Liars and swindlers exposed by McCracken
BY MICHEAL MacDONNCHA
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What is at issue is the whole ethos in which leading members of
the political class in the state happily fiddle the tax system,
just as their business friends do
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The McCracken Report of the Tribunal of Inquiry into payments to
politicians by Ben Dunne was published this week and proved a
Godsend to the media which was starved of hard domestic news
during the silly season. The Irish Times donned its blackest
robes and predicted doom for the political class in the 26
Counties.
``There are no complexities in the report to be analysed and
interpreted. The argument about whether there has been something
rotten in the political system is over. The debate moves on to
what to do about it,'' said the Irish Times. But you would be
ill-advised to hold your breath.
True, there are no complexities in the report. Both Charles
Haughey and Michael Lowry stand condemned in the strongest terms.
But the argument among the plain people of Ireland about whether
there has been something rotten in the political system ended
long ago, not on the day the McCracken Report was published. It
probably ended in 1992 when Charles Haughey was driven from
politics when his lies over phone-tapping in the 1980s were
exposed, and when the Golden Circle of businessmen and
politicians was exposed. On Monday of this week, in an RTE vox
pop in Michael Lowry's North Tipperary constituency, most people
seemed to be of the view that Lowry should be left alone because,
after all, ``they're all at it''.
There is no doubt now about what Lowry and Haughey were at.
Haughey has been exposed as never before as a liar of the first
order. He lied through his teeth to the Tribunal just as he lied
at the Arms Trial in 1970, abandoning his fellow defendants. He
hived off his money into offshore bank accounts to avoid tax. His
lavish lifestyle - which he denied to the Tribunal - was
supported by gifts from Ben Dunne.
John Bruton's ``best friend'', former Minister for Transport,
Energy and Communications Michael Lowry is fully exposed as a tax
evader. Dunne helped him to evade tax and Lowry lived in the
businessman's pocket for years.
The Tribunal Report says that there is no evidence of ``political
favours'' in return for the money from Ben Dunne. But this surely
misses the point. It is exceedingly difficult to ferret out
individual cases of political strokes done by politicians for
business people. But it is not just a question of such examples.
What is at issue is the whole ethos in which leading members of
the political class in the state happily fiddle the tax system,
just as their business friends do. It is a question as much of
what is not done as of what is.
Social welfare `fraud' is pursued relentlessly while white-collar
crime, ripping the taxpayers off for millions, is neglected. If
the Revenue Commissioners had been given the full powers they
need, including many more staff and bigger funding, there would
not have been any need for a tribunal. And it should not be
forgotten that it was only because of a family row in the Dunnes
business empire that the whole can of worms was opened up.
The real question is not whether the political class is corrupt.
That is beyond question, and both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are
equally culpable. The real question is: What is the alternative?
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