Exposing Corruption in Ireland

For all the fuss about where Declan Ganley got his money, what about where the yes campaigners are getting their money this time around? The yes men for round two have regrouped and re-assessed their strategy. They know that politicians are too distant from the people, totally untrustworthy by now. The people need explananations not blind assurances. Celebrities, successful businessmen, sports stars for endorsement. Glosssy ads, expensive bilboards and most of all the threat of what’s to come should the people say "no" once again.

Pat Cox, Brigid Laffan, Martin Mackin and Brendan Halligan. It is Halligan who we will look at today and in particular the Institute of International and European Affairs. Halligans baby. The institute is like an umbrella organisation for the various yes campaigns we see sprouting up around the country. Since the IIEA is listed as a registered charity it avoids paying taxes, but such a perk forbids them from choosing political agendas or say, taking sides in the debate on Lisbon. We should be left in no doubt however, as to how the IIEA would vote on Lisbon II. 

Halligan uses funds he has funnelled into the IIEA to fuel these front runers of the yes campaign: 

• Ireland for Europe
• We Belong
• Generation Yes 
• Women For Europe

1. Ireland for Europe are the farcical group that rolled out Robbie Keane among others to convince us we got it wrong last time. Other patrons include Peter Sutherland and Garret Fitzgerald (Bildeburgers), Dennis Hickie, The Edge, the thief executive of National Toll Roads PLC, etc etc. They are the heavyweights, the ones with the most ads and most people handing out fliers. http://www.irelandforeurope.ie/index.html

2. We Belong use many of the same faces and several extras including Mick Galway, Mary McEvoy and Bill Cullen. Pat Gilroy features again but their tactics are as transparent as his footballers’. There is the lingering threat of what would happen should we vote no. Yes means jobs and jobs are what Ireland needs in the current climate. Cringe when Mick Galway the retired rugby player says: "Ireland has always played well on a European pitch and we’ve put in a lot of hard work over the years to stay ahead of the competition." We Belong couldn’t insult our intelligence any more. http://webelong.ie/

3. Generation Yes are being portryaed as the next generation with their future at stake. They are articulate Trinity College graduates with serious doors being opened for them and an endless stream of funding. Paraded around the media to make it seem like the younger voters are on board, Halligan has promoted its’ most ambitious into his bigger fronts [1]. A well funded website with multimedia section where they interview none other than Margot Wallstrom, "the parrot on the shoulder of Barossa". When we voted no last time she was first to ignore it, "what the people of Ireland really want is more Europe". http://www.generationyes.ie/

4. Women For Europe of all shapes and sizes, colours and races, smiling from ear to ear, appearing strong and independent, arms folded, hands on the hips. Excuse the fatsheep for sounding like a chauvenist but there are feminists all over the country that will fall for this ia an istant. So what has Europe done for the women of Ireland? Well, without the E.U we would still have our women in the kitchens and our dinners on the table. We never would have given them equal pay or maternity rights. And forget about equality in the workplace. Of them all, this is by far the most ridiculous of the yes campaigns. http://www.womenforeurope.com/

Each of these groups have offices they operate from. Right to privacy of donors means they won’t tell anyone who pays the lease. They’re all fairly savvy when it comes to dealing with the media. Goldhawk at The Phoenix commends them on knowing when to say what and how to say it but when all roads lead to Halligan, that comes as no surprise. 

The Institute for International and European Affairs is flaunting its pro Europeanism using our tax money. By enlisting Government departments as corporate members it has taken money from public coffers on a yearly basis since the early 1990’s. "Membership subscriptions" come at approx 6,000 Euro per annum per department. The IIEA recieved over 820,000 Euro in 2006 [2]. But by complying with the Standards in Public Office regulations and Electoral Acts there may be much larger sums that go unaccounted for.

Other interesting corporate members of the IIEA are The Irish Times, Independent News and Media Ireland and RTE. (see Bildeburger and Chips below) It should be elementary to us by now that the state broadcaster has the interests of the europhiles at heart. No surprise then that they want a debate slanted in favour of the yes vote [3]. They even host ads for the IIEA on rte.ie.

The establishment learned a lesson from the first Lisbon vote. They treated us with absolute contempt, hoping we would toe the line and vote yes to something they didn’t even explain to us. This time round they’re bombarding us with yes campaign propaganda. The fatsheep was in the cinema the other day and two ads came up asking "what has europe done for us?" it went on to explain the sweets and popcorn being eaten met European standards of quality. Nutritional information was given as per E.U. guidelines. The charm offensive is on. The E.U. is there for us. What should piss us off the most is that with Halligan channeling public money to fund his charm efforts, our own money is being used against us. 

1. http://www.thephoenix.ie/phoenix/subscriber/library/volume-27/issue-13/page-15.pdf
2. http://info-wars.org/?p=2988
3. http://www.caeuc.org/index.php?q=node/457