Parasitic Demagogues finally disband

Tonight Ireland is a happy country, as we celebrate the end of the PDs, a nasty little political party, which has imploded.
Good bye - I say - and good riddens!

After they lost six of their previously eight deputies in the 2007 general election, the Parasitic Demagogues (PDs), until then the junior partner in the government coalition led by Fianna Fáil, were demoted to infant partner. (Their previous position as the juniors was taken by the equally power-hungry Green Party.)

Among the 75% casualties were their then leader, the Tanaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell (left), as well as deputy leader Liz O'Donnell and party president Tom Parlin.
The latter, a Minister of State and a corrupt weasel of amazingly few morals, found quickly a new perk as the head of the construction industry federation. He feels quite at home there now, as no-one in Ireland knows corruption better than the builders and property developers.

But greedy and power-hungry as they were, the PDs still stayed in government, despite being almost wiped out by the electorate. If there ever was a case in Irish politics where the expressed will of the voters was completely ignored and contradicted, it was to keep the damaged remnants of the PDs in government last year.

With a grand total of two Senators (kindly appointed by Bertie) and two TDs, one of which - the infamous Mary Harney (right) - even retained her position as Minister for Health (with an annual budget of more than € 16 billion), the PDs became the living dead of Leinster House.

It took more than a year before they could not stand the stench or their own wrotten existence any longer. Today they finally decided to obey the will of the Irish voters and disbanded what was left of the party.

But it was not an easy death. In April they even went through the charade of electing a new leader, as if there was anything left to lead. A previously unknown Galway man named Ciaran Cannon - one of the two appointed Senators - was chosen as the sacrificial lamb, as even Mary Harney could see no future for the PDs and refused to lead them into any more disasters.

Now it's all over - thank God! This afternoon the last surviving members of the PDs meet for a wake in Mullingar and voted to finally disband their party. Ciaran Cannon will have to live with the dubious stain of having been their last 'leader', while no-one even mentions the pompous and self-important Michael McDowell any longer.

The party, founded by the former Fianna Fáil TD and minister Des O'Malley in 1985 as the Progressive Democrats, had originally offered a new alternative in Irish politics. But after the founder resigned in 1993 and turned the party over to Mary Harney, things began to go rapidly downhill. Under the 13 years of her leadership the PDs became the Parasitic Demagogues.
It is however ironic that the very man who urged Des O'Malley in 1985 to establish a new party would become its undertaker. This man was no other than Michael McDowell, in 1985 a young Fine Gael activist, and from 2006 to 2007 the hapless leader of the corrupted PDs.

Neither he nor Des O'Malley were in Mullingar for the party's funeral. These days they have better things to do.
However, the decommisioning process of the PDs is not quite complete yet. Though the party is now officially disbanded, they still have a hidden stash of power in the Cabinet, known as Mary Harney. She is now trying to masquerade as an 'independent', but no-one believes her anyway.

She sees herself as the first one-person party in Irish history and is determined to stay in power as long as it is possible. Only with her decommissioning the disbandment of the PDs will truly be finished, and I hope she will be decommissioned soon.

British Militarism is still alive in Belfast

First came two British soldiers, decked out in desert battle dress and leading a pair of large Irish Wolfhounds.
Behind them strutted the first contingent of soldiers from the (British) Irish Guards. Left right, left right, they marched with their chests puffed out pompously.

Next came the military band in their ‘Royal Irish’ green dress uniforms, blasting out the odious protestant hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers", the one Winston Churchill was so fond of.
That was of course an attempt to hide this display of naked militarism behind a religious fig leaf.

Not that it mattered, as the strains of the hymn were all but drowned out by bellicose screaming of hundreds of 'loyalists' who crammed into Belfast's Fisherwick Place. Their jeering was directed at the families of nationalists, gunned down by British forces.
These decent Irish people stood not more than 30 metres away, protesting against the British Army’s pompous march of triumphalism, which was in fact a march of shame.

This happened five days ago, on Sunday, November 2nd, in the centre of Belfast. It was the long advertised and hyped-up 'homecoming parade' for the (British) Irish Guards and the Royal Irish Regiment, who have bloodied their hands in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over all the excitement in the USA it was almost overlooked by most of the media.

If the actions of the PSNI, the British Army, the 'loyalist' mobs and the unionist politicians who were in Belfast city centre last weekend say anything, then it is to tell nationalists and all decent Irish people that the struggle for justice and equality has a long way to go.

Belfast is still an occupied city in the grip of a cruel and bellicose army. The only difference is that they now prefer to kill Iraqis and Afghans instead of Irish people.

Secret Cabinet Meeting in Co. Offaly

It has emerged that the Irish Cabinet had a secret meeting last night in a secluded place near Clara, the Taoiseach's home village in Co. Offaly.
When asked about it by journalists, the government's new unofficial spokesman Willie O'Dea refused to comment. But a reliable eyewitness reports that the meeting was held "in the spirit of the season", even though "some would have mistaken it for a gathering of the Ku Klux Klan".
Only Tanaiste Mary Coughlan (pictured right) refused to wear the traditional over-garment and appeared uncovered.
"I wouldn't wear a burka, so I'm not wearing this either," she was overheard saying to Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who eventually accepted her "eccentric attitude".
Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Martin commented that it was "not a beauty contest", adding that otherwise he would take his bedsheet off, too. But the Taoiseach was having none of it.
"You can do that in Cork, you tosser," he told Martin, "but not here in Clara. This is Offaly!"
Despite attempts to learn more about the nature of the meeting, no statement was issued and all participants have refused to comment.

Brian Cowen's Hallowe'en Address

While many Heads of State give a traditional address to their nation on Christmas Day, and many Prime Ministers speak to their people on New Year's Day (January 1st), Ireland's new Prime Minister, who is a fluent speaker of Irish (Us Gaelge), decided to create a tradition of his own.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen addressed the Irish nation today, on Samhain, the day that is traditionally the Celtic New Year's Day.

The address was broadcast live from Cowen's home in Clara, Co. Offaly, by RTÉ Radio 1 and Television. However, many people watching with a sense of anticipation were rather disappointed and said that they were not able to understand what the Taoiseach was saying. Well, that's not a new thing with Brian Cowen. It happens every week in the Dail, too.

Paul, the See-Saw Man

Paul Gogarty (39), Green Party TD
and his party's spokesman on Education,
also known as "See-Saw Man",

has (as we can see) two hands and (as we cannot see)
also two minds, and two opinions (which we can read).

Two weeks ago he was happy with the 2009 Budget.
Ten days ago he criticised cuts in the education budget.
One week ago he was "satisfied with the education budget".
This week he told a lobbyist by e-mail that the Green Party
"might eventually consider withdrawing from the coalition".
Today he is "fully behind the Minister for Education".

Great variety act, Paul. Have you tried any other circus,
or are you under exclusive contract to Dáil Éireann ?

The unacceptable Face of Irish Politics

Conor Lenihan (45), Fianna Fáil TD,
Minister of State for Integration
and wild-tempered Hooligan-in-Chief
in the disgraced government of Brian Cowen,

son of former Fianna Fáil TD and Tánaiste, the late Brian Lenihan,
grandson of former Fianna Fáil TD, the late Patrick Lenihan,
brother of Fianna Fáil TD and Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan Jr,
nephew of Fianna Fáil TD and former Minister Mary O'Rourke.

He is also a grand-nephew of former Irish customs officer,
smuggler, racketeer and spy, the late Joseph Lenihan,
who worked as a double agent for Nazi Germany and
for the British MI-5 during the Second World War.

Already known for his insensitivity in matters racial and ethnic,
he reached a new height of unacceptability today, when he called
Fine Gael TD Dr. Leo Varadkar "a Fascist" and gave the infamous
Nazi salute with his outstretched arm. And where did this happen?
In a smoke-filled back room of some seedy pub in the docklands?
No, right in Dáil Éireann, in front of 150 fellow TDs.

And - what happened to him afterwards? Absolutely nothing.
As a member of one of Ireland's political dynasties, he seems to
have carte blanche and gets away with any possible outrage.

This kind of intolerable behaviour will only stop when we end
the power of these corrupt and inbred Irish political families.

P.S. - Yesterday a tram driver in the Austrian capital Vienna
was immediately sacked from his job when it became known that
he had used the words "Sieg Heil!" (a verbal Nazi salute) over
the intercom system of his tram. Of course he was not a member
of the Lenihan family, and thus unprotected. In fact, he might be
prosecuted and could face 10 years imprisonment for his stunt.

See how they run...

Nearly 12,000 people with nothing better to do were running around Dublin today.

They call it the Dublin Marathon, and most of the runners taking part have not the slightest clue what the name means and where it comes from. They are just happy to run 26.2 miles and exhaust themselves once a year.

They have no idea that the first Marathon was run by only one man, a messenger, who ran from the battlefield at Marathon in Greece to the city of Athens to bring the news that their army had just won a huge victory against their arch enemy, the Persian Empire. And they also don't know that the runner collapsed and died shortly after delivering his message.

Maybe human beings are not meant to run 26.2 miles in one go.

But now it's a popular fashion and thousands do it every year, with no connection to the historic event, and no understanding what they are actually doing. The Jones' are running, so we have to run as well. What's the point?

Oh yes, I almost forgot, it's all "for charity". That's alright then, yes? We torture our bodies in a way it is not prepared for, so some more lazy gaffers will give us a few Euros for it...?

We must be totally mad. If people want to donate money to charity, they can do it any time and very easily, without thousands of sports freaks running around, blocking Dublin city for a whole morning and making a show of themselves.

And not enough with that, some really silly buggers are running the Marathon in stupid outfits or awkward costumes. Those idiots should really be rounded up and put into a lunatic asylum. Then they can run around all day wearing silly costumes, and no-one is bothered.

If you want to know why this country is in a crisis and running out of money as well as common sense, just look at events like the Dublin Marathon and you have your answer. We have become brainless lemmings, running blindly after something or someone who tells us it's fashionable. It may be a Marathon today, or a housing bubble tomorrow, and the need for more holidays or a new SUV next week. We no longer think for ourselves and just follow whatever is advertised as "the thing to do".

When the original runner from Marathon delivered his message in Athens, he collapsed and died. And when the lemmings reach the coast, they jump over the cliffs and die as well. What a great way to live our lives... I hope you enjoy the Bank Holiday.

Fianna Fáil is 10 Points down

Yes, it's true. According to the latest Red C opinion poll, published in the Sunday Business Post, Fianna Fáil have lost ten points in popularity since last month. And if Brian Cowen had any more fingers, they might have lost even more support, as he would certainly have put them into even more pies than he has so far. The larger government party is now left with only 26% of public support, the lowest level for them ever since - in 1926 - they came out of the political wilderness and decided to participate in the parliamentary process and in democratic elections. There must be a special meaning in the number 26. Meanwhile Fine Gael has risen to 33%, Labour to 15% and Sinn Fein to 10%.

If Cowen were not such a coward, he would call a new general election, and what fun would that be now...

Irish Billionaire is fined Pocket Money

Sean Quinn from Co. Fermanagh
is a self-made billionaire and currently Ireland's
richest man, with a personal fortune of about
€ 4 billion.

For irregular loans worth € 288 million between two of his
companies he has been fined by Ireland's Financial Regulator
the sum of € 3.25 million.
For a man like Sean that's really just pocket money, but
going by his reaction it seems that it still hurts his pride.

Three Cheers for the Old Folks !

Ireland is not (yet) a racist country, but we are the world champions in ageism.

More than half of our population is under 25, so once you get into the higher numbers, you are supposed to disappear and not spoil the show for the 'youth orchestra'.

Once you pass 40 they look at you with suspicion. What's he still doing here?

If you manage to hold on past the 50 line, the looks will become more annoying. Unbelievable - he's still about. Shouldn't he be well dead by now?

Anything after that is just a mixture of neglect, ignorance and hostility. Nobody takes any longer any notice of you once you pass 60, and at 65 they give you a free national travel pass and a free TV licence. That way they hope you'll either get lost on the buses up the country, or you may die of boredom in front of the dumb-box.

Seven years ago Fianna Fail was short of votes, so they decided to win over the 'grey power' by giving everyone over the age of 70 a free medical card.
The old folks liked that. They'd been ignored for decades, and now they felt that someone was in a sensible way looking after them.
But now the government wants to take these medical cards back, in order to save € 100 million a year. Apart from the fact that it's wrong to rob the elderly of their health care security, it's also a most idiotic political move. Only an imbecile of great incompetence and no political talent at all could come up with such an idea.

But the Irish are no fools, even though the government treats us like such. We are not playing ball with the little bully boy from Offaly and his piggy-bank carrier from Dublin!

Yesterday they tried to undo the damage with a 30-minute press conference that told us nothing but the fact that even the Taoiseach and some of his senior ministers have not a clue about this matter and how to get out of the hole they have dug for themselves and the country.

But then the people took over and completely sidelined the press conference at government buildings.

More than 5000 senior citizens, including quite a few sitting in wheelchairs or walking with Zimmerframes, crutches or sticks, assembled outside Leinster House and demonstrated against the government and the threat to their medical cards. On Monday 1800 elderly people had already voiced their anger at a meeting in Dublin, which was organised by 'Age Action', the 'trade union of the elderly'.

This is a level of activity the government never expected. And indeed such an amount of elderly people on a protest march was a novelty, never to be seen before in the Republic, or anywhere in Ireland.
The old folks did not just march, they also carried placards and shouted slogans. One of the large placards carried said: "Why don't you just shoot us? It would be cheaper!" And that sums up the general feeling of anger, fear, disappointment and distrust that the government has spread in the elderly population.

None of the senior government ministers had the guts to come out and face the demonstrators. Not only are they mean and cruel, they have also exposed themselves as spineless cowards.

Eventually a woman called Máire Hoctor was sent out. Nobody had ever heard of her before, but apparently she's one of four junior ministers in Mary Harney's Health Department, responsible for "older people". Not for old people, mind, but for "older people"... whatever that means.

But the angry pensioners were not in the mood to be lectured and patronised by a second class Fianna Fail apparatchik and told her to shut up. On Monday Hoctor's colleague John Maloney had a similar experience. He was sent to the meeting of 1800 eldery people in a Dublin church, but also was told to get lost when he tried to patronise the gathering. Selecting him as an official government representative to 'Age Action' Ireland was in fact an insult, as Maloney is junior minister for Mental Health and Disability, commonly known as 'minister for the mad and lame'.

The only mad people in this affair are the members of the government, which is a 'lame duck' administration without precedence in Ireland.

It needed the older people to come out and expose the government as the incompetent bunch of nitwits they are. Well done!

Let's have three cheers for the old folks!

They built this country, demonstrated against the Vietnam War and in support of the hunger strikes in the North, worked hard to survive and bring up children. They paid taxes all their lives and are the backbone of the state.
That they have shown once again with the meeting on Monday and the demonstration yesterday morning. Well done, indeed! I salute everyone who was there and showed great courage.

And well done also the 10,000 students who demonstrated two hours later in protest against the government and it's education policy. Next week there will be another march by angry teachers, and in the meantime the farmers have come out of the woodwork as well and contemplate a demonstration, too.

It's early days yet, but when the books will be written on our era, this day - October 22nd, 2008 - might be recognised as the first day of the second Irish Revolution.

The PD's last Reserve...

...is now being mobilised by Noel Grealish for the
final assault on universal health care in Ireland.
Mary Harney is watching from her dungeon.

Incompetence rules Ireland

We all are humans, and human beings make mistakes. That's normal.

Some of us make more mistakes, others less.

In the real world those who make more mistakes than they should pay the price for it.
They are demoted or even sacked, and then have plenty of time to ponder over their abilities and skills while signing on for the dole.

Only in Irish politics - and especially in Fianna Fail - those who make more mistakes than others are promoted. And the more mistakes they make, the higher up they get.

So we have an arrogant Taoiseach, who is nothing but a rude bully boy from the sticks who got into the Dail at the age of 24 and has not done a decent day's work since.

Mary Coughlan, the woman he chose as his Tanaiste, is Ireland's answer to Sarah Palin and the most clueless and useless politician one can imagine. Bad enough that she's a TD, even worse that she's been a minister for quite some time. But Tanaiste? That's a bad joke.

Looking through the Cabinet, there are not more than three or four people in it who are actually up to the extremely well paid ministerial job they are holding. The rest is a bunch of chancers and fools.

This morning Brian Cowen called a snap press conference "to explain changes to the rules about medical cards".
He appeared shortly before 10 o'clock at government buildings in Dublin, with Green Party leader John Gormley at his right, and Mary Harney at his left.

Never was there a more unholy trinity in Ireland than those three, trying to pull the wool over the people's eyes. But even though our politicians are fools, the people are not. So the attempt to shut the stable door after the horse had bolted was an utter failure, as you might have expected in the first place.

The current government is simply incompetent and not up to the job. They brought the budget forward to deal with the crisis, and by delivering a messy, over-bureaucratic and totally unfair budget, they created an even bigger crisis.
Now they want to talk their way out of that, and what do they do? They insult the intelligence of the majority of Irish people. And behind their backs they have at the same time the next plan ready to screw us ever more and more.

Can you still trust those clowns?

I can not, and in all fairness, I never did and have criticised the present regime for all the eleven years they have ruled us so far. I'm not in any party, and most of them are pretty useless anyway. But I'm Irish, proud of it, and take a very keen interest in the matters of my country.

The way I see it, the members of the current government are breaking their oaths of office they have to say when they are appointed by the President. They are supposed to serve Ireland and her people, defend the country and its interests, and perform their duties to the best of their abilities. On all three elements of the oath the current government is falling short.

At this stage I would not go as far as calling what they do treason, but it comes pretty close to that at times.

None of the three government parties are now led by the person who was party leader during the last general election in 2007. So the people the electorate voted for are no longer in charge, even though most of them are still in politics and in the Dail.

After all what happened in recent weeks and months, I think there is only one fair action for a government in such a deep shitehole: Call a general election! Let the people decide who they want to lead them through the crisis and out of it. Anything else is neither wise nor democratic.

Turning in their Graves...

"The leaders of 1916 must be turning in their graves
over the mess Fianna Fail has made of Ireland..."
Joe Behan, TD (from Co. Wicklow)
who resigned from Fianna Fail over the 2009 Budget

Failing Fianna Fail is heading for China

Taoiseach Brian Cowen was due to leave for China today, heading a large delegation of politicians and businessmen from Ireland.

But the crisis he and his Finance Minister Brian Lenihan caused with the 2009 Budget made him to stay home for another while. And at lunchtime he appeared on This Week, a Sunday current affairs programme on RTE Radio 1, trying to defend his policies and the budget.

He did a bad job, defending the indefensible, and demonstrated once again that he does not derseve the title Taoiseach, which is the Irish word for leader.

Meanwhile the delegation left for China without Cowen and is now headed by his Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe.

It is rumoured that the happy Corkman and former teacher will not only negotiate with the Chinese about trade issues, which is the main purpose of the trip. O'Keeffe may also explore if China is willing to give political asylum to leading Fianna Fail politicians in case they are losing power in Ireland, a possibility ever more likely now.

Shooting from the Lip

Willie O'Dea, TD, Ireland's Minister for Defence,
has now got a new job, defending the indefensible fiscal
atrocities inflicted on the Irish people by the 2009 Budget.
While Finance Minister Brian Lenihan is hiding behind a
'huge workload' in his department, Willie is sent out into the
media as new government spokesman, shooting from the lip
and thus adding insult to the injuries Fianna Fail is inflicting
on us. Often seen as the comedian in the Cabinet, Willie O'Dea
is anything but funny when he tries to tell us that we all have
to bear the extra taxes a wasteful and ignorant government
is settling us with now, ten years after they squandered all the
wealth of the 'Celtic Tiger'. We won't forget this, Willie!

President in waiting?

Remember Bertie Ahern?

It's been very quiet lately around the backbench TD from Drumcondra, Bass drinker, chancer, constant witness (at the Mahon Tribunal), happy father of a novelist and relaxed grandfather, since he resigned as Taoiseach and handed the office, as well as the leadership of Fianna Fail, over to Brian Cowen.

He is seen in Leinster House now and then - but not very often - and only attends sessions of the Dail occassionally. What else he is doing is a bit of a mystery.

Some say that he is writing his memoires. Well, given all the things he cannot remember in front of the tribunal, this might turn out to be a very small and short book...

But insiders have another piece of information, and that sounds really interesting and very, very alarming. Apparently Bertie is deliberately keeping a low profile to make us forget what he did during his years as Taoiseach, and - more important - what he failed to do while at the helm, such as preparing the state for a recession (that many analysts predicted correctly for years).

He is - they say - quietly preparing a come-back. Not at Leinster House though. There he has truly and thoroughly burned his ships for good. No, Bertie is aiming higher.
Since the chance to become the first permanent President of the EU was shattered by the Irish NO to the Lisbon Treaty, Bertie Ahern has now set his eyes on Phoenix Park. There is a lot of evidence that he wants to become the next President of Ireland, when President Mary McAleese (left) comes to the end of her second seven-year term in 2011 and cannot stand again.

Well, Bertie is obviously hoping that the Irish people have a very short memory, or even suffer from the same kind of partial amnesia he has claimed for himself so many times at the Mahon Tribunal. If his ploy works, we will become a real laughing stock around the world and could as well elect Micky Mouse as our next President. I think that the Irish nation deserves a lot better.

Ireland's new national Symbol

The Laughing Banana
(laughing all the way to the bank)
Ireland's new national symbol that will replace
the traditional Shamrock on 1 January 2009

Expensive Bananas

The European Commission has fined the banana importers Dole, Del Monte and Weichert a total of € 60.3 million for price fixing in violation of the EU's strict antitrust laws.

The infringement covered the period from January 2000 to January 2002.

California-based Dole was fined € 45.6 million, with Del Monte (USA) and Weichert (Germany, but now controlled by Irish banana giant Fyffe) jointly accountable for € 14.7 million of the fine.

I always knew that Ireland is really a banana republic...

Lenihan robs the Poor and spares the Rich

What do you expect from a lawyer?
- To be taken to the cleaners.

And what do you expect from a lawyer who is Minister for Finance?
- To be taken to the cleaners even more.

So today's Budget should not really surprise you.

We are in recession and the economy is shrinking, thanks to ten years of clueless government that was too busy with filling its own pockets and those of their millionaire cronies. They simply had no time to look after the people and the country, or prepare for the rainy days that inevitably come in Ireland after a period of sunshine.

But now that it not just rains, but pours, Brian Lenihan - a Dublin lawyer, TD and Minister for Finance - has to deliver the bad news to everybody, except Fianna Fail's millionaire cronies of course.
They are getting away with the loot from the 'Celtic Tiger' scot free, laughing all the way to the bank, if they can still find one that is trustworthy.

So, after the government, that was still swimming in extra billions only two years ago, has lost all credibility and squandered all the money, we - the people of Ireland - will have to pay for it.

Well, that's only fair, isn't it? After all, we elected the scoundrels, and kept electing them, since we were too blind, too drunk or both to see what was happening around us.

We all will pay more income tax, which is fine with me. In a crisis we all have to pull together and make a contribution. But what is not correct is that we all have to pay 1% extra, while those with an annual income over € 100,000 pay only 2% extra. They could easily afford 3% or even 5% as a contribution. Or Lenihan could have made a sliding scale: 1% for everyone; 2% for those with more than € 100,000; 3% for those over € 200,000; 4% for those with € 300,000 or more; and 5% for those over € 500,000.
But no, the rich and super-rich are still untouchable in Ireland, at least as long as Fianna Fail is in government.

Instead the over 70-year-olds will be robbed of their medical card, which Fianna Fail gave them seven years ago to buy the grey vote. This - so Lenihan says - will save € 100 million a year. It's a very bad joke. While we are bailing out the corrupt and incompetent banks with up to € 400 billion of state (= taxpayers' money) guarantee, we now have to scrap the barrel for an extra € 100 million from the old age pensioners.

This is not only scandalous, it is declaring war on the old and sick! Almost a kind of state-educed fiscal euthenasia.

There is a lot more, but I won't bore you with the details, as you can read them all in tomorrow's newspapers. As usual cigarettes, wine and petrol will get dearer, and the farmers and millionaires will keep their perks.

Thanks a lot, Brian! You had the chance to make a real mark with your first budget, and you had the opportunity to be seen as a man who cares and can handle money well. Sadly you missed the golden opportunity to unite the people and make the rich pay their share to the national recovery funds. You have not. Instead you prefare to run down the same lane all your shabby predecessors - from Haughey over Bertie to Biffo - have chosen: rob the poor, the old and the young, squeeze the hard-working middle classes, but leave your fat cat cronies in joy and luxury.

It might take another while, but after this budget - on top of all the other bad decisions Fianna Fail made over the past ten years - you will have your come-uppence in good time. Anyone who will still vote Fianna Fail in future deserves to be stripped and robbed of everything and left by the wayside. That's also the place where you will find yourself, after the Irish voters are finished with you and your ilk.

Keep your Geese - give us the Money

You don't normally hear much about Iceland. But today it was mentioned twice on the radio, and for totally different reasons. On the news there was an item about Icelandic banks, and later the BBC had a report about wild geese migrating from Iceland to Ireland for the winter.

There is the odd foreigner who mixes Iceland up with Ireland, but not often. Even though the spelling is identical bar one letter, most people know the difference.

For most Irish Iceland is a big lump of volcanic rocks, covered in snow and ice, somewhere up there in the North Atlantic, half-way to Santa's North Pole and close to oddly named Greenland. That's about it. We don't know much more about Iceland, and we don't really care.

By pure chance I happen to know that Icelanders have no surnames and descend directly from the Vikings. But as there are only about 300,000 of them, you would think there is no danger for Ireland. It's more than a thousand years that they came down raiding our monasteries the last time.

But danger these days comes from different threats, and often from unexpected areas. No longer is it the number of people one country can send to invade another that matters. These days it's all about money, the damned stuff that creeps into every element of life now.

I had no idea that there is a bank in Iceland that offers accounts on the internet to everyone willing to deposit his money with them. Now, call me old-fashioned, but I would never do that.
I've never had much time for the banks, even before they began stealing the country's future. But at least there are branch offices I can walk into, with people I can talk to if I am not happy.

An internet bank has none of this. All you have is a website and a code word, and you never have the slightest idea where your money is or what it is doing.
That sort of thing might appeal to some geeks and high-tech computer wizards, but it's definitely not for me. Could never trust a machine completely.

And going by today's news I am quite right with my suspicion. This Icelandic internet bank has just crashed quietly. Yes, websites - in contrast to buildings - make no noise when they collapse. And it appears that anyone who's put his money in there is now left in the lurch.
The government of Iceland has nationalised the banks, to prevent their country from going bankrupt, and foreigners and their deposits don't matter any longer. Well, Vikings were never shy to take other people's goods and money...

One of my students, a real IT geek who even eats in front of his computer, just asked me for 20 Euros to buy some food. He's probably lost all his savings, which he had put into the Icelandic online bank. I gave him fifty and told him to have more common sense in future.

Then I went home, had my tea and listened to the Nature programme on BBC Radio 4. They had a long report about the wild geese from Iceland now migrating to Britain and Ireland for the winter.

Normally I don't mind foreigners coming into our country, and as long as they behave in a decent way, they are quite welcome.
But tonight I have a little message for the Vikings in Iceland: Keep your geese, but give people back the money they deposited in good faith with your bank!