Firm paid €15.1m for advising two State transport bodies

This from The Irish Times of Wednesday.

Vast sums of money and one has to ask has it been value for money.

While all this tax payers’ cash is being spent, the real time signs at tram and bus stops are badly designed.

The real time signs can only be read if you are standing at certain places at the stop. In many places the roof of the shelter impedes the passenger from reading the real time sign.

What poor engineering and not a word of complaint anywhere in the media.

And then the announcement yesterday that €7,000,000 wasted by the Arts Council, every cent of it down the drain while individuals and companies made a killing. GUBU First Class.

ARTHUR BEESLEY Current Affairs Editor

A Dublin law firm was paid €15.1 million over four years for advising two State transport bodies, according to Government documents setting out huge spending on private consultancies.Solicitors McCann FitzGerald received €8.29 million from the National Transport Authority (NTA) in 2020-2023 and €6.81 million from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) in the same period.

Fees varied each year, but the figures show McCann FitzGerald received some €3.27 million for NTA advice in 2023, an average of €62,993 a week. McCann FitzGerald had no comment on its work.

The figures were disclosed in files released under freedom-of-information laws.

As the Government advances the proposed €9.5 billion Dublin metro project and the €5 billion BusConnects plan, the records show big legal, accounting and engineering firms are earning millions of euro in relation to State transport.

The NTA, responsible for developing transport networks, spent €22.15 million on consultants in 2020-2023 and TII spent €11.45 million. TII runs national roads, Luas light rail services and metro planning.

Assessed with public Department of Transport data, the files show how some firms have carried out extensive consulting work for separate State institutions at the same time.

Accountants EY, formerly Ernst & Young, had received €5.57 million for public transport work since the start of the decade – €2.16 million from the NTA, €1.94 million from the department and €1.47 million from TII. EY had no comment.

Accountants KPMG had received €4.67 million since the start of the decade – €2.39 million from the NTA, €2 million from the department and some €262,000 from TII. KPMG had no comment.

Jacobs Engineering received €4.78 million from the NTA over four years. Building consultants Aecom Ireland received a total of €1.22 million from the NTA and TII. Infrastructure consultants Chandler KBS received €1.11 million from the NTA. Aecom had no comment. Jacobs Engineering and Chandler KBS did not reply to enquiries.

Accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and consultants Ove Arup received €1.67 million and €1.76 million respectively from the department. PwC and Arup had no comment.

In addition to McCann FitzGerald fees for legal advice, TII separately paid solicitors A&L Goodbody and Pinsent Mason €1.53 million for metro project legal services. A&L Goodbody had no comment.

Asked about such spending, TII’s spokesman said: “TII requires a variety of corporate legal services, which are publicly procured, to provide legal services across TII’s ... responsibilities and project delivery.”

He added: “They include the areas of, but are not limited to, the following: public-private partnerships, litigation, planning law, environmental law, employment law, commercial and contract law, data protection, health and safety.”

An NTA spokesman said: “NTA expenditure on outside legal services includes an estimated €2.9 million relating to NTA plans to invest in bus prioritisation infrastructure ... as part of the BusConnects programme.”

He added: “Given the complexity and scale of the projects, legal expertise was required for applications for 12 core bus corridor schemes to An Bord Pleanála under section 51 of the Roads Act 1983 (as amended) and the confirmation of compulsory purchase orders associated with each of the scheme approval applications.”

Sam Kerr and her ‘stupid and white’ comment

Chelsea striker Sam Kerr  has been found not guilty of causing racially aggravated harassment, after calling a Metropolitan Police officer "stupid and white". A jury at Kingston Crown Court cleared her in relation to an incident in Twickenham, south-west London, on 30 January 2023.

But of course, how could there be any other result?

Everything in context. White people have subjugated and tortured people of colour for generations. Had Kerr said ‘stupid and black’ in  London it would have had a completely different meaning. Or indeed, had she said what she said in an Africa country it would have had a different meaning.

The dirty Irish has another meaning than saying the dirty Germans.

But is it all worth the money, energy, attention and publicity it has received?

Doubtful.

China builds huge military command post

A satellite image obtained by the Financial Times shows construction of a huge complex near Beijing that US intelligence believes will serve as  a military command centre at least 10 times the size of  the Pentagon.

The 605-hectare  site is made up of deep holes that military experts believe will house reinforced bunkers designed to protect leaders during any conflict, including, potentially, nuclear war.

The development is under way as the People’s Liberation Army develops new weapons and projects ahead of the forces’ centenary 2027.

The Brutalist - the title says it all. Great film near you

This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper

Michael Commane

At the outset let me emphatically state I am by a long shot no film critic.

Some weeks ago I went to see ‘Conclave’, the film about the election of a pope. It is based on Robert Harris’ book of the same name. I enjoyed both the film and the book. Indeed, I’d recommend both. 

Some time after the film’s release American bishop Robert Barron advised people not to go to the film. 

I’m still asking myself what the man was on about. But I imagine I’m being biased as many of his comments annoy me.

Last week I went with two friends to see The Brutalist. Before going I knew nothing about the film, not true, I knew it was a long film, over three hours, 15 minutes, indeed, so long, there was an intermission. It meant we left the cinema after 11pm and I was getting up the next day at 6am. I’m not a great night person and had had a busy day. 

I was not prepared for the film. Leaving the cinema I was asking myself why was it so long and I was also somewhat irritated. Was it that I did not fully understand the film? It’s now over a week since I saw it and I’m still thinking about it. 

As the days pass I’m seeing more angles and corners to it. The film is about young architect László Tóth, a survivor of Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar. He emigrates to the US, leaving his crippled wife and orphaned niece behind, and lands in Philadelphia, where he stays for a short time with a cousin. Later his wife and niece join him in America.

He hits on hard times until he meets up with super rich industrialist, Harrison Lee Van Buren, who commissions him to build a gigantic community centre in honour of his mother. 

The venture begins with great gusto and excitement, hope too. But it turns sour. The building is abandoned. We learn in the epilogue that the community centre was completed, albeit many years later.

We see László as a drug addict, down and out. The super rich Lee Van Buren, behind all his wealth and show is a nasty piece of work, whose extravagant wealth has done nothing for his soul, indeed, it may have been a powerful ingredient making him in to the nasty person he becomes. 

While László hits bottom, in the end he and his architecture win out. I see the film as a metaphor or allegory of our lives. Of course we need money to survive but our obsessive chasing after money and power, our craving to have the big house, the newest car, whatever it is, is like sand slipping through our fingers. 

Beauty, goodness, talent win out. Doing things well, may have their ups and downs but they always win out. We see the nasty and mean side of sex but we also see the all-empowering beauty of sex and love.

The American dream, is just that, a dream.

Brutalist architecture emphasises materials and was fashionable in the 1950s and ’60s

It might look harsh on the outside but may be beautiful inside. A story for our times?

Go see it. 

John F Kennedy's famous speech In Berlin

Kennedy’s Berlin speech in 1963. A brilliantly delivered oration. He gave the speech just short of two years after the construction of the Berlin Wall.

What has a united Germany done for the cause of peace in Europe?

 Ich bin ein Berliner (I am a Berliner) speech

Duration: 9 minutes and 2 seconds.9:02Subtitles available.CC

Speech from the Rathaus Schöneberg by John F. Kennedy, June 26, 1963. Duration 9:01; "Ich bin ein Berliner" first appears at 1:45, then again at 8:46.

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Ich bin ein Berliner ("I am a Berliner") speech (audio)

Duration: 9 minutes and 22 seconds.9:22

Audio-only version (Duration 9:22)

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Problems playing these files? See media help.

Seven million dollars for 30 seconds of advertising

The US Super Bowl final takes place in New Orleans today, starting 6.30pm Eastern Time. 

The Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs.

A 30-second advertisement during the game today costs $7 million.

In capitalism it’s the market that decides. What does that price say about capitalism? Surely it tells us 'something is rotten in the sate of Denmark’.

Nemone Lethbridge still doing great work at 92

Below is a link to yesterday’s BBC 4’s Desert Island Discs.

Ninety two-year-old Nemone Lethbridge is guest. One of England’s first female barristers. 

Her childhood ambition was to be the United Kingdom’s first Communist prime minister.

Great radio and the music she chooses is bewitching.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0027l20?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

ESB Networks need to compensate its customers

Over 700,000 customers were left without electricity immediately after Storm Éowyn.

It’s now two weeks since the storm raged across the land and there is still a number of people without electricity.

Obviously there is something wrong with the infrastructure. Go along any country road and note the number of inclining poles. Ribbon development does not help. Far too many trees close to poles or poles near trees. Need for more underground cabling.

Will customers who have lost electricity be refunded on their next bills? People who have had more than three days outage should be compensated. Why not give every customer €50 credit. And certainly, no one who has been without power should have to pay a Standing Charge, nor should they have to pay the PSO Levy. The PSO Levy was reintroduced some months ago and all done very quietly.

The money should not come from the State but from ESB Networks.

PSO Levy per month is €3.23 and the Standing Charge is €0.06303 per day, which works out at €19.54 for a 31-day month. Why should customers, who have been without power pay these charges.

And not a word in the media about customers receiving a refund.

Using Scripture to justify bigotry

Worth watching, listening to, as well.

Real and active words about God’s message to the world.

 https://www.facebook.com/reel/1649298279326722/?

Serious questions about the conviction of Lucy Letby

Former British Conservative government minister Sir David Davis MP is campaigning  for justice in the case of Lucy Letby. Yesterday he said that since the 1970s there have been 500 miscarriages of justice in the English courts.

Below is from the RTÉ website:

Bad medical care and natural causes led to the deaths of babies said to have been harmed by British nurse Lucy Letby, a panel of international medical experts has concluded.

The team of 14 neonatologists and paediatric specialists said it "did not find any murders" after presenting its "impartial evidence-based report".

Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life sentences after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.

Chairman Dr Shoo Lee told reporters at a two-hour news conference in London that the panel had detected a number of medical problems at the Countess of Chester Hospital during the relevant period.

These included, he said, poor skills in resuscitation and inserting breathing tubes, a lack of understanding of some basic procedures, along with misdiagnoses and unsafe delays in treatment of acutely poorly babies.

‘He has sent me to bring good news to the poor’

This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper.

Michael Commane

Patrick, not his real name, was standing on top of a shed when I shouted up at him not to fall. He jokingly replied he was thinking of jumping.  I suggested it would be a bad idea as he would probably break a leg or arm and feel and look like a right eejit.

It was lunchtime, he come down the ladder and we got talking. He was upset about something. Earlier that morning he had found a man lying in bushes and he simply did not know what to do about it. He asked me what I did, I told him and also said I was a priest. He took off his right glove, shook hands with me and said that it was seldom one meets a priest these days. I was embarrassed. We chatted and parted. 

The following day we met again and he brought me to where the man had been the previous day. There he was, in dire conditions, lying on an old skimpy sheet, his left hand shaking. He was well concealed from public view. It was the day before Storm Éowyn landed. Patrick was very concerned about the man. 

The three of us had a chat. It was clear something had to be done for James (not his real name). Patrick and I exchanged phone numbers. The day after the storm Patrick called to tell me that he had managed to get James into hospital and that he had surgery the same day. I was delighted with the news.

I have since visited James in hospital. He has had a second procedure and is on the mend. At least right now he is in out of the cold and rain. And he certainly looks a different man than the person I saw cowering under those bushes in miserable weather.

He told me his life story and we have kept in touch over the phone. 

Of course I’ve been thinking of Patrick and what he did for James. He told me he had a sleepless night over it. The next morning he went out and bought James a mobile phone and also brought him some food, which James didn’t eat.

The morning I met Patrick, whom I imagine, is in his early-to-mid 50s, was working away at his job but he had something on his mind, genuine concern about a fellow human being.

Was it telepathy, a coincidence, whatever it was, but reading the Gospel the following Sunday a line from St Luke jumped out at me: ‘He has sent me to bring good news to the poor.’

It’s so easy to read and talk about the mission statement of the Gospel but when you see someone living it in their skin it throws a whole new light on it.

And something else about the incident has crossed my mind. The accidental way how I met Patrick. I suppose we were both acting the clown and actually enjoying the moment. And just look how it all worked out.

I keep saying it, what’s it all about. Patrick’s goodness is surely part of the answer, indeed, a large part of the answer.

There is no such thing as 'inherited guilt'

The column below was sent by Francis Hunt as a comment on today’s blogpost. It is a powerful reply to the extreme right and AfD saying: "It's time for Germany to stop feeling guilty”.  Thank you Francis for the clarity, insight and accuracy.

It's a popular argument from the extreme right in Germany. The concept of inherited guilt is a good straw horse argument; It puts forward a false premise, demolishes it, and then claims that the demolition proves its case.

The Christian concept of Original Sin notwithstanding, there is no such thing as "inherited guilt". What there is, is a collective responsibility for Germans - and for the Federal Republic of Germany, as the legal successor state of the Nazi one - to remember the lessons of that appalling period of German history, and to bear witness to it so that those lessons will not be forgotten.

One way of looking at the history of Germany since the war is to see it as the long and difficult journey to understand and express the consequences of this responsibility. Part of this process involved a decided refutation of any concept of "blood guilt", given the presence of such ideas in the foul mess of the origins of antisemitism.

The ideas of "inherited" or "blood" guilt are illogical and absolutely toxic. Are my children (half-German and half-Irish) only half as guilty as their contemporaries? Or is one "drop" of German blood enough to damn them completely to guilt?

It is horribly fascinating to see how the AfD is able to paradoxically use the racist concept of "blood" to relativise the whole question of remembering the lessons of the Holocaust. Combining the idea of German "Volk" and German Nation, and commingling it with a simplistic view of history extending over millenia, the AfD politician, Alexander Gauland, described the history of the Nazi period as a "bird dropping" [Vogelschiss] in the whole sweep of history. Commingled with this relativism is the usual right wing argument that Germany has more than adequately accepted its guilt and done sufficient atonement for it. And so, absolution is self-declared.

Except that present-day Germany is not "guilty" of the Nazi abomination. It needs no absolution. But the responsibility to remember, to bear witness, remains. Is that an ongoing cultural "burden"? Some may see it that way. But I see the ongoing challenge to bear witness to the terrible lessons of the past as a marvelously creative opportunity for German culture. Often imperfect, frequently with a large serving of hypocrisy as a side dish. But over the decades, always moving forward. When you visit the Holocaust Memorial in front of the Bundestag in Berlin, you get a real sense of what this German responsibility means. Yes, the burden can sometimes feel heavy, but there is also profound honour to be found in taking it up. 

AfD leader cleverly sneers during Caren Miosga programme

Much is happening in Germany these days. There is a general election on Sunday, February 23. There was an interesting vote in the Bundestag last week where the AfD voted with the Christian Democrats.

Last evening on the Caren Miosga programme on the ARD station the leader of the AfD, Alice Weidel was interviewed. Also on the programme was a representative from German industry and a political commentator.

It was a fascinating hour-long programme. Weidel is a sophisticated European version of Trump. 

At one stage Miosga played a clip of a rally where Weidel roared that the AfD would tear down every wind turbine in Germany. When challenged on the issue she said she did not mean it literally and it was words spoken in the poetry of an election.

Weidel is in favour of returning to the German Mark, is critical of the EU and wants Germany to return to being a sovereign state. She wants a return to nuclear energy.

While it was in a different format to the Trump Harris debate there were aspects to it that reminded on of that debate. Weidel had many one liners easy to remember.

She believes it’s time for Germans to stop looking to its past, instead to look to the future. It’s time for Germany to stop feeling guilty.

The ghost of Hitler’s Germany hovers over the heads

of the AfD.

On one occasion Caren Miosga asked Alice Weidel why she was moving her eyes as if she were sneering.

It was a programme where one could place much emphasis on body language. And Weidel, right through the programme, cleverly used the cameras to her best advantage.

It would have been impossible for Sunday evening’s programme to have been aired on German television 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago. It would have been beyond taboo.

An interesting moment in the run-up to the election and no doubt the commentators will have much to say about it in the coming days. 

Hitler and Goebbels used the media to the very best of their advantage. No one was better than they at using the then new medium. 

Much happening in Germany these days. Ther are 

Zhukov’s prescient words on nuclear weapons in 1955

On February 7, 1955 Georgy Zhukov was appointed the USSR’s minister of defence.

In a lengthy interview he gave that day to a group of  American journalists he said:

"The very existence of nuclear weapons harbours the possibility of their employment, and certain madmen might go to the length of using them in spite of everything.

"It is our duty to do our utmost to have these weapons banned ..... It should be remembered that atomic weapons are double-edged. Atomic war is just as dangerous to the attacker as to the attacked.”

Wise words indeed. Are these ‘madmen’ in positions of power today?

US Episcopal Church replies to President Donald Trump

Below is the response from the United States Episcopal Church to President Donald Trump’s apology demand from the bishop on X.  It's quite the masterpiece.

President Trump,

1.⁠ ⁠Much like those who do not want you to be president, you do not get to decide whether a bishop’s office is legitimate.   She was chosen by the people of her diocese to be their bishop. Then, she was granted consent to be a bishop by other bishops and standing committees of our church’s dioceses. 

Beginning by calling her a “so-called” bishop is an obvious low blow to discredit her as a person, rather than what she actually said that you disagree with.  

The Episcopal Church was legitimate enough to hold your third wedding, the funeral of Melania’s mother, and the baptism of your son, Barron.  Barron also attended an Episcopal day school.  Now you have an issue with how we do things when it doesn’t go your way? 

2.⁠ ⁠You didn’t have an issue with politics being brought into the church by the ministers who spoke at your inauguration, or by yourself for that matter. 

They were blatantly partisan, crediting God for your political success: “Mr. President, the last four years there were times I'm sure you thought it was pretty dark, but look what God has done," Graham said.  

3.⁠ ⁠She wasn’t nasty in tone, plain and simple.  I can’t remember ever hearing a homily given in such a gracious manner and calm tone.  If you disagree, listen to her speak.  You may disagree with what she said, but her tone was in no way “nasty.” 

Additionally, insulting her intelligence, rather than quoting what you disagreed with, is a very typical play coming from a narcissist. 

4.⁠ ⁠The vast majority of people who have committed crimes in the U.S. are U.S. citizens.  Defending yourself about being asked to have mercy on immigrants by saying a “large number of illegal migrants came into our country and killed people” is a gross misrepresentation and does not make sense.   

By that logic, we should be locking up or deporting all Americans because the majority of crimes were committed by citizens.  We do need to improve our immigration system, but scripture commands us as Christians to have mercy. Mercy is a central tenet of our faith.   Matthew 5:7 says “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Leviticus 19: 33-34 says, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” If you have a take issue with this, take it up with God.  

5.⁠ ⁠Saying the service was boring and uninspiring is a move to discredit the event, rather than what specifically was said.  However, it’s worth mentioning that the purpose of a service is not to be “exciting”. There are several purposes for our services, such as honoring God, bringing us closer to God, and being in community with one another.  Being “exciting” is not one of them.  As far as inspiration goes, that is in the eye of the beholder.   You get as much out of it as you put into it.  

6.⁠ ⁠The bishop does not owe you an apology.  Our church does not owe you an apology.  All you were asked to do is what scripture directly asks us to do.  If you could quote one thing she asked of you that isn’t asked of us in scripture, we would apologize. 

Someone recently reminded me of something I often heard growing up in church. If you are offended by a minister’s sermon or feel that it was a personal attack, look to see if you can find anything they said that was out of line with scripture and the teachings of Jesus.  If you can’t, that feeling is what we call, “being convicted of your sin”.  

The fact you are so offended by what was said shows you know there is truth in it.  To your supporters who also feel offended by it, the same goes.

The day on the Volga the history of the world changed

Apologies. There was a technical glitch with this post. Maybe it was taken down by anti-Russian supporters, half joking, half serious. Anything is possible these days.

The post was remembering January 31, 1943, the day that Feld Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrendered to Marshal Georgy Zhukov on the banks of the Volga at Stalingrad. 

It was probably the most significant day in World War II. From there the Soviet Army raced to Berlin and again it was Zhukov who arrived in the city, this time before his fellow marshal, Konev.

It was in Karlshorst, the eastern suburb of Berlin on May 8/9 that Zhukov signed the German capitulation document. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed on behalf of Germany.

Discovering a man living in heavy undergrowth and bushes.

Earlier this week I found a man living in a bush/cluster of trees. He was sleeping on a dirty old skimpy sleeping bag. His living conditions were horrific. In the first moment it was an incredible sight.

He is now in hospital where he has undergone surgery. It is expected he will be discharged from hospital next week and has been offered accommodation in a hostel. He does not want to go to a hostel because of past experiences he has had.

He has a history of alcoholism but is currently not drinking and is resolved to attend AA meetings and stay away from alcohol.

Is there any reader out there who could offer advice or help the man in anyway whatsoever? He is a gentle soul, well mannered and has simply come on hard times.

If you can help please send a comment to this blog. Everything will remain confidential. Thank you.

Jesuit James Martin corrects US vice present JD CVance

New US VP JD Vance and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops don’t seem to be off to harmonious start. Anyone surprised?

Link below worth a read.

https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/51600

The anti-clerical coalition

Makes for interesting reading.

 https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-anti-clerical-coalition/

A telltale story about the Irish Rail logo

This Week’s column that appears in The Kerryman.

Michael Commane

In conversation with a friend from Northern Ireland, now living in Australia, he insisted we in the South have no idea what went on in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. 

He recalled how as a young boy he was mistreated by the security forces. I have no idea what went on. I learned about it through the media, never experienced it in my own flesh.

Last week I travelled by rail to Belfast. If you are a regular reader of this column you will know I am a train nerd. I noticed boarding the train in Dublin that the Irish Rail logo, which includes the colours green white and orange, the colours of the national flag, were missing on the logo of this train. 

I discovered that all Irish Rail trains travelling across the border have had the colours removed. Sounds crazy to me. Before the introduction of the hourly Dublin Belfast service Northern Ireland Railways and Irish Rail operated a common Enterprise service with identical trains, which simply had the word Enterprise written on the coaches. 

With the new enhanced hourly service it was necessary to use more Irish Rail rolling stock in addition to the Enterprise trains.

Last October the all-new Belfast Grand Central Station was officially opened. It’s a fabulous combined rail bus station. Plenty of open space. I went to a machine to purchase a single rail ticket to Connolly Station to discover it was not possible to buy a ticket to Dublin. I was shocked, annoyed too. 

Here I was in a state-of-the-art €340 million new facility and the machine would not allow me purchase a ticket to Dublin. I was directed to a standard ticket desk. I asked a staff member of Northern Ireland Railways why the machine could not issue me a ticket. 

He explained that I was moving to another jurisdiction. I retorted I could buy a ticket in a machine in Berlin to Paris, to which he replied that Northern Ireland Railways is a separate company to Irish Rail. Of course I had an answer for him: German Rail is a separate company from French Rail. 

At that stage he looked up to the heavens. I got the impression he thought I was impossible. I pursued with my thinking. I think he began to wonder himself how crazy it all is.

My friend in Australia introduced me to a lifelong friend of his, whom I have met a few times over the years. I think I can honestly say that he is a great person. We can laugh and joke together, discuss too. I enjoy his company. Why should it be any other way? 

When we first met, I presumed from his name that he was Protestant. I was correct. But isn’t it obscenely outrageous how we create divisions between peoples. 

As a child  and a young man I always thought it was the other person who was the bigot. More nonsense. 

How dare we ever make our minds up about other people when we hardly even know ourselves. Just look at the state of the world and ask why it is in the state of chassis it is.