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The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

The Saker >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link The Sheer Bad Craziness of UK Immigration Law Tue Jul 01, 2025 19:30 | Dr David McGrogan
A sensible country does not seek to 'manage' foreign sex offenders and drug traffickers 'in the community', says Dr David McGrogan. It ejects them. It's well past time UK law were changed to make this absolutely clear.
The post The Sheer Bad Craziness of UK Immigration Law appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link 40% of Babies in England Had Foreign-Born Parent in 2024 Tue Jul 01, 2025 18:09 | Will Jones
More than 40% of babies in England ? and over two thirds in London ? had a parent who was born outside the country in 2024, new figures reveal, as statistics underline the extreme pace of change in Britain.
The post 40% of Babies in England Had Foreign-Born Parent in 2024 appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link How Feminist Ideology Captured Psychology Tue Jul 01, 2025 15:31 | Bettina Arndt
Legendary sex therapist Bettina Arndt writes for the Daily Sceptic to lament the feminist takeover of psychology, grieving for a generation of boys drowning in anti-male propaganda that neuters their masculine instincts.
The post How Feminist Ideology Captured Psychology appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Miliband to Cover Britain?s Lakes in Floating Solar Panels Tue Jul 01, 2025 13:00 | Will Jones
Lakes and reservoirs will be covered with solar panels under Ed Miliband?s plans to quadruple the use of the technology in Britain.
The post Miliband to Cover Britain’s Lakes in Floating Solar Panels appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Council Boss Defies Reform Leadership Over Pride Flag Tue Jul 01, 2025 11:28 | Will Jones
The Chief Executive of Warwickshire County Council has defied the authority's newly elected Reform leadership by?refusing to take down a Pride flag, leading to warnings that "a coup d'etat is underway in Britain".
The post Council Boss Defies Reform Leadership Over Pride Flag appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Whitewash: Report On Broadband Is A Cover Up

category national | crime and justice | press release author Wednesday November 28, 2018 23:30author by PBP - People Before Profit Report this post to the editors

The report into the activities of the former Minister, Denis Naughton, on rural broadband is a total whitewash.

Naughton held eighteen meetings, and five dinners with representatives of Granahan McCourt. Minutes of these meetings were not kept and there were often no civil servants present. Yet the company was a bidder for the lucrative broadband contract.

But aside from Naughton’s unusual behaviour, there is an even bigger scandal looming.

Rural broadband was originally supposed to cost some hundreds of millions. But the latest estimate puts that figure at a staggering €3 billion.
20170907_broadband_report.jpg

Once again privatisation means huge costs for Irish taxpayers.

Up to 1999, the telephone network was run by a state company, Telecom Eireann. But the Fianna Fail government decided to copy Margaret Thatcher and sell it off. Ever since then, disaster has piled on disaster.

Instead of providing long term investment to install broad band, a series of private owners simply asset stripped the company, which had been re-named Eircom.

By October 2010, for example, Ireland was ranked 29 out of 30 countries, ahead only of Mexico for broadband speed. Only a fifth of the population had access on that date.

Yet this disaster presented another opportunity for private companies to further blackmail the government.

One of the first companies to bid for contracts was Enet, a small company based in Michael Noonan’s Limerick constituency but backed by Granahan McCourt.

It won an original contract to bring broadband to 94 towns but after a meeting with Fine Gael Minister, Michael Noonan, this contract was extended without any tender being issued. The extension pushed up the value of Enet and then, lo and bold, the state controlled Irish Investment Fund bought a major stake in the company for approximately €150 million.

On one hand, a state decision to extend a contract increased the price that another arm of state paid for a share in a private firm. You could not make it up!

Then, mysteriously, the Irish Investment Fund bought the remaining share of Enet for an undisclosed sum.

Meanwhile in a move that is not unknown among multi-nationals who bid for state contracts, two other consortiums pulled out of a bid to install rural broadband.

That left behind David McCourt, the founder and chairman of McGranahan McCourt, the company from which the state’s Investment Fund had bought shares in Enet.

As the last bidder, McCourt has the state over a barrel – or more precisely he looked on as the state threw itself over that barrel.

And in a final twist of fate, McCourt quietly announced that the make-up of his own consortium had changed.

The main supplier of the physical infrastructure would now be a new company, Actavo owned by none other than Denis O Brien.

Actavo used to be known as Siteserv and faced considerable criticism over how it won contracts to install Irish water meters.

But here it is again, standing at the ready to take its slice of another lucrative state contract – after many mysterious moves.

Only in Ireland, as they say!

The report can be found at: https://www.dccae.gov.ie/documents/NBP_Procurement_Process_Audit_...8.pdf

Related Link: http://www.pbp.ie/whitewash-report-on-broadband-is-a-cover-up/
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