Showing posts with label German. Show all posts
Showing posts with label German. Show all posts

Friday, 5 September 2014

IRISH RAMBLIN REBEL MAN





It's more than 16 years now, since I left Ireland, the last time. It was after the Bad Friday Agreement, trying to settle the ongoing war in British Occupied Ireland. Chatting with some republican friends of mine about Ireland, post agreement, we agreed that the Brits strategy, would likely be, to organize numerous Kitsonian counter gangs, all over Ireland, to create chaos and division and hence Brit MI5 and MI6 control over the population. I realized that such a place was no place for truth tellers or freedom. I had a few bob from a couple of insurance accident cases and decided phukit. Now many will say, for someone claiming to be an Irish Republican, this is not very patriotic, but I love life, particularly the joys of life, and in that sense I am quite selfish.


Now for all you career Irish revolutionaries, who carry the immortal bloodline of the rebel sons of the Gael, before you crucify me, you need to remember the bigger picture in Ireland at this time. It was the time of  the Rothshite Anglo Irish bank and Ireland's family silver being sold. It was the time of gobbledegook and Tony Blair, with his Irish players of spin. As  one senior Pentagon official recently put it recently “Money, we give them money.” “Foreign aid?” “No, we give the European political leaders bagfuls of money. They are for sale. We bought them. They report to us.” Where did Tony Blair’s $50 million fortune one year out of office come from?. Where did the private fortunes of so many Irish politicians, involved with Anglo Irish, Shannon Airport and the Bad Friday Agreement get their wealth?


Another important reason I left Ireland, is that in the event of what now appears to be a now likely nuclear event in Europe, whether it be micro nuclear war heads or what, I don't know, I believe Ireland will be a prime logistical nuclear target. Like Anglo Irish, the North,  the elite politicians sold out on the use of Shannon Airport, they made neutral Ireland, a primary nuclear target,  as is the case in British Occupied Ireland, for maritime reasons.

Britain's primary asset to the Pentagon and its own maritime strength are its numerous, Island bases dotted around the world, like Gibraltar, the Malvinas and Ireland, etc., guarding its anus along with Scotland. As in the second World War, the British have always relied on maritime power for both offensive and defensive purposes. This is why, they are clinging on for dear life in Ireland, and why their  history says, they will never respect a Yes vote for Scottish Independence. It rains a lot in Ireland and as  Bob Dylan sang "a hard rain's goin to fall," on both Shannon Airport and British Occupied Ireland. Not a place for someone who loves freedom and is greedy about the joys of life by any means. Perhaps I'll get around to tellin' you about the joys of Phukit, sooner rather than later.

Yet another reason for leaving, was that I had the agony and ecstasy of fathering, a beautiful daughter, who is ninth of my 10 children, by 5 mothers, who in this instance happened to be German. Her Grandfather soldiered with Rommel in the second World War or at least that is my excuse of why it didn't work out. Of course there are several sides to it, I was then 10 years a sober alcoholic and with the benefit of hindsight and now 27 years sobriety, I realize, like the old saying goes, the truth is rarely pure and never simple. I really wanted it to work, primarily for my daughter's sake but reluctantly, I now accept that perhaps it was better that way. Acceptance is easier said, than done though, but fortunately I had then, as I have now, the Big Spirit to help me. There were also other reasons why I left that I will perhaps explain again.















Tuesday, 12 August 2014

WORLD IN A STATE OF CHASSIS WITH DISINFORMATION



SpanishGermanDutchDanishFrench, translation- Note-Translation may take a moment to load.


“We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population.” - David Ben-Gurion, a.k.a. David GrĂ¼n (1886-1973), Israeli Prime Minister (1948-53, 1955-63) revered by Israelis as "Father of the Nation"

Note from Tom
Information Clearing House had been taken offline, I am happy to report that website is functioning again and all the files have been restored.
It will take me 12 to 20 hours to update the website with the latest news and information. I am grateful for your support and the many offers of help and assistance in dealing with this latest interruption of service.
Peace and Joy
Tom Feeley
"Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course." - William Shakespeare
August 11, 2014 - 1pm PST
===
Since the outset of the latest Gaza War Crime,
Irish Blog is also under attack, with it's Primary  Distribution on Facebook downed. It can now alternatively be found @ https://www.facebook.com/brian.clarke.90410834
Washington Opened The Gates Of Hell In Iraq: Now Come The Furies

By David Stockman 

The ISIS terrorists are winning against the hapless Iraqi military and even the formidable Kurdish peshmerga fighters—using some of the most lethal arms that the US military-industrial complex could concoct. 
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Why Airstrikes in Iraq Are a Mistake

By Peter Van Buren 


Airstrikes are a terrible start that begs a tragic finish. 
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A Redundant Presidential Ritual
U.S. “Humanitarian” Bombing of Iraq: 


By Glenn Greenwald

The U.S. military is not designed, and is not deployed, for “humanitarian” purposes?
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The West on the Wrong Path

By Gabor Steingart

The last successful major military action the US conducted was the Normandy landing. Everything else – Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan – was a clear failure.
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Putin Says World Must Remember Lessons of Past Wars 

By Press TV

Putin said the First World War is a reminder of what happens when unreasonable ambitions prevail over common sense. 
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Washington Threatens The World

By Paul Craig Roberts

Ask yourselves, when has Washington told you anything that was not a lie? 
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Was Putin Targeted for Mid-Air Assassination?

By Robert Parry

Some U.S. intelligence analysts think Putin, whose plane was flying nearby, may have been the target of Ukrainian hardliners who hit the wrong plane. 
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“The Israeli Dream”: The Criminal Roadmap Towards “Greater Israel”?

By Felicity Arbuthnot

Ethnic Cleansing Planned in the Middle East? History, Legality Ignored. 
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US Leaders Aid and Abet Israeli War Crimes, Genocide & Crimes against Humanity

By Marjorie Cohn

Both Israeli and US leaders must be criminally prosecuted for committing and aiding and abetting these crimes. 
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Why Israel Lost

By Paul Rogers

Support for the war inside Israel has remained strong throughout, but the country's reputation has suffered considerably across the world. 
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Zionism Must Go! 

Video

Miko Peled was born in Jerusalem in 1961. His grandfather, Avraham Katsnelson, signed Israel’s Declaration of Independence. His father, Mattityahu Peled, fought in the 1948 war, and served as a general in the war of 1967. 
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Afghanistan: 22 people killed in fresh wave of violence: 4 Afgahn soldiers killedAt least 4 afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and 18 anti-government armed militants were killed in fresh wave of violence across the country.
Four Civilians Killed in Attack on NATO Convoy in Kabul: Official: A suicide attacker targeting a NATO convoy in Kabul on Sunday killed four civilians and wounded at least seven others, officials said, the latest blast in the capital as politicians wrangle over disputed election results.
Afghan presidential candidates agree to accept election results:"We have agreed to work together for peace, security, stability and welfare of the people of Afghanistan," Abdullah said at the press conference held in the residence of Jan Kubis here in the Kabul city.
Pakistan: 6 killed as police and Qadri supporters clash: Four protesters and two policemen killed in clashes between police and supporters of anti-government cleric Tahirul Qadri.
Syria: 16 killed in Aleppo violence: At least 16 civilians were killed in violence in Syria’s second city of Aleppo yesterday, residents and a monitoring group said.
Iraq: 16 killed in US air strikes eastern Mosul: “The US air strikes against the Khazir area of eastern Mosul resulted in killing 15 ISIL terrorists and injuring seven of them.”
Limited US strikes not enough, says McCain:" US Senator John McCain (Republican of Arizona ) has said that the US president's "fundamental misunderstanding of the threat" posed by Islamic State was "deeply disturbing."
The U.S. Airstrikes in Northern Iraq Are All About OilAnalysis -What Obama left unsaid was the Kurds claim that if they were to become an independent state, they would have the ninth-largest oil reserves in the world. And oil wells are near Erbil.
US strikes could reach outside Baghdad: The United States would launch additional airstrikes against Islamic militants if they began to advance upon Baghdad, broadening the scope for additional military action in Iraq, the White House said Friday.
Why Obama's campaign in Iraq could require 15,000 troops: Military experts say tactical commanders will want more ground forces. Forward air controllers could provide more precise targeting information. U.S. advisers could support the Kurdish forces fighting the militants.
Rival fighters join ranks of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria: For counterterrorism analysts, the movements are a worrisome indication of the expanding appeal of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has overwhelmed military forces in the region
Why can’t Islamic State be stopped?: When the Islamic State moved against cities last week that were defended by the peshmerga, and the peshmerga retreated. On Thursday, the Islamic State captured at least four towns on the highway to Irbil and defeated peshmerga forces
US 'Extremely Concerned' About ISIS Takeover of Iraq's Most Dangerous Dam: A gargantuan, poorly-constructed dam in Iraq that, if breached, could launch a 65-foot-tall wall of water into one of the country's largest cities and send flood waters all the way to Baghdad.
14 soldiers killed in Yemen: Al-Qaeda gunmen have kidnapped and killed 14 Yemeni soldiers returning home from duty, local officials and residents say.
US Kills 3 People In Yemen : "The air raid was conducted by a US drone plane which targeted a house in the Maareb province, killing three people inside who are "suspected" to be members of al-Qaeda," a local official told the Reuters news agency.
Israeli attack on Gaza kills 5 people: : Five people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza, health officials there say, as Palestinian militants continue to fire rockets at Israel. In the West Bank 2 protesters have killed by Israeli occupation troops.
Gaza mosques fall to Israeli airstrikes, without any groundswell of outrage: A yellow bulldozer clawed through the rubble of Al Qassam mosque on Saturday, searching for the last body. The crowd looked on without emotion, as it had throughout a day during which two other corpses were unearthed.
DEC Gaza Crisis Appeal: Donate Now: Over 200,000 people have fled their homes - they urgently need food, water, shelter and medical care.
Tel Aviv anti-war rally held despite police order: Ignoring police orders to call off the large-scale protest due to the continuing rocket fire in the south, hundreds of left-wing activists gathered in Rabin Square on Saturday demanding an end to Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
The biggest ever UK demonstration for Gaza: Pictures-Videos - On Saturday 9 August, 150,000 marched from BBC Broadcasting House to Hyde Park, passing the US Embassy on the way.
Tens of thousands take to streets worldwide in support of Palestinians: People across the globe have gathered to support the plight of Gaza, with the most impressive turnout taking place in London
Foreign press: Hamas didn't censor us in Gaza: Of the 710 foreign journalists who crossed into Gaza during Operation Protective Edge, only a handful have claimed they were intimidated by Hamas or produced hitherto unpublished footage of rockets being fired from civilian areas

Wikileaks: Ban Ki-Moon Worked with Israel to Undermine UN Report: The General Secretary of United Nations (UN) Ban Ki-Moon collaborated in secret with Israel and the United States to weaken the effects of a Board of Inquiry's report accusing Israel of human rights violations in Gaza in Dec. 2008 – Jan. 2009.
Traumatized Gazan children arriving to Venezuela this weekend: Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua was in Egypt since Wednesday arranging assistance by the Venezuelan government to the Palestinian children.
Fifteen Ukrainian soldiers killed, 79 injured in east Ukraine fighting: The personnel killed, include seven army servicemen and eight border guards
Ukraine rebel leader: We are open to a cease-fire: Ukraine's rebels are surrounded and ready to agree to a cease-fire to prevent a "humanitarian catastrophe," the insurgents' new leader said Saturday as conditions deteriorated in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, artillery thundering through deserted streets.
US submarine located, ‘pushed out’ of border waters - Russian Navy’s General Staff: “The contact with the submarine lasted for about 27 minutes, and then the American submarine left the region
Russia, China agree on more trade currency swaps to bypass dollar: The Russian and Chinese central banks have agreed on a draft currency swap agreement, which will allow them to increase trade in domestic currencies and cut the dependence on the US dollar in bilateral payments.
South Sudan: Nearly 500 Children Killed and 900 Abducted in Jonglei - AU: An African Union child advocacy group said Friday that 490 children, including babies are killed in South Sudan's Jonglei state's capital, since the fighting began while 900 others were abducted.
Sixty militants killed in Egypt's Sinai: The Egyptian armed forces announced on Saturday that it has killed 60 militants in Sinai over the past 12 days, and arrested 102 others suspected of involvement in recent attacks, reported Al-Ahram's Arabic website.
Egypt court bans Muslim Brotherhood's political wing: The ruling will effectively prevent the banned Islamist movement from formally participating in parliamentary elections expected later this year.
Key Libyan military base under threat from Islamist group: A string of victories for militant Islamists Ansar al-Sharia in Libya’s east sparks fears that Benghazi’s air force base could be overrun
Australia: Abbott defends new anti-terrorism laws as Islamic groups warn of ‘witchhunt’: Tony Abbott says new laws are needed to stop Australian-born jihadists who ‘exultantly hold up severed heads’ of enemies
Gluttons of Information - The Metadata Confusion in Oz: Privacy rights, and correlative obligations to respect them, tend to be matters of nuisance to spy chiefs and figures behind the intelligence gathering apparatus
A warning on ‘torture report’ release: An internal U.S. intelligence memo warns that the release of a Senate report on CIA interrogation techniques could inflame anti-U.S. passions in the Mideast, resulting in potentially violent street protests and threats to U.S. embassies and personnel.
Bank Of America’s $17 Billion Mortgage Crisis Settlement Could Be A Total Bust: That record price tag is deceptive. The deal is unlikely to cost Bank of America anywhere close to that amount.


Juno and the Paycock concerns the Boyle family, who live in the Dublin tenements during the Irish Civil War. The father, "Captain" Jack Boyle (so called because of his status as a retired merchant seaman, his propensity for telling colourful stories of the sea, and his incessant wearing of his nautical-looking hat) claims to be unable to work because of pains in his legs, and spends all his money at the pub with his ne'er-do-well "butty", Joxer Daly. The mother, Juno, is the only member of the family working, as the daughter Mary is onstrike, and the son, Johnny, lost his arm in the War of Independence. Johnny betrayed Tancred, a neighbour and fellow comrade in the IRA, who was subsequently killed by Free State supporters; Johnny is afraid that he will be executed as punishment. A distant relative dies, and a solicitor, Mr Bentham, brings news that the family has come into an inheritance. The family buys goods on credit, and borrows money from neighbours with the intent of paying them back when the fortune arrives. They hold a party during Tancred's funeral procession, halting it only when Tancred's aged mother passes by their door.
In the third act tragedy befalls the Boyle family. Mr Bentham, who had been courting Mary, ceases all contact with the family, and it becomes apparent that no money will be forthcoming because Bentham (who drafted the will) failed to include the beneficiaries' names but referred to them only as "my first cousin" and "my second cousin"; numerous cousins are claiming the inheritance, which is rapidly being eaten up by legal costs. As the goods bought with the borrowed money are being taken back, Mr and Mrs Boyle learn that Mary is pregnant by Mr Bentham. "Captain" Boyle goes with Joxer to a pub to spend the last of his money and take his mind off of the situation. While he is gone, Mrs Boyle learns that her son, Johnny, has been killed by the Republican IRA. Mary and Juno leave to live with Juno's sister. Captain Boyle and Joxer return to the stage drunk, not knowing that Johnny is dead, or that his house will be empty when he gets home.
"I ofen looked up at the sky an' assed meself the question - what is the moon, what is the stars?" - 'Captain Boyle, Act I
"Th' whole worl's in a terrible state o' chassis" - Captain Boyle, Act III . The Final line of the show.
“Never tired o’ lookin’ for a rest" - Juno Boyle, Act I
"it's nearly time we had a little less respect for the dead, an' a little more regard for the living." - Juno Boyle, Act II
"Isn't all religions curious?-if they weren't you wouldn't get anyone to believe in them" -Captain Boyle, Act II
“It’ll have what’s far better- it’ll have two mothers" - Juno Boyle, Act III
"A darlin' (noun), a daarlin' (repeat noun)!" (Joxer's habitual exclamation throughout the play.)
"It doesn't matter what you say, ma - a principle's a principle." - Mary Boyle speaking about the strike

Friday, 1 November 2013

CONNING THE IRISH NARREN





Last week, the German newspaper ‘SĂ¼ddeutsche Zeitung’ published an article about the ‘conning’ of Ireland – over several decades – by its political masters. We talk to the writer, reprint the article and add some footnotes of our own
Christian Zaschke’s article in SĂ¼ddeutsche Zeitung last week, which claimed that
Ireland’s political elite had failed its people, not least over oil rights,

Original introduction: Chancellor Merkel has “contempt” for Ireland’s bankers. But they are just one part of an elite that exploits the island shamelessly


Anyone who wants to understand why Ireland could be so rich yet will probably remain poor should learn about Ray Burke. In Ireland, Ray Burke is almost as well known as James Joyce, Samuel Beckett or the U2 singer Bono who, in his sunglasses, always looks like a pudgy fly. People in Ireland don’t have positive thoughts about Ray Burke. After all, he sold their future.

Ireland has been trapped in a never-ending crisis since its gigantic property bubble burst. The banks, above all Anglo Irish Bank, worked ceaselessly to pump fresh money into the already overheated property market – which finally collapsed with the outbreak of the financial crisis of 2008.


The journalist and author Fintan O’Toole says: “The reaction here in Dublin is very interesting. Hearing directly [the bankers’]boundless contempt is shocking. And everyone knows: we are paying for what they left behind.”The ruined Anglo Irish Bank has just made headlines posthumously after the Irish Independent published transcripts of telephone calls from September 2008. On the tapes you can hear how high-ranking bankers make fun of the crisis. The €7 billion emergency assistance that they demanded from the government would be paid back when they have the money, the bankers agree jokingly – “in other words: never”. That money won’t be enough anyway, says one department head, as he pulled the €7 billion figure “out of my arse”.

In a now legendary all-night sitting on September 29th, 2008 the Irish government agreed to guarantee all bank debts. O’Toole calls this the “most disastrous decision that was ever made by an Irish government”. At least two generations of taxpayers will pay off these debts. O’Toole makes an excellent job of charting the Irish path to disaster in his book Ship of Fools, in which he calls the accounts of Anglo Irish Bank the “most inventive work of Irish fiction since Ulysses”.

The oil off the Irish coast could be the way out of this misery. The oil could be the hope. If the former energy minister Ray Burke hadn’t rewritten the relevant laws as though the oil industry itself held the pen. And if Bertie Ahern hadn’t made an already bad deal for the Irish people even worse.

Burke was energy minister in 1987, when it was decided to change the provisions for oil and grass drilling licence allocation. Until then the state owned 50 per cent of all oil and gas found in Irish waters. In addition, companies had to pay royalties of between 8 and 16 per cent as well as 50 per cent tax. (1, see notes below)

The new rule gave companies 100 per cent of their find and abolished licence fees. In 1992 Bertie Ahern, then finance minister and later prime minister from 1998 to 2008, cut the tax for oil companies to 25 per cent – a provision that remains to this day. (2)

Increasing numbers of Irish people no longer accept this. For instance, the fisherman Joey Murtagh. Standing on the edge of Dublin Bay, with a glorious view over the Irish Sea, he asks: “You know what Ray Burke did?”

Or the psychologist Aisling Murphy. She sits in Dalkey in a pub called The Queen’s, where chicken and tacos are today’s special. Murphy asks: “You know what Ray Burke brought on us?”

The financial adviser Eddie Hobbs has arranged to meet at the motorway restaurant Brown’s Barn, 15km south of Dublin. He asks: “You’re aware of Ray Burke?”

Burke was always surrounded by corruption allegations and went to prison in 2005 because of tax fraud.

The reason this political inheritance is causing such animated discussion now is because of huge oil and gas reserves believed to surround the island. The company Providenceestimates the volume of oil it discovered in the Barryroe field, south of Cork, at over 1.7 billion barrels, of which at least 270 million can be pumped. Further test drillings in Irish waters have been similarly promising.

At the moment a barrel of oil costs, depending on grade, between $90 and $100, meaning there could be oil worth many billions of euro in the Irish sea bed. (3) Even the oil companies concede that Ireland is surrounded by massive riches. But the Irish will probably gain none of this thanks to men like Ray Burke and Bertie Ahern.


Screwed over again
Murtagh says: “We are being screwed over again with every trick in the book.” Murphy: “We are a land that lies still while we are bled dry.” Hobbs: “The oil companies won’t succeed on this front. Not this time.” O’Toole: “Under the current conditions, it would be better if the resources stayed in the ground.”

But they aren’t staying there.

In April the American oil giant ExxonMobil began test drillings in the Dunquin Field southwest of Ireland. Off the west coast, Shell is extracting gas from the Corrib field, a source of often violent confrontations with residents for many years.

Two weeks ago the current energy minister Pat Rabbitte urged representatives of 70 companies to invest in gas and oil extraction in Ireland. He said: “It is a priority of the Government to encourage investment in oil and gas extraction off the Irish coast and to optimise the value of the discoveries for Ireland.”

Only the Government isn’t making much progress with the optimisation. In May 2012 an Oireachtas committee appointed by Minister Rabbitte presented a report. After examining the rules introduced by Burke and Ahern, they came to the conclusion that it would be better to leave everything as it is.

Oil companies could scarcely find better terms than in Ireland. In most oil- and gas-producing countries in the world the state taps on average 70 per cent of the profits. In Ireland there is just the 25 per cent tax, though this can rise to 40 per cent on particularly rich fields. But Irish rules allow companies to write off all costs for test drillings over 25 years, regardless of where they were carried out, meaning the Irish State ends up with considerably less than 25 per cent.





Opposition is building through Hobbs’s “Own Our Oil” campaign. It is preparing a report looking into how Ireland could profit from its resources, prepared by experts from Ireland and other oil-producing countries.

He points to Norway, where most of the profits from oil production go to the company Statoil – the majority of which is owned by the state. In this way Norway has become one of the richest countries on Earth. The study is to be presented at a major conference and then handed over to government.

“We’re making good headway,” says Hobbs, “and may be finished this year.”

Hobbs is well-known in Ireland thanks to his 2005 television programme Rip-Off Republic. He is viewed as a consumer champion and is known for his populist, biting attacks on the establishment. He became an enemy of the oil industry after the company Providence made a tactical error.

Last September Providence managed to acquire a licence for test drillings in Dublin Bay. How this was possible is puzzling as the bay is a natural conservation area. The platform was to have stood 10km from the coast and would have been visible from land. The residents of Dalkey were the first to mobilise against the plans. Dalkey is a well-heeled suburb of Dublin in which many celebrities and intellectuals live, resulting in the protest being mocked in many newspapers as a revolt of the rich.

But the well-organised protesters also got a hearing and Hobbs took note. He says: “These people were the first to open my eyes to what happens to the oil.” Murphy and Murtagh are some of these people.

Murtagh says: “We became engaged because this was to take place before our eyes. But then it became bigger.” Murtagh has gone to sea since 1972 and has first-hand experience of how Ireland sold its other big resource: fish. Irish fishing waters are regarded as the best in Europe.

On EU entry in 1973 the Irish negotiated a deal that appeared good, but only at first glance: allowing other EU states into their waters to fish in exchange for money for Irish farmers. Murtagh says: “14.2 per cent of European seas are Irish. But we are allowed have only 2.6 per cent of the fish.”

Murtagh’s thesis: Ireland has paid back twice in fish every euro of EU aid received. The Dutch, Spanish, French come with industrial ships and empty Irish waters while EU fisheries policy keeps him ashore. As he talks Murtagh, 57, has tears in his eyes. (4)

Murphy says that the protest in Dublin Bay has triggered something among her friends.

“You have to know that we Irish have no experience in confrontation. Here it’s usual not to make a fuss. On top of that is something that, in psychological terms, you call ‘acquired helplessness’. You find this, for example, among abused women. Ireland doesn’t defend itself. Ireland quietly puts up with it.”

But a new fighting spirit is palpable since the group in Dalkey formed, Murphy says.

“This is completely new, even for me,” she says. “I was raised that institutions are always right and that you don’t raise any objection.”


Great diplomats, terrible politicians
Hobbs says the Irish always tried to find a third way. “You never have good and evil here, right or wrong. What you always have is people who are somewhat good or a little bit right. Above all, we are good at compromise out of fear of insulting the other. That’s why we have produced great diplomats and terrible politicians.”

It’s the same in the oil affair: “The position is, don’t start a row with the oil industry. They should find something and then we’ll find a solution. But there are Irish people who know that now is the time to do something. The only question is: will it be done the easy way or the hard way?”

The fighting spirit of the group from Dalkey was given a lift when their protest had an effect. Last February Providence handed back the licence to drill in Dublin Bay. The official reason was that, though they met all environmental requirements, the Government made a mistake in implementing an EU directive on environmental protection. The unofficial speculation in Dalkey is that the firm was weary of the negative publicity.

After the oil finds off Cork in 2012, Providence, in particular its boss Tony O’Reilly jr, was more than happy to be in the public eye. He promised that all of Ireland would profit. But with growing numbers of Irish people asking why the country profits so little from the resources, it has become increasingly difficult to contact Providence.

Emails from the SĂ¼ddeutsche Zeitung from last November were answered with a question. Who else apart from Providence was the newspaper talking to, a spokeswoman asked, while keeping alive the hope of a meeting. Then no emails were answered for some time after they apparently landed in the spam folder. In February, a request for a meeting was declined as all managers were on the road, but the company would send materials. That never happened. A series of questions posed this week went unanswered.

That may have something to do with the fact that Providence boss O’Reilly jr is not used to critical questions. His father Tony O’Reilly is one of Ireland’s richest men and his company, Independent News & Media, owns more than 130 radio stations, 100 commercial websites and more than 200 newspapers worldwide – including more than 20 in Ireland. (5)

O’Reilly jr prefers to speak in safe surroundings. A week ago he told the oil industry website Rigzone that Ireland’s tax regulations were “appropriate for the current state of the industry”. Ireland doesn’t have enough money to search for oil itself and thus, O’Reilly said, needs investors from abroad – and attracts them with low tax rates.

In fact, Ireland has had good experience with low tax rates: a section of the Irish economy booms because of large international companies like Microsoft and Google, which have settled in Ireland because of the low corporate tax rate of 12.5 per cent. This sector is what the Irish Government points to when it says things are improving

But since 2008, Ireland’s domestic market has been in the cellar, with dramatic consequences. More than 300,000 Irish people have emigrated in the last four years, 40 per cent aged between 18 and 24. That would be the equivalent of 5.4 million people leaving Germany (population 82 million). The State has to make savings, meaning ever less money is available for education, which means there won’t be enough trained staff for international companies – the only economic sector that is working.

“In countries like Greece or Spain the youth go on the street and protest,” says O’Toole. “In Ireland, they emigrate. Now our young people are also leaving because they don’t want to pay back the debts of our bankers.”

The publication of the Anglo Irish Bank telephone calls has revived the outrage. In one extract a banker says: “The strategy is to pull [the government] in, so that they write a big cheque. If they realise the scale of this from the start, they might say it is too expensive for the taxpayer.”


It demonstrated to the Irish public like never before how they were conned ruthlessly by a shameless elite. Even Chancellor Merkel commented on the case. On Thursday evening she said: “I have nothing but contempt for that.”

O’Toole says: “The interesting question now is whether the fury will focus. Whether the people perhaps choose the issue of oil to say: that’s enough. If even Third World dictators can agree better deals with oil companies, why can’t we?” (6)

He answers his own question: “The Government always views itself in a weak position. All important financial decisions are being taken by the troika of the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund. The Government merely implements. That leads to a situation where they are psychologically incapable of acting independently.”

The fisherman Joey Murtagh, the psychologist Aisling Murphy, the financial adviser Eddie Hobbs and the author Fintan O’Toole want to make sure that, on this matter, the last word has not been spoken. That the Irish people no longer have to pay for institutional stupidity and greed.

“It is completely un-Irish what we’re doing here,” said Murphy, “but perhaps we are the start of something new.”

She laughs very cautiously when she says: “Seen that way, perhaps we’re a kind of avant garde.” – (Copyright: SĂ¼ddeutsche Zeitung. This is an edited version translated by Derek Scally)

Irish Times notes
1 These terms were laid down by the then minister, Justin Keating, in 1975, at a time when there was general optimism about the potential for major oil and gas finds in Irish waters. The first change to Keating’s tax system was made by Labour TĂ¡naiste and Energy minister Dick Spring in 1985-86, when he reduced State royalties and then abolished State participation in marginal fields.

2 A tax rate of 40 per cent applies to larger finds on licences granted after 2007.

3 The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has estimated a total potential in the order of 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent beneath the seabed off the west coast of Ireland alone. But it is not clear how much of this can be recovered at an economic cost.

4 The EU Common Fisheries Policy, which permits an estimated 88 per cent of stocks in Irish waters to be caught by other member states, dates from 1983 but the real pressure on Irish stocks came after Spanish accession. The factory ships in these waters tend to be Dutch, but Ireland did produce its own supertrawler for foreign waters, the former Killybegs-owned Atlantic Dawn.

5 INM is no longer controlled by the O’Reilly family. Its largest shareholder is now Denis O’Brien.

6 A 2007 report on oil and gas regimes by the US Government Accounting Office found that Ireland had the second lowest rate of government take of all the countries studied. Cameroon had the lowest.

Interview

Christian Zaschke

It began as a chance conversation during a visit to Ireland last autumn and ended as a full-page article about Ireland in Germany’s best-selling quality newspaper last Saturday. The headline: “Conned”.

Journalist Christian Zaschke, based in London for the SĂ¼ddeutsche Zeitung since 2011, is a regular visitor to Ireland. When he heard about Dalkey residents protesting against oil drilling in Dublin Bay he thought it would make a small article for the newspaper, with echoes of the 1983 film “Local Hero”, about a Scottish man who takes on an American oil baron.

“The more I talked to people, though, the more I realised it was part of something far bigger and more fundamental,” he says

His article filled the prestigious page three slot, reserved for the best reportage of the day. Mr Zaschke presents his readers with a red thread through modern Irish history, of a political elite taking the country for a ride, and a population lying down and taking it.

The Anglo tapes, and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “contempt” remark in Brussels, gave it a timely hook.

Mr Zaschke says he found the story of Ireland’s oil “deplorable”. If Norway managed to regulate its undersea oil reserves so that the entire land enjoys the profits, he wondered, why not Ireland?

“It made me wonder what the Irish people have to done to deserve this and whether a few people really could screw their people in that way?”

Despite the challenge of explaining the intricacies of Irish life to a distant German audience, their reaction suggests he managed to keep them on board to the end.

“The people who read the article in Germany are mostly outraged. They told me that people in Ireland have to do something,” he says.

What struck a chord with German readers, he said, is that it turned on its head certain stereotypes they may have about the Irish as rebels who challenge authority.

“I realised that the Irish rebel instinct isn’t as pronounced,” he said, “and that it is matched with a kind of lethargy, a certain fatalism as well as melancholy.”

He senses that these attitudes are shifting. “I had the impression from people I talked to that it was important for them that this story is told beyond Ireland,” he said, “perhaps so it might come back in from outside”.

DEREK SCALLY