Denis O'Brien Gift to FAI

[almo]

I don't see what it overly unusual about rich folk paying for natinal team managers. Russia's Hiddink is paid for by Roman Abramovic, Croatia's Bilic (who wanted the irish job) is paid for by the ruling HDZ party, and there are a numer of others from other sports who are likewise looked after by people outside the association (the Hearts owner pays half of his homelands boss' salary).

What is very unusual is the act that O'Brien contacted the FAI BEFORE the former manager was sacked. Which makes it all a little sickly sweet now.

Trappatoni is a good appointment for sure, but the uninformed and blinkered Irish media, as well as an unambitious FAI, didn't even go looking for who might lift the country's fortunes. When you have top class coaches like Slaven Bilic, Felix Magath and Roy Hodgson actually contacting and making themselves known for selection, it makes the whole affair a joke.

Don was alking to someone who knew someone who had the phone number of a person who knew our new boss. Good god, why not just call the Red Bull club and ask to speak with the man? That's how football normally works.

 

[demoivre]

If he was a true statesman, he would have paid his taxes like the rest of us, instead of legging it Portugal and depriving the state coffers of >100m in Capital Gains Tax that was due to them.

There is a big, big difference between avoiding and evading tax - one is legal the other isn't. I'd be using the "edit" facility if I was you!

 

[Sunny]

I still think the whole thing is a farce. Denis O'Brien contacting the FAI offering financial assistance 4 days before Steve Staunton was sacked. Something smells rotten there. The FAI appointing a panel of three people to find the new manager including the U-21 manager (so he is basically hiring his boss) and Don Howe who doesn't exactly have his finger on the pulse of football. They then completed the trio by using a RTE pundit. These three men then spend about 4 months going around England interviewing every Tom Dick and Harry about the job. As far as I know the most exotic person they interviewed was Gerard Houllier.
Then suddenly after these three wise men are apparently ready to recommend Terry Venables for the job, the FAI suddenly hear directly themselves that Trapattoni is available. Now I think Trapatonni is the best appointment they could have got but questions still remain about the whole process. Personally I want to know was there an agent involved in finding Trapattoni on top of the three man panel hired to do the job and how much was paid to the agent if so? Delaney is being very coy about it.
I thought the FAI saying that they never thought they would get someone as good as Trapattoni illuminating as well. Good to see them setting themselves high targets. So if Trapattoni or an agent hadn't approched the FAI, we would be left with a second rate manager because the FAI hadn't looked in the right places or spoken to the right people. They may have got there in the end but I think it was down to luck more than anything else.

 

[Purple]

Saw "Prime Time" a few years ago talking about tax exiles and their donations to Ireland.

Was that the same Prime Time programme that claimed Tony O'Reilly was a tax exile? The same Tony O'Reilly who has lives and paid taxes in America (where his main business interests are) for the last 20 years.
Typical pinko populist rubbish from RTE.

 

[Niallymac]

which option would you have taken?

I would have paid my tax, at the extremely fair rate of 20%, especially as the state was good enough to present me with the opportunity in the first place through the "sale" of the license.

Accepted, the statesman thing was a rant, but to all those who pointed out that he didn't do anything illegal, I never questioned the legality of what he did, but for sure I question the morality of what he and his fellow tax exiles have done in recent years. Many of them established their wealth in Ireland, it simply isn't good enough to just leg it when it comes to paying your share in CGT.