The plot thickens!
VIEW POINT: I had no interest in Jeffrey Epstine, perhaps I liked to convince myself that he was just one corrupt person surrounded by other corrupt people who had the ability to influence and corrupt others either willingly or unwillingly to various degrees of debasement. I found the whole scenario around his activities disturbing and unedifying.
I had no intentions to write anything about him until I discovered at the weekend that he had visited this country on many occasions and at least on one occasion met the then Fine Gael Minister of Justice Alan Shatter.
I am entitled to ask why. Mr Epstein was neither a politician nor a citizen.
Why did he meet our Minister of Justice?
I can not see any possible reason for a meeting and I am not prepared to speculate why they met. I am sure that Mr Shatter will not be available for comment if he has any sense, but I am entitled to demand that Fine Gael offers a clear and credible explication as to why such a meeting occurred, how many meetings happened and was there a published agenda and was there any ‘socialising’ afterwards and what did that involve.
One meeting occurred on the 21st September 2011 after Mr Epstein had been released from jail for ‘procuring a child for prostitution’. Incredibly it was an official government meeting as it also involved the Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Brian Purcell.
If he has retired from the public service he is free to speak. I invite him to do so.
The meeting also involved deceased US Ambassador Dan Rooney.
The released documents that are highly redacted claim that a young girl aged about thirteen was trafficked to Ireland for ‘politicians and notable men’. We also know that Mr Epstein’s private plane visited Ireland on at least four occasions landing in Dublin, Belfast, Shannon and Waterford.
Some of the stop overs lasted for a few hours, others for a few days. Mr Epstein’s plane was an elderly repurposed commercial jet of a design that is no longer flying but capable of landing on non standard runways.
It would have attracted attention wherever it landed so I presume that many people were aware of its presence and perhaps could remember additional landings.
Putting a full picture together is important as it allows one to build up an image of when and why Mr Epstein chose to visit this country on an apparently frequent basis.
As a private citizen and a foreigner he appeared to have access to the highest echelons of the Irish government. Again justice for his victims demands that these questions are asked.
Even if Mr Epstein’s meetings with a government minister was innocuous the impression is created that those with financial influence have a faster track to the higher echelons of government than normal citizens.
I understood that a democracy was about an elected and accountable selection of politicians serving the electorate, not the other way around.
There is something disturbing and undermining of the democratic process if a person with no obvious connection to this country but with financial power is able to fly in and meet government ministers for unspecified purposes.
Also in view of what we now know about Epstein it is reasonable to demand clarity around those visits. At the very least a full set of dates and schedules must be provided by the government.
Also in view of the serious allegations made by this young victim a Garda investigation is the very minimum that one would expect.
Apparently the young victim who is now aged about twenty seven is in Germany seeking asylum. It shouldn’t be too difficult to trace her if the will is there to do so. I suspect that it is not.
What the Epstein affair can teach us is how just one person with the right financial means can corrupt others. There is something unattractive about the fact that money can compromise the integrity of weak people and that a person with more than ample means can use those means to meet government ministers for whatever reason when no obvious reason exists. This story won’t disappear, I am calling for full transparency and accountability.
By Anonymous
www.irishcentral.com
