today they said

Seamus Dooley (President of the National Union of Journalists speaking on RTE radio's The Pat Kenny Show ): "The Johnston Press situation in Ireland is one of the worst examples of the madness of the Celtic Tiger period."

James Healy: "Ah yes Seamus. When they came for the Jews you did not speak out because you weren't a Jew. And now they've come for you, and there's no one left to speak out. Isn't that it Seamus? Now you're speaking out. Now. After hundreds of firings, redundancies and dismissals, and with every provincial paper in Ireland going down the tubes. Now. Now you've found your voice. Well done Robespierre. On to the Bastille. You're arriving a bit late at this party, Seamus. I remember telling the union rep at the Leinster Leader four years ago that there was no way we should accept the takeover of our newspaper by a British company. I remember explaining gently that these people didn't know us, didn't care about us, and wouldn't have any particular compunction about firing us. I remember telling him we should insist on explicit guarantees regarding job stability and financial compensation before allowing the takeover to take place. I remember telling him that the people taking over the newspaper were paying too much for it and would try to make back their investment by firing journalists and by welching on pension deals. Ah yes. I remember. I remember. I remember. And the great NUJ man told me we had no right to fight the takeover. No legal right. That's some trade union you got there Seamus. You think staff members don't have a right to oppose a foreign takeover of the company where they've worked for ten or twenty or thirty years. Hoo boy. I've always wondered just how committed that union rep was to the rights of the journalists he was supposed to represent. What do you think Seamus? Who was he working for? Yeah, that's some trade union you've got there alright. Getting a bit smaller though, isn't it? Not much point in a journalists trade union if every newspaper in the country has been taken over by the Johnston Press and has then gone bust. Good luck with that Seamus. And thank you for all your help during my time at the Leinster Leader. Just remind me. What was I paying you for again? To sit on your arse drinking sherry with Tony O'Reilly in Dublin? Oh, if you get a chance in the midst of your heroic tireless newly begun battle to save Irish journalism, you might try finding out what the Johnston Press did with ten years of my pension contributions. I've always wondered. And they're not returning my calls."