Last week in the Dail, the Independent TD Shane Ross called for a register of judges’ interests in the wake of a court case where the judge was forced to recuse himself at an advanced stage of proceedings after it emerged the judge had a new beneficial interest in the case through the acquisition of shares in a company. Deputy Ross’s proposal was resisted and is unlikely to gain traction despite its obvious attraction in promoting transparency and protecting the public against conflicts of interest. We already have a Register of Interests in the Oireachtas, something highlighted recently by Deputy Michael Lowry’s omission of a property in Wigan in the UK – the Oireachtas register famously omits debts so we can’t see what loans a politician might have, which might be relevant in some cases such as that of Minister for Health James Reilly’s debts.
It would be helpful if there was a Register of Interests for RTE presenter Pat Kenny.
Pat is unlikely to be affected by the appointment yesterday of an interim examiner at the Treasury Holdings company Carrylane Limited, this despite the report in the Sunday Times in June 2012 that Pat had bought a suite at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Wicklow worth “up to €2m”. Carrylane Limited owns the hotel but the ownership of the suites is unlikely to be affected by the examinership. Having said that, the report yesterday paints a downbeat picture of trading at the Ritz Carlton and with occupancy rates of just 40%, if Pat was depending on renting out his suite, he might be nursing some nasty losses.
Pat also cropped up recently in the Nick Webb/Shane Ross book “The Untouchables” – page 137 – as an investor in the “Conduit partnership” – a syndicate of property investors set up by former tax-man Derek Quinlan. It is not totally clear what property the partnership invested in, but fellow RTE star, Gay Byrne is also named in the book as an investor, and we do know that Gay is on record saying he is nursing substantial losses from his investments with Derek Quinlan. It was reported that Gay and Pat invested €1m and €600,000 respectively in the Four Seasons Hotel in Budapest, Hungary but it is not clear if this was with the Conduit partnership, but it is reported that the loans on this property in Hungary have been transferred to NAMA.
And Pat is also reported to be an investor in another Quinlan syndicate, the Lucy Partnership along with the Dunner, Sean Dunne. This partnership is understood to have bought property in the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin city centre.
According to the latest release from RTE which is for 2009 – three years ago – Pat is presently paid €729,604 which some might think is not bad in a media market which is 1/15th of that in the UK. It is not clear what, if any, income is generated by Pat beyond RTE. Pat is RTE’s highest profile presenter with Frontline and Prime Time on TV and his daily radio show. It might be helpful to viewers and listeners if Pat were to provide a register of his interests and any debts – clearly on some economic matters, property, NAMA, developers, wealth tax, property tax, Paddy McKillen, the Dunnes, Derek Quinlan, Pat may face conflicts between his personal dealings and assets and his duty to be impartial. Having said that there is the potential for conflicts of interest, it should be stressted there is no actual evidence of Pat’s dealings and assets and liabilities affecting his performance.
Maybe Prime Time could investigate….
NAMA Wine Lake 
This article shows yet again the value if the new internet media.
Well done NWL
You seem capable of more investigative reporting than the whole of any other media organization in the country.
The deference shown by RTE this morning to the Bishop on morning Ireland was yet another example. Not one hard question asked to the sustainability of their position. As well paid insiders themselves how likely are RTE people to rock the boat?
My message to the old media is start investigating and become relevant. Or is your plan to keep milking it for as long as possible so you can march into the sunset with cushy pensions before your increasingly older listener/viewers pass away?
The entire purpose of the media is to promote the views of their owners, public or private, and to discredit, ignore, or drown out alternate viewpoints. Media outlets are propaganda shops.
NWL isn’t a media outlet; he’s a guy with a blog. That’s why the quality of information and stories on here trumps every mainstream media source in the country.
And NWL isn’t even an exceptional case, though he is one of the best posters. Almost anyone with a blog can and generally does provide better information, more compelling analysis, and more invective opinions than newspapers, TV, or radio news.
If you’re asking media organizations to stop being propaganda outlets, then you are essentially asking a salmon to stop being a fish. It’s part of what they are. At least nowadays we have the internet, though I sometimes wonder if it’s making us complacent.
What makes you think that NWL is a guy? Perhaps a cohort of guys, or guys and gals?
Curious………………
Heck every mob film ever made has the politician who is in debt to the mafia don. One would have thought that debts were ‘more’ not less important to the scheme of things where influence is concerned. And there would be no need for the volume to be known only the fact of the existence.
I estimate that there are between 1000 to 5000 people in this country who are deeply in debt but who have been saved from bankruptcy by the bailout. At great expense, the rest of us are keeping an expensive ascendancy in the style to which they have become accustomed.
So, was Quinlan the former civil servant some kind of Madoff-like figure, offering “exclusive” deals to an inner circle of public service celebrities? If so, it’s deeply ironic as Quinlan himself was played in the same way by the banks, though Quinlan was an especially eager punter.
Reblogged this on Machholz's Blog and commented:
Well done to Namawinelake ! This article shows us yet again that our country is providing well placed “Insiders” with a life style most of us ordinary citizens can only dream of .Mr Kenny has serious questions to answer as his “Business interests “ makes me wonder are we paying the Fox to look after the chicken coop??? Only in Ireland!
Wake up Ireland and turf out the corrupt political system and put an end to their “Insider Pals on the make”
@ NWL,
Not sure if this has been covered here.
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/nama-developer-pays-3m-in-fees-to-its-directors-over-two-years-3296799.html
Makes you wonder how much money is getting sucked out in creative ways.
Re Pat K: IIRC he also shelled out a lot of cash on a field near his Gaff. I think he was hoping for squatters rights but didn’t succeed.
@Ahura, thanks, we covered it in comments on Sunday last but as things stand, the accounts merely confirm an average of €150,000 paid to eight directors last year and that is below the NAMA cap of €200,000. But yes, the consultants fees on top were interesting and yes, it does suggest questions about overall cost of employing developers, but remember even the €200,000 is misleading when you might have profit-share arrangements which could net developers millions if not tens and possibly hundreds of millions.
RTE, like much of institutional Ireland, can’t differentiate “cronyism” or “conflict of interest” from “networking”. Sean Quinn “sponsored” the Late Late for many years and was untouchable by RTE at a time when Charlie Bird should have been on his doorstep 24/7. Until recently, Tesco “sponsored” the Marianne Finucane show. I remember an attempt to discuss cheap alcohol sales via supermarkets being curtly dismissed as “nanny statism” by Ms Finucane just before taking a break (and a word from the sponsor).
The BBC has strict ethical codes prohibiting such obvious conflicts, yet it seems the BAI couldn’t care less. ( However, my impression is that Tesco are no longer sposoring the show? If so, I wonder why.)