Cóir Date: 20.06.2010

Statewatch, the NGO watchdog which concerns itself with safeguarding civil liberties, recently issued a report about an EU scheme designed to give government bodies access to telephone, mobile and internet data on people who voice or share "radical" political opinions. Euphemistically known as the EU's "data compilation instrument," this EU scheme seeks to force Europe's telephone, mobile and internet operators to store their customers' private conversations or correspondence for up to two years.

In its report, Statewatch said: "The ‘instrument’ is not primarily about people or groups intending to commit terrorist acts. But rather directed at people and groups who hold radical views described as those propagating 'RM' (radical messages)." And, such designated activists can be put under surveillance.

The Statewatch report goes on to ask and answer a key question: "Who is going to be using this 'instrument' placing a very wide spectrum of people and groups under surveillance? EU police forces, security and intelligence agencies plus ‘EU institutions and agencies.'"

Cóir spokesman, Brian T Hickey had this to say: "This is a very sinister development, indeed. What are 'radical views' and who exactly is going to determine how 'radical' is to be defined? For all of their liberal bona fides, the EU is a most illiberal organisation. And, heretofore, they have also been most intolerant to criticism of some of their glaring errors, even forcing resignation from some whistle-blowers who had the temerity to question the organisation's honesty."

He went on to add: "If the EU cannot accept criticism from those who work for it - presumably, friends at one point - then how can it logically accept criticism from those who have opposed 'ever-closer union' over the years? If one puts down in an email that he had voted against a European Treaty in the past, will he be visited by the Special Branch? If one says that she believes the EU is an emerging threat to civil liberties, will she be watched? If one is pro-life, pro-family and pro-national sovereignty, will you hear a knock on the door? This is a thoroughly retro-grade step, to be expected only from the people who brought the secret police and spying-on-one's-neighbour to the former Soviet Bloc."

Cóir Date: 20.06.2010

The idea of renaming Dublin Airport to 'Tom Clarke Airport' has been gaining momentum lately, especially as Ireland begins to make preparations to celebrate the centenary of the Easter Rising in 2016.

This project was originated by The 1916-1921 Club, which was founded in the 1940s to heal the divisions created by the Civil War. The Club is still active and, as one of its objectives is to cultivate the spirit of nationality and unity that marked the 1916-1921 periods, it developed and is promoting this airport name-change.

Many other countries honour their statemen by naming prominent airports after them. JFK is but one example. And though Clarke Train Station is named after Tom Clarke, it is felt by the Club that this is inadequate recognition for the first signatory of the Proclamation.

Richard Greene, Cóir spokesman, commented: "This would be a great way to honour the men and women who sacrificed so much to gain us our independence. The idea is being discussed by Senators and by TDs, but the Club would like for interested parties to contact their public representatives and write letters to the paper to help support this worthwhile project. Let's give the prominence to this period of Irish history that it deserves."

Cóir Date: 15.05.2010

NAMA Chief Executive, Brendan McDonagh, has revealed the shocking magnitude of the property hang-over the country is reeling from during his testimony to the Oireachtas Committee on Finance and Public Services.

With refreshing candour, Mr McDonagh admitted that, during the boom, there was a, “mindless scramble to funnel lending into one sector at considerable pace and [of] a reckless abandonment of basic principles of credit risk and prudent lending.”

“We can all see land and half-built developments which should never have been contemplated,” he said, adding that: “It is hard for anyone with an objective view to see how they made sense even at the top of an overheated property market.”

Because of this irrational and negligent behaviour, Ireland’s stock of vacant homes now stands at 345,000.

The ugly conclusion Mr McDonagh reached during his testimony, therefore, is that NAMA, “may well be faced with the very difficult decision of perhaps knocking down certain developments.”

On hearing of the latest news in the NAMA saga, Cóir spokesman, Brian T Hickey commented that: “The result of this “mindless scramble” and “reckless abandonment of basic principles” is that the tax-payer is being forced to subsidise the actions of the banks and developers to the tune of €43 billion. If the housing stock is knocked down, as Mr McDonagh suggests, certainly the banks and future developers will benefit, as inventory will summarily be reduced. But how on Earth will the public, who are paying for this property, benefit?”

“Demolishing whole developments would be a disgusting and contradictory act of waste, especially at a time when all the talk coming from the Government is about our “duty”, as citizens, to be green and the need to conserve our resources. It would seem to make more sense, therefore, to use these empty homes and invest in community building for those in need of affordable housing. The future financial considerations of some should never again be allowed to dominate our regulatory actions. Isn’t that partly how we got into this mess to begin with?”

Cóir Date: 15.05.2010

Leading No to Lisbon campaigners, Cóir, have said that warnings on loss of sovereignty and power are now sadly being realized as the EU flexes its Lisbon-enhanced muscles and threatens to seize control of Irish budgets.

“Our posters warned that ‘The EU loves control and cautioned against handing more power to the elite in Brussels. Now we’re sadly seeing that the EU post-Lisbon is moving fast to seize control even of our budgets – and that’s going to mean more pain for the Irish people,” said Mr Greene.

Mr Greene pointed out that the new EU voting weights post-Lisbon meant that it would be almost impossible for small states like Ireland to oppose the wishes of the EU Commission.

Yesterday the EU Commission said it wanted to compel Ireland and other euro states to submit draft budgets to Brussels before they were presented in national parliament. “Ireland is becoming like a junior employee who needs to submit her work to senior management for approval,” said Mr Greene.

The Cóir spokesman also said that Fine Gael’s reaction to the developments were deeply ironic given the party’s wholehearted support for the Lisbon Treaty.

Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton has now said that that the EU Commission proposals would give Brussels a final veto over Irish budgets and could undermine our low rate of corporation tax.
“It’s a little too late for Richard Bruton to worry about Irish sovereignty now,” said Mr Greene. “He should have been mindful of this when his party was out campaigning for a Yes to Lisbon and accusing No campaigners of telling lies.”

Mr Greene said that the political parties and Yes campaigners should now apologise to the Irish people for bullying them into accepting the Treaty, and “for causing this mess”. He added that the role of the EU in pushing for the harsh budget produced last November by Brian Lenihan had been seriously underreported by the media.