http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/02/irish-eye-their-corrupt-elite
Ireland seems to have the same problem that America has, the corporate elite are catered to at the expense of her taxpayers, who are just supposed to keep coughing up cash with no explanation as to where it's going at all.
For some reason the financial elite seem to think because they are the "advisers" of the President, they know what's best to run the country.
And what's best is always in "Their" favor at the expense of "our" ass.
This is a "world wide" phenomena that has turned into a way of global governance.
How does funding a no branch bank help the Irish taxpayer? And why should they be expected to do it at all? Their not even privy as to why it needs to be done, let alone what the damned bank is for.
Many thanks for calling it like it is in your editorial (1 October) on the Irish economic collapse. The Irish government has got it wrong again, but the clue to why is not in the "dozy government" line. It is hidden in your quote that "the elite directing the Irish economy is more tightly closed than an oyster shell". Ireland operates like a one-party state and the government is just the political wing of that elite comprising developers, bankers and newspaper owners, with a whole network of vested interests descending into almost every corner of the Irish state and economic life.
Of the €50bn of taxpayers money now committed to bail out the disastrous gamblers of the Irish banking system, nearly four-fifths of that sum is going into one bank, Anglo Irish. This bank has no high-street branches and so no claim to be part of the essential infrastructure of the country. And it is a bank which economic advisers have consistently told the government not to include in the blanket bank guarantee, because the scale and rottenness of its debt will surely bring the whole house of cards down.
So why is the government so interested in this bank? There is absolutely no transparency. No minutes of key meetings, or of the workings of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), which is managing bank debts for the government, have seen the light of day. In fact it is in the Nama legislation that its workings can't be disclosed and that staff who speak about their work will be subject to criminal proceedings. Neither will key ministers answer questions about any personal investments in this bank. Could it be that the majority of investors in Anglo Irish are the same elite who also control the government? Cock-up or conspiracy?
