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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
September 2016 2 7
R
eading a Pulitzer-winning New York
biography over the summer it was
difficult not to think of Pat Hickey and
his control of the Olympic Council of
Ireland (OCI). Hickey's ego and abil-
ity to run rings around ministers is reminiscent,
on a much smaller scale, of the way Robert
Moses domineered in New York from the 1930s
to the 1960s. Moses' career is brilliantly
expounded in Robert Caro's outstanding, if at
1336 pages remarkably long, biography, 'The
Power Broker'.
Moses unsuccessfully stood for New York
State governor in 1934. But never achieving
elected office didn't stop him from becoming
the most powerful man in New York. He rebuilt
much of the city, in some ways positively,
though he had little regard for the poor, and
none for blacks. He created more public parks
and recreational areas for New Yorkers, but in
almost half a century he also committed the
state to the car, building more roads, and starv-
ing public transport of investment, with
predictable results.
His story is one of remarkable power osten-
sibly based on the control of innocuous-sounding
public authorities. His superior knowledge of
rules, rules he often drafted himself, gave him
control of these authorities. He collected infor-
mation on every potential collaborator, who
were, of course, also potential enemies.
But most of all Moses organised the corrup-
tion of the city’s public works programmes. He
ensured that anyone with any power had an
interest in Moses’ success. He was able to
defeat powerful enemies this way. And his suc-
cesses made him powerful friends.
In this perspective, the OCI ticketing scandal
is pretty small beer. It might be a sign of how
healthy our democracy is that we're getting so
exercised by it. More likely is that it happened
in August and so, other than an underwhelming
Irish performance at the Olympics, the media
had little else to report.
But it has become a scandal, and scandals
create a vacuum that must be filled by the out-
rage of the overwrought. 'Shell shocked'
ministers promised action. If Joe Duffy is cur-
rently pandering to the self-appointed morally
superior, his interlocutors are sure to have been
aghast. It will have provided proof for them, not
that any was needed, that 'they're all the same'.
And so to fill the vacuum, Shane Ross rushed
in with an 'independent' inquiry. As a non-stat-
utory inquiry it will depend on the goodwill of
those it's seeking to investigate. If there is
wrongdoing, it is unlikely to find anything other
than a lack of co-operation. It would be very
hard for Pat Hickey to co-operate, should he
want to, while under threat from the Brazilian
criminal system. It does mean, however, that
the OCI can't sweep the matter away, which pre-
sumably it would prefer to do.
But above all the purpose of the inquiry is to
be seen to do something. Hopefully judge Car-
roll Moran will have the sense to see that and
not drag it out longer than is needed.
The real lessons are entirely predictable.
When we look at the scandals that have
emerged in Irish state-dependent organisa
-
tions recently, a common thread is evident. The
problems in Console, Rehab, the Central Reme-
dial Clinic and the OCI – as well as Irish
Nationwide, whether a result of corruption or
mis-management, all happened in organisa-
tions that became dominated by one man or
woman.
They could get away it for so long because the
dominant player controlled money, information
and personnel and was dependent on absentee
directors who showed little interest or taste in
propriety. They went along usually because of
the generous rewards associated with the
roles. Sonia O'Sullivan's admission that
anything she knew about the OCI scandal she
knew from the media shows a surprising lack of
interest, given her position on its board. But
badly managed organisations depend on the
torpidity of others.
The Irish scandals dwarf in comparison to
Moses’ operation, but if we are serious about
avoiding the excessive rewards and misman-
agement of important Irish institutions, we
need to think about regulation certainly, but
even more about how directors operate and the
terms of their leadership.
Because many were overpaid we assume that
no pay is the answer. This, it is thought, ensures
that only the honest and genuinely interested
will serve. But it means they may take it less
seriously, and they may feel entitled to pursue
other ways to get rewards. Moses made a big
deal of the fact that he served in his many public
jobs (except as New York City Parks Commis-
sioner) without compensation, but he lived
royally and enriched those around him in public
and private life who aided him. Some pay is rea-
sonable and desirable.
Unless directors are made personally respon-
sible for the activities of their organisations
these scandals will continue. And if they are
dominated by egotistical individuals, then
scandal is almost a certainty.
Pat Hickey
as Moses
For the OCI head as for Robert Moses
and leaders of Console, Rehab, the
Central Remedial Clinic and Irish
Nationwide, too much power weakly
supervised was a recipe for scandal
by Eoin O’Malley
They could get away with
it because the dominant
player controlled
money, information
and personnel and was
dependent on absentee
directors who showed
little interest in propriety
