MEP candidate Diarmuid O'Flynn: Bringing Ballyhea to Brussels

'Ballyhea Says No' campaigner Diarmuid O'Flynn has announced his candidacy for the Ireland South constituency in the European elections on May 23rd 2014.  Full information at www.diarmuidoflynn.com.

"One of the penalties for refusing to take part in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors" said Plato.  And no surer mark of that inferiority than a lack of courage amongst our politicians to oppose the shocking scale of the bondholder bailout.  "We thought we elected them [our government] to take our interests to the ECB. What they are doing is bringing the ECB's interests to us" said Diarmuid O' Flynn, founder of the 'Ballyhea Says No' campaign which opposes the compensation of bondholders who gambled money on failing Irish banks.

DO'F at the European Central Bank

Just to recap, the bondholders were speculators who took a calculated risk in making those investments. Many had unsecured bonds.  The compensation they are being paid is not owed or, even according to the  rules of capitalism, in any sense a right or expectation.  The money used to compensate them comes from the Irish taxpayer.  And the amount being given to them, in the region now of billions of euro, has crippled the Irish State and brought unemployment and poverty to thousands who were no party to the 'madness' of property speculation that brought the Irish economy down.

The lucky people of  Carlow, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Kilkenny, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow will all be able to vote for Diarmuid on May 23rd.

Now O'Flynn is taking the fight for financial justice for the Irish people to Brussels.  Standing as an MEP in the forthcoming May 23rd election he is standing on a six point manifesto set out in his campaign website.  Point one sets out clearly his view on BANK-DEBT:

"The current crisis in Ireland stems almost in its entirety from the launch of the euro, deeply flawed from inception as pointed out in a report to the European Commission itself (perhaps fatally flawed – time will tell). Had the subsequent cheap billions not flooded into Ireland we would not have had the property bubble, would not have had the subsequent catastrophic decision by our previous government to become so dependent for much of its taxation income from that one very volatile source.

• The €28bn in Promissory Notes sovereign bonds now awaiting sale in the Central Bank must be destroyed
• The €20bn taken from our National Pension Reserve Fund returned
• The remaining approximately €22bn in debt to the various EU emergency funds written off".

 of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/plato101112.html#Qf6pBkG3Q9XjVkCq.99

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/plato101112.html#Qf6pBkG3Q9XjVkCq.99

Diarmuid O'Flynn has strong support for his campaign. TD's Clare Daly, Maureen O'Sullivan, Ming Flanagan and Thomas Pringle have all endorsed the campaign. Economist Constantin Gurdgiev has written that O'Flynn is:

"a courageous campaigner against the banks debts and taxpayers bail-ins. Give him a few minutes of your time: read, learn and, if you can, support. He spent the last three years working tirelessly to better this country, showing real leadership and serious diplomatic, organisational and campaigning skills. He deserves our consideration and engagement!"

The candidate has also been endorsed by independent TD Stephen Donnelly who says:  

“Diarmuid O'Flynn has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of the Irish people.  If elected to the European Parliament, he would continue fighting for justice for Ireland - a justice long since abandoned by the Irish Government.”

Here is Deputy Donnelly speaking for the motion put forward by the Ballyhea says no campaign to address the bond repayments.


Visit www.diarmuidoflynn.com to read about and support Diarmuid's campaign.

Ballyhea Bondwatch Anniversary March

"A pivotal moment in Irish history"

"Sowing confusion, misinformation, disinformation... and threat" said organiser Diarmuid O'Flynn, (election website Diarmuid O Flynn.com) speaking in Ballyhea on 4th March about the role played by the Irish media in damping dissent to the payment of unsecured bondholders.  Writing earlier this month on his "The Chattering Magpie" blog, sports journalist O'Flynn invited others to join the people of Ballyhea, County Cork on Sunday to mark the anniversary of their first march against the payment of bondholders - payments set to reach the staggering sum of over 19 billion Euro in 2012 alone.

"With our own Central Bank set to destroy €3.1bn of our money on March 31st we are reaching a crisis point, a pivotal moment in Irish history. ....join us, please, and share this invitation with anyone you think would like to do likewise."

Declan Ganley and Constantin Gurdgiev join the march
The citizens of Ballyhea have been marching every Sunday for a year to 'end the bank bondholder bailout'.  Although the march has been more reported in Australia and the UK than at home, thanks to publicity on social media many came to join them on the 4th.  The stalwarts of Ballyhea, a small village on the Cork to Limerick road just south of Charleville, were followed on their anniversary march by protestors from around the country including businessman Declan Ganley and economist Constantin Gurdgiev. The event was covered by the BBC, TG4, and the Irish Examiner amongst others.


The march

Diarmuid O'Flynn spoke to protestors afterwards, making the case that Irish politicans had failed to represent their own people.  "We thought we elected them to take our interests to the ECB. What they are doing is bringing the ECB's interests to us".  Diarmuid named the politicians who are 'our new overseers', following in the tradition of the Irish landowners who profiteered during the famine while ordinary people suffered.  "Kenny, Gilmore, Noonan, Rabbitte, Varadkar, and sugary Sean Sherlock from up the road.  These are our new overseers, lads... Some of them are there for fear and cowardice, some of them are there because they are self servers - they know exactly what is happening, it serves their own needs".

He set out the stark but astonsihing facts once again.  For those without a calculator the figures are hard to take in.  Here, from the Ballyhea Bondwatch blog is how much of Irish taxpayers' money is being given to unsecured bondholders, with no established legal claim to it, over the next four years.  These payments, together with interest payments on the loans from the ECB (4 billion in 2012) to make them possible, are responsible for destroying an otherwise healthier economy, and imposing 'austerity measures' which without them would not be necessary. 

"No playing around with the terms" Diarmuid writes - "this load is crushing us, remove it. Its imposition was wrong, unjust; it's not just a gross abuse of power by the ECB and the EU, it is a cynical, deliberate and calculated attack on our independence, on our sovereignty".

The Ballyhea anniversary march in pictures

The protestors carried an array of banners and placards telling their own story. Here are a few...

 Representatives from Fermoy and Charleville came prepared...

Fermoy joins Ballyhea

Charleville says no

Protestors gather



Constantin Gurdgiev, Declan Ganley and Diarmuid O'Flynn talk to protestors

The press arrive

Setting off

About turn

Back to the church for speeches