And then I discovered he’s a director of the Irish Central Bank, and thought about it…
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
| JOHN HURLEY, Governor | TONY GRIMES, Director General | |
| DAVID BEGG | GERARD DANAHER | DAVID DOYLE |
| JOHN DUNNE | JIM FARRELL | ALAN GRAY |
| DR. BRIAN HILLERY | MARY O’DEA | DEIRDRE PURCELL |
| DERMOT O’BRIEN | ||
So he’s become a guilty man in my book. [One of my heroes smashed to pieces.]
Either
(1) he knew what was going on and kept quiet, remaining on the Board, taking the money or
(2) he didn’t know what was going on, asleep on the job and disgraced trade unionists.
Suddenly it’s all a lot clearer.
David Begg is vulnerable. The government have him in their pocket. He knows so much, and did so little, the government retain the power to destroy his career. They don’t. He’s much more use to them as a sleeper.
So, when there’s a crisis looming, goverment can rely on their David Begg to be the voice of reason and, hey presto, the strike is off…
Crisis averted.
Deep thinking eh?
thanks for the education.
Comment by Garry — March 27, 2009 @ 11:29 am
After writing the post, I wondered if I was being fair to David Begg. So I sent the piece to Stephen McCarthy, a good friend, who knows David Begg.
This is what Stephen McCarthy has to say…
“No I don’t think it is fair comment even though I am not au fait with the specific events that have upset you.
Money first, Non executive directors on State Boards used to get 1,000 punts a year. So about 1250 Euros a year. I’d be surprised if that’s enough to buy a doorman in the Central Bank.
Second, and I speak as an x member of the Pensions Board, most non exec directors take the job seriously and work hard far beyond the E1250, and do it for their own sectional interest of course, but also for their conception of the public good, which isn’t the same for everybody.
Third, there is a tendency to be a little reticent on such boards on technical matters beyond your immediate competence. The more outside the more reticent. Maybe this shouldn’t be, and more questions should be asked, but it is true non the less and it is a far less grave charge than bribery.
Fourth, this whole banking mess is international and the real culprits are Greenspan and Brown. They continually deregulated banks and ignored the, legal, means by which banks slipped through the liquidity rules. The Irish Central Bank is a small player, and it would be unrealistic to think that they would be uninfluenced by international trends.
Beyond that, what you have is the usual fairly sordid Fianna Fail sort of corruption. My experience is that that is invariable done in private without witness’s.
Lastly, I regard David Begg as a moral man and I am sure that he would have attempted to stop anything that he knew of. That is not necessarily to say he would have gone public.
Comment by omaniblog — March 27, 2009 @ 1:29 pm
Stephen,
Thank you very much for such an informative and informed view.
I’ve send David Begg a short email via ICTU website, letting him know about this post.
I’m quite taken aback at how little David Begg seems to have been paid for his work as non-executive director of Central Bank. For that sort of money, you can’t expect much concentration from anyone at that level. Maybe David spent his time at Central Bank board meetings texting or planning how he’d hold the ring among trade unions.
But why hasn’t he resigned to spend more time on trade union business? Staying there gives me the wrongful impression that he’s there for the quodos and thrill of associating with people who have disgraced themselves, in my view.
Comment by omaniblog — March 27, 2009 @ 6:38 pm