As An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, prepares for his departure from office in May, we dug into the archives to find an interview with David and Bertie from May 2002, 2 days after the general election, as it became apparent that the outgoing government would be returned.
Video Interview, runtime: 15:34 Original Air Date: 19th May 2002
This video is no longer available.
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“A political donation for personal use” – Seriously. Any other country would have got rid of him on the spot. We Irish are stupid, blind and apathetic. If he bled us out of millions, we deserved it.
Come off it Jerry. Bertie delivered on Health, Education,Infrastructure, Unemployment and GFA. He even allowed a breath of fresh air to ventilate the whole clerical abuse miasma, in spite of his personal distaste for the matter. Ireland is a better place from almost every point of view, compared with when Bertie first entered cabinet. Who cares if his personal affairs got a bit tangled? Only the culchee politicos who never had the breadth of vision to understand what the likes of the O’Reillys, the Ryans, Denis O’Brien and a few dozen others are trying to do. Bertie was a match… Read more »
Bertie delivered on Health,Education,Infrastructure, Unemployment and GFA….; My arse, they have completely wasted the spoils of the last 10-15 years growth. We still have 3rd world heath care, over crowded class rooms, prefab class rooms through out the country, how many parents have to make voluntary contributions to their childrens school, the M50 mess, CIE still 3rd world, no integrated ticketing, all road projects are over budget and late by years, unempolyment is now back to 1999 figures. They have completely wasted the fruits of the celtic tiger, Bertie and FF will be exposed for the wasters, bottlers ther are.… Read more »
Tom, you’re wasting your time – Bertie and Bev. are the best that this country will ever elect – we know that we’re on a mission to nowhere. So chill out like a stereotypical Caribbean and just let it all go by.
It’s instructive to compare the resignation of Bertie with the ongoing crisis of confidence and credibility of the Speaker of the House of Commons here in Britain. Malcolm McC says: “a lot of carping over a few thousand punt”. There’s a lot of British MPs who seem to feel the same way about their expenses! But surely the whole basis of governance comes down to trust in elected officials? Never mind Ireland’s reputation in the world. If Bertie is found to have misused his position with regard to undeclared donations that were a ‘political donation for personal use’: What else… Read more »
Andrew GM says “But surely the whole basis of governance comes down to trust in elected officials.” Not so. Andrew. The whole basis of governance is the production of results that the electorate approves of. Politics everywhere is a dirty business and money is an essential lubricant. However, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. That’s why the Fourth Estate is a Free Press. If the press fails to fulfill this role then we all pay the price, which is why we should all support newspapers that are truly independent and not afraid to dig the dirt. The constraint on… Read more »
I have commented on this in other blogs so am not getting into it here but I have to respond in a similar way to the almost incendiary comments Malcom made…..ah f**k it….. It is not good character to take responsibility for the things he said he did. Just being there as the tide rose is not enough to claim responsibility for the tide rising. The point that Bertie did anything can only be judged by the results – which by all accounts are going to be dismal in at least the short term-medium term. We will likely here one… Read more »
Malcom McC: I agree with you that a fearless press is an essential ingredient of Democracy. Having watched the scandal of the Saudi / British Aerospace ‘deals’ unfold: Bertie Ahern just seems like a clueless amateur in comparison. I’m just trying to establish if Bertie is a lone ‘sinner’ or part of a wider degeneracy within the Irish political class. From reading this blog it seems lots of Irish citizens tend to the latter view. If the Electorate take it as given that all Politicians are corrupt: Isn’t that giving the green light to all Citizens to become corrupt- cook… Read more »
You illustrated my point very well with the example of “If the Electorate take it as given that all Politicians are corrupt: Isn’t that giving the green light to all Citizens to become corrupt- cook the books- fiddle the expenses- not declare the Polish nanny’s wages and her plumber boyfriend in the attic, etc? ” Leaders are the people who set the example for others and have a huge responsibility to maintain consideration of that responsibility. There are plenty of examples in other countries where press or public decry the mis-actions of their leaders and expect them to be accountable… Read more »
Lads,
I think your are seriously underestimating Berties vision when he pulled Bev back into the fold. You are looking at what may be the 13th leader of the country and possibly our interim Finance Minister.
With the banking system going to hell in a basket and debts rising all over the place Bev’s experience in banking dealings and managing and deflecting huge personal debt may save us all!
I’ve got to believe that there is one other person in this “highly educated” population that we have that has this experience and who is not overshadowed by the implications of Bev’s wrongdoing – this is a person who failed to prove that she did not advise on tax evasion! As Andrew GM said, it is not just about experience in politics, the effectiveness of any political party is massively dependent on their reputational assets and their ability to convey that reputation to the electorate. Ultimately, what I believe is that there is no attention being paid to the cultural… Read more »
GOM, we’re a young state in comparison with our European neighbours and we still carry a certain disregard for authority which stems from our colonial past. Electing dodgy characters is a sort of guarantee that the system will remain flexible and not overly authoritarian. This may be feel nice and comforting to the electorate, but there is a downside and this is inhibits our progress towards becoming a well organised society. Then again, do we want to live in an organised Switzerland or a flexible Ireland, the choice is ours and so far, the electorate definitely wants the latter. This… Read more »
I like characters – people who are quirky and I belive creativity flows from them much more easily than the “Steady Eddies” (BTW just coincidence your name is ED – not meant as a jab!). In fact, in some of my hiring decisions I force myself to hire quirky types and, to a person, they have all strongly contributed to the successes my company has had. I don’t believe I am being naive and I do know, to as reasonable an extent as any Irish person, the culture that exists here, I did grow up here and for the most… Read more »
Nice one Ed. Very much on the ball. I also think there will be a few more iterations of these cockups before we start thinking clearly to shake off the “stigma”. People here have too rosy eyed a view of being fickle and anti-authoritarian. I think this coming recession will be the cold water that’ll get people to pay attention. You see, there is really no where to run to now. The clever and middle classes are stuck here. This recession is global and it may get nasty out there. Running to the US or New Zealand or Australia etc.… Read more »
Thank You Bertie. Thank you for : Ruining the Health Service, allowing an uncontrolled immigration policy force hundreds of thousands of Irish out of their jobs in place of under-paid migrants who live with exploitation and prejudice. Giving up our claim to the North and allowing a cheat like Beverly Flynn back into the fold, letting us fall so much into debt and be the first victim of the recession about to hit our shores. Dumbing down the education system by under-employing and not expecting so many language support specialists needed to the thousands of migrant children who don’t understand… Read more »
“Tom, you’re wasting your time – Bertie and Bev. are the best that this country will ever elect – we know that we’re on a mission to nowhere. So chill out like a stereotypical Caribbean and just let it all go by.”
You are right, this is Ireland, This is tribalism, it will not change in our lifetime if ever.
Tom said:
” they are afraid to make any hard decision, take on any vested interest. Bough ever election with spending and promises”
Thats it really, the rest is waffle..