Readers' blog: Gong for brass neck goes to Fianna Fáil
At this time of the year in the midst of the annual award-giving frenzy, the gong for brass neck must surely go to Micheál Martin and his pals in Fianna Fáil.
Michael and his feisty acolytes, knee deep in hypocrisy and unfazed by the party’s role in the brutal realities and lessons of recent history, have for the last few weeks commanded the high moral ground while baying for nothing less than “full political accountability” in the unfortunate Frances Fitzgerald affair.
More recently in a spat over the delays to the delivery of the mythical Convention Centre in Cork, Micheál unashamedly castigated those who criticised him “when it comes to delivering for Cork” as “we in Fianna Fáil have a history of delivering for Cork”.
Mr Martin is quite right, of course, as only a few short years ago, he and Fianna Fáil delivered, not alone for Cork but for the whole country, the greatest financial and societal catastrophe with far-reaching generational consequences, unsurpassed probably since An Gorta Mór.
And as for accountability, how easily Mr Martin seems to forget the unprecedented devastation delivered by Fianna Fáil to every home and family in Ireland where many thousands lost their jobs and livelihoods. Many more thousands of our young were forced to ply their trades, essential skills and professions driving forward the economies of other countries, leaving a dire shortage here when needed most.
Valuable Irish assets, often built up through genius and hard work over centuries, were pawned off for a song to foreign vulture funds by that other great Fianna Fáil invention, Nama. These same uncontrolled vulture funds, together with their legal and liquidator allies, if they haven’t already flipped the assets for a fortune, continue to torment and destroy the lives of ordinary Irish people, including farmers and small businesses to this day. A consequence of their handiwork has resulted and will continue to result in enforced needless evictions and unprecedented levels of suicide.
Meanwhile Mr Martin and his Fianna Fáil tyros stand idly by, without even a whimper of protest or embarrassment.
Maybe Micheál, instead of baying for political accountability in others, might deem to give us chapter and verse as to why his erstwhile multi pensioned colleagues in Fianna Fáil and their banking buddies were never held accountable, unlike in Iceland and the USA. Perhaps he might even reacquaint himself and an ever forgiving media of our torrid recent history, and enlighten us on Fianna Fáil’s rationale for the bank guarantee of €400bn and also for the €64bn lumped on the foolish taxpayer to cover the private reckless lending of incompetent and corrupt bankers.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the brass neck award goes most definitely to Micheál Martin of Fianna Fáil.
Bishopstown Road
Cork
