We may have had poor leadership before, but we’ve never had worse

IAN PAISLEY Jnr had to resign this week as a junior minister in the Northern Executive headed by his father.

We had the sons of two famous political fathers in the news down here and the contrast in the treatment could hardly have been starker.

The political career of Liam Cosgrave — son of the Taoiseach of the same name and grandson of WT Cosgrave, the first president of the executive council of the Irish Free State — ended in disgrace. He was effectively disbarred and sentenced to 75 hours of community service in lieu of six months in jail for not disclosing to the Standards in Public Service Commission a payment of £2,500.

Cosgrave only got a pittance in comparison with the amounts that Bertie Ahern received. The Taoiseach admitted this week he did not declare two £5,000 political donations for personal use to the revenue for tax purposes. Is the disparity between his treatment and that of Liam Cosgrave justice?

Harry Colley — the son of former Tánaiste George Colley and grandson of another Dáil deputy after whom he was obviously named — was barred from practising as a lawyer for 12 months. The Law Society wanted him struck off as lawyer completely, but the High Court thought a year would be sufficient with some further restrictions for another couple of years.

He had frustrated the Law Society’s investigation of his practice. He and a colleague admitted to some 50 charges of professional misconduct and to operating a secret bank account in order to evade tax. They have already made an undisclosed settlement with the Revenue Commissioners. The firm’s main clients were health boards and they managed to stash away £32 million in the secret account in just three-and-a-half years between the beginning of 2000 and June 30, 2003.

Where did they get that money? Were the health boards paying legal advisers so much that two of them could hide that amount in just three-and-half years.

If they thought they could get away with hiding £32m from the Revenue, what was the total they were actually paid?

That relates to the period before Mary Harney took over as health minister, but she was in the news for attending the Super Bowl at the start of the month. She and her husband each had $700 tickets, and that was probably small in relation to the overall cost of attending the game.

If it had something to do with the health service one might understand, but that should have been clearly pointed out. She is being paid enough to fork up for her own tickets to games, like the people she is supposedly representing. Of course, that is another pittance in comparison with a further disclosure in the past week that as much as €2.5 billion may have been ripped off the taxpayer in a conspiracy to rig tenders for public contracts.

Should anyone really be surprised in the light of other recent disclosures? Bertie’s bunch are moaning about the extravagance of the Mahon tribunal, but they are the ones who set the fees for the tribunals and they are supporting their leader as he drags the whole thing out.

The move to claim privilege for his statements in the Dáil really takes the prize for contemptible arrogance. That case will be heard in a special High Court sitting on April 1 — how appropriate. Bertie and his lawyers have been treating us all like fools.

Any Oireachtas member can tell people to get lost if they seek to question any statement made in the House, but it should be political suicide to adopt such an attitude unless it was in defence of some fundamental principle, such as protecting the identity of a whistleblower.

By claiming Dáil privilege for his explanation of his own behaviour, the Taoiseach is insulting the electorate. He is in effect suggesting nobody has a right to question him on how he represents people in our democracy.

The Bertie bunch would have us believe his behaviour was perfectly normal and acceptable. We may have had poor leadership before, but we have never had worse. Providing good example is supposed to be the essence of leadership, but we have been getting lousy example.

The Taoiseach admitted on Thursday he did not pay income tax on two gifts of £5,000 each. What has it to do with Quarryvale, the Fianna Fáil claque ask.

Are they trying to suggest nobody should mention the Taoiseach evading tax unless it had something to do with Quarryvale? Whether Ahern was involved in Quarryvale, or never even got a penny from Owen O’Callaghan, is now beside the point. His position is already untenable.

Yet his lawyers are behaving as if people should agree with them that he is being victimised because the tribunal lawyers have the effrontery to expose his wrongdoing that amounts to political corruption.

Maybe the kind of money he received is small compared to what Charlie Haughey got, but at least Haughey had the decency to be embarrassed.

Ahern seems to have got £5,000 contributions for himself from so many people he is unable to remember them all. He would have us believe there was nothing wrong with accepting money from people — friends, or so-called friends. “I quite frankly don’t see anything wrong with that,” he said openly in January. Yet as Taoiseach in 1997 he warmly endorsed the tribunal report of Judge Brian McCracken denouncing Haughey on the grounds it was “quite unacceptable that a member of Dáil Éireann, and in particular a cabinet minister and Taoiseach, should be supported in his personal lifestyle by gifts made to him personally. The tribunal stresses a point I have repeatedly emphasised, that public representatives must not be under a personal financial obligation to anyone”.

If it was wrong for Haughey to accept such money as a member of government, it was equally wrong for Ahern to do so. It has already been shown that at least six of those who contributed to his infamous dig-outs were subsequently appointed to senior public positions.

HAUGHEY never appointed Ben Dunne to any board despite the millions Dunne gave him. The Taoiseach initially said there were no tax implications in relation to the money he received, but now we know that was not true. Ahern’s credibility is in tatters along with the credibility of those who argue that such misbehaviour should be ignored.

Before last year’s general election he asked people to suspend judgment until he was given the opportunity to testify before the Mahon tribunal, but this year he has had the audacity to claim the people had essentially endorsed his credibility on these matters by their votes in the general election. This is patently disingenuous.

The behaviour of his Fianna Fáil defenders reminds me of the story of the reverend mother who called a crisis meeting of the convent community.

“Sisters,” she announced, “we have a case of gonorrhoea in the convent.”

“Well, thanks be to God!” one elderly nun exclaimed. “I’m sick of that chardonnay!”

The nicest thing one can say about the people who see nothing wrong with a politician pocketing thousands is that they are totally out of touch with sordid reality. Such innocence may be admirable in a nun, but it’s absurd in a politician.