“You were a crap player and you are a crap manager. The only reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are the manager of my country and you’re not even Irish….” It is alleged that after this tirade Roy Keane walked out of the Irish team at Saipan in 2002. Little did he know exactly what he just started, because start something he did. All contemporary economic and social wisdom indicates that the rot that exists in our socio economic and political system began to manifest itself during the middle of 2002 or thereabouts. Given that those tasked with managing the economy at the time deny any responsibility, then obviously someone else must be responsible for our economic distress. My money is on Roy Keane.
Many people attribute the economic mess to the incompetence of Bertie Ahern who, in a vain bid to maintain power at all costs, pandered to every interest group with an economic philosophy of spend-spend-spend just to maintain the charade. With a tenuous grasp on economic reality he saw in the construction industry the means to pay for this profligacy. He pandered to the construction industry on a massive scale, gave tax incentives and practically ignored the concept of financial regulation. The actual financial regulator was an incompetent that was appointed by Ahern. This will no doubt go down as the worst economic performance in the history of the State. The man who wins money on horses has left us with some legacy.
Brian Cowen supported the lucky gambler every inch of the way. As Minister for Finance he continued to fuel the flames of financial excess and economic mismanagement. Ahern and Cowen continue to hold public office and have not been called to task in any way. Ahern still enjoys a TD’s salary, Ministerial pension, State car and driver for life, tax exemption on his book, and numerous stipends from writing sports columns for tabloid newspapers and public speaking engagements where he tells anyone who is still willing to listen how he personally saved the country from penury. I assume his book qualified for tax exemption because it is a work of fiction.
All this income is in addition to the income that he wins from his hugely successful gig as a gambler, as he enjoys considerable success in winning money on the gee gees. Or so he claims. Remember he still cannot produce a tax clearance cert, although any self-employed citizen must hold one in order to get any State contracts. Why does he enjoy such special status? Given that these economic powerhouses are still employed by the State, we must assume the economic woes cannot possibly be attributable to them. So who is to blame?
I say it is Roy Keane’s fault! When this economic mess was in its infancy an unusual social catastrophe was to befall the country. Pretty much everyone had an opinion in the matter of Keano vs McCarthy. Indeed the man who wins money on horses personally volunteered to intervene in the debate and save the day. The Gambler would have been confident of his ability to pull the wool over people’s eyes at that time. He had just bought us all off with a self serving economic agenda and now had no intention of worrying about the consequences. They wouldn’t really become an issue during his tenure as Taoiseach. Someone else could worry about that. This is about the only thing he has been correct about during the entire life of his Government.
Roy meanwhile had polarised the community. He created a debate of unprecedented proportions and created a media storm that lasted for many months. He ensured that the eyes of the nation were on trivial issues at the expense of keeping an eye on the last great socialist and his gofer masquerading as a finance minister. Some may say it is our fault for not keeping a watchful eye on them. And it is in a way because we elected them and then reelected them. But as a nation we never seem to accept responsibility. It is easier to blame someone else. That’s why I blame Roy Keane. It is all his fault and I want an apology!
