[declan ganley] not protocol, old chum

I'd like to meet his tailor.

Oh I like this one very much. Rubbing my hands together as I type [which is a bit tricky] but most likely you know all about this anyway from months ago.

How many of you good people out there have heard of Declan Ganley?

Give up?

Maybe all of you today because he's been in the news. He's "founder and Chairman of Libertas, a campaigning and lobby group which advocated a No vote to the 2008 referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon in Ireland." He lent millions apparently and facilitated airtime and so on - many say he was instrumental in getting the No vote so high.

So far so good. Today:

Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who is on a state visit to Ireland, angered ministers by staging a news conference with [Declan Ganley]. Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin called the action inappropriate, only to be dubbed a hypocrite by Mr Klaus.

Now that is most undiplomatic language and breaches protocol which I know just a little about, having been involved with a trade minister in some international meetings. That sort of thing is so beyond the pale [unfortunate choice of word by me today] that I'm immediately asking where he gets the confidence to say that from.

Possible answer:

Ganley personally has strong financial links with the American military and homeland security. A number of the contracts which he has with the Pentagon - which he has now admitted amount to at least $ 200 million-appear to be on a closed, non-competitive basis, potentially enabling him to earn significant profits.

Right - so that is interesting but what is even more interesting, to me at leeast, is the tone of the Wiki article, which spells out in detail the case against him but his own explanations are "Ganley claimed", makig him look very dodgy indeed. I don't believe it for a second. He may be dodgy, don't get me wrong but this is a beat up.

Something occurred in that meeting to give Mr. Klaus confidence. Now what could that be? Let's look at the Czech Republic just now. They are a member of the Vizegrad Group of four countries which requires funding. The Americans are also interested:

The agreement between the Senate and the House of Representatives would also fully fund the request for a radar site in the Czech Republic, opening the door for the next U.S. presidential administration to begin building a European missile defense system.

Could this be where the "stick' came from between the President and Irish ministers? It's also interesting that only the Irish stand between freedom and the EU monster - they must have a sense of history, of destiny in the world. Or else, as my friend has just said, they received all their goodies from the EU early from the EU, said thank you and as no more was coming, decided to vote No anyway. Irish perversity?

Either way, Declan Ganley, for whatever reasons, appears to be standing between a monolithic organization and freedom. That appeals to this blogger very much. Also the fact that:

The Czech Republic takes over the rotating EU presidency on 1 January 2009.