Photos of Bilderbergers in need of Identification:

by dowtcha Mon May 26, 2003 20:16

sorry if it's a stupid question, but what's this Bilderberger thing about

by Ray McInerney Mon May 26, 2003 20:21

Bilderberg, which was founded in the 1950s by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, is said to steer international policy from behind closed doors.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3031717.stm

More information on the Bilderberg meetings at:

http://www.bilderberg.org

by Ray McInerney Mon May 26, 2003 20:33

Brian Cowen likes wearing the same tie as the person in photo 5

http://paris.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=3041

Here is Brian Northwest Hospice
http://www.iol.ie/nwhospice/group.htm

Here he is at 'Voices of Support'
http://www.voicesofsupport.net/new_idea/pictures/MFA_Brian_Cowen.jpg

And here he is on the Irish Echo
http://www.irishecho.com.au/html/archive/2001/vol14.3/story_pics/Story1.jpg

Coincidence of course...

by joe punter Mon May 26, 2003 21:28

haughey regularly gave garret fitzgerald a roasting in dail eirann about the bilderbergers, demanding to know who was there and what was discussed.

of course fiztgerald never said a word.

its all on the dail records (somewhere online)

also dont forget john ronson has a piece about trying to infiltrate them and being chased around portugal by blacked out cars.

http://www.schnews.org.uk/bilderberg/

http://www.bilderberg.org/2003.htm#participant

by hunter Mon May 26, 2003 23:39

wow! the paris indymedia banner is excellent!always good to see red flags a-flying.

also i saw that Jon Ronson thing, it was fuckin mental alright.

by Daithi Tue May 27, 2003 02:56

These are some extracts from the discussion of the Bilderberg Group in the Dail in the 1980s and 1990s, taken directly from the electronic version of the Dail debates, all text in brackets [] is my own.

****

[In May 1985 the Taoiseach – Garret Fitzgerald, Fine Gael – visited the US and Canada and held various meetings. It appears as if the media were making reference to him joining the Bilderberg meeting, and the first extract is a question being put on the Order of Business by the leader of the opposition – Haughey, Fianna Fail. Also of interest is the fact that in response to a written question in 1986 – vol 364 p 342 – the Taoiseach lists a four day visit for the "Bilderberg Conference" in Sweden in his foreign visits for the year 1984]

7 May 1985 [vol 358 p 190]:

Mr. Haughey: Will the Tánaiste say whether the Taoiseach is attending a meeting of what is known as the Bilderberg Group in New York State this weekend and, if so, in what capacity is the Taoiseach attending that meeting? Will the Tánaiste tell the House the date, venue and purpose of the meeting?

An Ceann Comhairle: That does not arise on the Order of Business.

Mr. Haughey: Surely it does.

An Ceann Comhairle: It does not arise on the Order of Business.

Mr. Haughey: The Taoiseach is in the United States of America.

An Ceann Comhairle: It does not arise on the Order of Business.

Mr. Haughey: It has been started in the newspapers that he intends to be present at a meeting of this organisation, an organisation which is closely connected with NATO. If the Taoiseach is proposing to attend such a meeting in his capacity as Taoiseach it is a matter of which this House should be aware. The Bilderberg conference will be in New York State this weekend and our Taoiseach is proposing to attend it. Will the Tánaiste confirm if that is so and what is the purpose of the meeting?

An Ceann Comhairle: I am sorry; I am ruling that that does not arise on the Order of Business. As a matter of fact, as far as I can recollect some time ago I ruled out a question that was submitted on this topic.

Mr. Haughey: I am always prepared to accept your ruling on these matters but did the Chair advert to the very serious aspects of this in ruling me out of order? Surely the movements of the Taoiseach when he is not in this House and is out of the country on official business is a matter of which the House should be informed.

An Ceann Comhairle: There may be another way of seeking that information, a way that would be in order. I do not know if that is so but certainly it is not in order at this time.

Mr. Haughey: Will the Chair, as the person in control of our affairs here, give me a suggestion of a way in which the House can be made aware of exactly what the Taoiseach is doing in the United States and, in particular, if he is attending this NATO-associated conference?

An Ceann Comhairle: I cannot. The Chair does not anticipate ways and means of doing things. The Chair rules as matters arise and is now ruling that this matter cannot be raised on the Order of Business. On assuming this Office I put on the record of the House what was in order and what would not be in order on the Order of Business and I am standing by that. In reaching that decision I was taking over a precedent established by my predecessors.

Mr. Haughey: I shall have to find some other way of raising this very important issue.

An Ceann Comhairle: If there is such a way I am sure the Deputy will find it.

Mr. Haughey: I should like to ask the Tánaiste something else. If it was a fact that the Taoiseach was attending a NATO-associated conference in New York this weekend would the Tánaiste approve of the Taoiseach doing so? Would the Taoiseach be present at the conference in his capacity as a member of the Government?

An Ceann Comhairle: That is a hypothetical question and it does not arise on the Order of Business. I have ruled that all this matter does not arise on the Order of Business.

Mr. Haughey: Will the Tánaiste tell the House if the Government are aware of what is happening?

An Ceann Comhairle: I am not allowing such questions.

Mr. Haughey: Under any circumstances?

An Ceann Comhairle: I am not allowing the matter to be raised in this way at this time. That is all I am saying.

Mr. Haughey: The Taoiseach might be bringing us into NATO. Will the Chair allow for that?

An Ceann Comhairle: The Deputy might find some other way of dealing with that but I am not allowing the matter to be raised on the Order of Business.

****

15 May 1985 [vol 358 p 1104 etc]:

[This is a statement by the Taoiseach on his visits to the US and Canada, the extracts are those dealing with Bilderberg and the responses by Haughey and De Rossa]

The Taoiseach: In relation to the Bilderberg Meeting which I attended on 10 and 11 May in New York, the idea that this meeting represents a sinister — or even a secret — plot to undermine the neutrality of non-members of the North-Atlantic Alliance or democracy in the West would come as a very big suprise indeed to the members of government of other neutral countries — such as former Premier Palme of Sweden and former Chancellor Kreisky of Austria——

Mr. Lenihan: All hasbeens.

The Taoiseach: ——and Ministers from these countries who have attended these meetings over the years — whose presence at them, is annually a matter of public record, available from the Bilderberg Conference Secretariat. Indeed several statesmen from neutral countries present at the meeting who had heard of the allegations being made in Ireland during my visit expressed frank and total incredulity that such suggestions could be given the slightest credence.

Deputies: Hear, hear.

Mr. E. Collins: We can only expect that from Fianna Fáil.

The Taoiseach: The purpose of establishing the Bilderberg Meetings, was in fact "to provide an opportunity for regular off-the-record discussions which would help create a better understanding of the complex forces and major trends affecting Western nations."
For my own part, I regard the meeting, my attendance at which was included in the programme for my North-American visit made available before my departure, as an extremely useful place at which to make contact with, or to renew contact with, influential people whose goodwill can be of considerable benefit to this country. For instance, at this year's meeting I had useful discussions with the new Secretary General of the OECD, with Ministers of such countries as Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, with all of whom we share many interests and aspirations, and with two members of the British Cabinet, the Secretary of State for Industry and Trade, Mr. Norman Tebbitt, and the Minister without Portfolia, Lord Young.

With regard to the agenda, while I missed the opening session on social and economic developments on both sides of the Atlantic, I attended a very informative session of the meeting on relations with developing countries. I contributed to this debate my own view that the debt problem of some of these countries, which is as much a problem for the lending as the borrowing countries, was being given undue attention there, at the expense of recognition of the desperate need for increased aid by the least-developed countries of south-east Asia and Africa. I also urged recognition of the scale of public support in many of the developed countries for aid, as exemplified not just by the official aid levels attained in Scandinavia and the Netherlands, but by the voluntary response in Ireland to the Ethiopian famine, which I pointed out was the equivalent to a sum of $1.5 billion in the United States.

I had the opportunity of listening also to informative discussions on the East-West problem, and on the US budget. I did not attend, nor was it ever my intention to attend — although Ministers from other neutral countries did so without any problem from their point of view — a session on NATO, which took place on the last day of the conference when I was on my way home via Halifax, Nova Scotia. There I had conferred upon me a Honorary Degree by the University of St. Mary's which since its foundation by an Irish priest has had close links with this country. I noted with interest that of the graduates on that occasion from several faculties between a quarter and one-fifth had Irish names.
Only the deepest of inferiority complexes could induce the kind of reactions that some persons have displayed to my attendance at this meeting, the participation in, and agenda of which are, incidentally, always available to the press, contrary to an impression that some people have sought to convey. I do not share this kind of paranoia and have no intention whatever of allowing it to inhibit me from furthering our national interests by maintaining and extending the range of international contacts, which during the past decade and more I have developed and from which this country has, I believe, benefited.

Deputies: Hear, hear.

The Taoiseach: If there are those who believe that I would ever, consciously or unconsciously, in either my official or my private capacity, take part in any forum where Ireland's interests can be threatened in any way, either in terms of our neutrality of or in respect of any of our other interests — if there are those who suffer from such a delusion, then they totally misunderstand all that I stand for in politics.

Deputies: Hear, hear.

[later on…]

Mr. Haughey: I am afraid that most of the Taoiseach's remarks in the United States followed the old negative condemnatory approach and he made no attempt whatever to offer genuine Irish-Americans who wish this country well any clearly defined legitimate constructive objectives. The Taoiseach also met the Cardinal-elect, Archbishop of New York, John O'Connor. The meeting was described in the press as one of mutual incomprehension. Many of us who have to listen to the Taoiseach from time to time do not at all doubt that, but surely that is an extraordinary and at the same time depressing development? What Irish leader before ever brought about such a negative outcome of such an important meeting?

The Taoiseach also used his visit to America to attend this secret Bilderberg Conference, a group about which many people have grave doubts. It does not matter how the Taoiseach comes in here to shout, bluster and use personal abuse, because we have grave doubts about this organisation and its conferences. I have always had the impression that the Taoiseach had strong views about secret societies; yet he belongs or has belonged to a number of very powerful international bodies and groups whose aims and objectives, methods of operation and meetings are definitely secret and none more than this Bilderberg group. How can the Taoiseach justify attending a Bilderberg meeting? If it is wrong for a Taoiseach, and I believe it is, or a Minister to be a member of the Free Masonic Order, the Knights of Columbanus or Opus Dei, why is it all right for him to be a member of an arguably far more powerful secular secret society like the Bilderberg Conference?

The Taoiseach: The attendance is made public after every meeting and for those reasons it is not secret.
(Interruptions.)

Mr. Haughey: We were first of all told, and the Taoiseach initially let it be known, that he was attending in a private capacity. Was he attending in a private capacity? That is the story that was fed out by the Department of Foreign Affairs and, I believe, by his own Department; but, of course, that is a totally untenable and unacceptable position. We all know that a Head of Government in office cannot attend anything of that nature in a private capacity.

The Taoiseach: All Prime Ministers who have attended that meeting have attended in a private capacity.

Mr. O'Kennedy: There were no other Prime Minister at that meeting. The Taoiseach was the only Prime Minister in attendance.

Mr. Barrett (Dún Laoghaire): The Deputy should let his boss do the talking.

Mr. Flynn: Deputy Barrett appears very upset today.
(Interruptions.)

Mr. Haughey: I am leaving Deputy Sheehan alone. He should not draw me out. One word from me and his irate constituents would throw him off the pier in Schull into the Atlantic Ocean, and he knows it. If some of us had any doubt about the nature of the Bilderberg Conference, what was going on and the Taoiseach's presence there I think the whole manner in which the Taoiseach approached that conference confirmed any doubts we might have had. First of all, the Taoiseach said "I am not aware of any connection with NATO". In view of all we know, all that has been published and his statement today, is he now prepared to withdraw that statement? Did he not know that this organisation was intimately connected with NATO, its operations and its policies?

The Taoiseach: It is not.

Mr. Haughey: Lest the Taoiseach thinks that these sort of things emanate from some massive inferiority complex on my part — I wish the Fine Gael Party would make up their mind as to whether I suffer from arrogance or an inferiority complex because I think they are mutually exclusive——

Mr. E. Collins: The Deputy is just suffering from paranoia. That is all.

Mr. Haughey: A very distinguished journalist from RTE addressed the following question to the Taoiseach: "When this first became a matter of controversy after Mr. Haughey's statement in Dublin, those of us who are covering your tour here asked you specifically about it and you did not tell us that NATO was on the agenda". The Taoiseach's reply was that he had not got the agenda with him. He has been attending Bilderberg Conferences off and on for ten years, since he was Minister for Foreign Affairs in

Mr. Lenihan: An old boy.

Mr. Haughey: ——but he later had to admit the truth when it was revealed that both NATO and military aspects of East-West negotiations were on this year's agenda. Is he asking us to believe that as Taoiseach and Head of a Government he was going to an important international conference without knowing what was on the agenda?

The Taoiseach: No, sir.

Mr. Haughey: One way or another the Taoiseach is culpable. If he did not know, he should have known; and it was gross irresponsibility for him to go to that type of conference, without knowing what would be done. If he did know what was on the agenda, he was telling a lie.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: The Deputy should withdraw the latter remark.

Mr. Haughey: The only rule of order is that one cannot accuse a Member of lying in the House.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: The statement is out of order and I would prefer if the Deputy withdrew it.

(Interruptions.)

Mr. Haughey: The Taoiseach had to admit the truth when it was revealed that NATO and military aspects of East-West negotiations were on this year's agenda. It is a matter of record that NATO has been regularly discussed at Bilderberg meetings since the fifties, when on occasions whole meetings were given over to it. In 1978, for instance, the topic was Western defence and its political implications. In 1977 the NATO Secretary General attended. The US National Security Adviser, the leading American arms negotiator all attended. When the facts emerged the Taoiseach claimed that he did not have the agenda with him. I should like to know if that is the truth, that the Taoiseach went off to America to go to this conference without having the agenda or not knowing what was on it?

The Taoiseach: As the Deputy has asked a question, I will answer it.

Mr. Haughey: I will not give way.

Mr. Flynn: The Taoiseach should sit down. He was asked questions earlier and he would not answer them.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: I should like to point out to the Taoiseach that the Deputy in possession is not prepared to give way.

Mr. R. Burke: The Taoiseach should take his medicine.
(Interruptions.)

The Taoiseach: The Deputy asked a question and I want to answer it.

Mr. Haughey: The Taoiseach refused to answer parliamentary questions and submit himself to question and answer when he could deal with these points. This is the procedure he opted for and he can now accept it.

The Taoiseach: The Deputy should not ask questions if he does not want any answers. The Deputy will not like the answers.

Mr. Haughey: The Taoiseach has tried to disguise reality by suggesting that there was heavy representation from neutral countries and even that Bilderberg is the best place to meet people from neutral countries. I challenge the Taoiseach to say what other serving Prime Minister or Foreign Minister of a neutral country was present this year. We did not get an answer to our parliamentary questions but I want to repeat them now. In his statement the Taoiseach has not given us any of the hard information for which we are looking. Is the Taoiseach prepared to place the agenda of this conference on the table of the House? Is the Taoiseach prepared to place the attendance lists of those who attended, their rank and the offices they hold? These things are of great importance to the Members of this House and we are entitled to this information? The Taoiseach went to that meeting as head of the Irish Government. This is a meeting which we know has certain connotations and which has a certain background. We are entitled to know the agenda, who was present and what was discussed and if any commitments were made by the Taoiseach on our behalf to that secret meeting. Our neutrality unlike the neutrality of other countries has been put under pressure in Europe not least by the lukewarm, equivocal and ambiguous attitude of this Taoiseach and his Minister for Defence among others of his party, particularly Deputy John Kelly who is no longer with us but who just came in to hurl a few insults and then in a proper professorial manner left us.
(Interruptions.)

Mr. Haughey: If Deputies opposite would consider this thing calmly and objectively they would agree with me that it is not appropriate for the Taoiseach to continue to attend secret meetings which have a heavy NATO presence and with NATO subjects figuring in a major way on the agenda. How can the Taoiseach credibly object to NATO matters being discussed for instance in the European Council when he voluntarily attends this type of meeting.

Another aspect is the entitlement of this House to know precisely what took place and to have all the important relevant documents laid on the table of this House. By that I intend to judge the Taoiseach. If the Taoiseach does that and we have an opportunity to consider the documentation, all of us, in fairness, will have to review our accusation of secrecy about the Bilderberg conference. If those documents are not placed on the table of the House and if we are not given this vital information we will have to form our own opinions and confirm ourselves in our worst suspicions.
Apart from the NATO aspects the purpose of bodies like the Bilderberg group and the tri-lateral commission is to foster an international élite and to promote the interests of huge multi-national corporations. I am absolutely certain that at that gathering with all those bankers and heads of huge multi-national corporations and others of that ilk, the position of the unemployed in my constituency of Coolock did not rate as a very high priority. It would have been far more appropriate if our Taoiseach were devoting himself in any international forum to this type of problem rather than these very dangerous subjects and discussions which take place at things like the Bilderberg Conference. I suspect that the Taoiseach remains a member of that organisation for some personal political reason. I understand that that type of organisation is prepared to support particular politicians in their objectives in their own countries. Will the Taoiseach say if anything like that was involved at this conference?

The Taoiseach: No.

[later on again …De Rossa was at this time in the Workers’ Party]

Prionsias De Rossa: The Taoiseach in his speech referred to the Bilderberg group in terms which would indicate that they were some kind of cosy social club or debating society in which occasionally great men of some stature come together for a cosy chat about the world, the weather and what have you, but anyone who has any knowledge of the way that the various institutions operate in our world today would not accept that explanation of what the Bilderberg group are. I must admit that I knew nothing about the group prior to a press report that the Taoiseach intended to attend this conference. Arising from that and from some information I received subsequently about the nature of this group I put a question to the Taoiseach before he left on his visit asking him to tell the House here what the Bilderberg group were and so forth. The reply I got was from the Ceann Comhairle, that the Taoiseach had no responsibility to the House for this matter. I assume that that was based on the view that the Taoiseach was attending this conference in a personal capacity. As Deputy Haughey has said, there is no circumstance that I can see in which a Taoiseach can separate his personal capacity from his public capacity or his public functions particularly when he is attending conferences abroad of the nature and stature of this group.

Mr. Lenihan: Hear, hear.

The Taoiseach: All other states over the years have done it. Chancellor Schmidt——

Proinsias De Rossa: Let me say to the Taoiseach that it would have been useful if we had got these answers when we put the questions at Question Time.

The Taoiseach: That is in my speech.

Proinsias De Rossa: If Chancellor Schmidt and others choose to do that in relation to their countries there is no reason whatsoever why we should do it also. There is no reason why we should compromise ourselves in the same way.

The Taoiseach: There is no reason why we should be the odd man out in the world, more neutral than Austria.

Proinsias De Rossa: The Taoiseach is treating this as if the only question involved was one of neutrality and whether this State would be a member of a military bloc, but there are greater implications in that the Bilderberg group as I understand it is involved with influencing the foreign policies of the countries which are represented on it.

The Taoiseach: Nonsense.

Proinsias De Rossa: I have here a fairly lengthy quotation——

The Taoiseach: As soon as the Deputy starts to read it I will get up.

Proinsias De Rossa: ——from The Irish Press——
(Interruptions.)

Mr. Power: The Taoiseach is the odd man out now when he will not listen. There is arrogance.

Mr. Lenihan: That is Bilderberg style.

Proinsias De Rossa: I have here a quotation from The Irish Press of Friday, 10 May 1985, which in turn quotes from a book called Trilateralism: The Trilateral Commission and Elite Planning for World Management, edited by a person called Holly Sklar and published in 1980 by the South End Press in Boston. This is the only source I have come across which indicates precisely what the Bilderberg group is all about. I quote:
In 1958 the whole meeting was given over to "the future of NATO defence" and in 1961 the question of leadership of the West was split into discussions of "NATO in the world, policy of the member countries" and "the role and control of nuclear weapons within NATO." "Problems arose over the creation of common nuclear policy for the alliance without a `European finger on the trigger." Page 174.
Here is a further quotation:
By the 1970s, Bilderbergers were regularly discussing trilateralism. But, while the Trilateral Commission emphasised economic matters, military/strategic discussions were commonplace at Bilderberg.
Such differences reflect changed historical conditions. Bilderberg originated as part of the thrust toward Western co-ordination in the midst of the Cold War. Anti-communism provided the ideological justification of joint military planning through NATO. Successive secretary generals of NATO have all been regular Bilderberg attendees. The Trilateral Commission emerged at a time when intracapitalist economic and north-south (industrialised West-Third World) problems were threatening to tear the system apart.

Bilderberg and the Trilateral Commission have somewhat different modes of operation. While both organisations have closed meetings Bilderberg is far more secretive in its activities.

Bilderberg does not publicly lobby for its views as an organisation in the way the Commission does. Page 176.
The Irish Press report continues:
The conspiratorial type of operations undertaken by the Bilderberg group are illustrated by the following quotations from the same book:
"The object is not to `draw the attention' of the greater population to Bilderberg activity. Bilderberg's existence is often denied, even by foreign ministry officials. Apart from planted newspaper articles, no Bilderberg publications are available to the public. The extent of media blackout is remarkable; insight into how this is achieved comes from a confidential memo of the steering group meeting in preparation of the 1984 conference at Williamsburg."

[It then transpires that the Taoiseach has at this stage left the Dail]

****

[And now we move to 1996 and a written question from Dermot Ahern - FF to the Taoiseach – John Bruton FG – respecting the Attorney General, Dermot Gleeson ]

12 March 1996 (vol 462 p 2105)

57. Mr. D. Ahern asked the Taoiseach whether he has approved the acceptance by the Attorney General of an invitation to a conference organised by the Bilderberg Group in 1995; whether the Attorney General attended; the cost, if any, to the Exchequer; the matters discussed at this conference; whether the Attorney General reported on this conference to either him or to any other Minister/Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5447/96]

The Taoiseach: In June 1995 with my prior permission the Attorney General attended a meeting, organised by the Bilderberg Conference in Switzerland. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss a number of current issues on international affairs. The Attorney General attended as an invited guest, not as a representative of the Government. Consequently, he did not discuss Government policy at the meeting. The only expense incurred by the Exchequer was travel expenses, which amounted to £772.50 I received a verbal report on the Attorney General's attendence at the meeting.

[And another written answer on 25 April 1996, this time by Dick Spring – Tanaiste, Labour – to Colm Hilliard (FF Meath, died last year)]

35. Mr. Hilliard asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the Bilderberg conference. [8277/96]

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring): I understand that the Bilderberg Group was formed in 1954, at the Hotel de Bilderberg in the Netherlands, to provide a forum for informal, off the record discussions on political, economic and military issues of mutual concern between politicians, scholars, businessmen and trade union leaders from Europe and North America. It organises an annual conference which takes place in a different country each year. In recent years the conference has taken place in Switzerland, Finland and Greece, and this year's conference will take place in Canada.

The Bilderberg Group has no formal structure or developed organisation and invitations to the annual conference are issued by the chairman, whom I understand is currently the former British Foreign Secretary and EU envoy to former Yugoslavia, Lord Carrington. The chairman is advised by a steering committee and an advisory group which is drawn from approximately 20 western countries, including representatives from countries that are members and countries that are non-members of military alliances. I understand that the meetings are off the record and informal.

Conferences such as Bilderberg no doubt provide the participants with useful opportunities to meet and discuss a range of current issues on an informal basis. Not having attended the conference myself, I am not in a position to comment further.

by daBoss Tue May 27, 2003 08:05

Certainly looks like our man....
http://paris.indymedia.org/IMG/jpg/doc-2343.jpg

by iosaf Tue May 27, 2003 10:22

who contribute to our pages, confirm that the deputies do indeed say "hear-hear", is that all they say? I used visit the Westminster Parliament on occasion to sit it the public gallery and remember that the deputies there would say such awful things to each other, yet two days later Hansard would reduce it to "hear-hear", which I took to be a sort of political shorthand for "if you heard it, you heard it, if you didn't it is on the QT and contained F, k and c, words, liberally spiced with invective and expletive".
-
are the Irish different?
on the same theme, I used wonder (the suggestion put by a Serbian friend) what did the MPs as the people in the Westminster Parliament are known as wore under the dark suits. She maintained that were the British public to see their parliamentarians in their underwear for only five minutes, the tradition of Parliamentary democracy with its "hear-hear" and "nay-say" would dissappear in a flurry of whalebone, lace and velcro clasps.
-
are the Irish different?

& ¿how many Irish Bilderbergers are there?

by Mr Ed Tue May 27, 2003 12:58

IT doesn't look like cowen to me.

by Mr Ed Tue May 27, 2003 12:58

IT doesn't look like cowen to me.

by barry Tue May 27, 2003 19:07

it looks vaguely like cowen to me, although the tie looks more promising.

can we be sure it not just m&s standard tie number 5 or sumsuch????

btw, thanks for that excerpt daithi, question I'd like answered now is "did cj take garrets place at the bilderberg table when he was chief?"

by Phuq Hedd Tue May 27, 2003 19:14

Agree with Barry, it looks possibly like him and the problem is that corporate issue clothing may not be enough to identify him.

It's a question of probabilities and coincidence: how many ugly, overweight and anti-democratic men are eligible to attend the Bilderberg meetings?

It seems highly possible that there would be at least one Irish govt. representative at this subversive meeting though.

by Raymond McInerney Tue May 27, 2003 19:35

As far as I can remember John Bruton attended at least one of the meeting in the past.

Brian Cowen is not on the 2003 participant list but maybe its not the final list of participant.

by caspian Tue May 27, 2003 20:02

Mary Robinson has been to the Bilderberg secret society. They managed to get her placed in some pretty high places! Tony Blair and Clinton were groomed by them.
I wonder if the Irish so-called elite have an equivalent of Harvards Blood and Bones club? Bush and most of his pals running America were members of this mysterious society.

by grease my palm Tue May 27, 2003 20:36

The bildeburg club, is just like any other private exclusive club for the international jet set very rich fat cat executives and statesmen and women. Like a very exclusive golf/country club for the elite crem de la creme of every global society. An updated uber capitalist version of the old boy network, modified to include high flying iron lady career women like Thatcher. A swinging international jet set social club for the rich and high society social climbers. The crowning glory of free masonry. Like any private exclusive club/free mason society it has its rules, wacky rituals and ceremonies as observed by Jon Ronson. These are private as also discovered by Jon Ronson. Apart from the wacky rituals, ceremonies and pledges, the bildeburg group is harmless in as far as rich people lettin off steam and letting their stuffy hair down is harmless, if they ever are. The very rich industrialists and global leaders all work very hard, it also follows that they then must play very hard when given the opportunity to do so, in the private fantasy environment created by bildeburg. If you remember the tv series fantasy island, rich fat balding uber capitalist industrialists, politicians, statesmen with their limited imagination thought 'yes, lets create a secret society retreat through which we get to live out our very own plastic version of fantasy island'. And so due to the very limited imagination of the very rich and powerful 'bildeburg' came into existence. Don't forget the 'very rich beyond your wildest dreams people', are above our all of our meagre pathetic human, moral and legal laws. These people are not subject to these laws, because of their wealth, influence and social status/connections. Bildeburg is a place and environment where the very rich can live life to the fullest and where they are not subject to ordinary everday human, moral and legal codes of practise. The very rich need a place to wind down, to let it all hang out and bildeburg offers them the opportunity to do this. There is nothing mysterious or new about free masonry or secret exclusive private clubs for the very rich.

by Phuq Hedd Tue May 27, 2003 20:52

It's pretty hard to get information about what was discussed, who was there etc. That's why indymedia.paris has someone taking photos and requesting identification.

It may not be new, but it's certainly secretive and mysterious.

by Daithi Tue May 27, 2003 22:23

Agreed, it's not a new thing - but I found it interesting that the discussion in the Dail in the 1980s is similar to what goes on today (and I'll leave aside the forked tongue of CJH!), but with the substitution of trade/economic affairs for neutrality/defence affairs - the anti-communists have turned into the globalisers, as is often said.

Note from the list linked to that Dermot Gleeson is still attending. Shame that he can't get the Government to pick up the tab any more.

I would add a word of warning on the bilderberg.org site and some of the other materials (Ronson had the same uneasy feeling) - a lot of it grapples with the question of whether the Illuminati or the Jews are behind Bilderberg. Ultimately it's not one particular group but the policies and the criticism has to be a left-wing one rather than a paranoid one :-)

by Gaillimhed Wed May 28, 2003 11:08

2003 Participant list
BILDERBERG MEETINGS
Versailles, France, 15-18th May 2003
CURRENT LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

B - Honorary Chairman - Davignon, Etienne - Vice-Chairman, Societe Generale de Belgique

GB - Honorary Secretary General - Taylor. J Martin - Chairman WH Smith PLC; International advisor, Goldman Sachs International

F - Adler, Alexandre - Editorial counsel, Le Figaro

I - Ambrosetti, Alfredo - Chairman Ambrosetti Group

TR - Babacan, Ali - Minister of Economic Affairs

GR - Bakoyannis, Dora - Mayor of Athens

GB - Balls, Edward - Chief Economic Advisor to the Treasury

P - Balsemão, Francisco Pinto - Professor of Communication Science, New University, Lisbon; Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.; Former Prime Minister

P - Barroso, José M. Durão - Prime Minister

TR - Bayar, Mehmet A. - Deputy Chairman of DYP (True Path Party)

A - Becker, Erich - Chairman of the Managing Board and CEO, VA Technologie AG

I - Bendetti, Rodolfo de - Managing Director CIR S.p.A.

I - Bernabè, Franco - Chairman Franco Bernabe & C. S.p.A.

F - Beytout, Nicolas - Editor-in-Chief, Les Echos

KW - Bishara, Ahmad E. - Secretary General of Kuwait's liberal National Democratic Party

CDN - Black, Conrad M. - Chairman, Telegraph Group Limited

INT - Bolkestein, Frits - Internal Markets Commissioner, European Commission

USA - Bolton, John R. - Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security

F - Bon, Michel - Honorary Chairman, France Telecom

F - Bruguière, Jean-Louis - First Vice President, Justice Department

D - Burda, Hubert - Publisher and CEO, Hubert Burda Media Holding GmbH & Co.

F - Camus, Phillipe - CEO, European Aeronautics Defence and Space company European Aeronautics Defence and Space company (EADS)

INT - Cary, Anthony J. - Head of Christopher Patten's cabinet, EU. [Patten is European Commissioner for Enlargement]

F - Castries, Henri de - Chairman of the Board, AXA

E - Cebrián, Juan Luis - CEO, PRISA

B - Claes, Willy - Minister of State [Willy Claes is not now a Belgian Minister but former Belgian Foreign Minister and former Secretary General of NATO 1994-1995 - now disgraced - TG]

GB - Clarke, Kenneth - Member of Parliament, [former Chancellor of the Exchequer]

USA - Collins, Timothy C. - Senior Managing Director and CEO, Ripplewood Holdings LLC

F - Collomb, Bertrand - Chairman and CEO, Lafarge

F - Copé, Jean-François - Secretary of State in charge of relations with Parliament; Government Spokesman

USA - Corzine, Jon S. - Senator (D, New Jersey)

S - Dahlbäck, Claes - Chairman, Investor AB

GR - David, George A. - Chairman of the Board, Coca-Cola H.B.C. S.A.

USA - Donilon, Thomas E. - Executive Vice President, Fannie Mae

I - Draghi, Mario - Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Goldman Sachs International

DK - Eldrup, Anders - CEO, Danish Oil and Gas Corporation

USA - Feldstein, Martin S. - President and CEO, National Bureau of Economic Research

CDN - Fell, Anthony S. - Chairman, RBC Dominion Securities Inc.

USA - Friedman, Thomas L. - Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times

F - Gergorin, Jean-Luis - Executive Vice President, Strategic Coordination, European Aeronautics Defence and Space company (EADS)

USA - Gigot, Paul A. - Editorial page editor, The Wall Street Journal

F - Giscard d'Estaing, Valéry - French President 1974-81; Chairman of the Convention on the Future of Europe

N - Gjedrem, Svein - Governor, Central Bank of Norway

IRL - Gleeson, Dermot - Chairman designate, Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c.

GB - Gould, Philip - Public Relations Adviser to Prime Minister Blair

USA - Haass, Richard N. - Director, Office of Policy Planning Staff, State Department

NL - Halberstadt, Victor - Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings

CDN - Harper, Stephen - Leader of the Opposition

USA - Hertog, Roger - Vice-Chairman, Alliance Capital Management

NL - Hoop Scheffer, Jaap G. de - Minister for Foreign Affairs

USA - Hubbard, Allan B. - President, E&A Industries

USA - Hubbard, R. Glenn - Russell L. Carson Professor of Economics and Finance, Columbia University

USA - Johnson, James A. - Vice Chairman, Perseus L.L.C.

USA - Jordan, Jr., Vernon E. - Senior Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co. L.L.C.

CH - Kielholz, Walter B. - Former Chairman of the Board, Credit Suisse; Executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Swiss Re

GB - King, Mervyn A. - Deputy Governor, Bank of England

USA - Kissinger, Henry A. - Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.; Member, Defense Policy Board; Member J.P. Morgan International Council

FIN - Kivinen, Olli - Senior Editor & Columnist, Helsingin Sanomat

NL - Kok, Wim - Former Prime Minister

D - Kopper, Hilmar - Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG

USA - Kravis, Henry R. - Founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

USA - Kravis, Marie-Joseé - Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Inc.

INT - Lamy, Pascal - Trade Commissioner, European Commission

F - Lellouche, Pierre - Vice Chairman, NATO Parliamentary Assembly

F - Lévy-Lang, André - Former Chairman, Paribas

S - Lindh, Anna - Minister for Foreign Affairs

FIN - Lipponen, Paavo - Former Prime Minister; Speaker of the Parliament

DK - Lykketoft, Mogens - Chairman, Social Democrat Party

CDN - MacMillan, Margaret O. - Provost, Trinity College, University of Toronto

RUS - Margelov, Mikhail V. - Chairman, Committee for Foreign Affairs, Council of Federation

F - Montbrial, Thierry de - President, French Institute of International Relations (IFRI)

INT - Monti, Mario - Competition Commissioner, European Commission

USA - Mundie, Craig J. - Chief Technical Officer, Advanced Strategies and Policy, Microsoft Corporation

N - Myklebust, Egil - Chairman, Norsk Hydro ASA

D - Naas, Matthias - Deputy Editor, Die Zeit

NL - Netherlands, H.M. the Queen of the [Queen Beatrix - Royal Dutch Shell]

PL - Olechowski, Andrzej - Leader, Civic Platform

FIN - Ollila, Jorma - Chairman of the Board and CEO, Nokia Corporation

INT - Padoa-Schioppa, Thomasso - Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank

I - Panara, Marco - Journalist, La Republica

I - Passera, Corrado - Managing Director, Banca IntesaBCI

USA - Perkovich, George - Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

USA - Perle, Richard N. - Member, Defense Policy Board ; Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) for Public Policy Research; member Project for a New American Century (PNAC)

B - Philippe, H.R.H. Prince - Crown Prince of Belgium

I - Poli, Roberto - Chairman, Eni S.p.A.

F - Ranque, Denis - Chairman and CEO, Thales Aerospace and Defence

DK - Rasmussen, Anders Fogh - Prime Minister

CDN - Reisman, Heather - President and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc.

F - Riboud, Franck - Chairman and CEO, Danone Foods

CH - Ringier, Michael - CEO, Ringier AG

USA - Rockefeller, David - Member, J.P. Morgan International Council

P - Rodrigues, Eduardo Ferro - Leader of the Socialist Party; Member of Parliament

E - Rodriguez Inciarte, Matias - Executive Vice Chairman, Banco Santander Central Hispano

F - Roy, Olivier - Senior Researcher, CNRS

USA - Ruggie, John - Director, Center for Business and Government, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

NL - Ruys, Anthony - Chairman of the Board, Heineken N.V.

TR - Sanberk, Özdem - Director, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation

I - Scaroni, Paolo - Managing Director, Enel S.p.A.

D - Schäuble, Wolfgang - Deputy Parliamentary Leader, CDU/CSU Group

D - Schily, Otto - Minister of the Interior

A - Scholten, Rudolf - Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG

D - Schrempp, Jurgen E - Chairman of the Board of Management, Daimler Chrysler AG

INT - Schwab, Klaus - President, World Economic Forum

DK - Seidenfaden, Toger - Editor in Chief, Politiken

RUS - Shevtsova, Lilia - Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

E - Spain, H.M. the Queen of [King Juan Carlos (see photo) arrived with the queen, but he is not on this list]

USA - Steinberg, James B. - Vice President and Director, Foreign Policy Studies Program, The Brookings Institution

CDN - Steyn, Mark - Journalist for various publications

IRL - Sutherland, Peter D. - Chairman and Managing Director, Goldman Sachs International; Chairman, BP Amoco

USA - Thornton, John L. - President and CEO, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

F - Trichet, Jean Claude - Governor, Banque de France

GR - Tsoukalis, Loukas - Professor, University of Athens; President Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy

A - Trumpel-Gugerell, Gertrude - Vice Governor, Central Bank of Austria

CH - Vasella, Daniel L. - Chairman and CEO, Novartis AG

NL - Veer, Jeroen van der - President, Royal Dutch Petroleum Company; Vice Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies

F - Villin, Philippe - Vice Chairman, Lehman Brothers Europe

NL - Vries, Klaas de - Member of Parliament (Labour); Former Minister of the Interior

FIN - Whalroos, Björn - President and CEO, Sampo plc.

S - Wallenberg, Jacob - Chairman of the Board, Skandinavivska Enskilda Banken

GB - Williams, Gareth - Leader of the House of Lords

GB - Wolf, Martin H. - Associate Editor/Economics Commentator, The Financial Times

USA/INT - Wolfensohn, James D. - President, The World Bank

USA - Wolfowitz, Paul - Deputy Secretary of Defense, US Department of Defense

USA - Zakaria, Fareed - Editor, Newsweek International

USA - Zoellick, Robert - Principal Trade Adviser to the President

D - Zumwinkel, Klaus - Chairman, Deutsche Post Worldnet AG

Rapporteurs

by Gaillimhed Wed May 28, 2003 11:20

oops, apologies for pasting the whole list - i missed the link to it above, and yes i only needed to post the link, not the whole list.. sorry.

by Dialectical Materialist Wed May 28, 2003 15:43

Do you honestly think that the Bilderburg group get together to plan capitalist domination of the world.

It is the bourgeois that are in power- not a small group of them! The capitalist domination of the world is due to one class ruling over another.

An understanding of dialectical materialism would be far better than spending time making up conspiracy theories.

You anarchoids should get off your student petty bourgeois arses, stop smoking the dope, complaining about 'trots', stop organising 'good busses' and get a fucking job!

by Dicklicking Materialist Wed May 28, 2003 16:40

Do you honestly think that the Bilderburg group get together to plan capitalist domination of the world. They obviously get together to talk about the weather and chess.

It is the bourgeois that are in power- not a small group of them! The capitalist domination of the world is due to one class ruling over another. And that class has no need to meet up to discuss how best to this,

An understanding of dienetic materialism would be far better than spending time making up conspiracy theories. Feel free to call into our cult on Abbey st to buy some expensive books on Dientics so we can educate you.

You anarchoids should get off your student petty bourgeois arses, stop smoking the dope, complaining about 'trots', stop organising 'good busses' and get a fucking job! Do I win a prize for getting the most tabloid style anti left cliches into a single sentence. This is the method of Marx so I should,

by Oli - imc-paris Wed Jun 04, 2003 00:31 nomade at no-log dot org

Hi everyone :)

I'm from indymedia paris, i have taken these pictures of Bilderbergers.

After reading what you say about it, I still cannot have a clear idea, even if he looks like the same for me.

Just to help, to compare people's faces, you can look at distance between the different parts of the face, this is very efficient :)

after a quick research on google, here is the best picture i've found to compare :

http://images.ireland.com/newspaper/front/0100/thumb/cowen.jpg

and my picture :

http://paris.indymedia.org/IMG/jpg/doc-2343.jpg

besides the different orientation of the face and the different age, I see the same distance between nose and mouth, mouth and wrinkle on the chin.. about the same shape of the nose, same wrinkles on the cheeks..
I would say that's him, but cannot be sure, and I need to be sure.
If anyone can help, thank you :)

See you