The Viper, the business man, the tenant, the adviser and the solicitor
THE business community in Kilkenny city and county has been abuzz trying to figure out which business man and his partners (who should have stayed silent) brought in the Viper to collect debts for them in the city. There was a great reaction to the paragraph about it in last week's edition.
When the business man who employed the Viper acted the heavy with the person who owed him the money, the whole thing was taped by the man, including attempts to damage the business premises involved. He also taped full telephone conversations with the Viper's employers - the business man and his professional advisor.
It gets better or worse depending on your perspective. The poor tenant who was hounded by the Viper decided to get his solicitor involved. The solicitor rang the business man and his professional advisor and they both admitted everything and were told the conversations were being recorded.
So where does it go from here. It is said that the solicitor and the man who owed the money got in touch with a friend who said they should threaten the businessman and his professional advisor with publication of the story in the Kilkenny People. Since then there has been no sign of the Viper at your man's business premises or home.
There are a number of problems. The Insider trawled through the records of the Companies Office and was amazed to see the names of the directors of the company used by the business man on the file. Insider knows that one of the names has nothing to do with the company but facilitated some dealings in it. So who are the real directors and why would someone with big money invested in a company insist that there was no paper trail leading back to him?
The other problem is that the solicitor acting for the man who owed the debts has some powerful evidence in his hands and he might just send that off to the gardai or to the regulatory body which supervises the professional advisor used by the business man. It's complicated but aren't all the great stories. We hope we don't cause the Viper's employers in Kilkenny any sleepless nights. But then again if you are prepared to employ the Viper you obviously don't care what people think of you.
NAMA is bananas
Have kept my mouth shut for too long on the NAMA affair. Do you feel like me that NAMA is the greatest stroke ever pulled off by Fianna Fail. They had the tent at the Galway Races, for the builders and developers and now they have given the builders the whole country under which to take cover. The men who owe billions must be having a good laugh at the ordinary tax payer. Willie O'Dea, the toothless pocket Rottwieller was shockingly bad on RTE's current affairs programme on television, Primetime about NAMA and he has no clue in the world what is really going on. He is just pressing the government line.
The big developers whose greed got us into this mess will be having a good laugh, especially when you see the share price of the two main banks jumping nearly one third after the NAMA unveiling on Wednesday. Some of these developers also have large shareholdings in these banks, did you not know that?
When will people wake up to what is going on and get them out of power. Why are we so passive? Is it the age old problem - As long as i am personally ok, it's alright.
If we don't do anything the banks will go to the wall. So what. The whole idea of NAMA is to get credit flowing. The banks won't do that.
In addition there is no indication that the 1,500 or so people that will be bailed out by NAMA will ever have their identities revealed. This creates the possibility that NAMA could, for instance, buy a €200 million non-performing developer loan from a bank, and lend a further f100 million to the same developer to complete the development, without the taxpayer ever knowing what has been done with their money.
And now there is a f12 billion black hole on the balance sheet of NAMA because the government forgot that interest rates will go up and not stay at the historic low values they are now. These are the people trying to steer us out of this mess. It's all made up as they go along. There is no clarity. Bring in someone from Sweden who actually ran a toxic bank that worked.
Is newly crowned drug baron of Kilkenny and Carlow protected from on high?
The drug baron who ruled the south East from his kingdom in Castlecomer has been replaced at the top of the drug world by a younger man from Ballyragget. Again, there are serious questions being asked abut his involvement as a snitch for the gardai and whether or not he is being protected. Heard that the officers in this area, Kilkenny and Carlow are at a loss over why he seems to be receiving preferential treatment. Once a number of things fall into place in the legal world we will be naming him.
Best until last
We always save the best for last in this column.
Gerry Moran, the poet laureate of Kilkenny penned this poem about Tullaroan's Tommy Walsh, a few years ago so you can understand that he has been a fan for a long time.
Tommy Walsh from Tullaroan
You may talk about D.J. Carey,
Jim Langton and Lory Maher
You may talk about 'Chunky', Eddie Keher
Or Ollie Walsh our goal-keeper star
You may talk of the Doyles and the Rackards,
Christy Ring, Mick Mackey, Brian Lohan
But here's to my hurling hero…..
Tommy Walsh from Tullaroan
Now Tommy's not built like a tanker
But he's tanked up for every game
His fuel is his flair and his fury
And his passion that burns like a flame
He's top class, for sure, this "Tom Cat"
Whom I think we really should clone
For there'll never again be another…..
Tommy Walsh from Tullaroan
No man is too tough or too nimble
No ball is too high or too low
There's nothing our Tommy can't handle
No shoulder, no side-step, no blow
(and that's for sure)
He's as tough as they come this titan
A battler through to the bone
Long may Croke Park host this hurler…..
Tommy Walsh from Tullaroan.
A mighty man is our Tommy
A cat with the heart of a lion
Who is fearless, unflinching and fiery
In defence of that right-half, back-line
I think we should build a statue
Of the finest Kilkenny limestone
To this all-star, this stalwart, MY hero…..
Tommy Walsh from Tullaroan Why are we so passive? Is it the age old problem - As long as i am personally ok, it’s alright.
If we don’t do anything the banks will go to the wall. So what. The whole idea of NAMA is to get credit flowing. The banks won’t do that.
In addition there is no indication that the 1,500 or so people that will be bailed out by NAMA will ever have their identities revealed. This creates the possibility that NAMA could, for instance, buy a f200 million non-performing developer loan from a bank, and lend a further f100 million to the same developer to complete the development, without the taxpayer ever knowing what has been done with their money.
And now there is a f12 billion black hole on the balance sheet of NAMA because the government forgot that interest rates will go up and not stay at the historic low values they are now. These are the people trying to steer us out of this mess. It’s all made up as they go along. There is no clarity. Bring in someone from Sweden who actually ran a toxic bank that worked.
Is newly crowned drug baron of Kilkenny and Carlow protected from on high?
The drug baron who ruled the south East from his kingdom in Castlecomer has been replaced at the top of the drug world by a younger man from Ballyragget. Again, there are serious questions being asked abut his involvement as a snitch for the gardai and whether or not he is being protected. Heard that the officers in this area, Kilkenny and Carlow are at a loss over why he seems to be receiving preferential treatment. Once a number of things fall into place in the legal world we will be naming him.
Best until last
We always save the best for last in this column.
Gerry Moran, the poet laureate of Kilkenny penned this poem about Tullaroan’s Tommy Walsh, a few years ago so you can understand that he has been a fan for a long time.
Tommy Walsh from Tullaroan
You may talk about D.J. Carey,
Jim Langton and Lory Maher
You may talk about ‘Chunky’, Eddie Keher
Or Ollie Walsh our goal-keeper star
You may talk of the Doyles and the Rackards,
Christy Ring, Mick Mackey, Brian Lohan
But here’s to my hurling hero…..
Tommy Walsh from Tullaroan
Now Tommy’s not built like a tanker
But he’s tanked up for every game
His fuel is his flair and his fury
And his passion that burns like a flame
He’s top class, for sure, this “Tom Cat”
Whom I think we really should clone
For there’ll never again be another…..
Tommy Walsh from Tullaroan
No man is too tough or too nimble
No ball is too high or too low
There’s nothing our Tommy can’t handle
No shoulder, no side-step, no blow
(and that’s for sure)
He’s as tough as they come this titan
A battler through to the bone
Long may Croke Park host this hurler…..
Tommy Walsh from Tullaroan.
A mighty man is our Tommy
A cat with the heart of a lion
Who is fearless, unflinching and fiery
In defence of that right-half, back-line
I think we should build a statue
Of the finest Kilkenny limestone
To this all-star, this stalwart, MY hero…..
Tommy Walsh from Tullaroan
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Weather for Kilkenny
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South
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Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South
