Minister Ryan learns to use His Training Wheels

by C Murray Sat Sep 08, 2007 16:42

Quote:-

"In the first public indication that the party intends to support Fianna Fail on a treaty
referendum next year, Mr Ryan, when asked if he was in favour of the treaty, said
"Yes, when you look at how the EU has benefitted Ireland environmentally, but also
economically and socially"
er...
Ireland has a responsibility not to alone take the benefits of the EU but to uphold
directives and agreed laws on:- Asylum (protection), Heritage (directives), Education
and human rights. Meaning its not all about accrued benfits, the Government has claimed
not to have received knowledge of the pending case on Tara, whilst pushing ahead with
a highly dipsuted motorway and of course endangered the physical health and safety
of campaigners who have consistenlty outlined the paucity of protections to our
environmental responsibility within the EU.

Its front page main headline:- Irish Times.

by - Sun Sep 09, 2007 20:10

FF and now Green have an interesting way of using the tools available through the media.

1. Junket and Press release affairs- this involves launching a Bill before it goes to the Houses.
Media are invited.
2.Press /PR/ Official statements- a whole office of people are involved in these things and
they always make the first five pages of the national papers.
3.Controlled release or 'Leaking'- this is trickier, off-hand remarks such as Ryan's
'accrued benefits of the EU', get front page splashes.
4.Sometimes they are 'slow burners' and get embedded into hidden paragraphs within the
body of the newspapers but are used again for reference by research and editorialising teams.

[for many years the slavish journos worked really hard, milling through the PR timed
releases of Mc Dowell's offices, whilst copious press release on everything from
Shannon to GM was ignored from GP- it must be very safisfying getting major
broadsheet kudos= it shouldn't be let go to the head]

by BRéNOC Mon Sep 10, 2007 17:33

.
So the Greens now believe that we should vote for any proposal that comes from our overlords in Brussels, based on the "accrued benefit" argument.
That's sounds exactly like the reasoning that FF have used for many years, to justify selling out on Irish sovereignty.
After only three months in power the Greens have not only sold out on core issues but they now cannot even think for themselves.
Can a full amalgamation between FF and the Green Party be that far away?

by billy idle Mon Sep 10, 2007 20:43

Sad to see whats going on with the GP given that there are a large number of decent members who haven't sold out, Patricia McKenna being a case in point.

PS - Funny poster but the sad thing is that our so called"sophisticated" electorate can't get enough of these "Cock" Roach politicians who will continue to infest the dail making Ireland an increasingly unattractive and grubby place to be like anywhere else with a simliar vermin problem.

by C Murray Thu Sep 20, 2007 18:42

Eamon is being interviewed at the moment...

The Greens justify their decision to support a Government in Health and Eco crisis because
otherwise their policies on :- Climate Change would not be transferred into power, therby
changing the way we think about our usage of 'power'- (interesting spin)

The Health system is in free fall with local hospital and community intervention in emergencies,
starved of resource (with attendant demoralised and angry staff, who put patient care first).

The Eco disaster that is urban sprawl and petrol dependency (which is unsustainable) is
translated into 'Mr Roche did it, my hands are tied'- at Tara.

Poolbeg is beyond the ken of the Environment Minister who is not allowed legally comment on the
announcement on the tendering of the incinerator.

The Reform Treaty is being rationalised by the Greens as 'accrued Benefits' of EU membership, in
the face of overwhelming evidence of breach of heritage and habitat directives, (+Planning
Bills that do not give demonstrable level of commitment to protections).

and the SIB allows for nuclear and GM.

The 'Programme for Government' should be available in the Molesworth Street Government
Publications office) . the current interview is on Newstalk 106 which does an internet livestream.

by C Murray Mon Oct 15, 2007 12:49

Last January Angela Merckel (as head of EU and leader of the G8) began negotiating a
Transatlantic trade agreement with the US. The issue was discussed almost solely in the
Financial Times (will search link). The impetus of the agreement was the usual globalised
corporate organisational methodology which is evinced in issues like food trade and
corporatism .There are numerous articles on CODEX and the FDA on the newswire.
Merckel link:- http://www.indymedia.ie/article/80456
Family as micro-economic unit:-http://www.indymedia.ie/article/83218

The Green Party has got the ball rolling in the media campaign for the Reform Treaty
which provides the architecture for globalised trading, details and links in the article above.
In the last weeks John Gormley too, added his voice to the campaign by asserting that
the Greens had indeed opposed every treaty, but the Reform Treaty and accrued
benefits of EU membership in environment and was something they would re-visit.
This second article in the Irish Times with the Greens pushing on Reform through
the FF pr machine would indicate that the party will go with FF on the issue.

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/breaking/1129...omnet

The Irish Times have thus far explored the Reform Treaty on these occassions without
allusion to the inherent problems of the treaty, which they also did during the
general election campaign. I would think that monitoring balance of coverage in
relation to how the issue is presented in the run-up to the campaign would be crucial.

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/80048

by C . Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:48

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/10/384109.html

The protests have begun in Portugal. Interestingly the media interests in Ireland sell the Reform
Treaty as a good deal without for once investigating the issue of globalisation and corporate
wealth. Our current programme for government provides the architecture for a 'Towards 2015'
economic paradise whilst neglecting to mention the bi-lateral/transatlantic deal with the US
and how that fits into -Production-Patents-Quotas and the business end of the FF ideal of what
comprises prosperity. The Irish Times has carried three or four major reports, including the
above one which made front page on a Saturday and an interview with Charlie Mc Creevy
on 'being left behind' if we do not ratify. Not once since the election have the Irish Times
nor the other 'broadsheets' looked at the Merckel Deal, the Treaty proper, or the issues surrounding
(for example) the food supply issue- where the Multi's and the FDA have tied up production and
are getting rid of competition through agressive techniques of labelling and utilisation national
agencies to implement anti-competition. None of the Broadsheets are looking at the role
of implementation agencies and the upcoming bureaucracies such as IMB which ensure the
patents of the corporates are safe guarded.

This info is coming out through the hard work of those who are discussing how globalisation
and bi-lateral agreements enrich the corporates whilst impoverish the producer and the
basic principles of democracy. But sure FF does not mind selling the Irish down the
river, as long as he can cling to the idea that wealth is not about self-determination and
minding the interests of the irish people but about clinging to bits of our history whilst
eroding our democracy. The Reform Treaty makes the Irish farmer and fisherman a slave
of the corporates and sells our natural resources for patents, whilst eroding our
democratic rights, tieing us up in 'production issues' with the US. But as long as Bertie is
fat and happy and holding bits of cultural and national iconography to justify 'peace'
and kid everyone that this is anything but globalisation -sure its grand. the irish never rebel
as long as they too can get fat and rich and move in 'polite society'.

Portugal Protests

by C Murray Sat Oct 20, 2007 15:22

How long is it since the Irish Times was a newspaper that gave principled impartial information so that people
could make up their minds about the huge issues that face them, instead of purveying corporate pap?
In the run up to the general election the editorial worked on the principle of a two party system and always
conveyed the 'alternative rainbow' as an option whilst ignoring the issues that were brought to the election by the
smaller parties (hospitals and schools mainly).In the run up to the Reform treaty, the I.T has front paged
three to four major stories on the importance of the reform to the Irish economy without once looking at
repurcussions of bi-laterals with the US or the defence implications of a Federal EU. There are issues
with food production, with energy supply and with the political repurcussions of expansion that are wholly
ignored by this and other papers- with one report this week on the UK/Ireland opting out on Justice
issues (which include the sharing of info on people trafficking) and no exploration of how societies involved
in globalised issues have produced a wealth class and eroded quality of life issues for people who
have become impoverished by the bi-laterals. this mornings front page has jose Manuel Barroso
adding his voice to Mc Creevy's on the financial and social implications of the Reform Treaty. to my
knowledge only the FT covered the transatlantic treaty signed by Merckel as head of the EU and
G8 in January 2006-

A marginal protest party , which has found itself supporting a government such as FF/PD
has not questioned how its minister for Marine can make an off-hand comment about the
accrued benefit of EU membership (in the teeth of Prosecution by the EU court over Tara )and
front page!

it would be nice if there was fair and equal coverage of how the Treaty will effect Ireland:
and not just economically and if some room were given to the parties and groups who have tried to highlight
the defence implications of a federal EU.
http://www.ireland.com [frontpage]
http://www.ireland.com/Newspaper/frontpage/2007/1020/11....html

by C Murray Thu Nov 15, 2007 10:11

The Pro-Lisbon treaty campaign had kicked of on the 8th of September with Eamon Ryan
(Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources) grabbing headlines
stating that on the basis of 'accrued economic benefits' the Green Party may support the
Treaty. They had opposed each and every Treaty including Nice II on the streets and in the
Dail. (statement and link above).

There are currently three Government Departments under EU scrutiny , with a fourth, a
judgement on women's reproductive rights in the pipeline. I pointed out at the time of Mr Ryan's
statement that the accrued benefits- both socially and environmentally have to be weighted
with community membership and responsibility.

The Dept of Health under the aegis of Ms Harney had benefited the VHI in a manner that
was judged to be anti-competition and the VHI has been ordered to comply with EU
insurances regulation. (dept 1.)

The Department of the Environment is being brought to Court by the European Court
for the decisions made on Tara, which being in breach of multiple habitat directives
may also be in breach of EU Law.

[Not to mention Irish law and responsibility to Heritage, through introduction of multiple
fast track planning laws which benefit the cronies whilst displaying no separate commitment
to laws to protect our natural and built heritage].
(Mr Roche, dept 2).

The EU has ruled that an Post may retain the Social Welfare Payments Budget which means
that the unions and workers who were facing into a tendering process by ,
Presumably social welfare (dept 3), in order to run down and privatise another company to
benefit whomever, has failed.

Thats three pretty serious cases against the State wherin the most crucial thing to these
departments has been to create job insecurity and run down services. The Tara issue
will take some time. I would ask again why campaigns for Lisbon do not admit of the
fact that not all the problems of EU membership emanate from the EU, but from an
inability to recognise that part of the accrued benefits of EU membership- both
'socially and environmentally' entail recognition of international rights and treaties
which FF have consistently and blindingly ignored.

{There are up to four reproductive rights cases dating over the fifteen years since 'X'
which this current and previous governments have failed to legislate for.}