Doesn't This Just Sum It Up? Pictures of the IMF in Dublin

From the Guardian Live Irish Debt Crisis Blog

11.23am: We're getting the first pictures of the IMF officials who have flown to Dublin for bailout negotiations.

 
Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP  

Here you can see Ajai Chopra (on the left), the deputy director of the European department of the IMF, walking towards the Central Bank of Ireland where the talks are taking place. We can't immediately identify his colleague, I'm afraid, but once we have a name I"ll let you know. Unless you've got an idea?

The foreign financiers walk past an Irish beggar as they swoop in to clean up the mess Fianna Fail has made of this economy.

He's Chariman of the Zig and Zag Cumann, you know.

Just on the way into work there, and I was listening to Today FM's Ray D'arcy giving out about Fine Gael removing the pairing arrangement it has with the Government for this week, preventing the Tanaiste, and general wunderkind, Mary Coughlan from visiting the US with Enterprise Ireland. Essentially, the pairing arrangement means that if the opposition know in advance that a government deputy will be absent from the Dail  (perhaps for illness or official business) then the opposition will remove one of its deputies from the vote on a motion, rather sportingly ensuring the government does not suffer from having reduced numbers.

Such gentlemanly procedures were perhaps better suited to happier times; you know, when Ireland wasn't circling the bowl. But in today's world, the pairing system smacks of a silly rule that the insiders have developed which gets in the way of actually representing the people. I must applaud FG for having the cojones to stick it to the government like this (and yes, yes, I am a Blueshirt!). But even objectively, I think this is a good move.

So I am perplexed as to why so many Irish people seem to view any demand that the Government actually govern as being beyond the pale, as best illustrated by Mr. D'Arcy today. How incredible - the opposition won't cover for the second-in-command of the Irish government jetting off to New York St. Louis, Chicago and Boston, during the Dail's first week back in work (after 12 weeks holiday! What, Mary, was New York shut for the summer?). How dare those dirty Blueshirts expect that the Government should now get down to the actual work of trying to save the country - sure isn't that why Mary is going to New York, to wow the Yanks with her talk of the knowledge economy and green jobs? As Ray himself said, shouldn't the whole Dail be banding together to get the country out of this mess, maybe by creating some form of, as Ray put it, "All-Star team", with the best from each party working hand in hand to clean up the unfortunate and highly unexpected recession we are now in. With a Fianna Failer as Taoiseach, I bet, Ray? Maybe that nice Brian Lenihan!

We should never forget just how much faith so many of the main figures in our society have invested in the current administration - so many of our media commentators, so many socialites, so many big business figures, so many overpaid quangocrats. They are terrified that when Fianna Fail get the boot that we might actually get good governance, and the FF myth of the party of leadership will be exposed as the fraud it is. Sure, good governance -  Jesus, that's not very Irish, now is it?

The Blueshirt Conspiracy and the Death of Leadership

The Fianna Fail response to "Portergate" has been depressingly comic. Let's split that phrase apart: two central themes, depression and comedy. Let's start with the latter.

It is comic for Brian Cowen to suggest that Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney's tweet is "a new low" in Irish politics. Coveney may have been somewhat tactless in sending his thoughts out into the internet ether, when the general public had already begun commenting on Biffo's terrible performance; but was it a new low? Below ceding the State's responsibility for orphan's and mentally-disabled children to the Catholic Church? Below engaging in covert arms smuggling into Northern Ireland, and then pinning the blame on an Army Intelligence officer? Below even stoking the most over-inflated property bubble in, quite possibly, the history of mankind? Below using one's maiden speech in the Dail to demand that the Jews be routed out of the country? No, I don't think so.

It was comic for Dermot Ahern to claim Cowen was only "congested" on Damien Kiberd's Newstalk programme yesterday. It was comic for Mary Hanafin to claim Cowen was only "hoarse" on Prime Time last night. It was comic for Micheal Martin to claim this morning that Coveney's text had cause Ireland to lose serious face before the world. It is comic, in the extreme, for Fianna Fail to try to suggest that the whole incident is some sort of Blueshirt conspiracy to bring poor Brian down. Seriously, lads, you keep telling us the Blueshirts aren't organised enough for government: if they could pull off this sort of coup, they're organised enough to be the bad guys in the Da Vinci code!

Which leads me on to depression - I immediately sink into despondent gloom when I realise that the reason the FF crowd are spinning away merrily on this topic is because they are pathologically incapable of taking responsibility. If Biffo even showed the slightest hint of being prepared to take the blame, of actually putting his hand up and saying "you know what, I was out too late and gave a bad interview. I am sorry" you might actually confuse his refreshing honesty with something approaching leadership ability. But instead, they treat us like we are idiots - yes, Biffo was out till 3.30am, yes he was drinking, but no, when he woke up he wasn't hungover - he had a cold!

The inability to admit mistakes, the refusal to recognise failings, the belief that they can pull the wool over our eyes, these are the characteristics our government displays. And, if today they are trying to pretend it wasn't the Taoiseach's fault that he was hungover, for the last two years they have been spinning that they are not at fault for a rapidly collapsing economy. Even a modicum of leadership, of moral bravery, would go a long way now. Instead, we get this, from Frank Fahy TD ...

Biffo - Man of Action

The 17th of July 2010 - one week into the Dail summer recess, and the country is slowly drifting into disaster. The banking crisis is continuing to eat away at Ireland's credibility, Senator Ivor Callely is giving the fingers to the Irish public, and, in yet another small sign of how screwed Ireland truly is, Zurich Insurance announces it has set aside €256 million to meet potential losses arising from its commercial property loans in Britain and Ireland.

Where, you might wonder, were our dear leaders at this time, on this exact day? Was Biffo and the other superheroes in the League of Incompetency making the most of the break from the daily business of the legislature, using this space and time to draw up a world-beating plan of action to put Ireland back on the road to economic growth? Was Biffo on the phone to Sarko or Angela, begging for more money, "just a little more time, I swear Ireland is good for it, I swear!"? Was he, in a last roll of the dice to save Ireland's skin, invoking the Almighty with a whirlwind pilgrimage to Knock, Mecca, the Western Wall and Mount Kailash?

No.

He was opening a GP clinic in Belmullet, Co. Mayo.

FFS.

I have spent much time near Belmullet: my own family hails from near there, and I think much of the area, Erris. It is a beautiful destination, an ideal location for a relaxing break. But, much though I love it, Belmullet does not require a Head of Government to open its local GP Practice.

What's truly galling is that, at a time when the country was falling apart, Brian Cowen didn't even have the good grace to goof off and go on holidays. No, he took what he probably, laughably, believed was a "working holiday". He prioritised the needs of a single local area, no doubt to support a local FF candidate, over the demands of the nation. He thinks this is his job, to travel around the country, opening small businesses (which is what a GP practice is, remember), and shaking hands with the locals.

Mr.Cowen, that is not your job. Your job is running the country. Might I suggest you do it.

And if you have the time to open GP clinics, or off-licences, or pubs during your holidays, then you are obviously not working hard enough during the rest of the year.

The Politics of Failure Have Failed!

- as an alien in the Simpsons once claimed, while disguised as Bill Clinton. In Ireland today, the prophetic words of that "one-eyed space fellar" seem to have become reality. We have a governing party, Fianna Fail,who have (along with their twerpish coalition colleagues, the Greens) frankly handed the opposition an open goal by bringing unemployment to an all time high in real numbers, by bringing about the quickest contraction of the Irish economy in history, and by not seeing how obscene salaries and expenses for legislators could possibly rile the electorate.

However, it is the inability of the main opposition party, Fine Gael, to capitalise on this buffoonery by the incumbents which truly highlights the failure and stagnation of the Irish political system. Some might argue that FG will inevitably fail to tackle FF, simply because the two parties are so similar - centre-right, conservative off-shoots of the original independence movement. However, I disagree - voters in Ireland are by nature centre-right and conservative, so Fine Gael should be able to trade on the fact that they are at least an honest centre-right, conservative party. Their failure is, then, perplexing.

Perplexing, that is, until I heard Jimmy Deenihan, FG TD for Kerry North, on the radio, discussing the plight of Irish hoteliers in the current economic crisis. Basically, perfectly profitable hotels in Ireland are being undercut by "zombie hotels", businesses which have gone into receivership and are now run at below cost. This depreciates the cost of rooms across the hotel sector in Ireland, hitting the bottom line of hotels that should be still viable.

Leaving aside whether dirt-cheap hotel rooms are actually a bad thing for tourism, Mr. Deenihan proceeded to castigate the government for its failure to help the sector. He then called on the government to produce a "strategy" to help the hoteliers.

Ah yes, a strategy. Any hint of what that strategy might be, Jimmy? Any inkling of how we might reconcile the needs of the hotel sector with the requirement to ensure our banks are not undermined by excessive bad debt?

No? No ideas, FG? We're just going to demand the government produces a "strategy", are we? We're going to loudly call on the government to "do stuff"?

At this point, I would like to announce the launch of my own political career. My platform: I am in favour of good things (puppies, sweets, free money), and against bad things (war, taxes, pestilence, Sean Fitzpatrick).

This is not an attack on Mr. Deenihan, who I'm sure is probably a decent, honourable man. But FG as a whole need to learn that standing for something is part of being a political party, and an absolute necessity of being in government. We need ideas, folks, and not simply empty rhetoric.

But surely, this "yay!boo!" approach to politics is characteristic of an older generation of Blueshirts; the younger members must be a little more savvy, right?

Step forth Youn Fine Gael, who last week bravely stood against that most horrid of injustices: an FFer (Finance Minister Brian Lenihan) speaking at the annual Beal na mBlath commemoration of Michael Collins. The reason - FF policies are the exact opposite of everything Michael Collins stood for, while FG continues in the Big Fella's footsteps with its own policies. And those policies would be? Er...

Never mind the fact it is always bad press to attack a dude who has continued to serve in the cabinet (as one of its few able members) while battling cancer. FG needs to learn that if you want to criticise the policies espoused by others, well, fine...but you need clear concise policies of your own.

Now, vote Aitor to receive your free puppy in the mail!

P.S. For purposes of disclosure, I should probably reveal that I am an active member of a political party ...and that my blue shirts match the colour of my eyes.

They walk among us...

If you're Irish, you'll know what I'm talking about. You'll be out in the pub, or at work, or in college, and having a great laugh, talking about football or travel or whatever. Then talk will, inevitably, turn to the economy, and the usual grim tales of dole queues or emigration. And that's when one of your friends, someone you know and love (let's call him Jimmy, for arguments sake), someone who you thought you could trust with your life, will come out with one of the lines:

"Still, it has to be expected, what with the global situation."

Or

"Well, ever since Lehman's brothers, you know, the whole world has been suffering".

Or

"No one saw it coming".

Or

"We're all to blame"/ "No one person is to blame".

A chill shiver will run through you. My God! you'll think, He's one of them! Jimmy, noooo! You're a ...you're a...

Fianna Failer!

Yes, those little lies are always a dead give away: I mean, who really thinks we have 300,000 empty houses just because of Lehman's Brothers? Who honestly believes that we have 13.7% unemployed purely because of the global economic situation? Of course, when times were good, it was all down to the inspired leadership of El Berto and his gang; but now, it's as if the Irish government were only there for ceremonial purposes, and the real decisions are being made elsewhere. Well, thanks to FF, that vision of a powerless Ireland might soon come true (I've started practicing my German already: Ich mochte gerne ein kaise kuchen bitte)

This is not a tirade against Fianna Failers generally - listen, some of my best friends are Fianna Fail members. I even feel sorry for most FF members or supporters, who shuffle, embarassed, when you mention the economy, before they quickly change the subject. They're as much a victim as anyone; I mean after all, we all suffer from this mess, but they actually voted for it!

No, I'm terrified by the hardcore, the Fianna Failer with a capital FF. The ones who, even now, think that Biffo is the best choice for Taoiseach. I mean, seriously, 18% of us still think this dude is leadership material:
What was being smoked during that survey?

Such blind loyalty worries me, not simply because it suggests a stunning lack of imagination. It's also profoundly unpatriotic. Loving your country is like your love for your wife/husband/boyfried/girlfriend/ significant life partner/whatever. My wife, so she tells me, loves me, and I have a legal contract saying that this emotion is eternal and unending. She loves me despite the fact that I do little to no housework, and despite the fact that I sit on my ass in front of the telly/Playstation during most of my free time. Her love, unconditional though it allegedly is, doesn't mean that she doesn't want me to help clean a little, or get up and go for a quick jog round the block. She loves me that much, she wants me to improve myself - she knows what I am capable of.

And so the blind loyalty that leads a rump of FF supporters to put party ahead of nation is in direct opposition to what that party, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, is meant to stand for. FF should be the party that challenges Ireland, that looks our problems dead in the eye and says "We can beat this." FF should not be about cover-ups, it should not be about excuses - it should lead the rest of society in making the sacrifices needed for economic recovery, by cutting the wages of TDs and Senators, and culling the useless quangoes which are staffed by FF appointees.

Instead of slavishly covering for the gentleman above, perhaps we need to start looking for someone a bit more like:
Sean Lemass, one of the finest Taoisigh ever, and a man Fianna Failers (including my grandmother!) can be justly proud of.

The End is Night Part III: The Island of No Jobs

The Live Register jumped a staggering 6,600 in May, making a mockery of the government's claim that we have "turned a corner". Such optimism is at best dangerous, at worst treasonous, in the current economic climate. How can an Irish government be so irresponsible as to actually claim that our economy has bottomed out and will soon start the long haul back to some semblance of real growth when multi-nationals lik HP seem set to cut jobs here? How has our economy turned the corner when we still have more than 300,000 houses unoccupied in this country, 32,300 people in arrears on their mortgage (not including the 15 odd thousand who are paying only with government support), and the prospects of ECB rate rises in at least the next five to ten years? How can our economy be on the rebound when we are borrowing €500 million a week, and as the maestro David McWilliams notes, the global markets may soon cut off our supply of credit?

It is becoming increasingly clear that this government is simply kicking to touch, playing for time and hoping that they can avoid as many cuts as possible before the next General Election in 2012. They can then hand the entire mess over to Fine Gael and Labour, who will be blamed by an amnesiac electorate for having to take truly tough decisions, before Fianna Fail can swan into power again, surfing on a wave of pork-barrell promises.

I do not hate Fianna Fail, the Republican Party, the party of Sean Lemass, the party of the urban worker and the rural labourer. But I hate this government, deeply, totally, instinctively, as they have put the selfish interests of the newly-monied and propertied ahead of the common good. There is nothing more vile or harmful to a society, and especially to a Republic, then "socialism for the rich, and capitalism for the poor". Sadly, this has now become Ireland's official state ideology.