The Irish Blue-Eyed Boys

AFTER the French, Tanzanians, Soviets, Indians and Chinese, the Irish have suddenly become the Seychelles Government's new blue-eyed boys.

This newspaper has learnt that President Michel's Secretary of State, Alain Butler-Payette, has some good connections in the land of Guinness and that this is being put to good use. A good way of balancing the Chinese and Arab influences, which are far from popular with ordinary Seychellois.

Mr. Butler-Payette apparently cultivated the links during the days when he traveled a lot as a Foreign Affairs Principal secretary and hard-playing diplomat. He also has a sister, Mathilda Twomey, well settled in the Irish Republic, though no link has as yet been proven. Ms Toomey is known locally as a fiery orator and capable lawyer... above all a formidable opponent of the ruling SPPF.

Our present Police commissioner, Gerard Waye-Hive, straight from the armed forces and training in Cuba, did a crash course in policing, just before his appointment.

A few weeks later came the October 3 incidents and it was to the Republic of Ireland that the government turned to prior to setting up a commission of inquiry. Prior to these, Irish investigative officers, led by one Liam Quinn, arrived on the scene followed by a panel headed by Judge Michael Reilly.

The Reilly Commission report ruled that while the SNP demonstration outside parliament was illegal under existing laws, SSU had used excessive force, causing needless injury and called for its disbandment.

Recently, students selected under the “young Leaders" programme were told that they are to undergo training in the Republic of Ireland.

In the meantime, former Irish Prime Minister Garette Fitzgerald visited Seychelles and praised the government's economic reforms, just as ministers of French President Valery Giscard D'Estaing did way back in the 1980’s.

Now we hear that a prominent Irish state solicitor, Barry Galvin, is to conduct a review of the Seychelles' criminal system.

So during the next three months, Galvin will carry out an assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement agencies, the prosecution process, the criminal court and the laws covering criminal offences. He is to recommend properly-researched changes.

Galvin could be well advised to save time by not going through whatever former Chief Justice Vivekanand Alleear has done during his tenure of office, to trace the ills of the system. He might also find that the worm got into the fruit soon after the 1977 coup, when soldiers, mostly louts or former convicts started giving orders to career policemen and consequently many of the officers either left or were summarily fired. These are issues which President Michel are familiar with and do not really need Irish experts to inform him about.

 At around the same time, politicians also started issuing orders to the courts. To ensure that political wishes became the judges' command, the men in gowns were often recruited from countries where there is no “Etat de droit". This led one well known lawyer to tell the British Sunday Times  " They are only government men in gowns". The remark struck a chord with former CJ Alleear.

March 21, 2008
Copyright 2007: Seychelles Weekly, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles