Irish house prices drop but the penny does not

Gombeen Man has always been of the opinion that Ireland’s longest running conflict has been the particularly long war between fantasy and reality - and in any war, the first casualty is truth.

The latest Daft.ie house price report states that the national average house price is EUR 312,500 – down nearly 11% on last year. In GM’s Dublin 15 stomping ground, which has seen massive development in recent years, this figure is well over 20%, according to his observations. And they are still not selling.

UCD economics lecturer Moore McDowell is quoted as saying that while the figures “point to a continuous slide in prices overall” it seems that “sellers are not adjusting their asking prices sufficiently to clear the market. The slow adjustment of expectations to reality is illustrated by the gap that has now emerged between asking prices for houses just put on the market and those for houses that have been on the market for a quarter or more”.

Which brings us to the original point. It seems that vendors want to sell at 2006 prices, and buy for 2008 money. A “logic” firmly grounded in their own unrealistic expectations rather than objective reality.

House prices are falling to real-world levels at last – but the penny has not dropped for some vendors just yet.

See also: Property crash and economic slowdown, Part 2

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GAA, the Belfast Hilton and discrimination

Irish history is full of martyrs. Nothing will make a patriot bristle with dewy-eyed pride as much as tales of death, glory and the odd blood sacrifice - and the more bloody and futile, the better.

Alas, with the outbreak of peace, it seems that the put-upon-victim has taken the martyr's place. Witness the following story on the excellent Irland Inside blog http://irlandinside.blogspot.com/2008/10/jaccuse-ilton.html

The piece (in German, with a link to the RTE report) tells of a disgruntled guest who is suing the Belfast Hilton hotel for showing the Chelsea v Manchester United match in preference to the GAA all-Ireland final in Croke Park. The GAA fan is suing for "discrimination", claiming the choice was an affront to his "dignity" and "national identity".

Funny. Is this man a supporter of the same GAA that banned "foreign" games from its largely taxpayer-funded main stadium, until it came under political pressure? The same GAA that banned members of "the security forces" from joining its enlightened ranks? The same GAA that forbade its own followers from playing soccer, on pain of expulsion? The same GAA that is thwarting Shamrock Rovers' attempts to open a modest stadium in Tallaght? Well, indeed it is!

Discrimination. Sure GAA fans should know that when they see it.

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Maynooth Line, skangers, Irish bank bail-outs

Coming home from work on the PAYE sector slavey-train the other evening, Gombeen Man was dismayed to hear the driver announce “I’d like to inform passengers that there have been reports of stone-throwing between Glasnevin Junction and Broombridge. I repeat - there have been reports of stone-throwing between Glasnevin Junction and Broombridge”. The clear inference was that we were all to get ready to duck.

Two points come to mind here, the first being a question. Namely, where are the Piggies when they aren’t at the market, or dishing out penalty points (for minor traffic infringements) to mugs like us? Given that the previous train passed through the war zone a good half-hour beforehand, surely there was time for the boys and girls in blue to mobilise and apprehend any skangers engaged in hurling rocks at passing trains? Is it really too much to ask?

The second point is a social observation. Namely, that ordinary working people seem to constitute the meat in the sandwich between the skanger underclass on one side, and the business lord-it-over-us class on the other.

We are the ones who fund the social welfare system, which in turn keeps the aforementioned shell-suited idlers sufficiently nourished to pepper us with missiles as we return from work.

We are the ones who (or many us, at least) are spread-eagled over a financial barrel for our foreseeable working lives, with a large jar of Vaseline placed between our ankles - slaves to 35-year mortgages for the privilege of living in godforsaken kips.

And who are we paying the mortgages to? I’ll tell you. Greedy financial institutions grown rich, complacent and fat on a property bubble inflated by Government tax shelters and tax avoidance schemes for property developers and investors. And now we must act as guarantors for them should their investments not work out, and a bank (or two) go bust through bad debts and careless lending (see elsewhere on this site).

Bob Geldof wrote “Banana Republic, septic isle… great to see the place again, it’s a pity nothing’s changed”. And he was spot on. Despite the boom that was to float all boats, we still have the social problems we had twenty years ago, and we still have the “Golden Circle” pulling the strings of our politicians.

And we’re all so pleased with ourselves.

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Government bails out Irish Banks in financial crisis

It is interesting to note that while the US Congress debated and turned down – for now – a proposed 700 Billion Dollar bailout for its banking system, the Irish Government has pushed through a measure which will hold taxpayers responsible for banks’ liabilities, should one or more of them go under. And the first thing we knew about it was when we woke up this morning to reports of the Government’s largesse with our tax money.

The Irish business and landlord class has got to be one of the most pampered in the world, at this rate. Landlords and property developers have benefited from State subsidies and tax breaks for years, leading to asset price inflation funded by reckless borrowing and careless lending. And all the time, the impression given was that our economy’s boom was the result of some new-found, go-getting entrepreneurial spirit that had hitherto lain dormant in the collective Irish psyche.

Actually, despite what the advocates of simplistic right-wing economic “theory” maintained, it was caused by the exact opposite: State socialism for the wealthy, in the form of distorting the tax system and corporatism via the IDA’s inward investment campaign. And let's not mention all the subsidies from the “socialist” EU.

Now the pick-and-mix approach to laissez-faire is well and truly exposed, as the State effectively immunizes the banks from the worst effects of their imprudence. It should be remembered that Irish banks are among Europe’s most profitable. AIB, alone, reported pre-tax profits of EUR1.28 billion for the first half of this year, while bank bosses have enjoyed extravagant financial rewards for leading their businesses into the worst financial mess in living memory.

Privatising profit and nationalising loss – Irish style.

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Buyer beware of specialist car dealers.

Well, the official figures now confirm what the less credulous of us have believed for some time. We are in recession. So time for Gombeen Man to do an Eddie Hobbs and don the mantle of consumer champion.

Those of us who don't work in construction - and hence have some chance of keeping our jobs for now - had better be careful if looking to make a purchase that might involve putting down a deposit (such as a house or a car), given the increased chances of businesses going to the wall in economic climes such as these. Margins are tight, and credit is expensive, and banks are slowly facing the reality of having to call in their debts.

Coy as the banks might be, there is a plethora of builders on the edge out there - maxed out and ready to fold. So, if you are someone who has been priced out of buying a home due to Government tax incentives/shelters for investors over the past goodness knows how many years, just be careful not to get suckered at the last.

Cars too. Particularly if you looking to buy new from an independent dealer. A couple of months back, Orwell Motors - a long established Dublin dealershop - hit the wall. Echoing independent dealership Parkwest Autopoint, which went into receivership leaving customers with lost deposits of up to EUR 5,000, as the boom hit its zenith in 2006. Interestingly, the man behind Parkwest - Kevin Flynn - is now in business again under the guise of Kevin Flynn Specialist Cars (KFSC), operating out of Grand Canal Street, importing simlar models as he did in his Parkwest incarnation.

And while it is perfectly legal to go bust with punters' deposits, and start again in an identical business with a different name under Irish business law, it somehow doesn't seem quite right. Not for the consumer anyway, who gets scant enough protection in this country anway.

Top tip: if you're buying a new car, do so from an official dealer - that way you are protected by the manufacturer should the dealership go bust.

If you are buying a new house - just wait. They're going to get cheaper anyway, and most of the cowboys will be flushed out in the next year or so.

Eeehh-haaaa!!!!

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Keane to walk out... again?

Whingeing psycho extraordinaire, Roy Keane, looks set to throw another wobbler, with rumours that he may leave Sunderland.

Regular visitors to this site will know that Gombeen Man is not the most patriotic of people, but even he can't forgive Keane for manufacturing his own departure from our last World Cup finals in Saipan. More puzzling is how this self-serving nutter is still considered something of a hero by many in Ireland, despite having let us down on the biggest stage imaginable, and despite having made a total of only 66 international appearances in his long career (Kevin Kilbane has made 90 so far).

Now it seems that Keane, who was (and is) never found hiding behind the door when it comes to dishing out abuse, is upset that some Sunderland fans are becoming impatient with his progress, or lack thereof, at their club.

Keane, who famously described Ireland boss of the time, Mick McCarthy, as a "shit manager", has spent a lot of money at Sunderland, some of it on rather questionable purchases. Things came to a head when Premier League Sunderland struggled to dispatch League One side Northampton, due to some dodgy team selections on Keane's behalf. Reacting to fans’ criticism, the Corkman stated, somewhat confusingly: "...The abuse, I know it is part of football, don't get me wrong, but that is something I won't tolerate...".

What? Does that statement make any kind of sense whatsoever? If it’s part of football, surely he has to tolerate it? It seems Keane can dish it out alright, but he's not so good at taking it.

Sunderland fans, I wouldn’t be too disappointed when he goes.

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Back in Gombeen Nation

Just a quick post to signal Gombeen Man's return to his native little land. Can't believe it's not raining.

Thanks to those who posted comments in my absence - I've only got round to publishing them now, as I have the spam filter thing on.

Trying to catch up with what's being going on here over the past two weeks, so hopefully more substantial posts will follow soon!

Wish I wasn't here

That's it. Enough.

Between Lisbon "no" voters, "European Army" conscription theorists, Little Irelander racists, Gaelscoil educational system imperialists, skangers, builders pulling Puppet Cowen's strings, the continuing scandal of VRT, Bono, and everything else, it's all become too much. Then throw in the most miserable Summer ever - one that that makes the backdrop of Angela's Ashes seem Mediterranean by comparison. So...

Gombeen Man is off on two weeks hols - and no, not to the Gaeltacht. And he's not going anywhere near an Internet cafe, either.

Who knows what's going to happen in our little gombeen land when he's away, but for two weeks he won't care. Anyway, there's sure to be plenty to write about when he comes back.

In the meantime, those of a questioning, critical persuasion could do worse than check out the links on the bottom left.

Cheers for now!!!!

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M50 taking its toll on Irish drivers

What's the official line on Ireland's attractiveness for the multinationals? It's because we are a young, intelligent, educated workforce, isn't it? Nothing, of course, to do with us prostituting ourselves by means of corporate tax breaks. A ploy, by the way, that the new EU accession states will soon copy - leaving the Irish begging, somewhat belatedly, for a common EU-wide tax policy.

But whatever about all that, perhaps it is best that US Inc. does not hear about some Irish drivers' cunning ruse to avoid paying tolls on M50, which has just switched from toll booths to electronic barrier-free tolling, by means of tags and number plate recognition.

While avoiding paying tolls on the M50 is commendable - after all, we motorists have paid for the West Link bridge a thousandfold by now, after dodgy Government dealings with private sector cronies - even Gombeen Man was embarrassed at the lack of guile displayed by motorists in this instance.

It seems that the would-be rebels covered their registration plates to avoid the cameras catching them. So far, so good, I hear you say.

So how did our intrepid authorities find them out? By advanced digital photographic enhancement? Clever police work? Fellow roadusers phoning Traffic Watch on their mobiles, as they drive?

No. It seems that they only covered their cars' front plates, leaving the the rear ones untouched for the cameras to capture all. There's no hope, there really isn't.

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Developer offers interest free loans

Property developer Bernard McNamara is offering interest-free loans of "up to 30 per cent" of the selling price in an attempt to attract suckers, I mean buyers, to his new development at Elm Park, Dublin 4.

Under the scheme, the asking price for two-bed apartments has been reduced from EUR580,000 (!!!) to the bargain basement level of EUR470,000. Think about that. EUR470,000 for a two-bedroom apartment. Does that still not seem a touch expensive?

It seems that developers will do anything to stimulate interest in their wares other than reduce prices to truly realistic levels. Gombeen Man believes properly prices will have to fall by 50% in order for them to return to a point where ordinary people can afford to buy into the market.

No amount of tinkering or window dressing, by property developers or Government, is going to change that.

See also Cowen to "help" first-time-buyers

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Cowen to "help" first time buyers

Political U-turn specialist Brian Cowen - who has previously given in to lobbying by Fianna Fail's benefactors, the construction sector - has announced he is bringing the budget forward by two months. Furthermore, his budget will contain a "plan" to help first-time-buyers get on the still-too-expensive property ladder.

In previous budgets, Fianna Fail have reduced stamp duty to "stimulate the market" under pressure from builders. Never mind the fact that stamp duty rates had, up until then, presented no obstacle to rampant house price inflation, which reached its peak in 2006.

And what caused the inflation? The Government's continuous interference in the housing market through tax breaks and incentives for selected interest groups - Section 23 tax shelters, for example, which allowed investors with multiple properties to avoid paying tax on rental income and resulted in the market being flooded by speculators.

The problem with tax intervention is that fact that it distorts the market, by making property more affordable - through subsidy - for some sectors of the population (investors, for instance) and hence more expensive for others, as it feeds into real prices.

So what is Cowen going to do to help his construction industry friends? I mean help first time buyers?

Fianna Fail has already scrapped stamp duty for this sector, meaning that a first-time-buyer can buy a terraced starter home on Wellington Road for EUR 4,000,000 and not pay any stamp duty on it. So what further help do they need? It seems that he is looking at further grants and subsidies, which must be funded by someone. In this case, those who want to trade up.

The answer is that Cowen should stop interfering in the market and simply let the overpriced property market drop back down to a level where ordinary people people can afford to buy homes again. Simple.

I think they call it market forces.

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Gary Glitter to move to Ireland

All that glitters is not gold, and certainly not in the case of convicted paedophile Gary Glitter, who is considering a move to Ireland. Not, as you might think, because of Ireland's very tolerant attitude to child abuse, as evidenced by Church/State cover-ups over the years, but because Gary feels that he has a better chance of being "left alone" by the media here.

No doubt, another attraction will be Ireland's favourable fiscal regime for "artists", which will allow him to earn EUR 250,000 a year royalties, without having to pay a cent tax on any of it. And maybe tax-dodging hypocrite extraordinaire Bono might advise him how to reduce any liability should Glitter exceed that amount?

Gombeen Man has long opposed the Artists' Exemption Tax, and sees it as another argument - along with Vehicle Registration Tax - for a common, Europe-wide approach on taxation.

It's bad enough attracting run-of-the-mill tax-dodging "artists" to the country, but Gary Glitter really is a platform-shod step too far.

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Cardinal Brady, Lisbon, and Christian "values"

So, Cardinal Sean Brady, the Catholic primate (presumably the term is not meant in a Darwinian sense) thinks that growing unease about the EU’s “prevailing culture and social agenda”, driven by the “secular tradition”, may have been a factor in the Irish electorate’s ill-judged rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.

What kind of agenda does Brady expect the EU to have? Should it be more grounded in the brand of superstitious nonsense that he represents? The same brand of church interference in State affairs that held this country in isolated ignorance for so long? The provider of the same moral values that presided over unthinkable child abuse and swept it under its collective cassock?

Or why not give another variety of ignorant superstition a go? How about Protestant fundamentalist values? Some of its adherents still justify slavery and truly believe that the universe was created in seven days. Should they decide the EU’s direction?

Both brands of Christianity created the conditions for the holocaust. They were the foundation of the European anti-Semitism that existed for centuries, an anti-semitism fostered and encouraged by German church leaders long before the Nazis came to power. This church-inspired, institutionalized hatred was endemic in German society, and the Nazis gave it its fullest expression. Make no mistake: the anti-Semitism the Nazis fed off was firmly based on Christian “values”.

While we are at it, how about giving the Muslims a shot? Their religion has never even seen the Enlightenment and, as such, is even more misogynistic and backward than its Christian counterpart. Perhaps too much so, even for Cardinal Brady.

There are very good reasons why the EU promotes secular values. And if we are really so stupid as to look to Cardinal Brady or the Catholic church for guidance on any issue – political or moral – perhaps we don’t deserve to be in it.

Maybe we aren’t going back to the 80s so much as going back to the 50s?


See also Ireland says "no" to Lisbon - Gombeens rejoice

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Flooding in Dublin and Ireland

Do you remember the flooding in Dublin?

And in the outlying "commuter towns" such as Carlow and Dunboyne? As flooding goes, you could say it's biblical, only it is firmly rooted in fact. The authorities say it is all due to global warming - nothing to do with them, you see. Mind you, it's also possible that our Gombeen powers-that-be not clearing the drains, and their building-boom-era (RIP) habit of granting planning permission to their construction mates to build on flood plains might also be contributing factors.

Sure, the rain has been exceptionally heavy this year (oh... and last year), but this has happened before, and will happen again. Those who have not been roaming the Earth as long as Gombeen Man might think current "weather events" are without precedent, but not so. The years of 1985 and 1986, for example, were also washouts. And don't forget the denizens of Ringsend and Ballsbridge involuntarily sharing their homes with the Dodder on separate occasions in the not-too-distant past.

And then there is Dunboyne. Builders were granted permission to construct estates in and around that town on land that was known to be liable to flooding. Can you imagine that? Gombeen Man knows of one unlucky homeowner whose house has been flooded three times in the past seven years.

So, any potential home purchasers who don't want to dip their toes in the water could do worse than study this useful Office of Public Works website, and check that the home they've been dreaming off all these years does not come with a driveway mooring facility.

http://www.floods.ie/



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Englishman wins discrimination case against Irish work colleagues

Did you hear the one about the Irishmen who told the one about the Englishman who went to the Equality Board?

There is a certain class of person in Ireland who attributes an inherent superiority to all things Irish. But that’s par for the course. You get them everywhere, and nationalism isn’t the most noble or logical of –isms, after all. In every example of the genre, every nation has its conceits.

For us, they take the form of us being the friendliest people in the world, loved by all (except those bloody Brits, of course). We’re the funniest, wittiest people in the world (in fairness, what could funnier than Riverdance or Eamonn O’Cuiv?).

We’re morally superior too. For instance, we don’t allow abortion – let the deed happen elsewhere! We still wouldn’t have divorce if it weren’t for the pesky EU “bringing it in”. In fact, we didn’t even have sex before marriage until the 1990s, as only married couples could get rubber johnnies by means of a doctor’s prescription. Unless you were one of the few who could find another circumstance for using the things, in which case you might know how to get them illegally.

And speaking of things illegal, aren’t we a nation of rebels anyway, be the hokey? (Mind you, that doesn’t explain how we never rebelled against the nonsense above). Last but not least - we are not racist or prejudiced, thanks to a deep empathy and understanding forged by our collective experience of oppression, victimization and tyranny over The 800 Years.

So how does that explain why our bosses rip off foreign workers as enthusiastically as any foreign bosses? How does it explain how our new Irish landlord class is as bad as anything we had under British rule? How does it explain why some Irish workers abuse their colleagues on the grounds of their nationality?

An Englishman working in Ireland has won a complaint against his erstwhile Irish work colleagues on the grounds of racist abuse. I suppose the more hardline of you might look at it as revenge for the crimes that were Bernard Manning (above), Jimmy Cricket, Frank Carson, and others, who made careers out of racist “jokes” about the Irish to an appreciative British audience. But the problem with that is that you can’t tar all British people with the same broad brush.

Yes, some Irish people were victimized and discriminated against while working in Britain, but most (and there were thousands and thousands) of us living working in Britain in the 80s and 90s - I was one - were treated as equals, with respect and dignity. I suppose the bottom line is that there’s a world of difference between ribbing someone you are on good, friendly terms with, and using their accent or country of origin to isolate or ridicule them and make their lives hell.

And before someone says “hey, can this guy not take a joke?”, bear in mind that was precisely the argument used against the minority of Irish people in Britain who encountered who stood up to similar abuse in the workplace way back then.

If the other person isn't laughing, then it's not funny.

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EU opens prize bonds market to Irish citizens

The European Commission has told the Irish government to drop its ban on its own citizens buying prize bonds, or premium bonds, in other EU member states. This follows a complaint made to the EU against the Irish government’s policy by an Irish woman, Helen Mc Cumiskey.

The Irish Government had justified the ban on the dishonest basis that it was protecting its citizens from exploitation by unscrupulous foreign lottery operators - despite the fact that other prize bond-type investments (such as the British premium bonds) are State-guaranteed savings schemes where money is invested and not gambled, as is the case in a lottery.

The Irish government will have to amend its Lotteries and Gaming Act legislation this month. It means that Irish savers will have more choice, which will negatively impact on the Irish prize bonds scheme which is distinctly less generous than its British premium bonds equivalent.


Bravo for the EU. Now could they please force our Government to scrap its scandalous Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT), which means we have to pay up to 40% more for our cars than people in other EU countries?*

*See more on this here

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Gaelscoileanna, Gaelscoils - no "foreigners"?

An article in the local rag came to Gombeen Man’s attention the other day. It reported on a campaign to set up a Gaelscoil (Irish language or Gaelic school) in nearby Tyrrelstown, one of Dublin’s new building boom suburbs.

According to the report, the local populace turned out in their thousands, clamouring for a Gaelscoil in the area. And no, it wasn’t just Irish language enthusiasts and Shinners, according to the piece, the parents of immigrant children were there too.

Sorry, Gombeen Man has no polite way of saying this, but - “bollocks!!!”


Let me give you some background on Tyrrelstown, as many will only know it as a name on the map. Like many parts of west Dublin, Tyrrelstown was only a townland until a few years ago. In a short time, however, a very sizable high-density urban settlement just shot up. Like many such developments, however, the housing went up with scant regard for infrastructural needs, and everything else - from schooling to transport to safe roads to walk on – was an afterthought.

Gombeen Man does not know what the exact population count is in Tyrrelstown, nor does he know the breakdown of indigenous and immigrant people, but confidently assumes that there is a high proportion of children who are - or whose parents are - immigrants. Many of these children, or their parents, will not be native English speakers – so one would have thought it imperative to school them in an environment where they can get up to speed in the spoken language of our country – English – as soon as possible.

Why, then, put a Gaelscoil in this area? Where is the “demand” coming from? The answer, I believe, is that the well-organised Gaelscoil movement is cynically exploiting the dire need for schools, of any sort, in Dublins burgeoning suburbs, to push its own ideological agenda. Gaelic speaking schools – many of which see the teaching of English in any form as an ideological intrusion – are the very last type of schools needed in places such as Tyrrelstown, in my opinion. Anyone unhindered by a purely linguistic agenda can see that the best, most inclusive schools, are ones that teach in the spoken medium of our country which is – I’ll say it again – English. This applies, by the way, whether Irish or "foreign" pupils are at issue.

Another possible reason for the “surge” in popularity of Irish speaking schools – though few will admit it, is racism. Why should there be a “demand” in a working-class area for a type of schooling, that by its very nature, will limit the number of immigrant children on its books? Go on, you are allowed to think the obvious here. The simple answer is that some of the clamour is from Irish parents who feel that their children will be less exposed to foreigners in such an environment - certainly if the following extract from a Sunday Business Post article on Gaelscoileanna, by Nadine O’Regan, that appeared in April of last year is to be believed.

One Dublin parent - we’ll call her Emily, although she wasn’t prepared to give her real name - has told The Sunday Business Post that the local gaelscoil is one she would be happy to have her son attend.

Emily likes this school not just because it’s in a good area. Not just because it gets good results.

And not just because it’s a gaelscoil. No. The reason she would be happy to have her son here is much simpler: at this school, she pointed out, “[her] child wouldn’t have to mix with ‘blacks’.”

For Pat, a former Dublin school principal who also insisted on anonymity, this kind of prejudice is not unfamiliar.

‘‘Parents’ perception would be that gaelscoileanna don’t have a high profile in terms of special learning needs or non-Irish nationals or Traveller enrolment,” he claims.

‘‘So for some parents the perception is that the gaelscoil is a better place for their child.”


No doubt there will be Irish language enthusiasts who will respond by saying “I know the child of an immigrant family that goes to my Oisin’s Gaelscoil”, and all the rest, but these exceptions are not the rule. So, if we discount the usual suspects - middle class parents looking at the increased points potential for doing subjects through Irish, Irish Language enthusiasts, and Shinners - where has this “enthusiasm” come from in relatively deprived working-class areas? Why?

The possible answer, and I’ll spell it out (as Bearla) is R-A-C-I-S-M.

There is a societal shift taking place in Ireland now, and this is the shape of the future. Gaelic has been used since the State's inception to exclude hundreds of thousands of ordinary Irish people from further education and career choices (as part of its warped promotion) and will be used to exclude foreign nationals to an even greater extent in the future.

See the links below:

Disgusting Irish racist site

See also:

Irish Nationalism and Fascism (Gombeen Nation article)

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U2 cover all the spectrums of pop star vanity

Pub tribute band, wedding band, showband, indie band, stadium rock megagroup. It matters not -at whatever level, you’re bound to find all the spectrums of vanity, egotism, conceit and folly in the world of rock’n’roll.

All of the character types are plentiful; in life as in art, in fiction as in fact. Whether it’s the shifty male singer trying to shag the female vocalist(s); the misogynistic hard-rock guitarist whose instrument is an extended phallus; the knuckle-dragging drummer who fulfills all the dumb stereotypes; the pre-Madonna singer with a surfeit of confidence; the acrimony, the plotting, the intrigue, the dishonesty, the theft of ideas or merchandise - the vivacious appetite of the rock’n’roll animal knows no bounds. Unless, that is, you are a certain Dublin 80s band who've outstayed their welcome - namely U2 - in which case none of the above nihilism applies, as property development is more likely to be your idea of rock and roll excess! Man.

Bono and the Edge have been given permission to go ahead with the transformation of the Clarence Hotel by An Bord Plenala (The Planning Board). Various heritage groups had opposed the plan on the grounds that it was not in keeping with the area’s character, citing the destruction of most of the art deco hotel and surrounding buildings. In tandem with the proposed U2 tower - which will dominate Dublin’s docklands if, erm, erected - it will allow Ireland’s best-known tax-shy celebs to leave a real mark on their city for posterity.

Gombeen Man has some respect for Bob Geldof, who at least lives in the UK and pays his taxes like everyone else. He could easily have bolted back to our banana republic to reduce that liability, along with many of the ‘artistes’ – native and otherwise – who came here for that precise benefit. He didn’t though. So we'll allow him to harangue us about Africa, seeing as some of his money is in the pot he wants to share out.

U2, however, famously took their commercial operation to Holland after the belated capping of the Republic’s artists’ exemption tax. Up until then, mega-millionaires such as U2 did not pay a penny tax on royalties, despite all their talk of using other people’s tax payments to eradicate poverty. Even now, the “artists” exemption is still generous.

But in the world of rock and roll, it seems you can be as hypocritical as you like, and nobody will ask any questions. U2 had better be careful though - a proposal put forward by the National Economic and Social Council has recommended the Government introduce a tax on properties. The boys could yet be hit with a tax bill, given their penchant for bricks and mortar, if the NESC finds what its looking for.

But as Bob Geldof himself might say: "It's not enough".

See also: Is Bono a hypocrite?

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U2, their tower, Dublin property, saving the world - the spectrum of pop star vanity

Apolgies from Gombeen Nation. This post has been updated and moved to

U2, their tower, Dublin property, saving the world, etc

Sorry for the inconvenience!

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Irish nationalism and fascism

Gombeen Man spent some years living amid the Sassenachs during the 80s and 90s. Economic migration was something that we Irish did back then, out of a desire to improve our lot - or, indeed, through outright necessity.

Sometimes, I look at the “Polish Scum out” and “Niggers Out” graffiti in and around my locality and am reminded of those long-gone days in London, when British National Party / National Front fascists referred to the Irish as “bog-wogs” who came to take the jobs of the indigenous. Even the work-shy.

Which makes me ponder the subject of Irish nationalism. There are some who maintain that there can’t be an Irish form of fascism due to Ireland’s colonial past. Indeed, in the North, the murder gangs of the UDA, the UVF and the LVF had links with British far-right parties (scumbag Johnny Adair being an example). But is this surprising, given that loyalism was a local form of supremacist British nationalism?

Does it automatically follow then, that - leaving aside the issue of methods - the cause of Irish Republicanism was a progressive one? Many people were drawn into Republicanism because of discrimination and a desire for social justice (Derry had a nationalist majority, for instance, but thanks to gerrymandering had a unionist council). Catholics found it hard to get work and housing, civil rights activists were attacked by the police. Even Trimble admitted that Northern Ireland was a “cold house” for Catholics.

What about the Republic, though? Is the narrow, exclusive, conservative Irish nationalism found here any better informed than that of the NF and the BNP? Is the motivating “philosophy” not much the same? If not, what progressive qualities does it possess over its British counterpart? After all, both concur on an exaggerated sense of worth and allegiance to the nation. Both share a narrow definition of what constitutes truly belonging to that entity, in terms of bloodline or culture. Both are socially conservative – Sinn Fein’s coyness on full abortion rights being an example.

The acid test in both countries then, is how those of a nationalist persuasion treat foreigners. In Britain, which has had net migration for decades - the Irish being particularly well represented – the NF came to prominence in the 70s. Ireland, however, has only recently switched from being a country of net emigration to one of net migration. So, it could be said that the more disagreeable aspects of nationalism here have yet to surface - but there is evidence that this is happening.

During Lisbon, for instance, some group with a Gaelic name campaigned on a platform of “keeping Ireland Irish”. In working class areas the “no” vote had an anti-foreigner element. Even laughable groups who consider themselves left-wing such as Eireugli (something like that – they have a green star as a logo rather than a red one) have protested outside Croke Park against “foreign games” taking place in that taxpayer-funded citadel (one famously wearing a Celtic shirt while doing so).

Crucially, younger people’s nationalism is unhindered by any desire for justice and equality that existed during the Northern conflict – they are simply unabashed anti-foreigner, little Irelander, nationalists. If you won’t listen to me, see this link, with its good Gaelic name: Craobhgalgreine
Watch out for more of this “type of thing” as the recession bites, and the Celtic Brats become more vocal and less inhibited as they seek someone else to blame.

You’ll see that narrow nationalism is much the same, wherever it exists.

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