Will Bertie resign over payments???

you know as a fan of verbiage its fun to see the linguistic hoops aherns jumping through at the moment, he's really taking sophisty to a new level. of course this is when hes says something beyond "im not answering that question", which I'll be honest is the first time i recall him ever saying that. usually ahern has some vocal sidestep up his sleeve which neatly illustrates how much trouble i think hes in. I've never seen him handle an issue so badly.

the whole nonsense about his communion money (unless that too was supplied by a particularly precient developer ) only shows a childishness and the fact he still wont reveal the amount he received with such vigor only leaves people wondering just how much it is? after all the guy was earning 75k a year as a minister. there isn't a bank in the country that wouldn't give him a loan of 10 to 50 thousand if he needed it with that paypacket, so the idea he only got 10 to 15 thousand is ridiculous. berties said the actual figure is a fraction of the one mentioned, but remember boys and girls 9/9ths is a fraction too! and that sort of lateral thinking with the facts is right up berties street

the real question here is do the irish media have the guts to pursue this potentially explosive story? particularly considering the tribunals have issued warnings over covering it. and on that issue why was private evidence allowed to be admited to the tribunal? i thought the idea was to have everything in the open.

its funny how the story is now shifting to aherns actions dealing with the story. was listening to newstalk earlier today and apparently bertie was in the courts threatening the papers and media with law suits if they coverd the story, apparently he got a heads up just before it broke . many of the comentators were saying if the privacy bill was in full effect we wouldve heard nowt about any of this. of course this is comming from journalists who arent exactly in favor of the bill. still doesnt say alot about our democracy when the taoiseach's acting like that, in fact it sounds more like a dictatorship brow beating the media to do what it wants, definetly a disturbing element to this

funny also how the attention has been focused on his marital seperation cost when the original story was about bertie getting a payment along with albert from a developer looking to build in clondalkin. whys everyone forgot about that one? apparently now the payments are "group loans" from several individuals who ,well, dont want the money back:D can someone please point me in the direction of these creditors seeing as the banks have been quite rude bastards to me! you know,what with actually wanting the money back along with some extortionate interest :eek: the real issue here though once again is the amount. the guys on a quater of a million a year now and he still hasnt paid them back? i dont want to over estimate the amount but when the haughy story broke everyone thought it was just a million, then turned out to be 9. so when bertie says the figures are "off the wall" is it because its too big, or massively too small. the obvious intention was its too big, but this is bertie were talking about so you have to scrutenise everthing he says from all possible angles

fact is we only have berties word that this has anything to do with his seperation at all. it could be just spin to deflect away from a corrupt payment.if im missing some facts please tell me but the only official word from the tribunals was about not reporting on this issue or any other confidential matter before them. playing the sympathy card isnt actually a new tactics in politics and you can bet FF are in full media spin mode now. some have said that he's been cleared from investigation by the tribunal but lets be honest how much faith can we actually have in them? in ten years theyve only convicted one corrupt politician. and he's been out of power for over 15yrs! you seriously expect em to jail bertie, a serving taoiseach? thats why this thing was leaked. do i think its all alturism on the part of the informant? no. but most of the most damaging revelations in this country have been on the back of leaks, not government bodies doing their jobs to root out corruption , malpractice or outright criminality. you only have to see how many bankers went to jail over the non resident account scandal to see that. hell even when they had haughey by the balls harney steps up and ensures the guy stays free. we wont get justice from the tribunals, just alot of waffle and protected criminals whom you cant convict cause the evidence revealed in a tribunal is inadmisable in a court of law. that why we need people like the informant, is it nice? no. but this is ireland and its the only way to get the truth out. it shames me to say that about my country but its an undeniable fact that people that come forward to expose corruption end up on the dole or working on the aran islands for their trouble. we simply dont have a culture of accountability in high places.

oh, one last thing. MACDOWEL?....were art thou! maybe hes grovelling to frank connolly who seems to have been right all along. wonder if he'll get his money back from the defamation case