Lame Duck Donegal County Council, Corruption and Councillor's Inaction over O'Donnell Controversy

January 27, 2016

Reaction and inaction of Donegal Councillors over appearance of the infamous Cllr John O'Donnell at the council meeting in Lifford, Co Donegal, Monday, January 25thSee Winds of Corruption Hit Donegal

In good company left to right - Top Padraig Flynn,  Ray Burke, Bertie Ahern, Liam Lawlor, Brien Cowan, Charles Haughey, Bottom - Hugh McElbaney, John O'Donnell, Joe Queenan — In good company left to right - Top Padraig Flynn, Ray Burke, Bertie Ahern, Liam Lawlor, Brien Cowan, Charles Haughey, Bottom - Hugh McElbaney, John O'Donnell, Joe Queenan

The following is an extract from DonegalDaily, Monday Jan 27, 2016. Click on opposite photograph of Cllr O Donnell taking his seat at council.

Cllr John O'Donnell, takes his seat in council council.   DonegalDaily, — Cllr John O'Donnell, takes his seat in council council. DonegalDaily,

UPROAR AT COUNCIL AS McBREARTY LOSES BID TO EXPEL CLLR JOHN O’DONNELL

CLLR Frank McBrearty has lost in his bid to have Cllr John O'Donnell kicked off council committees.
Councillors voted for a counter motion from Cllr Ian McGarvey and seconded by Cllr Nicholas Crossan allowing for 'due process' in the controversy

Councillors voted 20 votes to 12 in favour of moving on from the issue and to allow the current investigation into O'Donnell to continue.
Councillors John Campbell and Michael Mac Giolla Easbuig walked out of the meeting.
The meeting had to be suspended as members of the public walked out and staged a noisy protest just outside the council chamber.
Earlier councillors were told that they cannot expel controversial councillor O'Donnell.
The council had already ruled they cannot remove him as a council.
Cllr O'Donnell arrived at the January monthly meeting in Lifford today before it started.
He took his seat without talking to councillors. He has been at the centre of a media storm since an RTE programme broadcast on December 7 showed him offering favours to an undercover journalist team in return for payment.
Cllr Frank McBrearty told the chamber that he knew that the council could not remove O'Donnell from his seat as a councillor.
However he said the council did have the power to remove the Kilmacrennan man from council committees.
"We need to send a clear signal to this country that we will not tolerate corruption in Ireland and more specifically here in Donegal," said Cllr McBrearty.

The motion was seconded by Cllr John Campbell.

However council director Liam Ward said based on legal advice given to the council, councillors did not have power to expel Cllr O'Donnell from committees.
Today I have been attacked by councillors from Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein for walking out of the council chamber yesterday.
I am very disappointed that only myself and Independent Cllr John Campbell were prepared to walk out on a point of principle.
In December all councillors attended a special meeting and called on O'Donnell to resign but a month later they are not prepared to back that up by voting with their feet.
They had a chance to remove O'Donnell from his committee positions but refused even to do that. The next item on the agenda was the disposal of council assets.
This is precisely the kind of decision which is compromised by the continuing presence of O'Donnell in the chamber and shows why every means to pressurise him should be used to force him to stand down.

But instead of maintaining the pressure on O'Donnell, the political parties have chosen to close ranks and attack me and John Campbell instead. I can only assume our walkout has angered them by exposing their unwillingness to take any action.

The following is an extract from DonegalNow, Wednesday, Jan 27, 2016. Click on opposite photograph to read full article.

MAC GIOLLA EASBUIG ACCUSEd COUNCILLORS OF ATTACKING HIM OVER O'DONNELL WALKOUT

A Donegal councillor has lashed out at councillors he accuses of attacking him for walking out of the Donegal County Council meeting yesterday.

Michéal Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig said he has been attacked by councillors from Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin following a walkout staged by himself and John Campbell yesterday in protest at the presence of Councillor John O'Donnell.

"I am very disappointed that only myself and Independent Cllr John Campbell were prepared to walk out on a point of principle," said Mac Giolla Easbuig.

In December, all councillors attended a special meeting in which they called on John O'Donnell to resign, but Mac Giolla Easbuig said he is disappointed they were not willing to vote with their feet yesterday.

"Instead of maintaining the pressure on O'Donnell, the political parties have chosen to close ranks and attack me and John Campbell instead. I can only assume our walkout has angered them by exposing their unwillingness to take any action," he said.

"What goes on in Lifford at meetings every second month only consumes a fraction of my time working as a councillor. The people know how hard I work on their behalf," Mac Giolla Easbuig said.

Councillor Dessie Shiels, from Letterkenny, did not attend the council meeting because he objected to Cllr John O'Donnell's presence.

The Great National and Local Political Swindle

January 25, 2016

Article by Enda Craig and James Quigley

A Shattering Discovery

What if you found out that you have been swindled or betrayed by your local and national political representatives? What if you found out that your representatives were not representing you and all that they were doing was feathering their own nest? What if you found out what you thought was democracy was nothing short of a hoodwink?

Well we are informing you now that this is exactly the case. There is and has been, since the foundation of the State, a massive hoodwink of the people. Ok, you are supposedly free to elect someone. However, they don't tell you that this person chosen by you, can manipulate you, lie and promise you the moon and stars and they can do whatever they want for the next five years without anybody having a say.

You are brainwashed into thinking that you live in a democratic country where you have power through the ballot box. Does the richest 20% who own 70% the wealth of Ireland not tell you anything? See Ireland’s Great Wealth Divide, by economist David McWilliams

Do the continuous tribunals throughout our short history not give you a clue? See Public Inquiries in Ireland

Just do a quick trawl through Wikipedia's 'Corruption in Ireland' or take a look at an article by Niall O'Dowd, entitled 'Corrupt Politicians Always Ruled Ireland'. He states “When it comes to corruption in Ireland no one was clean or safe. Not the founder of the state de Valera or the most “honest” politician FitzGerald, or the longest serving taoiseach Ahern. Add in the various golden circles that surrounded most of the Irish political leaders and you have a fair old recipe for corruption and graft on a massive scale.”

Can you see the big question yet?

It's not until it comes to our own back yard that the reality of corruption and the ineffectual response to it, or the question of what power and representation citizens really have, hits home.

Our worst fears have been confirmed by today'sarticle, January 25th, in Donegal Daily 'Councillors told they cannot expel Cllr John O'Donnell from Committees'.

RTE Investigates Corrupt Irish Politicians

On December 7th RTE Investigates Unit aired a program 'Corrupt Irish Politicians'. (click photo). This program blew the lid of what seems to be massive corruption to Irish politics.

Among other details of widespread fraud, it showed three local authority Councillors, John O'Donnell, Ind, Donegal, Joe Queenan, FF, Sligo and Hugh McElvaney, FG, Monaghan, easily solicited by a bogus wind farm company and how they agreed to work on the firms behalf in their respective counties. However, for this service they asked for money.

The content shocked the nation. However, most people were not surprised. This feeling was summed up by Catherine Murphy, Social Democrat TDin Leaders Questions December 8th . She stated in the Dail “ what I saw sickened me, however, it did not surprise me. There is a culture of non compliance and utter lack of effective enforcement.”

The feeling in Donegal was no different to the rest of the country and even the dogs in the street knew corruption goes on all the time, that it is only the tip of the iceberg.

The irony is that it took a national broadcasting service to expose the the corruption and the disregard of politicians for the people and their blasé attitude. As if it was an everyday occurrence, the norm. It took RTE to do what the government should have done, protect the people.

This lack of duty by our politicians, councillors, our representatives begs many questions about our democratic system. Why are they in office and what is their contract of employment?

Still Nothing done

It is now over six weeks since the programme aired and nothing has been done both nationally and locally. Apparently nothing can be done. There is no legislation to deal with it. At local council level it is business as usual and none of the three councillors have resigned their council seats. The only inconsequential result was that both Mr Queenan and McElvaney have distanced themselves from their respective parties. One possible reason for this is to save the party's reputation because of impending elections. There will be no sanctions, no prosecutions, no expulsions from office, no loosing pensions, no loosing salary or perks. And the people who sent them to office have no say in the matter whatsoever.

It is a sorry state of affairs to see a few councillors acting with integrity and not get backed by all councillors. See Donegal Now acticle Councillor Refuses to Work with Cllr John O'Donnell. The system whose duty it is to act on the public's behalf is broken, trust is gone and we have been let down once again. Are our representatives running for the hills, protecting themselves by making excuses, oh well, what can we do, sure there's no legislation?

It is even worse to see Cllr McBrearty removed from the Joint Policing Committee by chairman Gerry McMonagle after asking for the removal of John O'Donnell from the committee in Lifford. DonegalDaily, Janurary 22nd.

Ordinary people do the right thing.

It takes a community groups to show gutless politicians the way. On January 20th a Letterkenny Community Residents Group made the following statement

"We decided at the monthly meeting last night that we will not invite John O'Donnell to attend future meetings with our group” DonegalDaily Jan20

The System is broken – Trust is Gone. But what really is happening

When individuals/candidates apply for a position in a company the following scenario would usually be the norm.

The candidate would apply for a position. They would attend an interview where they would attempt to convince the potential employer/boss that they are the right person for the job. If successful they would be given a contract, outlining what the job's responsibilities and criteria would be. This contract would stipulate terms and condition and what could happen in the event of certain types of unacceptable behaviour or practices.

In extreme cases the employee/candidate could find themselves, at least, being dismissed if found in contravention of employment conditions. It could even result in prosecutions and jail. This could happen anytime from the moment they were employed.

So why in the profession of politics should things be any different? Where has the power/right of the employers, the people, gone? Surely the employees can not be relied to decide for themselves.

BUT THEY ARE.

And you might wonder why there should be any difference in the employer/employee relationship.

Who are the employers of elected representatives? What is their job, their contract, their terms and conditions? There does not appear to be any. Should it not be the case that those who elected the candidate, YOU, that you are the employers? And if the candidate refuses to or does not adhere to the contract, or there is gross misconduct, then we, as employers, should be in a position to remove them.

It is no wonder that politicians behave in such a carefree, couldn't care careless, manner. It is not surprising that they treat their employers and employment with such utter disdain. It's the cart before the horse or the employee dictating to the employer.

Our representative get FIVE years of untouchability. The vast majority of them recognise they have been given carte blanche to grab and take as much as they possibly can get their grubby hands on. There is an accountability deficit here which glaringly demonstrates the weakness in the employer/employee relationship.

Take for example the case of Donegal County Councillor John O'Donnell. It should not be left to his colleagues to decide his punishment/fate for his well documented behaviour. They are simply his fellow workers and more importantly our employees.

They should be acting on our behalf. If they don't know what to do then ask us. Follow the courageous example of the Letterkenny Resident Community Group. The Councillors are not as ineffectual as they make out.

Ok, the system is broken and apparently there is no adequate legislation to deal with the problem. That's hard to believe. At least do what some councillors did, refuse to have anything to do with fraud and corruption.

It can not be left to politicians/employees to monitor, judge and police themselves. It is glaringly obvious that they most of our representatives are unwilling to do anything about it or even to admit to the weakness in the system. We can not trust them. It should be up to their employers, the people, to dismiss their representatives as and when required. This could, for example be 'Recall', practiced in many other countries.

It is the people, that should put in place a system that allows them to immediately recall their public representatives who behave and demonstrate they are no longer fit for purpose.

By making the comparison with ordinary employment protocols, we demonstrate how the ordinary people are being hoodwinked and disenfranchised by a totally cynical system.