Moriarty Report Should Spur Political Reform- O'Brien

Moriarty Report Should Spur Political Reform- O'Brien

Speaking in Leinster House on the Moriarty report, Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Jonathan O’Brien has said the report should spur reform of the political system and a new culture of patriotism.

He said:

“The Moriarty report is one of the most shocking documents to be published in the history of this state.

It is also one of the most illuminating. It shines a spotlight on the cosy relationship between business and politics in this country – and what it reveals is not pretty.

In recent days the findings of the tribunal have been partially obscured under a torrent of misinformation, deliberate distraction and spin, much of it emanating from Michael Lowry and Denis O’Brien.

We must not let ourselves be distracted from the main issue here.

The issue is that Michael Lowry, as minister for communications in a Fine Gael-led government, manipulated the awarding of a valuable state asset in order to benefit Denis O’Brien, who rewarded him with payments of almost £500,000.

The issue is that Fine Gael accepted over a dozen donations from Mr O’Brien and his companies during the period when they were competing for the mobile phone license.

We are talking about corruption and criminality on an epic scale.

We are talking about a government minister enabling a clique of businessmen to massively enrich themselves at the expense of the Irish state.

We are talking about the rotten relationship between Irish business and Irish politics – a relationship whose fruits we are seeing today in NAMA, the bank guarantee scheme, and the IMF bailout.

The Moriarty report should be taken as a clarion call to make politics honourable again. It should become a historical turning point – the moment when we committed ourselves, as a nation, to root out corruption once and for all; the moment when we began a comprehensive reform of our political system.

We cannot afford to brush it under the carpet. We cannot afford to dismiss it as yesterday’s news. The corrupt nexus of business and politics that it has uncovered remains in place. There will be more Michael Lowrys and more Tribunals in future if we do not act on its findings.

Political decisions must be made openly and transparently. Every Irish citizen must be able to participate in making them.

We need a culture of openness. A culture of civic duty. We need a culture of patriotism.

We need a culture of republicanism.

A republic is a state run by the people, not by a corrupt oligarchy or business elite. This was the ideal of the men and women of 1916 who proclaimed the right of the Irish people to the ownership of Ireland. As we approach the centenary of that event, we need to return to those founding values. We need to initiate a national conversation about a new Ireland – a conversation throughout the 32 counties. Political reform is too important to be left to the politicians. We cannot trust the beneficiaries of our broken system to reform it by ourselves. The only change that matters will come from the bottom up. We should look at this moment of crisis in Irish politics as an opportunity for renewal. If we waste that opportunity, we betray both the legacy of the past, and the promise of the future. The task that faces us today is not just to clean up politics, but to create a genuine republic.”

For further comment or information contact Deputy Jonathan O'Brien 085-2133907