. Sports Direct then triggered the withdrawal clause and are now receiving €100,000 per month off the FAI. It’s just one example of the financial gymnastics the FAI engages in. Deloitte, auditing the FAI since 1997 without many alarm bells, were also the auditors for Ulster Bank as they racked up €18 billion in bad loans in the lead up to the bank bailout. In fact, workers in the FAI, and SIPTU who began to blow the whistle on FAI finances were ignored.
Governance issues still haunt the FAI. Top man Donal Conway is due to step down from the board in January 2020. Representatives of the Schoolboys Football Association of Ireland who handle over 1,000 clubs and about 100,000 players under 16 have either stepped down or declined their nomination to the board. Recent reports revealed their 5-year lease of a corporate box in The Aviva Stadium for €50,000. Presumably that would have been better spent on schoolboy clubs, and is not the kind of thing one arm of an organisation should have to pay to another arm of the same organisation. Any new independent directors or a new CEO have to be responsible to the wider football structures and not just be business appointees to appease Ross and the egotistical media battle between him and the current board..
The FAI owe €29 million on their share of the redeveloped Lansdowne Road. The Aviva as it’s known needs to be taken into public ownership and not flogged off to bail out the bad debts of the FAI or ultimately the banks.
The question now has shifted to what happens if the FAI goes bust or into administration? In the Dáil Committee on Sport on December 18 it was clear that Ross has no plan and doesn’t feel under any obligation to have a plan. He stated that if The FAI goes, then presumably the league goes too. It was a throw away comment that revealed the actual lack of engagement there has been on the future of football, of the league or the impact on the national side. It’s a modern reflection of the general disregard the state has always held for football on this island.
Underfunding Football
The historical campaign to ostracise football, based on the ideological development of the state and the promotion of cultural and political nationalism has come in many forms. The GAA banned its members from playing the game, the brutal repression of the game by catholic educators is common talk among a generation. These and the ban on the use of state funded GAA infrastructure for football have all contributed to a game that is severely lacking in facilities and democratic management. All publicly funded facilities should be opened up for use as required by football or other suitable sports. Still the advent of TV and mass communication, and football’s suitability to the urban and suburban environment and its international appeal saw it become hugely popular.
Separating the national team and the national league, from government funding has been posed as a way forward. Corporate taxation and marketing consultants BDO, who look after the tax affairs of the wealthy have been used to manage the measly €195,000 funding to women’s football. It’s unclear how long this will continue or what future role they may play in the women’s game. Ruth Coppinger TD challenged the idea of engaging a private company in this way. Remarkably BDO are being paid for their services by the FAI. But separation may prove more complicated due to UEFA licensing rules. The FAI hold many of the cards here. Clubs, and the national team will want guarantees regarding their participation in European football. They will need to engage with this directly and not rely on the government to resolve the issues.The state, who have benefited hugely from Irish football and its fans, needs to underwrite the future of Irish football into 2020 and allow the space needed to develop the new football structures..
Whether League of Ireland clubs see their future as linked to this FAI, or any other version of it, is an open question. The FAI, and the state have neglected the league in every way. Investment is minimal to say the least. Prize money is abysmal with this year’s league winners, Dundalk, collecting just €100,000. Despite the odds both Dundalk FC and Shamrock Rovers have broken new ground in European Football. Clubs may well decide that a better future lies in breaking with the national organisation and pursuing investment, tv rights and possibly an all- island league on their own terms.
But the situation facing football is not simply an organisational question. A real discussion is needed to ensure that the mistakes of clubs in the past are not repeated and that the league is built on a sustainable and democratic model rather than chasing short term gains that the market will inevitably take back just as quickly and with drastic repercussions. Ross, under pressure has committed to meeting the League of Ireland clubs. This can be an important stepping- stone if the clubs seize the nettle and look at the long term interests of developing not just their league but also the under- age structures.They should not be excluded from talks with UEFA.
What is needed- Democratise The Game
There is an urgent need for the stakeholders in Irish football to come together and discuss a real way forward that is not dictated by Ross, the rotten FAI Board or the banks. The need is to secure and strengthen the national leagues, ensure security for players and workers, develop youth football , and secure the necessary facilities. There should be full equality between men and women’s football in terms of funding and coverage. The input of football people like Brian Kerr would be positive and could provide the impetus to start that discussion. With fans at the heart of numerous clubs already, the combined experience and understanding of what Irish football needs exists in the game. It needs a forum.
A grassroots democratic movement could pressure the government to back football in Ireland and win the resources and organisation needed to develop the people’s game on a democratic and sustainable basis. Socialists have a role to play in fighting for state investment, community facilities and for a game that is not for sponsors, careerists, gambling and alcohol companies and profiteers but is developed instead for the physical, mental and cultural enrichment of working-class communities.
|