Irish media and Shannon

The treatment of the current Shannon fiasco by the Irish media is typical. The usual commentators in the private papers do what their masters have told them to do: worship the so-called 'free market' (funny how there is no complaint in the Business sections when the US and European central banks interfere in the financial markets to rescue the banks that caused the current financial disaster by making loans they knew could not be repaid). But the best example of the stupidity and lies in the Irish media is the way they frame the story. The problem in Shannon is the utter failure of the Regional development policies of the Irish government. Aer Lingus dumping Shannon is a symptom of a problem not a root cause. But of course the media zoom in on the micro details of what a particular company is doing and completely ignore the big picture. Last Sunday RTÉ had a huge interview with an Aer Lingus executive: but no interviews with the Minister of Transport!!! That's the way RTÉ covers every disaster: focus on some petty detail. It's like trying to understand world war two by following one platoon in the German army. By definition the Irish government policy to develop the West is an attempt to correct a market failure. Market failures cannot be understood or corrected by looking at one tiny element of the overall market.
But of course it suits the free market ideologues in the Irish media to ask the wrong questions; that way there is no danger of upsetting the status quo.

Irish Government and Shannon airport

The latest fiasco at Shannon airport is a fascinating case study in the hypocrisy of the Fianna Fail. In theory government policy (for years) has been to support development in the West which is totally underdeveloped, a policy which will also help the East which is suffering from uncontrolled over-development and a population explosion. However every time this alleged policy hits a chunk of reality it implodes. Aer Lingus dumping the only link from the West to the Heathrow uber-hub is in complete contravention of the policy. What are the government going to do about it? Nothing. To quote that clown Dempsey, Minister for (don't laugh) Transport, "Aer Lingus is a commercial company and the decision is theirs to make". Well fine so. If the government is to have nothing to do with commercial decisions in the West let's be honest and chuck out this bullshit about regional development policy. When the government privatised Aer Lingus they kept a 25% share. What are they going to do with this? Nothing. They refuse to call an egm to examine the issue and when other shareholders do call an egm the government are refusing to vote against aer lingus management. The free market ayatollahs are always lecturing us about the wonders of 'shareholder democracy'. What good is democracy if your refuse to vote? On top of that the government was warned before the privatisation to secure the Heathrow slots which were given free to Aer Lingus aeons ago on the basis that it was a national carrier. Speical rules were written into the articles of association to do this and guess what ... they don't cover this situation.

What kind of a name is that?

Talking to the radio. That's what I do, or so my wife says. Some people might think that pacing up and down in front of the kitchen radio denouncing dishonest politicians, obsequious journalists and the joke that is the Irish media is not fully encompassed by the verb 'to talk'. But there you go. I talk to the radio. So that is what this blog is for: a transcript of my side of the 'conversation'. It also allows me to let off the same steam in a more socially acceptable way.
Think about that; it is now considered perfectly normal to put a stream of consciousness rant onto the Internet but not to give out to the radio! Think about just 15 years ago and somebody suggesting that instead of shouting at the telly you should fire your thoughts into a fax machine set to 'send to all'; you'd have been locked up.