Dogs, dogs, dogs.

There is new legislation going through the Irish Parliament, The Dail, next week. It involves dog breeding and I suppose dog control within that jurisdiction. Should we as a society not re-consider our attitude to animals generally? My mum, God rest her, brought the pigs into our house during stormy weather. The piglets slept at the bottom of my big sisters bed. (I was only 8 months old). The pigs slept at the bottom of my parents bed. That was in the 1930's and the 1940's. We don't allow the pigs to sleep in our houses any more. It was an old fashioned and very un-hygienic thing to do.

People in the UK, England, British Isles, whatever, still keep animals in their homes, along with and very close to thier children. Cats, dogs, pet shop animals. Why have no experts from the health system within England, Scotland, N. Ireland, Wales or the Republic of Ireland ever come out openly to warn the populations of those countries about the dangers of close contact from a living being that is not human?

 

Besides the dangers of disease from dogs and dog poo there is now also huge dangers from dangerous dogs which has spiralled out of control. Some dogs kept by criminal elements and social misfits are more dangerous than lions and tigers and are trained to attack humans or other animals. Attacks by dogs are almost commonplace now in England, and deaths and serious injury has risen dramatically. Legislation is needed in Ireland urgently in Ireland to control dangerous dogs urgently. 

Should we worry about our billionaires leaving if we tax them?

During Eddie Hobbs rant against Sinn Fein last Sunday on Marian Finucane (RTE Radio1), he tried the scare tactics of the right to defend not taxing the rich in this country. Part of his theory was that billionaires who were taxed in other parts of Europe, especially France, simply bunny hopped from one country to the other to avoid tax. So we should not tax people because they are wealthy? We should not tax people because they can employ people in Ireland? In case they emigrate for 183 days? Could I ask Eddie Hobbs if he prefers we expel three quarter of a million citizens of our country from 2005 to 2014 because of the dire poverty of our population? Whilst the wealthy of Ireland became 14% more wealthy in that same period? Should we care if 31,762 millionaires and 400 billionaires leave these shores? Yes we should. But if we devote the energy, and the resources that the HSE and Department of Social Protection spent on robbing the disabled children of Ireland of medical treatment, in a relentless campaign to steal their passport to life, the medical card, then we can devise a way to pinch a few billion off those who wouldn't notice the loss.

 

Something I would disagree with Sinn Fein on is a "Wealth" tax. What we need in Ireland is a declaration of wealth. And a declaration of poverty. Sinn Fein will be tripped up if they try to say they will tax higher at €100,000. I agree that anyone earning €100,000+ should pay a fair tax. But €100k for a single earner with five children and a partner is not wealthy. So wealth should be analysed more carefully. The problem is, Ireland don't do enough analysis of anything! That's why we have so much child neglect and abuse. If we declare a wealth tax in Ireland we will have billionaires hopping around the EU & the Bahamas. But why not declare a wealth "Levy" in Ireland? Then if you are an Irish passport holder and you have a few bucks and want to hold your passport then you could do a deal with the government and pay a one off levy? Like Google pay a €5 billion levy in 2017. We won't look at you till 2022! You can keep your Irish passport. Conditionally. A farmer who owns 5,000 acres of land in County Leitrim, Sligo and Roscommon. But never paid tax in his life because he's a poor farmer and lives on EU grants. We impose €100 per acre "LEVY" for non use of his land. But if he makes his land productive (with government help) and sets up a vegetable processing plant employing 500 people exporting €10 million annually to China he will be exempt from the Levy for five years.

 

More important is what I said earlier. We need a declaration of wealth. And a declaration of poverty. I have my own formulation of poverty. Poverty is any human being existing on social welfare payments in the Republic of Ireland. EG €188 weekly for a single person. Wealth is any person having an income or assets producing an earnings 20 times that amount including dependents. The levy I propose would not be applied universally. So no-one would know if it would apply to them. It could be applied like the army draft in Australia for the Vietnam war. Or a lottery of rich dicks?

 

Anyhow "WEALTH" is €195,552 in Ireland. So everyone in politics and the media would have to start making a contribution to medical cards for disabled children and homeless children in Ireland. We in Ireland need to think more creatively! All our creative people exist among our poor and destitute. The Labour Party sucks all that talent out of our working class people and uses it to feed their greedy ambitions. Hence Alex White and Joan Burton campaigning in the middle class areas of Dublin & Galway. If I was looking for a working class voter in Dublin I would be in an immigrants hostel in Dublin. They have no votes. But by Jesus Christ they will have ONE DAY!!!    

French Police will have one target in Sophie Murder: Gardai.

There's a lot to be asked of Irish media and their so called professionalism. It seems Irish news journalists don't use proper question & answer practice sessions amongst themselves. The Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder in Cork and Garda inquires in the past eighteen years is a case in question which hasn't got the most important question into media circles yet. I'll ask the most important question on here now: Why would the Irish Police service, An Garda Síochána, allegedly pay witnesses, pay a witness speeding fine, give preferential treatment to a potential witness, provide substantial amounts of cash and illegal drugs to another witness in order to frame Ian Bailey for murder?

 

Why would Garda Officers get involved in such criminality, then record on tapes what they had been doing? There was an absolute frenzy and frantic litany of actions to make sure Ian Bailey was arrested, charged and convicted of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier by An Garda Síochána. The Irish Courts, the Irish Legal System has found Ian Bailey not guilty and the Police Authorities of France have failed to extradite Ian Bailey because the Irish Courts say he has no charge to answer. Back to that question that the Irish media have failed to ask the policing authorities of Ireland. Why would they so frantically try to frame Ian Bailey for murder?

 

I suggest they would only do this if they were trying to protect the suspect who they know, beyond reasonable doubt, has committed that heinous murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. French police will arrive in Ireland within the next 14 days to seek more information about the murder of one of their citizens

Will the Garda Phone Tapping Debacle Lead to Internment?

Ireland may not be digesting the full content of the political crisis that befell this country as the cabinet met on the morning of 25th March 2014. Fianna Fail TD Willie O'Dea pointed to the extreme danger created by the fallout of the phone tapping scandal at many Garda stations throughout the country. Apparently as many as 100 rapists, murderers, and gangland leaders from the Limerick City area alone will seek access to the contents of the phone tapping tapes. If their solicitor used the telephone in that Garda station then they have the legal right to seek the tapes of that conversation. If they received a phone call from their mammy or as is their legal right made one phone call from the Garda station and that call was recorded without their permission or the respondents permission they have a legal right to challenge their conviction in the High Court and very likely to the Supreme Court of Ireland. Without going into the legal, constitutional or political consequences of this fact, Ireland could be financially destroyed by the consequences of a vast legal challenge by up to one thousand convicted criminals now held in custody by the Irish Justice system. But on that morning of Tuesday 25th March 2014 as Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan left his home and arrived at Garda HQ at 9.35am to officially confirm his resignation to the Irish Government did he actually know more than the Government knew. Martin Callinan was a professional Police Officer. In terms of professionalism let us examine other professions. Gynaecologists have a big wage but a low professional standard by the record of the amount of new born babies and mothers who die in this country because of medical negligence and incompetence. Building Engineers and Architects have a very bad record of professional competence but during the Celtic Tiger they became billionaires and millionaires. I could go on about the rats who abandoned ship and are now in Australia, Boston, Auckland, Quebec and London. But NO. I will dwell more on the professionalism of Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan who had 41 years experience as a Police Officer. Many might forget that Mr Callinan crossed swords with many obnoxious criminals in this country. He fought them on the streets. But more importantly he defeated them in the courts. By his shrewd but honest witness testament before the Irish courts. Against professional legal experts and barristers who have sucked this country dry with their obnoxious fees. Corruption for 40 years in Ireland will not be addressed until we destroy the legal profession. I've deliberately left my main point to the end. And I believe that Mr Callinan would have had the legal opinion made available to him about what may be coming down the road from convicted prisoners in Ireland over the next 28 days. Without tape evidence, without witness evidence some convicted prisoners will already know they were recorded by Gardaí without consent. I suspect that within the next 21 days a writ of Habeas Corpus will be presented to the High Court by at least one prisoner held in an Irish prison. If that prisoner is a danger to society, a rapist who is a danger to children, a terrorist who is a danger to society or a convicted murderer who is a danger to us all the Irish Government will be left with no option but to introduce a limited form of internment without trial. Government don't have legal, constitutional or political tools to deal with Habeas Corpus applications where precedence has already been set by the High Court such as in the Waterford case. To prevent catastrophic releases of highly dangerous persons from prison the government needs to pass emergency legislation. But under the constitution they cannot backdate legislation. So to prevent extremely dangerous people from gaining freedom through Habeas Corpus the Irish Government would need to seek an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland. To do that would take up to two years as the Irish political system is extremely slow, often laborious and mostly extremely corrupt. And so the only alternative open to government to prevent a mass exodus from Irish prisons is to introduce internment until a legal solution is found.

Is Allen Shatter more Sinister than Missing Documents and Phone Tapping?

I think that most commentators, media personnel, and politicians have missed the fact that Allen Shatter did not have a confidante in his office who could pass on important documents to him. He trusted NO-ONE. A document was processed at the Garda Commissioner's office on March 10 2014 for dispatch to Justice Minister Allen Shatter TD. Allen Shatter should have received that document before he left for Mexico three days later. It is alleged but questionable that Allen Shatter received that letter from the Commissioner 15 days later. I need to bring to the publics attention that the smallest retail outlet on the Island of Ireland has a confidante who would warn the manager or owner that she/he has received a gas bill that needed to be paid immediately. But the Minister in THE most important portfolio of Governance in the Republic of Ireland had no-one in his department to scan his mail for emergencies.

I must now create a scenario which could very well put this country in great danger where our Minister of Justice is not contactable and where attempts have been made to make him aware of a grave situation by his senior civil servants. A letter dispatched by the highest police officer in the land has been waiting on the Minister's response from March 10 2014 until March 25 2014. The letter contains information which may be so serious that it may bring down the state. Minister Allen Shatter is Minister for Justice in the Republic of Ireland.

But something else that needs to be brought to the attention of the Irish electorate is the dual role of the Minister's office. Our defence forces always had a Defence Minister. On  Allen Shatter TD's appointment he took over the ministry of defence. He took over responsibility for our naval forces, our Air core, and our army. Why would any elected representative want to control our policing service, our naval service, our Air Force? Also our police stations. And our telecommunications service with listening devices recording 16,000 conversations?

 

Now what happens if our military chiefs wish to pass on intelligence information to the Minister which is a matter of urgent state security but for that reason needs to be communicated in writing by personal courier? I mean intelligence of a grave nature such as the Russian fleet posing a threat to this country. Or an imminent terrorist attack on Dublin. But Mr Shatter is in the Bahamas. Can we be confident that this serious communication can be delivered to the Minister immediately? Perhaps the decision to amalgamate this countries justice and defence ministries should be reviewed? After all what benefit is there in joining the two? It can't be much of a financial saving. One Minister's salary from the multi million euro budget of the two ministries? If there is no budgetary advantage WHY would one TD be given two posts? Power? Control?  

A Fair Trial in the Republic of Ireland is Impossible for Most Folks

 

©Toni Manifesto Ireland.

A Jury service that excludes the poor, the disabled, the low income and the unemployed is a Jury service that leads to a distortion of our whole legal justice system in Ireland. I was recently called for Jury Service in a rural area of Ireland. I got a shock to read in the notes accompanying my Jury Summons that if selected to be a Juror I would not receive expenses to get to the Court house or on my return home. I checked my local bus station which is 21 miles away and one mile from the Court house to inquire as to the return fare to do my patriotic duty as a Juror. I was quoted two fares of either €9 or €9.70 return per day to the Court House from where I lived. So to attend Jury Service for two weeks (which the County Registrar conveyed to those summoned at the sitting, this case would take) I would need €45 to €50 to attend Jury Service for a week.

It is important that my readers know why I say the poor, the disabled, the low income and unemployed are excluded from Jury Service. In the past four years most recipients of Social Welfare, Job Seekers Allowance and other allowances for Ireland’s vulnerable electorate have had their income reduced from between 11% and 38.5%. Young unemployed people in Ireland have had their welfare allowance reduced from €188 weekly to €100. That’s a 47% reduction in income. Note that I quoted our electorate, not our residents or our population. Many may think that is a mute point. But if you are not on the electoral register you cannot be called up for Jury Service. And it’s not compulsory to be on the electoral register. But it is compulsory to attend if summoned to a Jury Service. Does this not further undermine the Justice system?

I would point out a precedent in another Jurisdiction where the electoral and judicial system was used to distort representation of the underclass. Margaret Thatcher imposed the poll tax in the UK.  But she deliberately announced that ALL those on the ELECTORAL register would be charged the poll tax. There was a 22% drop in registration to vote by young people, old people, disabled people and poor people. They could not afford to pay. They went off the electoral register. Emperor Thatcher won the election by a 9% majority.

It is one of the foundations of our democracy that an accused person should be judged by his peers and that is the purpose of the Jury Service. The notes I received with my summons also stated that serving on a jury is often the best way for the citizen to participate in government. Jury service is a civic duty and an obligation. Anyone attending Jury service will definitely sustain considerable expenses. Therefore the 400,000 unemployed people in this country are basically disqualified on grounds of poverty. What social welfare recipient could afford to spend €50 a week getting to a local court? Compare the rule of no expenses to our nearest neighbour in Northern Ireland. Daily allowances for jury service in the north are as follows:  Travel allowance from your home or work and return of 45 cent per mile. Bus and train fares paid in full. Meal allowance of €7.50 or €15 if away from home for 10 hours. Financial loss including child care allowance of €40 per day if jury service is less than 4 hours. €70 daily if service is over 4 hours; if the trial lasts more than ten days the daily expenses rise to €160 daily. Transport may include taxi fares in certain cases.

A recent media report on jury attendance in Dublin highlighted that of three thousand summonses issued only 300 jurors attended. This despite the threat of a €2000 fine for non attendance. People are not going to go without food to attend jury service no matter how honourable it may be to serve.

Another interesting point that is made in the 1976 Juries Act is that the Minister for Justice is entitled to expenses for the performance of his duties regarding the courts service and jury service. I bet that’s lavish.

Going back to that basic foundation I spoke of earlier of the right of an accused to be judged by his peers. Well we have already ruled out the unemployed. We should also exclude for low income reasons, those on various disability and illness benefits. But worrying too is those who will not be seen on a Jury for reasons of ineligibility, excusal etc. Judges, coroners, the AG and his staff, the DPP and his staff, barristers and solicitors and their staff, Gardái, prison officers, probation officers & staff, court service staff, forensic science lab staff. Also members of the Defence Forces including reserve and army nursing service, certain convicted persons, those with certain mental and incapacity conditions.

Persons excusable as of right: Over 65’s, under 18’s, Principal teachers, full time students, doctors, dentists, nurses, essential teaching staff, midwives, vets, chemists, priests, ministers and nuns, TD’s and Senators, Comptroller & Auditor, staff of the Dail, heads of all government departments and any staff they deem to be essential, heads of local authorities and staff they deem to be essential, heads of Irish lights and essential staff, Many naval and aircraft personnel. Those who are in an advanced stage of pregnancy or are caring for infants and young children as well as full time carers of the disabled may apply for excusal.

Another matter of concern is that of access to transport especially in rural areas. In my case there is one bus from my home at 8am daily and one bus back at 6pm. Normal jury duty is from 10am to 4.30pm. But the finishing time may be extended which could leave the juror stranded miles from their home. During that period the court service will provide one lunch. If you have to have breakfast or an afternoon meal you do without, even if you are a person requiring a special diet. Asking anyone to do without food for 10 to 11 hours daily except for lunch is cruel to say the least. One of the more worrying aspects of those who will not be jurors is the social distortion this causes in the eventual make up of the jury. After all those excluded and excused as jurors, as described above, only middle class, wealthy, property owners, self employed, farmers etc are left to choose from. An unemployed single pregnant woman who is an accused is unlikely to have her peers judge her. She is unlikely to get much understanding from an Irish panel of jurors. Of about 200 people who attended the court I was summoned to, about one third raised their hands when the registrar asked if there were many self employed or farmers. I do not believe that an ordinary accused person in the Republic of Ireland has a good chance of a fair trial as a result of the anomalies I describe above.

©Toni Manifesto Ireland Copyright

 

Value for Money? The €600,000k Banker

I've discussed this subject before, but with the banking and financial crisis in Ireland today and with Mr Noonan denying he can stop paying millions to bankers, I've decided to revert to how we value people in this society. Thinking about last weeks Children's Referendum, I thought, what would a class of 7 to 10 year old pupils reply if they were asked how important they felt certain people in our society were in their lives? Funny to hear Pat Kenny on RTE this morning saying that the only people who the media did not talk to in the Children's Referendum were children. In a referendum proposing to give a voice to Ireland's children. Pat addressed that issue by getting a very revealing interview with a 16 year old boy who is a foster child. Back to the class room. So the experiment I would love some primary school teacher to conduct is as follows:

Distribute to the class a list of careers and discuss what those people who carry out various jobs do. Ask the children to carefully consider the value of each person's job as it would apply to them as a child or to people in general. Perhaps instead of valuing the person or their job in money terms the class should attach a colour to each person. Gold for the most valuable person to a dark colour for the least useful person.  But money value could be used also. Here are my list of occupations:

 

Farmer

Judge

Prime Minister (Taoiseach)

Accountant

Lollipop man/lady

Architect

Secretary

Carpenter

Refuse Collector

Labourer

Doctor

Banker

Sewer Worker

Foster Parent

Teacher

Paediatric Nurse

 

Now teacher should ask the pupils to describe what they think each person does in their job and from one to ten what the most and least important jobs are. Also if there wasn't one of those people how much would it affect the community? For example what does a banker do? Answer: Count Money? What if the top banker wasn't there to count the money? Answer: he would get his workers to do it.

What does an Architect do? Answer: Draw houses. What does a Prime Minister do? He manages the country. And if he didn't turn up for work? His deputy would do it. What does a sewer worker do? Answer: A sewer worker makes sure that all the sewers which run beneath our cities, towns and villages work efficiently so that all our toilets flush properly. And if we didn't have sewer workers? Well all our toilets and sinks would overflow and flood our houses and streets and everyone would get diseases. We go down the list and compare the importance of each job. What does a Paediatric Nurse do? Save little babies lives. And a refuse collector? They empty our bins and keep our streets clean. What would happen if the refuse collectors and baby nurses didn't turn up for work? The refuse would cause disease and the babies would die.

 

So class, today I want you to write an essay about who are the most important  (No, most Valuable people) in your lives. So, who would you give the gold star to. Or pay the highest wage to? And of the last six of the sixteen people you have studied in this test choose the person you feel contributes least to society and you want to stand in the corner till they do better.

 

I am very serious about this experiment. And after it has been carried out in primary schools we should ask adults to take the test. Starting with 166 TD's in Dail Eireann.