“I might have appointed somebody but I appointed them because they were friends, not because of anything they had given me...”
(Brian Dobson interview with Bertie Ahern, September 27, 2006 )
This is what passes for personal exoneration from the allegations of corruption in the mind of the man who wins money on horses. Ahern believes that it is absolutely OK for him to appoint his buddies to positions of responsibility, just because they are his buddies. Suitability, experience or qualifications are not even given a thought as he calls his friends to jump upon the gravy train. Unfortunately we are paying for the ticket.
This is the core of what has been rotten in the Irish political system for the last decade. The fact that people were appointed to positions of importance and authority just because they were friends of Bertie or the Fianna Fáil party. It does not appear to matter to him that the state deserved to have someone of competence or integrity fulfil these roles or that the roles were essential to the successful management of the country. All that is important was that certain people were rewarded for services rendered, not to the nation but to the party. Party loyalty is the only thing that matters.
We would not be in such a pickle today if we had appointed people of competence, courage and integrity to such positions as the Financial Regulator, FAS, DAA, The Dublin Docklands, in planning etc. Why can’t this Government accept that we are in this situation because the people in the seats of influence in this country were in most cases incompetent at best and corrupt at worst. They prefer to hide behind excuses such as Lehman Bros collapse or international recessionary factors etc. They are afraid to acknowledge the truth because such an acknowledgement would carry personal responsibility for much of our current problems. This Government does not do responsibility very well.
After experiencing the boom of the 1990s we should not even be feeling the pinch to the same degree that the US or Germany or other countries. We should have built up substantial cash resources and be able to ride out the worst of the recession. That is what would and should have happened if we had not allowed the management of this nation to fall into the hands of a group of arrogant buffoons who cared more for the party and its sidekicks than it cared for the young, the sick or the elderly.
Make no mistake about it, the international credit crises or the failure of Lehman Brothers is not the root cause of our economic problems. Our problems are greater by far than any comparable western or developed economy. Yes we would have been under economic pressure but we would not be faced with such issues as NAMA, Anglo Irish Bank, negative equity, house price deflation and an inability to legislate properly for such economic challenges. These issues are unique to Ireland and they are a direct cause of the hooky mindset.
The lucky gambler ensured that positions of authority, state positions and political positions alike were staffed by yes men who subscribed to this disgraceful philosophy. As a result ministers, senior public servants and appointees to state boards were all political appointments, appointed only because of their political allegiances and political friendships. Rarely if ever did ability, qualifications or competence come into the mix. Brian Cowen follows this self same philosophy.
In Government we have the same scenario. For example Mary Coughlan is widely regarded as being an abject failure in the Dept of Enterprise Trade and Employment. She is regarded by many as being the worst minister in living memory. So when the reshuffle came about it was reasonable to assume that she would be demoted and taken out of harms way. But no, in typical Fianna Fáil fashion the deckchairs were shifted about and she was appointed to the position of minister for education. This is a serious indictment of the importance this Government places on education. Ability or competence were not even considered.
Virtues such as integrity, qualifications or merit were never important to people like the lucky gambler and his bagman. Look after your own and they will look after you and the rest do not count is the creed.
Until we rid the country of this mindset we will not solve the greater issues facing the country. We cannot solve them because those with the mandate to solve them do not have the ability. They do not have the ability because they were not appointed on merit. You could say the same for Government!
