The curse of cronyism: both sides of the Irish Sea

Two articles over the past few days describe the core of the crisis in the integrity of the political classes.

Now that the bailout of Ireland and her banks is concluded, attention is shifting to focus upon the identities of those who got Ireland into this devastating mess in the first place.

I am indebted to David Gardner in the FT for his excellent analysis in this Saturday’s paper.

He identifies the perennially ruling Fianna Fail party, its senior political figures, light banking regulation, and much more, at the heart of the cronyism and corruption that has marred and mired public life in Ireland and laid waste the nation’s economy and sovereignty.

The Irish Daily Star has published an ‘Iraq war-style’ set of playing cards depicting Ireland’s ‘most wanted’.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the prize of Ace of Spades goes, not to the country’s leader Brian Cowan, but to Seanie Fitzpatrick, the ex-boss of the Anglo Irish Bank – as of yesterday a wholly owned subsidiary of the Irish State.
As Ireland took off as the Celtic Tiger, privately owned land identified for infrastructure development was never compulsorily purchased, as promised, but was left for property speculators to grow rich upon.
In turn these property men (and they were all men) enjoyed ‘close’ relationships with politicians, bankers, and builders.
One banking source in Dublin told me recently that the core of this band of cronies numbered perhaps 500 people on less.

But whilst we in the UK may be tempted to snigger down our sleeves, we should perhaps mark the latest of our own parliamentary expenses scandal – neatly described in the Telegraph last Friday.
The paper identifies a number ex-Labour MPs who are now filing their expenses claims in the House of Lords and they don’t come cheap. As for the Anglo-Irish bank, who remembers the Scots heyday of RBS and Sir Fred?
The political classes scuttled for the undergrowth when it was revealed what had been going on in the build up to the great crash of 2008. But there was a time when some of the most senior political figures on the UK landscape willingly supped at his corporate table.

Now that the British legislature is sporting a record 831 members in its upper house, is it time to do a little more house cleaning this side of the Irish sea before we cast the first stone in the direction of the band of cronies in Dublin?