4April 2015
Villager
Just shut up
Villager is interested in the notion of
‘guest’ as applied to the ‘Tonight with
Vincent Browne’ show. The status seems to
be precarious. Tom Cooney, a pro-Israeli
former advisor to Alan Shatter, was told to
leave after interrupting, Jerry Beades was
ejected after being invited to ‘shut up’
(“just leave if you’re not going to stop
talking”) and now SIPTU’s Jack O’Connor
whose departure admittedly was his own
idea has suffered the ignominy of being
followed out of the studio by an unhostly
invitation to ‘Hit the Road Jack’ and
raucous studio laughter. After the
ignominy, journalist Colette Browne
feared that – much worse – O’Connor
might be stuck for an invidious half hour
watching the gaiety while a taxi was called
to TV’s studio in far-flung Ballymount.
All of this is fine when you don’t like the
victim; and Israel, and the New Land
League, certainly need robust criticism.
SIPTU, the Labour Party and the issue of
TV not being unionised deserve it less.
The problem with the ‘Tonight Show’ is
that – uniquely – the dignity of all the
guests is in play. As well of course as that
of the presenter. And sometimes that of
the issue.
No one-horse towns
The latest statistics show that % of
journeys made in Ireland (outside Dublin)
in  were by car – driving (%) or
driven (%).
Ideolo-something
Joan Burton is proposing a cap on the
property tax when the freeze on increases
registers at the end of the year. Villager
can’t remember where that fits in the
socialist handbook. Karl Marx of course
wanted to abolish private property, so just
crucifying it with taxes should be allowed.
In similar spirit, the coalition
government was happy to abolish the %
tax on windfall profits to land speculators,
which had been introduced at Green
insistence, without a solitary murmur
from anyone in the Labour Party.
Ya can’t eat planning
Minister for the Environment, Alan Kelly,
isn’t really a man for any of that old leftie
stuff relating to land, planning or anything
really. According to the Irish Times. Mr
Kelly is considering allowing builders of
one-off houses to “opt out” of the usual
certification requirements. It’s of a piece
with recent news that the inspection
regime for the country’s , septic
tanks – agreed with the increasingly
pliable EU, would take  years to
complete, even though nearly three
quarters of them are “high risk”.
Kelly and his Minister of state Paudie
Coffey have announced a review of the
Building Control (Amendment)
Regulations  “to consider in
particular the impact of S.I. No.  of 
on single dwellings and extensions to
existing dwellings having regard to
specific concerns which have been raised
in relation to the cost burden of the
regulations and the level of certification
required for this sector”. This is code for a
nod to planning-control anarchy.
Unlawful Society
Villager returns to the case of Kenmare-
based solicitor, Colm Murphy, who was
struck off from the Roll of Solicitors in
 on foot on foot of complaints from
another solicitor, Fergus
Appelbe. Murphy took a case
against the Law Society
which failed to investigate
Appelbe until very recently
when he was finally
restricted as to how he can
practise. Appelbe is a former
member of the Law Society
Conveyancing Committee
and was the subject of two
‘Today Tonight’
investigations in /
into his conduct. He and his
various companies are now
also in overwhelming debt
– to a sum in excess of
€m much of which will
have to be borne by the
state.
Allegations of “repeated
skulduggery on the part of officials of the
Law Society” were aired in the Supreme
Court last year as part of Murphy’s claim
of breach of duty, negligence, defamation
and misfeasance of public office against
them. Murphy claimed that his striking off
was based on spurious and inaccurate
information provided by the Law Society
to its Disciplinary Tribunal and the High
Court ten years ago. Key to the decision to
strike him from the roll had been a claim
Beades before he left
Magna
Carta –
Ken’s?