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The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.  We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below). 

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

The Saker >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link The War on Fertiliser Comes to Britain Wed Nov 13, 2024 09:00 | Chris Morrison
The war on fertiliser has come to Britain, says Chris Morrison, with Labour imposing a 'carbon' import duty on the farming essential. Not content with making Brits colder and poorer, they are making us hungrier.
The post The War on Fertiliser Comes to Britain appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Starmer and Miliband ?Show Leadership? at COP29 But No One is Following Wed Nov 13, 2024 07:00 | Ben Pile
Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband are at COP29 to "show leadership on the climate challenge". The trouble is, says Ben Pile, no one is following, and the U.K. is just looking more and more ridiculous.
The post Starmer and Miliband “Show Leadership” at COP29 But No One is Following appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Wed Nov 13, 2024 01:01 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Experts Slam the World Health Organisation?s Advice to Set Central Heating at a Chilly 18°C Tue Nov 12, 2024 20:08 | Will Jones
Experts have criticised the World Health Organisation's advice to set central heating at a chilly 18°C this winter, saying home temperatures that low could lead to illness, poor health and mould.
The post Experts Slam the World Health Organisation’s Advice to Set Central Heating at a Chilly 18°C appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Labour Should ?Do to Farmers What Thatcher Did to Miners?, Tony Blair Aide Says Tue Nov 12, 2024 17:30 | Will Jones
A former aide to Tony Blair has called on Labour to "do to the farmers what Thatcher did to the miners".
The post Labour Should “Do to Farmers What Thatcher Did to Miners”, Tony Blair Aide Says appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Broadband: Another Privatisation Mess

category national | sci-tech | press release author Friday October 19, 2018 22:10author by pbp - People Before Profit Report this post to the editors

Press Release - People Before Profit - 17th Oct 2018

Over half a million households in rural Ireland are missing out on broadband because of a disastrous privatisation policy.

Up to 1999, the telephone network was run by a state company, Telecom Eireann. But the Fianna Fail government decided to copy Margaret Thatcher and sell it off. Ever since then, disaster has piled on disaster.

Instead of providing long term investment to install broad band, a series of private owners simply asset stripped the company, which had been re-named Eircom.


By October 2010, for example, Ireland was ranked 29 out of 30 countries, ahead only of Mexico for broadband speed. Only a fifth of the population had access on that date.

Yet this disaster presented another opportunity for private companies to further blackmail the government.

Eir, which is the latest name for the company proposed, to charge €20 for every pole that the fibre optic cables would be hung on.

It was also allowed to cherry pick the easiest houses to connect and separate these out the more difficult ones.

The result as that only one private bidder, Enet, was left to negotiate a contract for the last half a million homes. It was actually backed by money from the state’s own Irish Infrastructure Fund which was set to take control of the company.

But suddenly Enet was downgraded to becoming only a supplier to a new consortium, Granahan McCourt. A Denis O Brien controlled company was then discovered to be part of the new consortium. They set about trying to squeeze even more money from the taxpayers for the contract.

Secret meetings between the former Minister for Communication, Denis Naughton, and the company’s chairperson, David McCourt, were all about getting these extra ‘incentives’.

Behind the whole sorry affair is a tale of greed for profit.

If the state retained control of its own telecommunications company, broadband would have been completed by now.

Yet again privatisation has proved a disaster.

We need a state owned company that completes the National Broadband plan in the interests of people – not profit

Related Link: http://www.pbp.ie/broadband-another-privatisation-mess/
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