Christmas travel now a two-way process

Christmas has caught up on me far too quickly but as I write most of the family are currently travelling and will arrive in Galway sometime today, Saturday. We are excited about seeing them all, but most particularly our two small grandchildren who are flying in from Moscow. Over the past few days I have spent a great deal of time on the Internet monitoring flights across Europe to make sure that our sons and their wives and girlfriends and our grandchildren reached their destinations. I have monitored the progress of flights from Helsinki to Dublin. Bratislava to Dublin, Moscow to Dublin via Heathrow, and Edinburgh to Valencia via London Gatwick. The good news is that no one was delayed by more than an hour.
I am sure that the same concern was displayed one way or another in houses around the country. As recently as ten years ago the arrival of emigrants, returning home for Christmas, was the top story on most news bulletins in the days prior to Christmas. It still makes news but alongside a new phenomenon, that of immigrants going home to places such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia to be with their families at Christmas. We also have significant numbers of parents of immigrants arriving in Dublin from eastern Europe to spend Christmas in Ireland in the company of their sons and daughters. Although they will not arrive from Moscow until January 2, we are looking forward immensely to having our son Liam's mother-in-law and brother-in-law stay with us for a few days on what will be their first visit to Ireland. They will be here for the christening of Alina Maria on January 6.
The effects of the Celtic Tiger were very evident in Galway on Saturday morning. Pauline and I arrived in the Dunne's Stores car park at 8:10am and, while we did not have any difficulty in finding a parking spot, we took the first one we saw. The story was the same in the Galway Shopping Centre at 8:30am and when we reached the butchers from which we had ordered the turkey and ham there were 25 people ahead of us in the queue and it was no shorter when we left. The city centre was equally busy shortly after nine with long queues of cars waiting to enter the multi-storey car parks.

• Among the Christmas stories from different parts of the country we had:
  On Monday Dean Dr Houston McKelvey again took up position, in his black robes, outside St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast. In keeping with a tradition established by his predecessor he collected money for good causes throughout the week.
• Dublin was inundated with Santas on Wednesday when the students from Inchicore College of Education donned the appropriate gear to solicit funds for an organisation working with children of special needs.
• Students from Dublin's Belvedere College staged their annual sleep-out on the pavement at College Green, to raise funds for a number of selected charities.
• On Wednesday President Mary McAleese sent Christmas greeting to Irish troops serving overseas with the UN. Communication was via a live video link and some 200 relatives of the personnel involved were invited to Áras an Úachtaráin for the occasion.
• Civil Servants from the Department of the Taoiseach sang carols on the steps of Government Buildings on Thursday. To the fore was Mr Ahern himself, accompanied by Minister of State Tom Kitt.
• Overheard in a crowded Dunne's Stores on Thursday evening, "It was much easier in New York". For a significant number of Irish women (one report suggested that a recent Aer Lingus flight carried only a handful of men) Christmas shopping in New York has become a tradition. This year the drop in the value of the dollar made the visit even more attractive.

Haughey slated by Moriarty

The Moriarty report on the late Charles Haughey's financial affairs captured the total attention of the media. The report condemned the former Taoiseach on virtually all counts, accusing him of accepting payments of £9.12m between 1979 and 1996 in return for mostly unspecified favours. The sum involved is regularly converted into €45m "in today's money" but the Irish Independent went a stage further with the headline, "Haughey stole €45m".
While for the most part the tribunal failed to identify what Mr Haughey did in return for the money, Moriarty accused him of accepting £50k from a Saudi businessman in return for issuing 15 Irish passports to the man's Lebanese relatives. He was also accused of signalling that the Revenue Commissioners should reduce a potential tax bill for the Dunne family. The report went on to question the motives behind all Mr Haughey's political decisions.

• Allied Irish Bank was attacked for its firm denial to the Evening Press in 1983 that Mr Haughey had run up an overdraft of more than £1m. Various businessmen subsequently contributed to help bail the former Taoiseach out and the bank ultimately wrote off £393k.
• For many the most damning accusation was that Mr Haughey continued to seek donations to cover the cost of Brian Lenihan's liver transplant after sufficient was raised. The Tribunal claims that more than £265k was collected, but only £70k was required. Much of the excess, it was alleged, was "misappropriated.... for his personal use". The Lenihan family refuse to join in the condemnation, noting that their father's medical bills were taken care of in full. There was also an accusation that VHI broke its rules by contributing in excess of its guidelines towards the operation, which took place in the US.
• Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was mildly rebuked for signing blank cheques which allowed Mr Haughey to spend money from the leader's allowance account in whichever way he chose. It was this account which was used to pay personal bills at Dublin's Le Coq Hardi restaurant and to purchase Charvet shirts in Paris.
• Businessman Ben Dunne doesn't dispute the allegation that he gave more than £2m to Mr Haughey. He does insist, however, that he does not recollect making many of the payments. He has since repeatedly attacked the Tribunal for rejecting his evidence, for failing to seek information on his medical condition at the time, and for jumping to the wrong conclusion in relation to his meeting with Revenue chairman Séamus Paircéir. Mr Dunne reminded us that there was a time when he abused cocaine and he could not remember much of what he did while under the drug's influence.
• Financier Dermot Desmond also came out with all guns blazing when he attacked the tribunal. His financial contributions were more modest and made after Mr Haughey had left office. Despite the timing the tribunal believed it still had to investigate the transactions. It also rejected the claim that the money constituted a loan. Mr Desmond issued a statement in which he said, "I would like to thank the tribunal for exonerating me and finding that I received no favours from Charlie Haughey. I am sure the taxpayers are thrilled at the nine years and millions of euros in verifying the information which I issued in press statements in January 1998". Elsewhere he suggested that the legal team involved would have been fired long ago if they had worked in the private sector. The "delays" and "massive costs" involved were "inexcusable".
• The Haughey family described the report's findings as "perverse"; they particularly took exception to the claims about the Brian Lenihan Fund, the relationship with Ben Dunne and allegations about passports. They repeated the claim that the £50k paid by Sheikh Mahmoud Fustok was for the purchase of a yearling horse.
• Fianna Fáil politicians for the most part said nothing; Taoiseach Bertie Ahern regretted signing blank cheques and noted that he had initiated new systems leading to much tighter financial controls.
• Some of Mr Haughey's friends have tried to offset the report's findings by recalling the positive aspects of his political career.
• Opposition politicians used phrases such as "damning indictment" as they tried to spread the blame as far as possible within the Fianna Fáil party.
• The media was almost unanimous in its outrage at the behaviour of the former Taoiseach. The only exception, if I heard him correctly on RTÉ television, was Irish Times columnist John Waters. He argued that the Tribunal produced little evidence to support its many allegations, relying instead on assumptions and hypotheses.

News from Ireland - Week-ending December 23, 2006

The Christmas spirit of goodwill was evident on the streets of Ireland in the past week but, while the media did find space for occasional feel-good articles appropriate to the season, most attention was paid to hard and often unpleasant news stories. We had another gangland murder in the early hours of Monday and would have had more if the gunmen had their way. Once again the victim was an innocent man caught up in someone else's feud.
The official response to the recent spate of lawlessness continued to be debated but took a new turn when a Supreme Court judge responded to the criticism directed at the judiciary. That was quickly followed by the majority of senior judges delivering what was seen as a childish snub to Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.
The week's big story took no account of Christmas. On Tuesday Justice Michael Moriarty delivered his report on the financial affairs of the late Charles Haughey. While there was little new in it, the media saw it as an official imprimatur on all the unsavoury rumours that surrounded the former Taoiseach.
Nowhere was the Christmas spirit seen better than in the country's airports, that was if the focus was kept on the many emotional reunions in the arrival halls. The story was different for some of those leaving the country, particularly if they were heading for England or using a London airport as a transit point for another destination. The persistent fog at Heathrow created many problems here

S P O R T

Rugby
Heineken European Cup
........SU Agen 13........Leinster 25
........Munster 32 ........Cardiff Blues 18
........Ulster 29........London Irish 13
European Challenge Cup Pool Four
........Montpellier 35........Connacht 22
AIB All-Ireland League Division One
........Ballymena 29........Terenure C. 10
........Buccaneers 8........Garryowen 6
........Clontarf 26........Blackrock C. 22
........Dungannon 25........UCD 24
........Lansdowne 17........Galwegians 16
........UL Bohemians 15........Belfast quins 9
........Cork Con. 17........Shannon 17
........Dolphin 19........St Mary's C. 13
Sports Shorts
Soccer: Galway United are the main beneficiaries after the FAI unveiled the 12 teams that will make up the new National League Premier Division, to replace the Eircom League as the league comes under the governance of the IFA. The 12 teams making up the new top flight includes the top ten teams in last year's Premier Division: Shelbourne, Derry City, Cork City, Drogheda United, Sligo Rovers, UCD, St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Longford Town and Bray Wanderers; First Division champions Shamrock Rovers; and Galway United. Waterford United and Dundalk were the main losers. Waterford lost their premier division status despite having a better recent record than Galway, while Dundalk were rated 12th in the country after finishing second in the First Division, above Galway, and winning their play-off against Waterford. But the teams were judged on their league standings for the past five years and on the structure of the club off the field – finances, fan base, facilities, youth structure, etc. There is no appeals process in the decision, but Dundalk are reportedly seeking legal advice as to their options.

Golf: European number one Pádraig Harrington finished eighth in a 16-strong field in the Target World Challenge, at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California. His opening round of 75 gave him a mountain to climb and although he finished on five-under this was 11 behind runaway winner Tiger Woods, who also hosted the tournament.

Following the success of September's Ryder Cup, another prestigious international golf tournament has been awarded to Ireland. The 2011 Solheim Cup, essentially the ladies' equivalent to the Ryder Cup featuring Europe and the United States, will be held in Killeen Castle in Co. Meath. The Jack Nicklaus-designed course is still under construction.
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Weather

It started out another wet and windy week until the winds eased on Thursday. We continued to get some very heavy showers but things looked better on Saturday with bright sunshine as I drove north from Galway. Before reaching Donegal town it had darkened over and from there to Moville we experienced a number of downpours and a few sunny spells. Sunday's occasional showers didn't amount to much.

It seems we are in for a change in the weather. While some parts may have the odd shower today, after that it will remain dry until late Thursday at the earliest. We should also have long bright periods after overnight fog clears. Nights are also expected to be frosty.

Latest Temperatures: Day 9C (48F).................Night 4C (39F)

Business News

• It was claimed at the first National Payments Conference in this country that Ireland is lagging behind its neighbours by the slow rate of movement towards a cashless society. It seems that we are much more likely to make purchases with cash and, at a time when most modern economies are abandoning them, we still use cheques regularly. The conference was told that by retaining these antiquated practices we are losing money on a grand scale. It was suggested that one reason for the slow adoption of credit cards is the government's decision to impose stamp duty on all cards.
• Revenue has published its latest quarterly list of tax defaulters who between them had to pay €31.6m in back taxes, interest and penalties. Of the 141 names on the list the one that stands out is that of Anthony Fogarty of Arklow. He had to come up with €2.75m while his company, P. Boland hardware merchants, was liable for a further €2.25m. Others caught for more than €1m were: Thomas Carroll, a retired optician from Roebuck, Dublin (€1.72m); Michael Keane, a company director from Ballsbridge, Dublin (€1.02m); Séamus Quinn, a retired company director and farmer from Enniscrone, Co. Sligo (€1.82m); Frederick Shekleton, a farmer from Dromconrath, Co. Meath, (€1.5m); and Peter Sweeney Snr, a farmer and potato merchant from Newcastle, Co. Dublin (€1.29m). When the value of unpublished settlements is included the total amount recovered during the quarter was €171m. The full list can be seen at http://www.revenue.ie/publications/lists/def2-7-06.pdf

Deaths

• John Brown, a developer from Rostellan, near Whitegate in Co. Cork, died last Saturday while working on a site he owned at Shangarry. The father of four was laying pipes in a ten-foot deep trench when the sides collapsed on him. Both the Gardaí and the Health and Safety Authority are investigating the accident.
• A 41-year-old man died on Saturday afternoon when he fell while roofing a farmhouse near Cahirciveen, Co. Kerry.
• The funeral took place on Tuesday of murdered Kilkenny postmaster Alan Cunniffe. As a mark of respect all post offices in the country closed from noon until 1:00pm and all postal workers observed two minutes' silence at noon. Ten days ago Mr Cunniffe (32) was shot in the stomach when he confronted a gunman who had just robbed his sub post office at John's Green in the city. A Chinese national, who was arrested nearby, was later charged with murder and remanded in custody.
• Gardaí investigating the murder of Mr Cunniffe have appealed for anyone who travelled all or part of the journey from Dublin to Kilkenny on the Bus Éireann Expressway coach on December 8, the day of the killing, to contact them.
• State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy carried out a post-mortem on the body of 19-year-old Ronan Halloran which was taken from Galway Docks on Tuesday afternoon. Mr Halloran, from Shrule, Co. Mayo, had come into the city with friends on Sunday night but became separated from them after they had been harassed by another group in Eyre Square.
• Gardaí in Co. Galway are seeking help in identifying the body of a man who was found at Lough Inagh Valley near Recess in Connemara. It appears that the man had been hill-walking and died from natural causes. His body was badly decomposed and could have been lying there since August. The man is described as being 35 to 50 years of age, 5ft 6ins to 5ft 11ins tall. He was wearing a yellow waterproof jacket, dark navy shirt, orange jumper with a Norwegian Flag and blue denim jeans.
• A further three of the previous week's road victims were named on Monday. The motorcyclist who lost his life on Dublin's Phibsboro Road last Saturday was Slovakian Zoltan Szafko (31), who had been living on the Navan Road in Dublin. Later that day William Day (22), Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow died in a single-vehicle accident at Shankill, Co. Dublin. The victim of the following morning's hit-and-run incident in Co. Laois was named as Arunas Urbelis (30), a Lithuanian who had been living in Tullamore. Carl Conroy (17), from Robertstown, Co, Kildare was the driver who died last Sunday evening when his car plunged into the Grand Canal from the Allenwood to Prosperous road. Of the 11 people who died as a result of road accidents during that week five were from overseas – one from England and four from eastern Europe.
• Frank Long (59), from Roches Buildings in Cork city, was fatally injured shortly before 5:30pm on Monday when he was struck by a van, while crossing the road at Farnanes on the Cork-Macroom road.
• A Polish man in his 20s was killed early on Wednesday when two trucks coming from the Limerick direction collided on the N7, before the Plunkett Street roundabout, in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. The victim was a passenger in one of the trucks.
• Patrick Cox (17) lost his life shortly before 9:00pm on Saturday when the car he was driving collided with a truck near his home at Arva, Co. Cavan.
• A 26-year-old man died in a two-car collision in Bruff, Co. Limerick, shortly before 10:00am on Sunday.