Examiner Irish News

Top taxmen to appear before Dáil watchdog

by Seán McCárthaigh
FOUR senior tax inspectors from the Revenue Commissioners who held key discussions with AIB over outstanding DIRT tax on bogus, non-resident bank accounts, have been called to appear before the Dáil Public Accounts Committee.
Committee chairman, Jim Mitchell, has issued the invitation to the representatives of the Revenue's investigation branch following details given by AIB's chief executive, Tom Mulcahy, last week, of an important meeting on February 13, 1991 between the bank and tax officials.
The committee hopes the evidence of the tax inspectors might throw some light on whether a deal was agreed between the Commissioners and AIB on the payment of outstanding DIRT.
During the discussion, in which the Revenue team was led by senior tax inspector, D. A. MacCárthaigh, AIB claims it was told that the issue of paying DIRT on bogus, non-resident accounts was one affecting all financial institutions.
Mr Mulcahy told the committee last Thursday that AIB was confident about the accuracy of its interpretation of what was being discussed, as it kept detailed notes of proceedings at the time.
AIB personnel also insist they were never asked to quantify the number of problem accounts in the bank.
A week earlier, AIB had held a telephone conversation with Mr MacCárthaigh in which it is claimed he promised that "if AIB are prepared to be pragmatic, the Revenue are prepared to look forward rather than back."
Mr MacCárthaigh and his colleagues have been invited to appear before the committee on October 27. The chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, Dermot Quigley, is to face further questioning from the PAC on Wednesday over his denial that any amnesty was agreed with AIB.
Mr Mitchell is to hold a case conference later today with Comptroller and Auditor General, John Purcell, and the committee's legal advisers, to discuss how its investigation should proceed.
Mr Mitchell yesterday did not rule out asking the CAG to complete the inquiry as he expressed concern about possible legal and constitutional difficulties emerging as the investigation continued.
Anthony Spollen, AIB former internal auditor, who calculated that AIB's outstanding exposure to DIRT on bogus offshore accounts was £100m has also been asked to be available to appear before the committee tomorrow.
It is believed Mr Spollen is anxious to counteract attempts by AIB management to rubbish his figures as "seriously unreliable."

Hume put health on the line in his pursuit of peace

by Joe Oliver
CLOSE friends of John Hume have revealed the secret agony and suffering behind the SDLP leader's Nobel Peace Prize award, which he shares with David Trimble.
According to them, the Foyle MP put his health on the line time and time again at crucial stages of the peace process and ignored appeals to take a complete break from politics. "He put so much into the search for peace and reconciliation, his health may never be the same again," one close political colleague said, yesterday. "The stress and anxiety has taken its toll, and many of us were worried that he might collapse if he didn't ease up."
Mr Hume's wife, Pat, and countless friends urged him to "stand back" from the political arena, particularly following last May's referendum, where he worked night and day to help achieve a 73% Yes vote. "But he refused, so determined was he to see an end to the violence and a new spirit of co-operation and reconciliation," said another friend. "He worked night and day, not only taking part in difficult face-to-face negotiations, but using his friendship with world leaders to keep the momentum of the process going."
Mr Hume did make one concession to his family and friends. He said "no" to the deputy First Minister's job, but made the inspired decision to appoint his deputy Séamus Mallon
But only Mr Hume's close friends know how wounded he was at criticism from many quarters over his talks with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, endless meetings designed to bring republicans into the negotiating process. Those criticisms rose to a crescendo with the Canary Wharf bombing and the breakdown of the first IRA ceasefire. But, even though he recognised it as a major setback, Mr Hume persevered, and against all the odds, ultimately triumphed in his determination to see all parties around the talks table.
"He was deeply hurt by some of the criticism," said one colleague. "He understood and was prepared for attacks over his stance from unionists, but the sniping within his own party was particularly hurtful.
"It only added to the health problems he had been suffering, which were known to only a handful of his close friends and family."
Mr Hume is expected to take a long overdue break, but first will be able to bask in the limelight of the prestigious Nobel prize. St Columb's College in Derry is planning a massive party for Mr Hume and award-winning poet Séamus Heaney, who both attended the north west school in the Fifties and Sixties. Mr Hume went on to lead the civil rights movement and work tirelessly for peace, while Heaney, from Bellaghy in Co Derry, penned some of the greatest poetry of the post-war years.
A school insider said: "It's all very hush-hush at the minute, but we are working to have both Séamus and John at the same school reception. It's a huge lift for the college, and an inspiration to our current crop of ambitious young men."
In addition, U-2's Bono is planning to return to Belfast to celebrate with Mr Hume and Mr Trimble. He is keen to toast the "peace of history" that could put a seal on a violence-free future for Northern Ireland.
Bono brought the two politicians together on stage at the Waterfront Hall before the referendum that endorsed the Good Friday Agreement. The picture of the rock star holding aloft the hands of the leaders of unionism and nationalism was one of the enduring images of the peace process.
Mr Trimble has made it clear that he hopes the prestigious Nobel prize will be the spur to paramilitary organisations to disarm. Both he and Mr Hume are both expected to make a generous donation to the Omagh bomb fund from the Nobel money.
Senior party sources said the two men would discuss the issue early this week and decide how much of the £580,000 they will give the memorial fund for the 29 people murdered in August by the Real IRA bomb.
A senior Ulster Unionist said, yesterday: "I don't think there is any question that they wouldn't make a sizeable donation to the fund. As both David and John have said, this was an award not just for them but for the people of Northern Ireland."

Debate plan by FF is rejected

by Mary Dundon
FINE GAEL, yesterday, refused to take up Fianna Fáil's challenge to a head-to-head debate between its two candidates on the grounds that it would be unfair and undemocratic to the other contenders in the field.
Fianna Fáil claimed Fine Gael were not keen to engage Simon Coveney in a one-to-one debate with Sinéad Behan on hard policies because they were running scared.
But this was sharply rejected by Fine Gael director of elections Jim O'Keeffe, who said it was out of a sense of fairness to the other candidates that they would not engage in this type of debate.
"It looks like it is Fianna Fáil who are panicking in this case — on Saturday they were calling for a debate, excluding Toddy O'Sullivan and other candidates, and on Sunday they are appealing to his supporters to give them their number two," Mr O'Keeffe said.
Fianna Fáil director of elections Micheál Martin, said they were seeking a head-to-head debate between Sinéad Behan and Simon Coveney because they were the obvious two front-runners in the race after the first public opinion poll showed there was only one percentage point between them.
Mr Martin rejected the claim that there was any sense of panic within their campaign, and said they expected next Tuesday's poll would show an increase in support for their candidate.
The idea for a head-to-head public debate between the two candidates was first mooted by Fianna Fáil deputy director of elections Brian Crowley.
Mr Crowley said there had only been one debate between the two candidates to-date and the public needed an opportunity to compare and contrast the two young candidates.
And he claimed Fine Gael were trying to submerge Simon Coveney in an all-candidate debate as opposed to putting him in a direct head-to-head with Sinéad Behan.
But Jim O'Keeffe again rejected this accusation and insisted that while the polls seemed to favour the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil candidates, his party had certainly not written off the other contenders.
"We have no problem with a debate with Sinéad Behan, but it would be totally unfair to the other candidates, and out of respect for them, we could not agree to it," the Fine Gael director of elections added.

Revolution re-enacted by supporters

by Mary Dundon
IT was like a replay of the Russian Revolution when the Red and White armies clashed outside Rochestown Church yesterday morning for the first time since the by-election campaign opened.
Up until now both Fine Gael's Red Army and Fianna Fáil's White Army had launched very separate blitzes on Cork South Central without openly clashing in any particular neighbourhood.
But Sunday mass is different — this is where you can really maximise your vote with such a huge pool of voters at your mercy.
Both parties had recruited droves of young party supporters into Cork for the weekend to launch massive campaign blitzes.
Fine Gael decked out all their supporters in red and white T-shirts with Simon Coveney's name splashed across the front.
The plan of campaign included dropping off droves of young supporters on Cork's main streets and suburbs to engage in a massive leaflet drop and also providing them with cars to drive in convoy beeping the horns.
One amazed shopper in Patrick Street didn't know what was going on and thought for a minute that Roy Keane had returned to his native city with the entire Manchester United team.
Fianna Fáil's White Army was a little more subdued, decked out in white T-shirts they preferred to travel together in a bus.
But on Sunday morning both the Red Army cavalcade and White Army bus confronted each other outside St Patrick's Church in Rochestown.
This time both sides had a few top commanders on board including: Fine Gael's Alan Dukes and Fianna Fáil's Tom Kitt and Sile de Valera.
But neither side retreated and proceeded to canvass the massgoers separately - each pretending the other side didn't exist.
If the Russian Revolution is anything to go by, then the odds favour Fine Gael's Red Army — but they should not underestimate the opposition and keep in mind the counter-revolutionary attack launched by the White Army over there.

Teacher on IRA spying charges faces jail

by Joe Oliver
AN alleged IRA Mata Hari faces a jail sentence today for allegedly spying on a former RUC anti-terrorist boss. University graduate Rose Marie McLaughlin, who spent the weekend with her family in Co Donegal, is scheduled to return to the dock at Belfast Crown Court to learn her fate.
She is accused of belonging to an IRA intelligence-gathering unit who were alleged to have targeted VIPs across the North. The 26-year-old astro-physicist was freed on bail last Friday to stay with her parents at their home in Letterkenny.
Lord Justice Nicholson told London-born McLaughlin she had the choice of either going home for the weekend, or going to Maghaberry Prison, because of his concerns for her "associates." Brunette McLaughlin at first said going home would put too much of a strain on her parents. But she later agreed to go with them after her father told the judge they loved her and "wanted her home."
The court heard that McLaughlin used her respectable teacher's job at a school in east Belfast to build up a detailed profile of Trevor Forbes, a retired former boss of the RUC's Special Branch, who lived in the area.
She was also accused of spying on Bangor RUC station in Co Down for the IRA while she lived in a rented apartment in the town.
During her five-day trial, prosecuting lawyer John Creaney, QC, told the court: "Not only was the accused a member of the IRA, but she was a member of a particular part or section engaged in the gathering and collecting of information."
McLaughlin denied five charges, including IRA membership, and conspiring to collect and pass on information.

Future of blood centre in jeopardy, alleges O'Sullivan

by Colette Keane
LABOUR PARTY candidate Toddy O'Sullivan has accused Health Minister Brian Cowen of putting the future of Cork's Blood Transfusion Service Board in danger because he "reneged" on his commitment to replace the city's facilities.
The Labour candidate spoke, yesterday, of his grave concern for the future of the BTSB in the city, despite earlier commitments by Mr Cowen that the facilities would be upgraded.
According to Mr. O'Sullivan, on November 20, last year, Mr Cowen stated in the Dáil that his Department had recognised that the Cork centre required a major replacement and would make the necessary resources available for such a project.
Mr O'Sullivan added that on foot of these commitments, an independent review of the BTSB operation in Cork was undertaken and a timetable for the construction of a new centre was completed. He said that despite the advertisement of public tenders and the date of construction set for July, all progress on the project has been halted. "I believe that Mr Cowen has reneged on his commitments given in Dáil E´ireann, and I am gravely concerned that this Government is intent on downgrading the BTSB facility in Cork and transferring the majority of its work to Dublin. This would be a serious blow to health services in Cork," Mr O'Sullivan stated. He demanded that Mr Cowen come clean on the issue and explain why work on the centre had not started, and whether the Minister intends to downgrade the BTSB facilities in Cork.
"The Minister for Health has taken no action to tackle the crisis in the health services in Cork, and there is now genuine concern that he is about to deprive Cork of a vital health service. The Minister's silence on this issue to-date cannot continue and he must come clean with the staff of the BTSB and the people of Cork," he added.

Inner city horse centre long overdue

THE debate almost became a class issue — why should it only be the children of the middle and upper classes who had access to ponies and horses? Why shouldn't inner city kids enjoy them too? And wouldn't it be a great pastime for them, one which would keep them off the streets and out of trouble?
All of which was very true. But the fatal flaw in that argument was that no one involved in supporting inner city kids with horses ever seemed to mention the welfare of the horse.
Neither did they ever talk about the quality of the urban horses' life, or the fact that it had a right to expect a reasonable level of knowledge from its owner, and somewhere a little more inspiring that a dangerous, litter strewn patch of wasteland to graze on.
And it was never explained how a young person was going to gain a sense of self-respect by using an animal badly.
And yet there is no denying that responsible pet ownership and the care can do wonders for a youngster. So it is especially heartening to hear that a fund-raising drive has finally been launched to provide an equestrian centre in Ballyfermot.
Local residents who were anxious that children from the area had a safe place to be with their horses, have launched a massive fund-raising campaign. They hope to raise £2·6 million pounds in order to establish the Cherry Orchard Equine and Educational Centre.
This ambitious project will function as an integrated training facility, with the focus on equine studies, computers, business studies, horticulture and catering skills.
There will be stables, educational and catering facilities and an outdoor equestrian area, plus experienced and qualified people to teach these youngsters what a horse needs to lead a full and happy life.
This is a giant step forward for youngsters who were formerly only concerned with having a bit of fun, and never gave a thought to their animals' feelings.

Rush is on as Titanic video set to smash sales record

by Denis Lehane
TITANIC — the biggest-grossing film of all time — is set to smash sales records all over again when the video is launched today.
Trucks have been traversing the country all weekend delivering stocks of the video. The most expensive film ever to make, costing £120 million, Titanic vindicated Fox's faith in it by smashing the billion dollar worldwide gross for the first time — it has earned nearly £1·1 billion to-date — and picked up 11 Oscars.
It made its stars Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet international superstars. The story of the Belfast-built supership, which sank on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg with over a thousand deaths, has captured the imagination of the world Industry Experts have suggested that worldwide video sales could top the £1·1 billion taken at the film box offices around the world.
HMV stores opened at midnight to sell the video, in what is a repetition of what happened in the US earlier this year. A spokesperson for Xtravision said they had stocked up with record numbers of the video, and were selling it for £14·99 plus a free poster, £10-worth of vouchers and one free video rental. "We expect it to be the biggest seller yet," she said. Tesco Ireland have 35,000 copies available at £9·99, with 100 Clubcard points thrown in at each of its 78 stores.
The company has already taken deposits on 2,000 videos. It is limiting sales to one copy per customer and expects to sell-out "in a matter of days," a spokesman said.

Appeal for ID scheme to tackle crime rate

by Kevin Barry
FINE GAEL has called for a national ID card scheme and the trebling of resources to the probation service as part of a campaign to tackle the rapidly escalating problem of juvenile crime.
The number of criminals under the age of 13 has risen by 50% in the past two years, Fine Gael education spokesman Richard Bruton said in Cork yesterday, as he launched the party's initiative on young offenders.
"The pattern is already establishing itself where one-in-seven of our children will become involved in some form of criminality," he said.
"Social justice demands that preventative programmes are introduced to break this vicious circle."
The party's plan on juvenile crime also calls for an "educational preventative programme" in areas where most young offenders reside.
It demands additional residential places for disturbed children and calls for an "aftercare service" for young offenders, once they have left residential facilities.
The Fine Gael candidate in the Cork South Central by-election, Simon Coveney, said that the city had mirrored the national trend by witnessing an alarming level of growth in juvenile crime.
"Last year, almost 1,100 juveniles in Cork were prosecuted or cautioned as a result of criminal activities," he said.
"I would like to see the agencies in Cork come together in a pilot integrated initiative to prevent children at risk sliding into a life of crime."
The Fine Gael initiative includes details from a survey on juvenile crime carried out by Dr Noel Gorman and Dr Jim Barnes.
The survey found that more than a third of young offenders came from broken homes and that more than half had psychiatric problems of varying degrees.
The Fine Gael justice spokesman, Jim Higgins, said that the new Fine Gael proposals amounted to a strategy to confront juvenile crime at its root causes.
He claimed that existing policies have failed to address the growth in juvenile offending.

Catalogue of success

BRINGING It All Back Home — a five-hour documentary series that traces the influences of Irish music into other world-wide musical traditions. Irish Music In America — A Musical Migration — an Emmy award winning film tracing the impact of Irish music on the development of modern American music.
The Juliet Letters — a filmic interpretation of The Juliet Letters song cycle by Elvis Costello and The Brodsky Quartet. Selected for The Golden Rose of Montreux Competition. Rocky World — a profile of Canadian-born producer and songwriter Daniel Lanois that received a Grammy nomination. Christy — a reflective and historical journey into the psyche and background of one of Ireland's best loved singers, Christy Moore.
A River Of Sound — a journey back down to the hidden layers of Irish musical tradition charting it's evolution to the present day with input from Van Morrison, Emmylou Harris, Mark Knopfler and many others. Sult - Spirit Of The Music — presented by Donal Lunny, the series gives eloquent testimony to the endurance of a great Irish tradition.