Libertas want to introduce work permits across Europe valid for a maximum of two years. Irish also denied freedom to work North or South without visa

Libertas candidate Caroline Simons has unveiled the new Libertas plan to end freedom of travel in the EU. The new proposals will affect millions of Irish emigrants in Britain, and Europe. Under the new proposals Libertas say that EU citizens will be required to get a Blue Card in order to work in other countries, This will entitle them to work for only two years in another country. If a person is unemployed then they will receive social payments directly from their country of origin only.
Even more bizarrely Libertas state that Irish citizens will be required to get a Blue Card /work permit to work in Northern Ireland if they are from the south and vis a versa.
She made these statements on Irish national radio Today FM matt Cooper show on Friday 15th May. http://www.todayfm.com/Shows/Weekdays/Matt-Cooper/listen.aspx see The Last Word 5pm hour Friday: 15/5/2009 after the news and sport

I'm not twisting anything. Simmons said the proposal would apply "across the board", including to Irish people in Britain:

Caroline Simmons: "We have proposed...a Blue Card system for all EU citizens...".

Matt Cooper: "Would this apply to Irish people...who go to England?"

Caroline Simmons: "Yes..."

Question: "Would someone coming from Newry to work in Dundalk have to apply [for a Blue Card]?"

Caroline Simmons: "...Well if you're going to apply it, you've got to apply it across the board...".

So Simmons has said that it would apply to all EU citizens, including Irish people going to live and work in Britain, and including people from Northern Ireland coming to live and work in the Republic.

That'll really play well in the North West especially!

Well done Caroline!

You can listen to the interview yourself here:
http://www.todayfm.com/Shows/Weekdays/Matt-Cooper/listen.aspx

It's the second segment 5pm (The Last Word 5pm hour Friday: 15/5/2009), about 7 or 8 minutes in after the news and sport.

She explains that a proposal for a Blue Card system across the EU in
Ganley's book would mean that workers would only be able to live and
work in another EU state for two years before their entitlement to
work runs out: after that it would depend on the labour market in
their host country.
http://www.politics.ie/elections/69082-libertas-branded-fascist-party-mep-de-rossa-2.html#post1661847

In their race to the bottom introducing race issues and xenophobia into Irish political life Libertas have also declared that Ireland should be divided and that those in the North can not work in the south without visa. It is interesting that on Libertas candidate in the UK fought in Northern Ireland in the British Army during the troubles, and Libertas Uk is run by a recently retired British Officer Robin Matthews.

Raymond O'Malley the Libertas candidate for Ireland east also wants to halt all immigration to Ireland. Denying Irish people freedom of movement is a new innovation in the \Libertas program for a Nationalist xenophobic racist Europe.

Libertas in Northern Ireland headed by Retired British Army Lt. Colonel

According to Wikipedia, Libertas in Northern Ireland is headed by a recently retired British Army Lt. Colonel Robin Matthews. Northern Ireland has seen a recent return to dissident Republican violence and it appears that Libertas have decided to defy both Sinn Fein, their partners in the NO to Lisbon campaign, who are against any staioning of British soliders in the six counties, and the dissident republican groups who have recently killed two British service men and a policeman in gun attacks there. Libertas in Northern Ireland are run by the same team as that of Great Britain.

Libertas NI (abbr. unknown: LNI?) is the name of the Libertas Party Limited affiliate that intends to field candidates in Northern Ireland. It shares offices and some personnel with the Great Britain affiliate but has a different treasurer.

[edit] Personnel

Person	Position
Robin Matthews	Leader[9]
Andrew Jamieson	Nominating Officer[9]
James Millard	Treasurer[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertas_United_Kingdom

Matthews was spin doctor for the British war effort in Helmand Province until the middle of 2008. He also attended Ganley's eurpsceptic dinner at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin with his wife Frances. The dinner was held to honour the Kremlin's man in the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus.

Libertas UK leader the terror warrior Robin Matthews unconcerned about Czech Liberats leader's fraud and tax charges. Openness, Transparency ?

MEP Zelezny to campaign for Libertas

BRUSSELS – Libertas has launched its campaign for the European Parliament elections in the Czech Republic with controversial MEP Vladimir Zelezny named second on its list of candidates, writes Jamie Smyth.

Mr Zelezny, who is currently being investigated by the Czech authorities for fraud and tax abuse, was co-founder of the country’s first commercial TV station.

He has been embroiled in multiple legal actions for 11 years. He told The Irish Times yesterday that, if convicted, “I will immediately withdraw my name from the list of candidates”.

In January Libertas said it had not asked Mr Zelezny to stand in the elections. In Prague yesterday, Libertas UK leader Robin Matthews said the inquiries into Mr Zelezny’s tax affairs were a “matter for Mr Zelezny”.

Here is one from ten tears ago giving some insight into Zelezny.
C U L I K ' S C Z E C H R E P U B L I C:
TV Nova, the Czech Health Secretary and Other Problems

---

Jan Culik

An analysis of some major programmes, broadcast on Czech radio and television over the past few weeks, clearly shows the principles by which the Czech media operate. They are primarily the principles of the western tabloid media.

It is not the purpose of the Czech media "to inform, to entertain and to educate" (to quote the principles of the BBC) but to look for an underlying emotional charge in problems which exist in the political sphere in the Czech Republic, to pounce upon such problems, and then to enhance the emotional charge as much as possible by adversarial, superficial interviewing and reporting. The Czech media then use the generated heat and light for its own commercial purposes: to increase print runs or to improve viewing or listening figures.

Thus the Czech media create and lives in a virtual reality world of irrelevant scandals, usually of their own making. Real issues are generally avoided, partly because journalists do not recognize they might be important for the life of the country and/or because a proper understanding of such issues would demand systematic investigative work which journalists are unwilling or unable to conduct. Also, editors-in-chief would be reluctant to publish the outcome of such enquiries because they would be "too complex". The Czech media seem to deal only with those problems which have a readily abusable underlying emotional charge. Also, the Czech media turn their attention to political and social problems only when it becomes apparent to journalists that the given problem could be milked emotionally to attract more readers, listeners or viewers.

An example of perhaps the most extreme form of this journalistic approach is the programme Kotel (The Cauldron) on commercial TV Nova. For more than half an hour each week, in a setting reminiscent of hell, the audience, seated in steep rows around a small platform, yells inarticulate questions down at a politician who is always silenced by a moderator after a few sentences, so that he cannot explain anything properly. However, the politician does not really need to explain anything properly, since the audience is irrational and primitive, inaccessible to logical reasoning. The programme has an extremely high emotional charge and is a clever exploitation by Vladimir Zelezny, the current owner of TV Nova, of the high levels of frustration that the Czech public feel towards politicians. But the programme does not solve anything - it just serves as an emotional release. In fact, the programme is very much liked by politicians: it creates the impression that they are "tough" because they submit themselves to "hard" questioning in the "cauldron". Nothing of the sort happens: the illiterate howling of the audience and the primitive work of the moderator can be easily tackled by any semi-competent politician.

Over the past two or three weeks, the Czech media have been in an emotional fit over the Czech health minister. This fit has largely been of the media's own making. Some observers think that the hysterical campaign against the relatively competent social democratic Health Minister is a part of the attempt by the "right-wing" Czech media to destroy members of the government one by one. The right wing Czech political parties are very much afraid that the Czech social democratic government might manage to start turning the economy round and would like to destroy the government before it manages to do so.

The state-run Czech health service, which was created in the second half of the 1940s on the basis of the British model, was basically dismantled by the privatisers in the Czech "right-wing" government after the fall of Communism in 1989. The whole system was deregulated and GP medical care was more or less privatised. At the moment, Czech citizens pay their own compulsory health insurance to insurance companies, and these insurance companies then pay doctors for their services on the basis of the so called "points" system. The system has many flaws and is open to abuse and corruption, especially as the Czech health service has become absolutely prostrate under the pressure of Western pharmaceutical companies. While under Communism, Czech doctors could prescribe some 1300 medicines (and this was more than sufficient), whereas now they prescribe some 40,000 medicines! This is a huge burden for the underfinanced Czech health service. Some underpaid Czech doctors are said to have fallen prey to substantial bribes by Western pharmaceutical companies. Private doctors do not have permanent contracts with the insurance companies, so they are in a very insecure position. There is practically no medical prophylaxis. For instance, the population is no longer screened for tuberculosis, although the number of TB cases is rising. Outpatient treatment is starved of cash. Most doctors are desperately underpaid and their private practices often struggle. They have rather stressful relationships with the General Health Insurance Office (Vseobecna zdravotni pojistovna), the strongest health insurance company in the Czech Republic and the one which dominates the Czech health service system. The current social democratic Health Secretary Ivan David has recently got into a number of high profile controversies involving possible corruption in hospitals and other institutions. In spite of the fact that David seems to be a thoughtful and rational politician, he seems to have alienated the media, who have been baying for his resignation. It is not really clear why: the various scandals that David seems to have been involved in are very difficult to read. Without independent evidence it is hard to say who is right - the beleaguered Health Secretary, or his various underlings whom he accuses of inefficiency or worse, and who accuse him of things in return.

In these circumstances, programmes like Kotel do not explain anything and when viewers ask the Health Secretary (he was interviewed in Kotel just towards the end of last week) questions like: "Why, Health Secretary, do you cling to your ministerial office so much?" the minister righly replies in a rather dignified manner: "I do not cling to the ministerial post at all. That is the view of the media. You are of course perfectly entitled to believe what the media present to you." But the issues remain hanging in mid air, unsolved. The population is confused.

The level of the overall debate can be perhaps brought into sharp relief by an article published by the leading Czech intellectual daily Lidov� noviny on Saturday 13th November, 1999 (p.16). The article was intended as a joke and it is, in fact, truly hilarious:

[Health Secretary] Ivan David as a personal doctor to Premier Milos Zeman has turned out to be an absolute failure.

"The experimental medicine I have prepared for the Prime Minister has failed," said Ivan David in despair. After taking the special medicine, intended to increase Mr. Zeman's intelligence, it was found out that his inteligence remained unchanged but his sexual drive was increased. Thus during his visit to the White House last week, Zeman behaved scandalously. First, he declared his love in impeccable English to President Clinton and then he asked Madeleine Allbright [sic] to marry him, said Foreign Minister Jan Kavan.

The TV Nova dispute is now visible - it has acquired a usable emotional charge

For the reasons explained above, for several years, the controversial history of Vladimir Zelezny, TV Nova and CME was practically invisible to the Czech media. The issue was too serious and too complex for the Czech media to cover. Vladimir Zelezny and his cronies managed to get a commercial television licence from the Czechoslovak state in 1992 for free after they pledged themselves to create a high brow commercial TV station. The Czech media did not seem to be particularly exercised by the free gift of the television licence, worth tens of millions of dollars, by the taxpayer to a group of private individuals. Nor were they bothered when Zelezny and his cronies dropped the original highbrow project and started an extremely tacky, cheap and nasty television station. The Czech media were asleep when all the quality conditions of the TV licence were abolished by the Czech parliament, when CME, the American owners of TV Nova (CNTS) increased their ownership of the station to unprecedented 99 per cent and when CME gave Vladimir Zelezny more than 5 million dollars in order to gain a majority stake in CET 21, TV Nova's licence holder.

The media started to wake up properly only earlier this year when it became clear that a conflict had arisen between CME and Zelezny after Zelezny attempted to asset strip TV Nova under the nose of the Americans. In the spring of 1999, CME sacked Zelezny from the post of Chief Executive of TV Nova and in August 1999, Zelezny took their TV station off the air and created a new TV Nova, financed by shady Czech money whose origins are still shrouded in mystery.

It was only in the spring of 1999 that the Czech media woke up to the CME-Zelezny conflict because it discovered its huge emotional potential. Even so, the true nature of the conflict remained hidden to the Czech media and the Czech public: it is too complex to explain rationally. Even so, the Czech media have started to milk the superficial emotional aspects of the CME-Zelezny conflict.

The fact that the Czech public reacts emotionally and irrationally and does not have the facts at its disposal to provide information about the background and history of the conflict has served Vladimir Zelezny well. After supporting the American owners of TV Nova for several years and accusing all his critics in the Czech Republic of anti-american xenophobia, Zelezny has now jumped on the high horse of Czech nationalism, attempting to hide the fact that he has stolen the American station from its owners by his nationalistic rhetoric. This has been quite successful: The majority of the Czech public supports Zelezny in his "struggle" against the "alien and hostile" Americans.

This is something with which Ronald Lauder, the American owner of CME, did not take into consideration. When, on Moday 15th November, the Czech Prime Minister visited Washington, he was greeted by full page adverts printed in the New York Times and the Washington Post, warning the American public against investment in the Czech Republic. The advert, signed by "CME shareholders", complained that if you set up a company in the Czech Republic, local people might steal it from you while the judiciary and other state regulating structures will remain absolutely indifferent. The advert is basically true, although it does not mention the fact that CME may have got itself into its current difficult situation by its earlier aggressive behaviour in the Czech Republic when, using Vladimir Zelezny, CME repeatedly tried to bend the law as far as it would go.

Still, the goings on between TV Nova, Zelezny and CME have, over the years been too complex and too boring for normal people to follow. Ordinary people do not give a damn about the intricacies of the Zelezny - CME dispute, especially since Zelezny will use all his power in order to confuse the issue with the help of half truths and emotional manipulation.

Now that CME has published an advert, the obvious aim of which is to bully the Czech Republic into submission, it seems that the move has misfired. Lauder maybe does not know that all public debate in the Czech Republic takes place on an irrational, emotional level and if he inflames the hidden instincts of the Czech, he has all but lost his case. The publication of the advert seems to have awakened nationalistic feelings even in those people who to date have remained relatively rational observers. It does not seem to matter to the Czechs that contracts need to be honoured. People in the Czech Republic are disinterested in the details of the Zelezny-Lauder controversy. They are easily swayed and when told that an outsider is attacking them, they will assume a hostile attitude towards him. Even more people are now siding with Vladimir Zelezny in the Czech Republic after the publication of the adverts. It is a little like when the West started bombing Serbia. Even those Serbians who hated Milosevic irrationally rallied around him. The fact that TV Nova has been stolen by Zelezny from CME is now almost forgotten. Furthermore, the Czechs do not have much opportunity to compare TV Nova's offerings with what is broadcast on television in the outside world and so they are not even aware how cheap and nasty this avidly watched TV station is.

The problem is that the whole CME-Zelezny conflict does not really matter. No matter who wins, the tacky existence of TV Nova will undoubtedly continue. The Czech regulatory authorities are too weak to be able to pluck up their courage and force whoever becomes the ultimate owner of the main Czech commercial TV station to raise the quality of the programmes.

Jan Culik, 14 November 1999

Irish papers on Libertas launch note Ganley's military fetish as he steps down from Rivada board.

Irish papers note Ganley's military fetish. Why does he love the military so? his grand designs are interlinked with his miltary connections. Ganley's Rivada company supplies the US miltary through its Rivada Pacific arm which utilises laws intended to aid native Americans to get no competion contacts in with the US militray. Nana is and Alaskan firm.

they issued the following press relase

New CEO and Board Members Appointed at Rivada Networks

March 10, 2009 -- Rivada Networks is pleased to announce the appointment of a new President & CEO and the appointment of four new members to the company's board of directors.

The new CEO will be Mr. John J. Kelly, a former President of Bell Aerospace, Textron Marine & Land Systems and Chairman and President of Pan American Life PLC, and a founding Director of Rivada Networks. John brings a lifetime of experience in leading technology-based enterprises to the position of CEO, where he will succeed Rivada Networks founder Declan J. Ganley. Mr. Ganley will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of Rivada Networks.

Commenting on Mr. Kelly's appointment, Mr. Ganley said:
"John is an immeasurable asset to Rivada, and with his hand at the wheel, Rivada will be well placed to drive forward and build on its record of excellence in the field of life-saving interoperable communications technology. As the company continues to grow and expand into new markets, John's experience and judgment will ensure that our business plots the right course in its ongoing quest to develop and market technology solutions that save lives and improve our ability to respond to humanitarian disasters".

Rivada is also announcing the appointment to the board of directors of the following individuals:

• General Richard B. Myers, USAF (ret), former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• Michael Jackson, Former Deputy Secretary, US Department of Homeland Security.
• George Forseman, Former Under Secretary, US Department of Homeland Security.
• General (ret) the Lord Guthrie, Former UK chief of Defence Staff.

Commenting on these appointments, incoming CEO John J. Kelly said:
"As we move forward into this next exciting phase of Rivada's development, I am delighted that my first act as CEO is to welcome to the board of directors these four individuals, who have demonstrated throughout their careers that their commitment is to public safety first, and that they recognize the immense importance of adequate preparation for emergencies which threaten the lives and safety of our population.

These four individuals bring to our company a wealth of experience, insight, and innovation which will be of immense assistance to us as we continue the development of technologies that will make our world safer, and make the jobs of our emergency services easier in situations where human lives are at risk."

Rivada Networks is a market leader in the provision of interoperable communications systems for emergency situations, and has deployed its technology to assist first-responders in the aftermath of hurricanes, tornadoes, and terrorist threats. Rivada has been chosen by an ever-growing number of State and Federal agencies in order to provide them with the technology they need to maintain communications channels in the event of an emergency situation.

Ganley appoints defence industry figures to communications company

Declan Ganley: preparing to declare election candidacy

DEAGLÁN de BRÉADÚN, Political Correspondent

LIBERTAS FOUNDER and chairman Declan Ganley has appointed four high-profile defence industry figures to the board of Rivada Networks, his communications technology company.

The news comes as he prepares to declare formally his candidacy for the June 5th elections to the European Parliament in Ireland North-West, a move expected to come next week.

Mr Ganley is to quit his role as chief executive of Rivada and take over as chairman, which will allow him more time to concentrate on the European elections. John Kelly, a former president of Bell Aerospace and a current Rivada director, is to take over the post of chief executive.

All four newcomers to the board are linked to the international defence industry. They include a former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff during the Iraqi invasion, Gen Richard Myers; former chief of the UK defence staff, Lord Charles Guthrie; and two former senior officials in the US department of homeland security, Michael Jackson and George Forseman.

Rivada Networks is a US-based defence contracting firm specialising in the provision of telecommunications systems to the military, police and emergency services in disaster situations and has secured US military contracts worth up to $240million (€190 million). Lord Guthrie, who has served in the SAS, was chief of the UK general staff between 1997 and 2001. He is a cross-bench member of the House of Lords. He was created a life peer after retiring as chief of the defence staff.

Gen Myers is a former four-star general in the United States air force and served as the 15th chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

He was the principal military adviser to George Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Mr Jackson is a former deputy secretary of the US department of homeland security. Mr Forseman was the department’s under-secretary for preparedness until 2007.

The appointments are likely to fuel claims by Mr Ganley’s political opponents that his opposition to the Lisbon Treaty reflects his close links with the US military-industrial complex.

The 40-year-old businessman has been recruiting support throughout the European Union in advance of the elections to the parliament.

Mr Ganley would be seeking to take one of the three seats currently held by Seán Ó Neachtáin of Fianna Fáil, Jim Higgins of Fine Gael and Independent MEP Marian Harkin.

Irish Times

The Irish Independent also note the same in their piece on the Libertas UK launch.

Ex-soldier to lead Libertas battle in UK

By Andrew Woodcock and Michael Brennan

Wednesday March 11 2009

LIBERTAS founder Declan Ganley has announced that a former soldier will head his party's European elections campaign in Britain.

He said yesterday that it would provide British voters with their "last and best chance" to send out a message that they did not support the Lisbon Treaty, which has been ratified by 25 EU states but cannot enter into force until it has been approved by Irish voters.

The leader of Libertas UK will be Robin Matthews, a former soldier who left the British army last year after more than 20 years' service in countries such as Bosnia and Afghanistan.

This move comes after Mr Ganley appointed four defence industry heavy hitters to the board of his telecommunications company, Rivada Networks, including General Richard Myers, a former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff during the invasion of Iraq, and Lord Guthrie, the former British chief of defence staff.

Mr Ganley, who is expected to declare his own candidacy for the European elections in the North West constituency next week, is planning to run anti-Lisbon Treaty candidates across Europe.

Libertas UK leader Robin Matthews said that people who wanted a strong and healthy Europe that is democratic and answerable to them should vote for a Libertas candidate.

"If they do not want Europe to succeed. . . then they should vote for another party."

The launch attracted a sceptical response from other established British political parties.

- Andrew Woodcock and Michael Brennan Here

Watford Boy makes good Ganley launches Libertas in UK videos

Watford boy Declan Ganley launches attack on British democracy with former British Army spin doctor in the lead position. Whereas Labour were critised for being elected on the back of spin. Libertas take spin one step further and run spin doctor employee as a candidate.

Ganley employee straight out army to head Libertas drive in the UK

Lt Col Robin Matthews Leader of Libertas UK spews the usual Libertas line on Europe. All rhethoric and no substance.
Libertas has announced that Lt. Col. Robin Mattthews the former communications officer for the British war machine in Helmand, Afghanistan is to leads Libertas' election efforts.
Matthews was only recently employed by Ganley to run his Brussels "cabinet".

Matthews is the second Ganley employee to be mooted for this role,. the other being Ganley's security officer and former commander with the Met and ex head of Europol Kevin O'Connell. O'Connell has been employed to counter what Ganley claims is a smear campaign against Libertas. Of course there is no smear just questions that need to be answered. O'Connell is obviously of more use to Ganley as a snoop rather than a candidate.

According to Libertas these employees of Ganley's will "bring more democracy" to Europe. Had Matthews not already been employed by Ganley/Libertas swould have been asked about how much he was being paid after last weeks Libertas atttempt to buy a political party in Sweden. As it stands his top pay rate as a military officer was just under £80,000.
""
Ganley still will not confirm if he will run but says he will not spend "his own" money and won't bankroll Libertas. Again this blogger asks who is funding Libertas and its offers of 1 million to just one party?
Matthew straight from his job spin doctoring for the British Army in Afganistan got straight to work today:

"We believe the European Union desperately and urgently needs to change. Our view is that Libertas' pro-European approach is the only possible way to achieve this," he said."

In his last job Matthews gloried in 'deliberate and surgical strike''s that the US and UK military claimed to effect in their War on Terror. In his last job Matthews claimed that his war in Aafganistan was "delivering a better life, and progress, to the Afghan people."

Now that he is trying to bring democracy to the UK can we expect humvees, hellfire misssles and random airstrikes killing civilians in London, Birmingham and other UK cities?

If Libertas is progress please tell where the nearsest cave is. I will live there.

BBC

see This and older posts re Robin Matthews here


Matthews and his wife Frances attended the Ganley's eurosceptic dinner in honour of Vaclav klaus see here

Libertas launch in Britain as Ganley appoints neocons to Rivada board

General Charles Ronald Llewelyn Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank, GCB, LVO, OBE, DL,
ex-Chief o/t Defense Staff; ex-Chief o/t General Staff; Non-executive Director of NM Rothschild & Sons
appointed to Ganley's Rivada board. strong supporter of "surprise war" ( which is forbidden by UN charter) and the US Iraq war and the US UK War on Terror.

Britain braces itself for a dose of ganley this week. Already over the weekend he has appeared on BBC's Politics Show, today Sky News's Europe Correspondent Greg Milam's blogs about Ganley's arrival noting:

An announcement is due tomorrow. Ganley says it is the way to build a bigger collective of those who are happy enough to be in Europe but feel the treaty hands over too much power to Brussels.

But it isn’t going to be easy. Libertas is embroiled in numerous controversies across Europe as it tries to assemble a network of candidates.

It has already denied offering money to Swedish Eurosceptic party Junilistan if it changed its name to ‘Junilistan-Libertas’.

And as it launches Libertas spin-offs in countries like Germany and Slovakia, there have been questions about funding and registration. Libertas itself has lashed out at Brussels, accusing it of a dirty tricks campaign.

The timing might not be good for Ganley

.Sky blog

This week also saw the announcement of Ganley's appointment of former US Air Force General Richard Myers, and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George W. Bush's from 2001-2005 to the board of Declan Ganley's private military contracting firm, Rivada.

Myers currently serves as an external adviser to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This will no doubt reintroduce the issues raised about Ganley's campaign, personal and party finaces yet again. questions were raised last year inthe Eu parliamnet about Ganley's links with neocons and the CIA.
The CIA denied funding Libertas.
Libertas also denied they got CIA funds.

But where is Ganley getting 1 mil euros to offer to a Swedish partry? 1 mil plus for his No campaign in Ireland and whatver he is using to buy politiacl supporters in 27 EU states?

Who is paying for the salaries of Libertas employees like Lt. Col. Robin Matthews and former head of Europol Kevin O'Connell.

It would appear that Libertas are throwing millions of euros around. where did this cash come from? Libertas would maintain that it is all small donations from the paypal buttons on their official site. However a pan EU party with only 888 members on Facebook it is hard for an outsider to have confidence in the veracity the Libertas line.

The question, how much have you been paid? must also be asked of politicians who have joined with Libertas as the Swedish incident last week gives a disturbing insight into how Libertas get their supporters behind them (or not in the case of the whistleblowers at Junilistan).

Britains should be more worried about the appointment of their former top military man Baron Gurthrie to Ganley's Rivada board. Ganley now has two of the worlds most senior militray men from the recent past working for him in a private capacity.

What next?

Older Posts Ganley appoints CIA external advisor to his company board

Ganley appoints top Bush's top general in launch of War on Terror to Rivada Networks

Libertas Has No Time for Workers' Rights! Interns low wages raise concerns

Concern has been expressed by Catherine Halloran, Political Correspondent with the tabloid Irish Daily Star that Libertas have no regard for workers rights. She is outraged and warns studdents to beware of Libertas. However she got her sums wrong. The hourly rate for working 40 hours a week at €700 a month is only €4.03. This is even lower than the rate of 4.30 which halloran thinks is a violation of workers rights.

If you are a Libertas intern let this blog know what it's like. Email peoplekorps@gmail.com

read Catherine Halloran blog post below

Poor Libertas Interns

Catherine Halloran

Political Correspondent with the Irish Daily Star newspaper in Dublin.

If there is one thing guaranteed to bore the cotton socks off anyone at the moment, it is the mere mention of the Lisbon Treaty - but bear with me!

Workers rights was one of the main issues of contention last June when the Irish turned remarkably frosty towards anything European.

But Declan Ganley's anti-treaty group Libertas really are taking the biscuit when it comes to workers rights - it is looking for interns but is only prepared to pay them a misery €700 a month while they live in Brussels.

Ganley's Libertas is building a European army of interns ahead of this summer's European elections.

And as part of its plan for world domination, it will be taking on interns and full-time staff across Europe.

In their online advertisement they are looking to hire 'highly-qualified and talented students for a period of five months in Brussels'.

But let's look at this more closely. Considering the intern will work at least eight hours a day for five days a week, that gives a working week of 40 hours. With four weeks in a month, that gives the sum total of 160 hours a month.

With a pay packet of €700 a month, that gives an hourly rate of just €4.30 - far, far less than the Minimum Wage.

Students, be warned!

See Ganley address his interns


Interns this may not look as good on your CV as you think. do get in touch email peoplekorps@gmail.com

Declan Ganley's London club is The Naval and Military Club

British troops on parade from
Declan Ganley's London club's home page .

Ruth Dudley Edwards tells us that Declan Ganley gave a lunchtime talk to in the House of Commons on Tuesday 10 Feb to an audience of mainly young people who thought him a hero for his role in the 'No' vote on Lisbon. the youths were "Eurosceptic to the point of Europhobia". Edwards who is known for taking a sympathetic approach to the Northern Irish Unionist perspective in Irish history also has a soft spot for Ganley or is "sympathetically disposed" as she says herself.

Ganley's Gentlemen's club The Naval + Military Club,
No. 4, St. James's Square, London, SW1Y 4J

It might comfort Ruth Dudley Edwards to know that Declan is a habitué and member of The Naval and Military Club No. 4, St. James's Square, London, SW1Y 4J. The club also known as the "In and Out" Club was founded in 1862
The board includes J D H Briggs Esq Chairman,
G G Buxton-Smither Esq and Admiral the Lord Boyce GCB OBE DL, ,Vice-Chairman see full board here.
According to its website Ganley's club

For most of its history [...] has provided a comfortable London home for Officers of the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Army and the Royal Air Force. The style and traditions of the Club have tended to follow those of Officers’ Messes.

In recent years, the membership has expanded to include ladies and gentlemen who have not served in the Armed Forces and the Club has benefited greatly from this.

The Club exists as a society of men and women who respect service traditions and who share the facilities of the Clubhouse at No. 4 St. James’s Square for their enjoyment and recreation.

Is this where Declan Ganley recruited The Light Dragoon CO, Lt Col Robin Matthews who up until recently was Communications Officer for the British Forces in Helmand Province in Afghanistan? Robin Matthews is now Chef de Cabinet of Libertas.

What does it say about a man who claims to be pro European, pro transparency and anti-elite when he speaks to anti European audiences and recruits anti European politicians for his party. Furthermore ( for this son of Watford ) desires to join an elitist martial social club. Ganley's membership of the club reflects his adherence"a society of men and women who respect service traditions". It also reflects his elitist nature and tendencies.

Ganley's US Defence contacting company Rivada is also staffed by former military men and here.
He also loves paint balling and flying flags. Though as you can see in my post on his German TV appearence he gets confused about which one he should fly on a moment to moment basis.


In the UK Declan Ganley is supported by haters of the EU, recruits members of the British armed services to work for Libertas and socialises in a club whose members revel in the traditions of service of the British Armed Forces. What has he got to offer the Republic of Ireland?

Link to Indymedia article about Ganley's No campaign and US Military

Libertas to pin hopes on a pro-Catholic agenda and hire's former British Army spin doctor to run Brussels bureau

Caroline Simons (left):Prospective Libertas candidate for Dublin and former
spokesperson /current legal advisor to the ProLife Campaign and former
Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna listening to Taoiseach Brian Cowen making
a keynote speech at before the National Forum of Europe, Dublin Castle 22 May 2008

Libertas have recruited a former British Army communications officer as chef de cabinet of its Libertas EU. Lt Col Robin Matthews, spokesman former spokesman for British forces in Helmand, Afganistan is now running the Libertas hub in Brussels. Declan ganley's penchant for hiring ex military has thus extended from his Rivada networks which is staffed by several former US military personal but has now extended to an EU warrior on terror.

An aide for Libertas has also confirmed that it cannot run the same policies in different countries. the Catholic hard line anti abortion platform ids deemed to be a goer in Poland and the West of Ireland but the spokesman said that this policy will not work in the Czech Republic or Sweden. The implication is that Libertas will tailor policies to fit different territories. Therefore we will have no idea what the party stand for or intend to do if they get a mandate.
This is sinister political opportunism. What are we to believe the parties actual views are if they can be this cavalier in their approach to policy.

Ireland Sunday Business Post echoes this blog in noting that"Ganley has insistently denied being a Eurosceptic or in any way anti-European, but he has allied himself to elements in some European countries that are not just Eurosceptics, but Euro haters."

We can only conclude that Libertas cannot be believed. They will tailor policies to suit a particular voter poll regardless of their own beliefs. They make public statements diametricly opposite to their actual stance.

Libertas to pin hopes on a pro-Catholic agenda
Sunday, February 15, 2009 By Pat Leahy
Libertas, the anti-Lisbon Treaty group founded by Declan Ganley, is to launch its Irish campaign for the European Parliament eletions later this month and will bring candidates from all over Europe together in Rome at the end of March.

The organisation will unveil its Irish candidates, expected to include Ganley himself in the North West (Connacht-Ulster) constituency, in the coming weeks, his spokesman said last week. A conference in Rome on March 25 will mark the beginning of a pan-European campaign.

The Brussels organisation is being largely run by the former Danish MEP Jens-Peter Bonde, a long-time critic of further European integration. The group has also hired Robin Matthews, a former British army communications officer,and is advertising for interns on its website. A spokesman said that staff numbers would exceed 100 shortly.

Solicitor Caroline Simons, who campaigned against the Lisbon treaty with Libertas, is expected to be the newgroup’s candidate in Dublin. Libertas has promised a high profile personality in Leinster, and may yet stand a candidate in Munster.

The group’s spokesman acknowledged that sitting MEP Kathy Sinnott ‘‘agrees with us on 99 per cent of the issues’’. Ganley has not officially confirmed that he will run in the North West constituency, but his aides have acknowledged that it would be an enormous climb down for him to back out at this stage. ‘‘He can’t not run. But he’s an all-or-nothing guy,” said one.

The alliance with Sinnott, the inclusion of Simons, and Ganley’s speech to a meeting of Catholic groups last weekend in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, in which he spoke of his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage and quoted approvingly from Pope Benedict XVI, signified a broadening of the Libertas identity from a single issue group campaigning against the Lisbon Treaty. Though she came to prominence as a disabilities campaigner, Sinnott has strong antiabortion views, while Simons is a former spokeswoman for the prolife campaign.

But evolving a distinctive policy identity in an organisation that has ambitions to stretch across Europe won’t be easy. ‘‘The speech that Declan gave last week,” said an aide about his remarks to the Catholic groups, ‘‘that might serve him well in the west of Ireland and Poland. But we can’t have candidates saying that sort of thing in the Czech Republic or Sweden.”

The evolution of a coherent Libertas identity before the European elections faces other challenges, too.

Ganley has insistently denied being a Eurosceptic or in any way anti-European, but he has allied himself to elements in some European countries that are not just Eurosceptics, but Euro haters. It’s difficult, for example, to characterizes the Czech president Vaclav Klaus - whom Ganley has met and feted - in any other way.

Whatever about opposition to the Lisbon Treaty, outright opposition to the European project - or an alliance with those who are so opposed - will be a tough sell in Ireland. By most measures - the referendum result aside - Ireland is one of the most pro-European countries in the union.

However, Ganley has chosen to run in that part of Ireland in which feelings towards the EU project are the least warm.

According to detailed research carried out by RedC for The Sunday Business Post after the Lisbon Treaty referendum (as part of a project with Trinity College), the Connacht -Ulster region was significantly less pro-Lisbon and less pro-European than the rest of the country.

For example, asked whether they agreed that Ireland should ‘‘do all it could to unite fully with the EU,” or if Ireland should ‘‘do all it can to protect its independence from the EU’’, voters in Connacht-Ulster came down 48-46 in favour of independence. Dublin, by contrast, favoured uniting with Europe by a margin of 60-36 per cent.

This finding is reflected across the research. Some 48 per cent in Connacht-Ulster see themselves as ‘‘Irish only’’; 44 per cent as ‘‘Irish and European’’. In Dublin, 54 per cent say they are ‘‘Irish and European’’.

Some 30 per cent of people in the West and North-West don’t expect Ireland to benefit from the EU in the future.

In the actual referendum, all the constituencies in Connacht-Ulster counties voted No. The highest number of No votes was in Mayo, which delivered 30,000 votes against Lisbon, with less than 19,000 in favour.

This sentiment has endured in the region. Last month’s poll showed that, while national opinion had swung once again behind the Lisbon Treaty, the margin was slimmest in Connacht-Ulster. While the Yes vote leads by 74-26 in Dublin, the margin in the West and North West was just 54-46.

On issues such as abortion there is also a distinct difference between Connacht-Ulster and the rest of the country. When questioned, 51 per cent of people in the region said abortion should never be allowed in Ireland. In Dublin, the number is just 36 per cent. Ganley’s recently advertised anti-abortion views will not hurt him in this constituency.

None the less, winning a seat will be a very tall order for Ganley. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael won more than half of the vote between them at the 2004 European elections in the constituency, while the most recent Red C monthly tracking poll showed the two parties attracting the support of 60 per cent of voters there.

So, one seat each for the two main parties is probably inevitable, meaning Ganley will need to target the seat of Independent MEP Marian Harkin. She is a strong local performer with a network of support throughout the constituency, and will be difficult to shift. Sinn Féin also enjoys strong support, and took 65,000 votes in 2004.

Ganley’s past criticism of the Common Agricultural Policy may not be palatable for many rural voters. He will face continuing questions about the funding of the organisation, questions he has been unable to answer with any degree of consistency since the organisation was founded.

Another difficulty for Ganley is that the political landscape has shifted so wildly since the first referendum. It is hard to predict what effect this will have on the European elections.

At one level, there is almost certain to be massive anti-government sentiment among voters. However, whether this translates into support for a candidate who favours a different relationship with the EU is another question entirely.

The most recent tracking poll for this newspaper a fortnight ago showed political support had swung in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, including among those who voted against it the last time.

If the worsening recession is pushing voters towards the perceived protection of the EU, then it will make it more difficult for Ganley.

Defeat in the European elections would undermine his opposition to Lisbon in any subsequent referendum. Last year’s referendum result was a stunning success for Ganley. But he is discovering that in politics, success just brings a whole new set of problems.

Call for Pope not to meet Ganely before EU Elections and Lisbon 2

see This and other posts re Robin Matthews here posted 10 march 2009


Matthews and his wife Frances attended the Ganley's eurosceptic dinner in honour of Vaclav klaus see here