I've submitted this to a few papers, but I won't hold my breath. I hope you feel likewise, and are not shy about expressing it.
-------------------------------------------------------
I was already angry at the government borrowing money to prop up the loan books and liquidity of reckless banks. I read with disgust that in September, on top of all the other burdens, 55 Billion Euros had to be found to pay bank bondholders in the banks for bonds that had matured. The banks didn't have it, nor did the Dept of Finance have it lying around (despite all the lying around the department).
I phoned, and e-mailed the Dept. of Finance, Central Bank and Brian Lenihan's office asking how this 55 BILLION was paid off.
I got some amount of waffle, and no answer. I can only assume we've borrowed it, and then given it to the banks to pay their bondholders.
This is equivalent to being forced to remortgage your house in order to pay people who are owed money by the local bookie. And it works out at over 12,000 per man, woman and child in the country, and that's before interest.
None of us would agree to it, no matter what type of waffle was presented. Yet as a national policy, talking heads try to defend it on the airwaves, and this nonsense is given some credence.
I also asked how much MORE of this bank debt is still outstanding, when it is due, and what rate of interest is being paid on the bonds.
You can image I was not buried with responses, despite the fact that as a taxpayer, I am expected to pay for this.
To those of us who have been side-tracked into arguing over the crumbs, (cutting of the minimum wage, or whether pensioners or the unemployed should be screwed, rather than students) I say, you are missing the big picture. The longer this government is in power, the more it drags us into debt to pay off banking speculators.
Like most people in this country who are not TDs, tax exiles or speculators, I work hard to provide for my family. I pay taxes because I like the idea of schools, hospitals, and a transport system, and a safety net for those who lose their jobs, or health. The rest is for rent, food, clothes, etc and a small bit for the kid's piggy bank on the window.
Nowhere in our family budget is there a provision to support bank and property speculators, and somehow hope our children won't be educated in prefabs, worry about being on hospital trolleys, paying for drinking water, or having to emigrate because the economy goes down the tubes.
My children are my responsibility, my duty is to them. Bank speculators can whistle at the wind for all I care.
I suspect most of your readers feel likewise, and if so, I would encourage us all to resist this scam, by strike, boycott or whatever peaceful means are at our disposal, until we are rid of gombeens and
vultures, and can get on with out lives, more vigilant than before of the dangers of trusting the 'experts', rather than common sense.
Is mise,
Tim Hourigan
Limerick
Sunday, December 5, 2010
P45 Vox Pop. Munster Fans say why Govt should be kicked to touch.
Yesterday, as fans poured into Thomond Park to watch Munster v Cardiff, I brought along a camera to do a quick Vox Pop of the fans, asking one simple question:
"Why should the Irish Government be kicked to touch?"
Some of the answers are not fit for print, and some shy people turned out to be civil servants not wishing to appear on camera, but here's the 'PG' version of the answers (with only one case of swearing I wasn't able to edit out).
I found nobody willing to speak up for the govt, despite another trip to Willie O'Dea's clinic. This time I had tagged along to someone else's protest, one organised by the Limerick Socialist Party, and attended by about 18 people, despite the cold, and the rugby match being on. There were almost as many Gardai in Belview Gardens as there were protestors.
"Why should the Irish Government be kicked to touch?"
Some of the answers are not fit for print, and some shy people turned out to be civil servants not wishing to appear on camera, but here's the 'PG' version of the answers (with only one case of swearing I wasn't able to edit out).
These are some nice German ladies from Múnster, who didn't understand the question, but did want their photo taken!
I found nobody willing to speak up for the govt, despite another trip to Willie O'Dea's clinic. This time I had tagged along to someone else's protest, one organised by the Limerick Socialist Party, and attended by about 18 people, despite the cold, and the rugby match being on. There were almost as many Gardai in Belview Gardens as there were protestors.
Most of the picket at Willie O'Dea's clinic on a cold Saturday.
About half of the Gardai who were there (the unmarked cars were at other end of the road)
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Open Letter to ALL TDs.
Fianna Fail, having turned a blind eye, for years to the crazy amount of lending by the banks during the property boom, now wants us all to 'share the pain'.
Fine Gael and Labour, our supposed opposition, lately found guts to rant at Fianna Fail/Green policies. Where were you 2 years ago? Where were you 4 years ago? Were you too scared to lose popularity by suggesting the Celtic Tiger slow down, while it was in fact running full tilt towards a cliff?
Banks have liquidity and risk management reasons for a reason, and we have heard (via the Seanad) that the Financial Regulator was long ago told that these rules were being breached, but no action was taken, as the bubble got bigger and bigger.
Where was the oversight? Lack of interest or lack of spine folks? How did you earn those high legislators salaries?
Now, of course, European banks lent recklessly to our banks as well, to get a piece of the easy action, and it seems none of the main parties has the guts to tell these European banks, that they too will have to share the pain for their own recklessness.
Instead, the Irish taxpayer, considered meek and numerically inferior on the periphery of Europe is to be the fall guy? Because our politicians don't have the nerve to stand up when it counts. The TOUGH decision would have been to tell the speculators to work within the rules, and to take their losses when they gambled wrong. The cowardly decision was to lie about it and waffle, all the while setting up the taxpayer to bear the burden of these speculators.
To hear FF, FG and Labour all talk about the pain we must all share just shows the nature of spineless punch-and-judy politics engaged in, in this country.
We've bundled the bank debt in with sovereign debt, and gone to the bond markets to en-debt the country at crazy coupon rates, and now we're cut off from the bond market we're faced with the IMF, doubling our debt-GNP ratio, and spending more on annual repayments than it costs to run the health system, and then of course we get to pay it off by having anything of value privatised and sold off at firesale prices and normally to the same small clique of financiers.
Those are the conditions we will have if we take the IMF money, rather than break away the bank debts from the sovereign debt, and fix our country Ireland/ Eire, not that mafia outfit known as 'Ireland Inc'.
Who has the guts to do it? If it's not you. Don't come looking for a vote.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Hourigan
former employee of Bank of Ireland Securities Services IFSC,
JF Fleming Fund Management S.A., Luxembourg,
Invesco Asset Management, IFSC, Dublin
Global Asset Management,IFSC Dublin
JP Morgan Chase, Sydney,
Mercantile Mutual / ING Asset Management Sydney
Fine Gael and Labour, our supposed opposition, lately found guts to rant at Fianna Fail/Green policies. Where were you 2 years ago? Where were you 4 years ago? Were you too scared to lose popularity by suggesting the Celtic Tiger slow down, while it was in fact running full tilt towards a cliff?
Banks have liquidity and risk management reasons for a reason, and we have heard (via the Seanad) that the Financial Regulator was long ago told that these rules were being breached, but no action was taken, as the bubble got bigger and bigger.
Where was the oversight? Lack of interest or lack of spine folks? How did you earn those high legislators salaries?
Now, of course, European banks lent recklessly to our banks as well, to get a piece of the easy action, and it seems none of the main parties has the guts to tell these European banks, that they too will have to share the pain for their own recklessness.
Instead, the Irish taxpayer, considered meek and numerically inferior on the periphery of Europe is to be the fall guy? Because our politicians don't have the nerve to stand up when it counts. The TOUGH decision would have been to tell the speculators to work within the rules, and to take their losses when they gambled wrong. The cowardly decision was to lie about it and waffle, all the while setting up the taxpayer to bear the burden of these speculators.
To hear FF, FG and Labour all talk about the pain we must all share just shows the nature of spineless punch-and-judy politics engaged in, in this country.
We've bundled the bank debt in with sovereign debt, and gone to the bond markets to en-debt the country at crazy coupon rates, and now we're cut off from the bond market we're faced with the IMF, doubling our debt-GNP ratio, and spending more on annual repayments than it costs to run the health system, and then of course we get to pay it off by having anything of value privatised and sold off at firesale prices and normally to the same small clique of financiers.
Those are the conditions we will have if we take the IMF money, rather than break away the bank debts from the sovereign debt, and fix our country Ireland/ Eire, not that mafia outfit known as 'Ireland Inc'.
Who has the guts to do it? If it's not you. Don't come looking for a vote.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Hourigan
former employee of Bank of Ireland Securities Services IFSC,
JF Fleming Fund Management S.A., Luxembourg,
Invesco Asset Management, IFSC, Dublin
Global Asset Management,IFSC Dublin
JP Morgan Chase, Sydney,
Mercantile Mutual / ING Asset Management Sydney
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Willie O'Dea Td gets his P45 and Free Cheese. Who is next?
Yesterday, 2 members of the P45 Movement went to Willie O'Dea's clinic in Limerick
(every Saturday 1.30pm, 2 Bellfield Gardens Farranshone by the way)
We waited in the queue, told others what Willie didn't like them to know, and when we got our turn in Willie's tiny office (seriously, there was only room for one of us to step inside) The block of cheese and P45 was placed on his desk, as Willie was told the game is up, you've destroyed the country.
Willie tried to deny all blame saying he's not in the cabinet anymore. (following his dishonest affadavit to the High Court). As you'll hear in the video, Willie was in Cabinet while the bankers were running loose. He was in Cabinet while the regulator was told to take a 'light touch' approach (i.e. blind eye, and did less than 25% of the inspections he was well paid to do. )
Willie still supports this government but pretends he's not to blame for their mistakes. So, he's admitting that he wants to be paid to be a Govt TD, but only do parish pump politics in Limerick, and go to Dublin to rubber stamp any old motion that Cowen & Co throw down.
Would any employer let their employee behave like that? Willie O'Dea, you deserve your P45.
(every Saturday 1.30pm, 2 Bellfield Gardens Farranshone by the way)
We waited in the queue, told others what Willie didn't like them to know, and when we got our turn in Willie's tiny office (seriously, there was only room for one of us to step inside) The block of cheese and P45 was placed on his desk, as Willie was told the game is up, you've destroyed the country.
Willie tried to deny all blame saying he's not in the cabinet anymore. (following his dishonest affadavit to the High Court). As you'll hear in the video, Willie was in Cabinet while the bankers were running loose. He was in Cabinet while the regulator was told to take a 'light touch' approach (i.e. blind eye, and did less than 25% of the inspections he was well paid to do. )
Willie still supports this government but pretends he's not to blame for their mistakes. So, he's admitting that he wants to be paid to be a Govt TD, but only do parish pump politics in Limerick, and go to Dublin to rubber stamp any old motion that Cowen & Co throw down.
Would any employer let their employee behave like that? Willie O'Dea, you deserve your P45.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Spread the word, spread the idea. There's more of us out there.
I'm very glad to see more people visiting the blog.
It cheers me up to know I'm not the only one who is fed up to the back teeth.
I bet we all know a bunch of people who feel the same. I think we should all get talking to each other, and coming up with ideas to sack this shower, starting with the obvious point, using our collective voices to tell them to go.
It is important that we tell them to go, that it is we the people, (as many as we can muster) that give them their marching orders.
We don't know who will get in next. It could be Labour & FG, or someone else. We could even have a big bunch of independents. or a new reform party. We will all have our say on that in due time, but first we have to get rid of this mob.
The P45 movement is a movement, not a party. By joining P45 you are not being asked to support FG, Labour, Sinn Fein, Independents or any new reform party. They can do their electioneering on their own time and we can all make our choices as we see fit.
P45 is the movement to fire the current government, and in doing so, laying doing a very strong marker to whoever comes next, that the people are no longer on their knees moaning. The only way they will respect us, is if they know we watch them like hawks and are not afraid to give them a P45 either.
We are standing and watching, because our future and our kids futures depend on us. And we must reach out to others who feel the same way, and ignore the naysayers, and the mudslingers of the media who say we must know our place, as the people of this country and others have been instructed to do for generations.
If we let them tell us our place, they will try to convince us that our place is what suits their interests.
It was people refusing to know their place that got the right to vote for all adults, regardless of gender, religion or property status.
It was East Germans refusing to know their place who tore down the Berlin Wall without firing a shot.
It was Black Americans refusing to know their place who claimed their rights as equal citizens to the same treatment in schools, restaurants, buses and polling stations as anybody else.
Don't let anybody tell you it can't be done if we all want it enough.
We don't have the same media access as the gombeens who got us into this mess but each of us can talk to our neighbours, our friends, and use social networks like Facebook and YouTube etc to spread the word. The public already outnumbers them, thousands to one, we just have to find the creative ways of using that to our advantage.
Some ideas already in the works include a novel way of saying 'You're fired' to this government.
(Watch this space for more on that)
Don't be shy about posting your own ideas either, the more the merrier. Don't let your voice be absent in this conversation. You've been ignored long enough already.
It cheers me up to know I'm not the only one who is fed up to the back teeth.
I bet we all know a bunch of people who feel the same. I think we should all get talking to each other, and coming up with ideas to sack this shower, starting with the obvious point, using our collective voices to tell them to go.
It is important that we tell them to go, that it is we the people, (as many as we can muster) that give them their marching orders.
We don't know who will get in next. It could be Labour & FG, or someone else. We could even have a big bunch of independents. or a new reform party. We will all have our say on that in due time, but first we have to get rid of this mob.
The P45 movement is a movement, not a party. By joining P45 you are not being asked to support FG, Labour, Sinn Fein, Independents or any new reform party. They can do their electioneering on their own time and we can all make our choices as we see fit.
P45 is the movement to fire the current government, and in doing so, laying doing a very strong marker to whoever comes next, that the people are no longer on their knees moaning. The only way they will respect us, is if they know we watch them like hawks and are not afraid to give them a P45 either.
We are standing and watching, because our future and our kids futures depend on us. And we must reach out to others who feel the same way, and ignore the naysayers, and the mudslingers of the media who say we must know our place, as the people of this country and others have been instructed to do for generations.
If we let them tell us our place, they will try to convince us that our place is what suits their interests.
- Paying off the debts of huge banks and property speculators who rigged the market to drive up the price of houses, even when they knew (and the government knew) that there were plenty of houses on the market.
- Waiting on trolleys in hospitals while the rip off merchants go private.
- Sending our kids to school in pre-fabs, or watching the older ones go to the airport or the ferry.
- being treated like fools, and being turned against each other by divide and conquer tactics (public sector v private, students v the rest) It wasn't students or public sector workers who bankrupted this country. It was the bankers, the politicians and the Financial Regulator who seemed to be blindfolded while at his fancy desk in his well paid job.
- Being ignored, and told to let others tell us what to do as we sink into apathy.
It was people refusing to know their place that got the right to vote for all adults, regardless of gender, religion or property status.
It was East Germans refusing to know their place who tore down the Berlin Wall without firing a shot.
It was Black Americans refusing to know their place who claimed their rights as equal citizens to the same treatment in schools, restaurants, buses and polling stations as anybody else.
Don't let anybody tell you it can't be done if we all want it enough.
We don't have the same media access as the gombeens who got us into this mess but each of us can talk to our neighbours, our friends, and use social networks like Facebook and YouTube etc to spread the word. The public already outnumbers them, thousands to one, we just have to find the creative ways of using that to our advantage.
Some ideas already in the works include a novel way of saying 'You're fired' to this government.
(Watch this space for more on that)
Don't be shy about posting your own ideas either, the more the merrier. Don't let your voice be absent in this conversation. You've been ignored long enough already.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Hit the road you bunch of gombeens!
The P45 movement is about a simple idea. The Irish people are sick of being conned and screwed by a corrupt, negligent bunch of crooks. It is time to show them the door.
We don't want to wait until their 'contract' expires whenever they decide to hold an election, while they cover their asses and bail out more of their buddies at our expense.
Apologists for this system love to say 'if you don't like them, you can fire them at the next election'. Why wait up to five years to stop someone ripping you off? And not getting re-elected is not the same as being fired.
We want them to go ASAP, and it has to be a message from the people, not simply an easy victory for the next bunch to replace them.
We can, and must bring about a situation, that no matter what party is in government, they will be very worried about actually doing the job right, because they days of putting up with crap government are coming to an end.
We're not calling for armed revolution or lynch mobs, we're calling for determined and dignified assertion of our rights to reclaim control over our lives and our country.
Every government makes the odd mistake, that's not the problem we face.
We have to get rid of a government that has grown more and more corrupt over time:
That just means fewer people decide who gets in.
We have to be active, and we have to crack the whip more often than just at general elections.
We pay for these people,
We pay for their salaries,
We pay for their perks.
We pay for their dodgy decisions, and so does the generation that comes after us.
Will we let them stay in office, while our future and our kid's future goes down the toilet?
We all now what the answer to that question should be.
The real question is, are we brave enough to do it?
Are we happy to wave the tricolour at soccer matches, but let the country itself go down the toilet?
Are we happy to get drunk and sing rebel songs in the pub about the men of 1916, while in 2010, we refuse to raise our voices in anger against the biggest rip offs in the history of the state?
If the black citizens of Alabama were as meek as the Irish public seem to have become during the Celtic Tiger, they would still be sitting at the back of the bus, and then going home to moan about it on Facebook.
Is that how we see ourselves? Is that what we will pass on to our children?
We don't want to wait until their 'contract' expires whenever they decide to hold an election, while they cover their asses and bail out more of their buddies at our expense.
Apologists for this system love to say 'if you don't like them, you can fire them at the next election'. Why wait up to five years to stop someone ripping you off? And not getting re-elected is not the same as being fired.
We want them to go ASAP, and it has to be a message from the people, not simply an easy victory for the next bunch to replace them.
We can, and must bring about a situation, that no matter what party is in government, they will be very worried about actually doing the job right, because they days of putting up with crap government are coming to an end.
It's time for them to hit the road.
We're not calling for armed revolution or lynch mobs, we're calling for determined and dignified assertion of our rights to reclaim control over our lives and our country.
Every government makes the odd mistake, that's not the problem we face.
We have to get rid of a government that has grown more and more corrupt over time:
- Pays more attention to the lads from the Galway tent, than the needs of the people
- Tells us we are wrong when we don't vote the way they like (Lisbon 2, Nice 2)
- Rescues their buddies, but leaves good people to die on trolleys in underfunded hospitals
- Makes up their own rules on expenses so they can fleece us, and travel in comfort.
- Lies repeatedly to us about very serious issues.
- Assisting in wars and occupation, by our arms trade, the use of Shannon by the US military, or refusing to take a strong stand against injustice.
- Covered up for those who would steal our natural resources, those who beat and raped our kids.
- and many, many things besides.
That just means fewer people decide who gets in.
We have to be active, and we have to crack the whip more often than just at general elections.
We pay for these people,
We pay for their salaries,
We pay for their perks.
We pay for their dodgy decisions, and so does the generation that comes after us.
Will we let them stay in office, while our future and our kid's future goes down the toilet?
We all now what the answer to that question should be.
The real question is, are we brave enough to do it?
Are we happy to wave the tricolour at soccer matches, but let the country itself go down the toilet?
Are we happy to get drunk and sing rebel songs in the pub about the men of 1916, while in 2010, we refuse to raise our voices in anger against the biggest rip offs in the history of the state?
If the black citizens of Alabama were as meek as the Irish public seem to have become during the Celtic Tiger, they would still be sitting at the back of the bus, and then going home to moan about it on Facebook.
Is that how we see ourselves? Is that what we will pass on to our children?
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