Maman Poulet

Isn’t justice a wonderful thing?? (cue Maman Poulet sarcasm of highest order tone!)

Michael Lynn is wanted for contempt of court, struck off from being a solicitor and loads of banks and clients want their money back…but he doesn’t want to come home (poor diddums) but there’s another court case going on where his testimony could help out a bit. So the client who needs a ‘dig out’ decides to chance his arm and say that Michael could do it by video – and the judge agreed!!

Mr Justice Frank Clarke said it was “hardly surprising� that Mr Lynn did not want to return to testify in person given the warrant over his contempt of court for failing to show up for a court appearance last year and that the solicitor could be the subject of Garda enquiries if he returned.

The judge permitted Mr Lynn’s evidence to be heard by video-link, saying it could have relevance on his judgement in the case taken by the Cunningham Group, which is owned by Galway builder Brian Cunningham, against the bank…..

…Counsel for Cunningham had argued that film director Roman Polanski had been allowed to testify via video-link from Paris in a successful libel action in London because he feared that if he returned to England, he would be arrested and extradited to the US where he is wanted on charges of having sex with an underage girl dating back to 1977.

Counsel for the bank had argued that to allow Mr Lynn to give evidence would be “an affront to the public conscience� as the outstanding arrest warrant was issued by the court, from which video-link order was sought, because of his refusal to come attend and give evidence to that court.

Yes I think there will be a lot of conscience’s affronted tonight!

There is no use in saying to the Gardai that they should hang around the venue in Budapest and nab him…it’s not a criminal charge that Michael Lynn is wanted for – no criminal charges have been set yet – if ever! So he’s safe…

Ah who needs the silly season when you have the Irish justice system! Michael is probably relaxing in the Gellert or somewhere as he reads this. Waves…

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Update: I’ve heard from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (I have readers there don’t you know!) that they will still accept submissions on the Scheme of legislation for the next few weeks – so if you have opinions get writing/submitting!!

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform’s deadline for submissions to the Scheme of the Civil Partnership Bill passed last week.

Anyone got a response document out there that they would like to share?? I’ve not seen anything published beyond the initial press releases. Surely there is more in the public domain that the great letter in yesterday’s Irish Times?? Are they all so secret that nobody else can see them? And what public consultations took place in the last month regarding the responses? I know I’ve been laid up and out of the loop but I didn’t hear of anything?

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If you are wondering who Elaine Donnelly is, aka the fount of all ‘wisdom’ on gays in the army, she works for the Center for Military Readiness – or to put it simply she spends her time campaigning against women and gays in the army!

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Deaglán de Bréadún’s report in this morning’s Irish Times does not come a surprise. The Department of Justice had a meeting yesterday morning with the agencies linked to it and the Equality Authority, the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Data Protection Commissioner have been told their days are numbered.

Well they have been told that they’re to merge and ‘there’s no point fighting it – it’s going to happen.’

And there probably won’t be anyone else around to fight it anyway as it’s July, all the groups who seek the protection of the agencies involved are too stressed, too linked to government funding they are trying to keep and too busy working with marginalised commuunities to be able to fight it. Or even find the time heaven forbid if they were ‘consulted’!

Fine Gael want to see the quangos merge and sod the consequences. I bet the voices that are raised will say that the Government (and I mean the last 10 years of government) want to see the thorns in their sides that the Equality Authority and to a far lesser extent in my opinion, the Irish Human Rights Commission, neutered into something mangled and fiscal rectitude is such an appropriate excuse.

They tried to decentralise the Equality Authority but Roscrea got a lot of opposition by the staff and some quiet objections from some of the people who seek the advice and information provided by the authority. For me it was the authority’s research, watching brief and monitoring role which  was the one which caused the most pricks of conscience for some and headaches for a few and reassurance for others. The Equality Authority’s report for 2007 is being launched today - Carol Coulter has some examples of the work of the authority in respect of Gender Identity discrimination - I expect there will be a few rewritten speeches and a few interesting questions at the launch.

I’ll leave Damien and others to comment on the implications for the Data Protection Commissioners Office. (I doubt there will be many at the wake!) But maybe others want to join me in speculating on the effects of the merger of the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority. How ‘natural a fit’ would these agencies be?

I’d love to think that this merger could be a new impetus for protecting and enhancing human rights protections and reinforcing the importance of equality of outcome for all – I’m not against change at all – it’s needed to challenge and develop policy and it’s implementation. However being told that it’s not worth fighting it and given it’s a Government Departmental Secretary doing the reorganising rather that a minister with a new zeal for policy reform does not bode well.

While reading the reactions regarding the social welfare administration changes the other day I was wondering about who’ll still be around in the non political arena (sort of what Giddens (gulp!) might have meant by ‘the third way’) to call the Government on the impact of their cuts/search for cuts? AKA Social Partnership! Perhaps there has been far too much time spent shouting at Lisbon and Sarkozy and taking the eye off the ball on the things going on at home?

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Mulley suggests we find our own fluffy links while he apartment hunts in Dublin (not true but it should be!!) – and as I’m a bit brain fogged link is all I can do (that previous post on the Airport was programmed ahead for my hospital sojourn.)

• First to a fluffy link refluffied which is the best thing to come out of Irish blogging in months! Lidl Treats is a new blog talking about the things you can buy in Lidl and what you can do with them! It’s very well designed, clearly written and has great pictures/graphics. I am not shy about my affection for Lidl and Aldi and my creativity with the items I purchase there and it’s great to see blogging used in this way to help convert the rest! Kate is putting it up to us today with a €50 a week for 2 shopping challenge!

• Estelle Getty died yesterday - Sophia in the Golden Girls. My sitcom of choice – Fr. Ted and Friends did my head in but Sophia, Dorothy, Blanche and Rose got me through many a difficult evening. Jill at Feministe ponders the Golden Girls and the portrayal of women.

• Senator Clinton (ah yes she’s still around you know – and not doing my head in like Obama is!)guest blogs about the Bush Administration and it’s interference with women’s health (again!) by trying to extend the definition of abortion to include emergency contraception and other contraceptive procedures.

• Temperatures in Drogheda are rising regarding the management of a children’s summer camp – Eastmeath.org tells us more.

• World By Storm over at the Cedars ponders the recent changes in payment procedures announced by the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

• In other recession blogging you might keep an eye to Michael Taft’s Notes from the Front which recently turned into the Recession Diaries – excellent reflections of a political economic nature.

Finally I’m planning something soiree like for the night of the US election (Virgo – obsessive organisational and pre-planning trait) if you want to know more leave a comment. In my perfect world it will be wired up with lovely sofas, lots of space great food, multiple tellies etc. etc.

If you’d like to sponsor it/help organise even better! Contact details are up the top – right hand side.

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Image via WikipediaI promised to update you on my consumer moaning regarding my treatment as a disabled passenger in Dublin Airport.

Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) were in touch within 24 hours of the complaint being lodged – by phone and a later email confirming the contents of the phone conversation. 10/10 for complaint handling processes.

The person in the customer services section acknowledged the complaint and apologised (10 out of 10 again!), and noted I was not alone in complaining. She informed me that DAA were collecting the info even though they are not solely responsible for handling the matters until July 26th because they were concerned and that Ryanair were contracting Fernley’s services.

Points to Note –

– SATURDAY 26th JULY is a big date for disabled airline passengers throughout the European Union. This is the date when the directive concerning the transport of disabled passengers takes effect. As I explained in a previous post, airports take responsibility rather than airlines for the whole shebang, this may mean streamlining of services so that there will be standard operating procedures in terms of the assistance offered.

According to the directive

Responsibilities of Airport Managers under the Regulation

The Regulation will require airport managers to provide a designated points of arrival and departure which have basic information about the airport available in accessible formats intended for people with mobility, sensory and cognitive impairments. Airport managers will also be required to put in place the necessary arrangements to enable disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility to:

* communicate their arrival at an airport and their request for assistance at the designated points;
* move from a designated point to the check-in counter;
* check-in and register baggage;
* proceed from the check-in counter to the aircraft, with completion of emigration, customs and security procedures;
* board the aircraft, with the provision of lifts, wheelchairs or other assistance needed, as appropriate;
* proceed from the aircraft door to their seats;
* store and retrieve baggage on the aircraft;
* proceed from their seats to the aircraft door;
* disembark from the aircraft, with the provision of lifts, wheelchairs or other assistance needed, as appropriate;
* proceed from the aircraft to the baggage hall and retrieve baggage, with completion of immigration and customs procedures;
* proceed from the baggage hall to a designated point;
* reach connecting flights when in transit, with assistance on the air and land sides and within and between terminals as needed; and
* move to the toilet facilities, if required.

As I know from other passengers there are a litany of issues that disabled peoples organisations have regarding the ‘handling’ of disabled passengers. You can read DAA’s paper from 2007 in response to the directive including the responses of disability organisations here.

So I think we’ll all be watching the changes that I was informed about – 3 new ambilifts, (!!!!) new equipment, training of new staff, and da da da dah ! (ahem!) there is a new contractor with experience in the UK and quality marks etc. I am looking for a copy of the DAA standards and the rights of disabled passengers from an Irish context (Including information on the contract regarding the services to be delivered) – if I don’t get the stuff in the next week I’ll FOI them. I d want to find out more about the use of air bridges for example and the matter of staff lifting people on and off the planes.

– I was informed that Fernley went for the contract to provide the service on behalf of DAA and didn’t win it – and the service seems to have run down until the date of the new contract coming into play. It’s not good enough and I wish there was protection for all disabled passengers to stop us having to suffer as a result of this commercial decision.

The customer service rep said that the incident raised in my complaint would be brought to the attention of Ryanair’s Passenger Services Management, and Fernley’s Service Manager. (I won’t sit around waiting for a response there…)

And I won’t be waiting for a disability organisation or committee review to test the new systems, contractors etc. (Although I hope they do – some mystery shopping would be good – and some disabled people delivering the training would be even better).

I’ll continue to blog about my experiences and also complain and comment to DAA – and I hope others do also – educating the service provider and contractor about the issues involved is the only way to go.

I do hope that all the new services will include the right for disabled passengers to shop and have a coffee in the airport whilst waiting for their flight and that the ‘piece of meat shuttle syndrome’ becomes a thing of the past.

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Ah yes there is an election happening somewhere this year…

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I know there has been a lot of commentary and citizen activismonline about those signs in the last few weeks.

To recap briefly – Commuters and pedestrians have noted the dangers presented by the signage and many others have commented on the deal that was done, the cityscape that was sold and the execution of the project by the advertising company and their agents.

I realise I’m late to the party but I had noted the arrival of the signs when I came back from holiday and had the phone all geared up to take a pic/video or two when I came across one that would cause me and the mothership a problem or 20. (Rumours that I was planning to ram raid them in Henry St. are greatly exaggerated… well maybe!)

I was wondering how long it would take blind and visually impaired people to speak up – and now they have – cane users in particular face huge problems as their canes will go under the signs as the bases are not solid and they will walk straight into them.

Dublin City Council are again assessing things. At this stage in the whole debacle Cllr Daithi Doolan should be hanging his head in shame as chairperson of the committee responsible as should his colleagues!

All those signs for a few hundred bikes that only able bodied people (including the muppets who nick them) are going to be able to use and oh Cllr. Doolan was spouting some rubbish about controlling the presence of advertising in the city on Liveline last week like some sort of born again urban connoiseur. Tiocfaidh ár Gaudi .

(Hat/tip to my sister for the latest ska! She thought I might have an opinion! Cough…)

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Dublin’s top shopping area may see Lidl replace Habitat

Just to see the faces of the southsiders who like to shop. Abercrombie doesn’t think that Grafton Street has the right combination of shops needed to open there, and if Lidl did open well…?!

Part 101 of ‘You know we’re in a recession when…

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I thought I was going delirious from the sick bed today when I heard something about solicitors for IIB bank being told by a judge to put an ad in the Irish Times looking for former solicitor Thomas Byrne.

Why don’t they all get in a bus and go to Skerries rather than relying on newspapers for photo’s of him putting out the bin? The Gardai are little use – they know where he is but it’s a civil matter before the courts and like all things ‘Michael Lynn or dodgy legal person, Thomas is a bit untouchable at the moment.

Unfortunately there is no reward out if you find him…

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