The following story appeared in The Irish Mail on Sunday – 29 January 2012 and was written by Ken Foxe

The Oireachtas has introduced a new expenses claim system which will make it impossible to uncover the bogus expense claims similar to the Ivor Callely’s forged mobile phone invoices.

The rules have been changed so that TDS and Senators will not have to supple receipts – even for supposedly ‘vouched’ expenses.  They will simply claim for amounts they say they have sent, with the Oireachtas trusting them to give accurate figures.   The only method of policing the claims is a system of random audits, under which one in ten politicians will be asked to provide the receipts to back up their claims.  That means that for 90% ( Of 226 TDs and Senators, 10% means an audit of only 22) of politicians,  no receipts need handing over  – meaning the invoices cannot be checked to ensure they are genuine.

However TDs are expected to hold onto the receipts for five years BUT unless they are audited there is no means by which a member of the media or public can ever get their hands on them – even by using Freedom of Information legislation.

Expenses campaigner and chartered accountant, Enid O’Dowd said that even if invoices are genuine there can be abuses.  “There are no rules insisting on value for money or that the work does no go to family or friends for these expenses.  Because we can’t get the invoices under FoI, we can’t check for this,  and the auditors won’t – it’s not  within their remit.

Ms O’Down warned that the new policy was further erosion of our ability to check how politicians are spending our money.

She said,  “Only a minority of the expenses paid to our politicians can be subject to audit as most payments are fixed allowances paid automatically with no necessity to ever show anything like the amount paid was actually incurred.

“This audit only relates to the 10% of TDs and Senators who who opt for the higher allowance  - why not look at those who opt for the lower allowance of €15,000 per annum.  I call this the ‘no questions asked’ allowance.

“The fact that over half of our politicians have opted for the lower ‘no questions asked’ allowance tells me that they have very few legitimate parliamentary expenses and that the allowance is a form of untaxed salary for them.”

Mazar’s carried out the first independent audit and noted that the audit raised a series of issues about the Oireachtas expenses regime and its loose rules.

It said there were no firm rules and what could and could not be claimed in key areas.  Items purchased included bank interest and fees, the purchase of computer equipment, and sundry items like newspapers, biscuits, tea and coffee.

It said  clarity was necessary on the purchase of items such as laptops and printers, and particularly whether they should be returned to the Oireachtas should the politician lose their seat.

Meanwhile former Fianna Fáil Minister Ned O’Keefe also submitted forged invoices yet the Clerk of the Dáil is insisting that the expenses were legitimate yet the Gardaí believe he has questions to answer.

Arrests coincide with payment of Anglo Irish payments to bondholders

On the three occasions that the Irish Government made controversial payments of  billions of Irish taxpayers money to international unsecured unguaranteed bondholders for Anglo Irish Bank debt (€29 billion in total bailout and now owned by the State) , this is also what happened either on the eve or the same day:

• 1st November 2011:  former Anglo finance director, Willie McAteer was re-arrested. That was on the eve of the controversial payment of USD 1bn (€730m) to unsecured, unguaranteed bondholders.
• 9th December 2011:  former Anglo chairman, Sean Fitzpatrick was re-arrested.
• 25^th January 2012:    Ivor Callely taken in for questioning over bogus mobile phone expense claims.

Merkozy's fiscal compact

The December EU summit has raised more questions than answers:  will the new financial firewall be enough to steady international global markets? Will the new fiscal union rules work and what will it involve? Does a referendum hold any relevance for Irish voters following the Nice and Lisbon outcomes and anyway, with enhanced cooperation, does it matter anymore? Can Ireland withstand increased austerity measures and would we be better off going it alone?

 The Merkozy European duopoly has unleashed a wave of criticism toward Cameron’s veto of a new 27 country EU treaty and because of this, we now have a proposal for a fiscal compact and an inter-governmental treaty – claiming, as it legally has to, that it is nothing but a simple fine-tuning of powers already granted under the Maastricht Treaty.

While Britain’s veto effectively means it cannot be labelled a EU treaty, the Lisbon Treaty ensures that, under enhanced cooperation, countries can adopt the new rules without waiting for other countries to sign up.

Either way, Merkozy have taken EU leadership into their own hands or rather Germany has, with France sticking close to its better-off partner.   On reflection, in Ireland, hard questions must be asked of Lisbon Treaty ‘Yes’ campaigners who claimed the new treaty would deliver better governance and effective management of business with  the appointment of  a President of the EU and a Foeign Affairs Minister.  Recent events have condemned Rompuy to being nothing but a titular head while Catherine Ashton has been invisible.

Critics of Lisbon predicted that there would be a shift in power from the Commission (the traditional defender of small states) to the Council of Ministers and by consequence, domination by the larger countries. Enter France, Germany and Merkozy.

What does a real fiscal union look like in federal states?

Federal fiscal union requires centralised powers of tax collection and public spending.  These powers provide the main mechanisms by which fiscal transfers can be made to the more depressed regions of the state.  The amount of tax collected varies between regions, but expenditure on schools, hospitals and public services remains uniform or even weighted towards poorer areas, so taxpayers in richer regions subsidise poorer ones. Monetary union cannot work effectively without these transfers.

But within the EU, with no fiscal or monetary transfers to compensate, peripheral nations are being forced into repeated rounds of self-defeating austerity in order to survive and pay their debts.  Even the default mechanism of currency devaluation is denied them.  There was nothing in the December summit initiative to relieve these pressures.

The new fiscal model

For Germany, European solidarity means everyone playing by strict economic and fiscal rules and hence, the new fiscal compact designed to hardwire austerity into European law.

Central to the treaty will be the requirement, to be enshrined in national law, to maintain a budget surplus or, at worst, an annual structural deficit of 0.5% of GDP. To put that in context, the Stability and Growth Pact which we’re already committed to, sets an annual deficit ceiling of 3% of GDP. That is 6 times the level that will be allowable under the new compact (the SGPlimits also include debt repayments) and the penalties for non-compliance with the new limits will be far more stringent.

This looks like a recipe for permanent austerity ensuring that those on the periphery are condemned to prolonged economic depression. Just look at the facts:  under the old S&G pact between 1990 – 2008, before the crisis hit, Ireland was able to satisfy the 0.5% structural deficit only once in ten years,,  the same as Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.  Austria, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain never once met the target.   There is absolutely no chance that Ireland (or Italy, Greece or Portugal or Spain) will regain competitiveness against an even more competitive and strong Germany in the near future, if ever.

Fiscal compact and degree of intrusion

What is clear is that a common currency cannot operate without a common fiscal policy, and importantly, the means to ensure compliance.

What is alarming is the degree of intrusion envisaged, not only for our national budgets, but for economic policy generally and these include:

•  greater competitiveness;
• convergence of economic policies and labour markets;
• convergence and harmonisation of corporate tax bases;
• and the creation of a financial transaction tax.

In effect, national budgets will have to be approved in advance by the EU.  The priority will be competitiveness, with a consequential lowering of labour and social protection costs which will inevitably lead to greater inequality between states and populations.

Irish referendum

Talk of a referendum in Ireland is a ‘red herring’.  This deal was agreed by 26 countries following Cameron’s veto and ensures that the 11 weak states will be governed by the six strong ones, led by Germany, operating through Brussels.    However there is one clear caveat, the financial firewall with funding coming from the IMF and not the ECB is fundamentally weak and may have to be revisited in January.

Referendum or no referendum –Ireland is in a weak position with few or no marbles to trade.  But this is the final crossroads and probably the most crucial decision an Irish electorate will ever have to decide upon, should a referendum take place. And it should.

Already the campaign has begun and been framed as a vote for or against the Euro.

As for the sovereignity argument, it has long since gone in the face of international financial institutions , the rating agencies, currency speculators and global capitalism.

The political strategy will be based on winning a concession on Ireland’s corporation tax and a re-calibration or elimination of the €31 billion debt promissory note (borrowed to sort out Anglo Irish and Irish Nationwide).  The most likely outcome is a war reparations style deal where interest is lowered and the loan term vastly expanded.   This would release Ireland from the current debt straightjacket and bridge the gap between our debt re-structuring and the new European Stability Fund.

Irish economic strategy

Few are convinced that the December summit has provided the solution to Europe’s financial crisis. If all countries introduce austerity programmes they’ll likely drag each other down.

Ireland’s own plan for recovery consists of driving down domestic demand while boosting exports.  This will only work if the European and global economy picks up.  Economic forecasters are predicting a mini-recession acrossEuropein the first quarter of 2012.

 The three key questions which Ireland must ask itself following the December summit ‘financial firewall’ and ‘fiscal compact’ initiative are:

•  Will it work? – will it resolve the Debt crisis, the Banking crisis and lead to growth inIreland,Greece,ItalyandPortugaland beyond?
• Will it protect European solidarity?
• Does it uphold the key principles of subsidiarity?

Ireland now reduced to austerity and Local Authority status

Full fiscal union, as defined by France and Germany, marks the end of any safeguards through veto or through non-approval that Irelandhad trusted and relied upon as the EU evolved over the years.

In EU terms, full fiscal union finally consigns Ireland’s national parliament and political leaders to a Local Authority status of governance with responsibility for policing, education, health, housing and transport.

While the bailout troika of the EU/ECB/IMF oversees Government policy under its Memo of Understanding remit, surely a deeper investigation of how Ireland has mis-managed its affairs would undercover a culture of cronyism and corruption; localism; patronage; a sense of entitlement and an inability to learn from mistakes or the mistakes of others.

Budget scrutiny – is it a price worth paying?

• There are those who believe that allowing Irish national budgets open to  EU/German budgetary scrutiny has its merits.  It might ensure that Governments and overzealous political leaders and their finance ministers could no longer lure an electorate with the promise of budgetary ‘goodie’ bags.
• Will the new fiscal rules bring pressure to bear on the already unsustainable public sector pay bill. For example, public sector pay increments, which are based on time in service rather than performance, will cost €300 million alone next year.
• However, the EU, and specifically Germany, insisted that Ireland pay senior bondholders as part of the EU/ECB/IMF bail out deal – an appalling decision and flew against all the rules of financial speculation and the capitalist system.
• Has the Irish Government lost the moral authority to implement strict budgetary measures on its citizens following its failure:

-         to reform the political system;

-          to reform the political expenses system;

-         to reform the senior civil servants and senior politicians pay-offs and pensions;

-         to adhere to its own salary caps for political advisers

-         to present and handle Budget cuts with fairness, clarity, creativity and sensitivity?

Is a ‘Managed Withdrawal’ feasible and what would it involve?

• Withdrawal would need support from the ECB for liquidity reasons
• It would involve arrangements with EU authorities for a re-calibration of the debt
• It would mean a return to a national currency as per Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the UK but with power to devalue.

The negative consequences would inevitably lead to a rise in unemployment and inflation and currency-wise, who would we track? Devaluation would provide a boost for exports, and possibly tourism.

There are serious concerns that leaving an international currency in the middle of the worst recession in the country’s history when the economic is so weak, would be disastrous and could amount to a giant leap in the dark.

However, bereft of any effective leadership on the financial crisis at EU level over the last three years,  the EU’s economic orthodoxy and the burden of debt is sinking Ireland and others in a ‘one size fits all’ emasculating and rigid approach.

- Why was an unofficial tweet not properly checked for authenticity?
- Who took the editorial decision to announce the tweet as an official source?
- Why was Martin McGuinness allowed to interrogate Gallagher?
-When RTE realised their mistake, why was a public apology not read out on the airwaves declaring its mistake?

He claimed that his membership of Fianna Fáil was ‘sporadic’.  It was anything but.  In fact, to all intents and purposes he may still be a  Fianna Fail member.  He claims he left Fianna Fáil in 2009 but in this video clip he is seen addressing an Ogra FF summer school in August 2010.

Right up to January 2011 when the party was in freefall and, despite wave after wave of crisis within the Government and the party,  this man stood loyally  on the decks of  the Fianna Fáil Titanic right up to January 5 last, even  as FF Minister after Minister resigned or announced they were retiring on massive pensions.

His resignation letter to FF General Secretary Sean Dorgan was not a resignation as a member of Fianna Fáil, but merely as a constituency delegate to the National Executive.

In fact, it has served his purposes to remain a member in order to gain the support of his many Fianna Fail colleagues and friends on county councils across the country to ensure he secured a nomination.

H e claims that the President should be ‘above politics’ yet he does not mind not being  above Fianna Fáil politics.  This is what he said about some of the decisions that Brian Cowen made:  “I guess what Brian Cowen was doing and his Cabinet were doing was based on what was in front of them, they were making the best decisions they felt at the time…….” 

Interestingly, neither he, nor his campaign team nor Fianna Fail headquarters can confirm when he officially left the party.  This might suggest that he has never actually left.

When asked to explain his strong FF associations, associations he has continually played down, he rebuffs them by saying that ‘people are tired of negative campaigning’.    Yet, the electorate are entitled to know the truth about his political associations and his staunch support for a party and Government that brought the country to its knees.

It was also telling that, when asked in the Late Late Show Presidential debate to name any piece of significant legislation introduced  over the last seven years,  he could think of none.

How could it be possible that a  Presidential candidate could fail to notice the massive impact that the bank guarantee,   the bank bailouts and NAMA have had on ordinary citizens, communities and businesses the length and breadth of the country?   It just does not wash.

And,  without wishing to totally castigate FF, he could have easily cited the excellent anti-smoking legislation introduced by current FF leader and former  Minister for Health,  Michael Martin, in 2004.   But he could not think of any.

This man needs to come clean and step up to the plate.

 The Friendship Village  is set on a five  acre site approximately 20 kilometres from Hanoi city centre where it houses over a hundred children suffering from Agent Orange dioxin and 40 war veterans.

The Village was founded in 1992 and is the brainchild of the late George Mizo, a former US soldier who served in Vietnam, a hawk turned dove and prominent member of Veterans for Peace, an organisation made up of former male and female soldiers.   Mizo’s main aim was to help repair the damage done to the Vietnamese people and to Vietnam-US  relations following the war.  George died in 2002 but his German wife took up the cause and continues to fundraise on behalf of the Village.

I am here to meet with the director, Dang Vu Dung and carry out a tour of the teaching and training facilities.

Director  Dang Vu Dung  explains,  “We have 102 children residing here.  The age range is between 6 and 20 years.  The vetting system for entry is that they must be the offspring of former Vietnamese soldiers and they must be affected by Agent Orange in some form.  Having said that, the children we enrol here, while suffering a disablement of one form or another as a result of dioxin, are those that, with the right training and rehabilitation, can re-enter society with a skillset to help them survive.

 The younger children attend school here like any normal child except that here we employ special needs teachers.  The older children receive training in IT/computer skills, weaving and sewing to make clothes, souvenir making (note:  the souvenirs are used as a fundraising tool to generate extra income) and tend the organic vegetable and fruit garden.

 We appoint one mother (supervisor) for every 20 victims and they supervise, guide and encourage an ‘esprit de corps’ among the children with a goal of making them as self sufficient as possible.  We also encourage sports, for example, badminton and football.  Another important aspect is outreaching into the local community and we encourage direct contact and communication to ensure the children’s time here is as normal and productive for them as possible.  All our dioxin children spend a maximum of three years here before returning to their families and villages.

 i

Our income support is split 50/50 – 50% comes from Government funding and the other 50% from fundraising mainly carried out by the Union of Veterans which includes mainly former French, German, Japanese, US and English soldiers. The veteran’s fundraising efforts, their enthusiasm and vision for what we are trying to achieve here is the essence of what the Friendship Village is all about  – turning the negative legacy of war into a positive one where children are given a second chance and the ability to live some from of normal life.  This was George Mizo’s vision.  

There are also 40 veterans resident at the Village at any given time.

Travelling from Hanoi airport into the city what becomes immediately apparent is that the city is surrounded by agricultural lands,  mainly geared toward rice production.  I pass vast swathes of rice fields with farmers in conical hats, along with buffalo, tending the fields.

The French influence is everywhere – the houses are narrow but tall with verandahs,  green wooden window shutters and balustrades.

I am staying at the Hanoi Legend hotel in the heart of the Old Quarter – a quaint warren of tiny streets full of hotels, restaurants, tourist offices and hordes of street vendors selling everything from food to trinkets to old Viet Cong army caps with their Vietnamese red star emblem.

The tourist offices are everywhere selling trips up into the northern mountains, out to the karst rocks of beautiful Halong Bay where, for a $100 or so you can book a two day trip touring the islands, swimming, eating and spending the night on board in splendidly furnished wood panelled bedrooms. You can also book an overnight train south along the coast to the old imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty at Hue.

In the Old Quarter, there are motorbike taxis, car taxis and cyclos everywhere all looking for your business  – “You wan moto bike, you wan taxi”

A crowd drinking Bia Hoi on a street corner

There are food stalls where you can snatch a quick Beef Pho for 50 cents,  order your own sit down BBQ for a little more or simply sit on a street corner bar on foot high tiny plastic stools sipping Bia Hoi, the local draught brew which sells at a mere 15 cents a glass.

Vegetable seller along a Hanoi street

Why do they let cars up these tiny streets?

And if you want you can go upmarket to a Grafton Street-style area that sells all the top international brands.  There you’ll also find  five star hotels, excellent restaurants in an area resplendent with attractively dressed men and women driving Porsches and four wheel drives accentuating the obvious gap between rich and poor in this new open market-led economy.

Those motorbikes again!

Wow, I travelled three thousand kilometres and this is what I'm confronted with - where's that Louis Walsh fella?!

What differentiates Hanoi from HCM city, among others,  is its lake system, in particular nearby Hoan  Kiem lake, which, as a centre-piece, tends to have an overall calming affect on this teeming city.

This second instalment of my trip will concentrate on environmental issues, meeting up with environmental and forestry expert Dr Phung Tuu Boi at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then a 20 kilometre trip out of the city to visit the Friendship Village, ending with a meeting at the Catholic Relief  Services Agency office in the suburbs of the city.

“The youth of a nation are the trustees of posterity” – Benjamin Disraeli 

Wandering from the hotel one evening after a meal of BBQed buttered scallops, fresh crab and salad washed down with a cold Saigon Red beer, all for a mere three euros, I headed up Bui Vien Street (the trendy backpacker tourist area just a few minutes from the hotel)  for a stroll, passing a crowded pavement bar.

The street bar was full of young Vietnamese in their late 20’s/early 30s.  They immediately beckoned me over and insisted I join them.  They were in party mood, in great form and enjoying a few drinks.

They were friendly, welcoming, well educated, spoke perfect English, were interested and interesting and full of chat and bonhomie. These young people represent the new Vietnam, a country with a  successful market-led economy, for example, in 2010, Vietnam’s  nominal GDP reached $104.6 billion, with nominal GDP per capita of $1218.  They have a population of seventy seven million, 80% of which still live in the countryside.  Most Vietnamese businesses are SMEs.

This crowd were having a blast the same way that any group of young Irish or Europeans would do.  Positive in outlook, a good sense of humour and with expectations for a good life – this is the new Vietnam – tech savvy, educated, open to new ideas, gregarious, Generation Y, the iPhone generation?

Mr Ha

I got talking to Mr Ha, who runs his own gentlemen’s outfitters, the life and soul of the gang.  Gay, he cracked jokes, clinked glasses for toasting but was well read, well spoken and interested in why I was visiting.  I talked with Jen (28) who is fluent in English and Japanese, who is now considering a career in the hospitality industry and was eager for my advice based on her skill set.  There was Tuan with a career in IT, Mi Lan in the fashion industry and Jill from Cambodia, into catering.  The group eventually enlarged to include Indian, Catalan, American and German.

These guys gave me a night to remember full of insight and laughs.

Jen, fluent in English and Japanese hoping for a career in the hospitality sector

Jill from Cambodia

I’ve encountered a friendly and vibrant city and people, experienced some revealing moments, ate some great food and now leave for Hanoi just when I felt I was getting an angle on this fascinating city and its people.  I leave with a heavy heart (and my $12 Sopranos full series DVD box set).

Footnote:

I stayed in the Saigon Mini Hotel 1 – a group of five small boutique style hotels.  My double room cost around $20 a night – clean linen, comfortable bed, WiFi in the room  - but the real gem here was the young friendly staff of Ha, Miss Vicky and Christy – they couldn’t do enough for me and made the visit special.

Also Tuan Anh, my Ministry of Foreign Affairs translator who went to tremendous efforts to ensure my trip was a pleasant and successful one.  And it was.

Tuan Anh - Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Goodnight Saigon!

I’m picked up at the hotel by Tuan Anh, my translator, our driver and the assistant Press Secretary of Vava in an old brown Opel saloon that has definitely seen better days.

A drive through the usual chaotic HCM city traffic gets us there for 9.00 am and I’m greeted with a smile by Dr Phuong on the steps of the hospital.

Meeting with Dr Phuong at the Peace Village ward at Tu Du Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City

I’ve met people like Dr Phuong before – the characteristics are always similar – incredible strength of purpose and a passion and belief that emanates. She is the opposite of strident, overpowering.  She is softly spoken, firm, eloquent, but oozes humanity with a gentle smile.

She apologises for missing yesterday’s meeting and we conduct an interview which is in stark contrast to yesterday’s one at VAVA.  She thinks carefully before answering my questions, speaking good English and only occasionally leaning over to Tuan Anh for clarification on technical points.  And then she smiles, nods, pauses to reflect and replies rapidly but concisely.

Here are some of the points she made:

• The chemical companies were put under pressure by the US administration to produce Agent Orange in vast quantities within a very short time frame.
• This led to a far greater concentration of dioxin in the manufacturing that would not normally have been allowed and led to ‘complications’, that is, the temperature produced used in the manufacturing process created a far more lethal product.
• You could take two views on this – it was either pressure to supply quickly and genuine mistakes were made or corners were cut for commercial reasons by the chemical companies.
• Either way the companies were in business to supply a product – a product that had a high level of dioxin – and a chemical that has been described by scientists as ‘the most deadly poison known to humankind’.
• The companies and the US administration continually claim that there is no evidence to link Agent Orange with the kind of cancers, diseases and deformities we are constantly dealing with.
• But there is a vast amount of scientific evidence and interestingly,US scientific research, which lists over 15 cancers and diseases which are consistently  found in the children we look after here in the Peace Village..
• And if there is no evidence – why has the US Environmental Protection Agency completely banned the manufacture and use of AO in the US?
•  They also claim that it was only used as a defoliant to clear the forests. If that is so, then why, and this is in the US administration official data and records, did the army use it to spray 25,000 villages and hamlets.  This was an outright attack on ordinary people, on rural village communities. It was a crime against humanity – a war crime.
• You can eventually contain and treat dioxin spread and leaching into the environment.  It may take decades, ingenuity, and a lot of money but you can never, ever rid it from the human body. It gets passed on from generation to generation. It may not affect the first generation outwardly and physically. It may even skip a generation and then affect the third generation.  The only way you can halt its toxic spread is to stop reproducing.  That is why we are still trying to cope with its devastating affects today, a full 50 years after the first spraying
• This is not just about Vietnam, it is about American soldiers who suffered as a result of constant contact with the dioxin during the war – it is about other countries, other soldiers, other nationalities who came into contact – this is not just a story about the Vietnamese.

• If I have one message it is this – for the sake of all humankind we must rid the world of toxic chemicals. Please get this message out.

I am then given a tour of the wards.  This was the aspect of the trip I was most dreading.  But its fine, I am fine.

We shake hands and I wish her good luck – she smiles but she’s got another appointment and must head  ………and it’s time for us to drive out into the countryside of Cu Chi in our old brown Opel saloon to visit the families.

It’s a 5.00 am pick-up and I’m standing in the dark outside the hotel listening to cocks crowing and observing the ‘last men standing’ at the all night bar along the alleyway.  It’s pungent, warm, very warm, humid and the food stalls are already being set up for breakfast.  Sooprah, the taxi driver is late.  I’m beginning to get edgy when eventually his car arrives around the corner.  He makes up for it by hurtling down the highway to the airport.

Arrive into the spankingly new Ton Nhat airport  (this is where the first shipment of Agent Orange was unloaded in August 1961 when the Americans started ‘tests’)

Heading into HCM city centre

A half hour taxi ride into the city and the motorbikes are swarming like mosquitoes – it’s unbelievable.  Ho Chi Minh City wows the senses, Not since Phnom Penh have I seen anything like this, The motorbikes are everywhere – thousands and thousands of them – horns beeping, weaving, swerving, riding up on pavements, going the wrong way (but then there is no wrong way!) and the air is pungent with food being cooked on sidewalks….and as Phil Lynott observed – “it’s so goddammed hot!”

I’m staying at a small boutique hotel called the Saigon Mini Hotel 1,  its in a quiet alleyway away from the noise  just next door to Bui Vien  – think Temple Bar, think Covent Garden –  no don’t – its so much funkier – full of art houses, restaurants, bars and alive with young Vietnamese and a rainbow of nationalities.

I check in, shower and get a call to say my translator from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has arrived in the lobby.  He is Tuan Anh (pronounced Too’in Ang).  He’s well dressed, smart, perfect English and only 28.

Tuan Anh, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs translator

We have an hour long briefing and then its over to meet Major General Tran Ngoc Tho, Vice Chair of the Victims of Agent Orange Association (VAVA). The meeting with VAVA will be informational but the person I really want to meet, Dr Phuong, a tireless campaigner on behalf of Agent Orange victims, has promised to meet me at the offices as well.

Then tomorrow morning it’s a visit the Peace Village Agent Orange ward which spans two floors at the back of the Tu Du Hospital, southern Vietnam’s main maternity hospital. This will be followed by a two hour car ride out into the country, up to the Cu Chi tunnels area, north of the city to visit three families.

We take a taxi to the VAVA offices to interview Tran Ngoc Tho.  Ngoc Tho appears to be an old style apparachik dressed head to foot in grey. We pose for photographs with the official VAVA photographer and Ngoc Tho is joined by two colleagues.    The meeting, which lasts over one and a half hours, does not go particularly well.  Each question put through Tuan Anh receives a wordy and long reply but with seemingly little substance.  As the interview wears on, apart from some of the obvious facts and figures that are in the public domain and I already know, it appears that I am not getting straight answers to questions.

I change tack and I am now trying to ascertain the level of increased cooperation between the US and Vietnam through funding and resources for  clean up in the dioxin hot spots.    I feel I am being stonewalled but then realize that it is not just me who feels this.  I notice his colleagues grimacing and moving uncomfortably as he talks.  He finally produces some interesting figures that the US Government eventually released to the Vietnamese Government outlining the provinces, the populations and the quantity of chemical sprayed during the ten year period.

Eventually I get a breakthrough when he tells me that there has been a giant leap forward in the US funding for clean up.

Nontheless, I am just slightly disappointed on two fronts – its taken me nearly two hours to get information  and a call has just come through to say that Dr. Phuong cannot make the meeting.

We shake hands, take some more photographs and head back to the hotel.  Tuan Anh knows it has not been a great but there is good news – Dr. Phuong has just called him on the mobile to say she can meet at 9.00 amtomorrow morning at the Tu Du hospital.

Today has been an early start and a long day.

Tomorrow I visit the hospital, interview Dr. Phuong, meet some of the children and then head up the country to to visit three of the families.

VAVA have agreed to supply a car and driver and I agree to provide monies to buy foodstuffs for the three families.

C123 US army planes spraying Agent Orange

I’ve been commissioned to do a story on the legacy of  the spraying of the defoliant toxic chemical Agent Orange by the US Army across the Vietnamese countryside.  Apart from the use of conventional weapons, chemical weapons were used to defoliate the forests in a bid to flush out the Vietcong.   Over  a ten year period from 1961, toxic rains poured down continuously over Central and South Vietnam defoliating mountains, plains and crops, destroying clean water resources and upsetting the delicate ecological balance.  Its a legacy of devastating environmental damage and serious public health issues which still have a profound effect today.

Flying to Ho Chi Minh city via Bangkok, I will concentrate on health issues and meet with the Victims of Agent Orange Association (VAVA), with Dr Phuong of the Peace Village at Tu Du hospital where AO victims reside and will travel up into the Cu Chi area to visit three families who have seriously deformed children as a result of AO.  From HCM I travel to Hanoi to cover environmental issues and  interview an environmental expert and visit the Friendship Village.

This is a staged travelogue of the journey.

Arived jetlagged after a Dublin–Frankfurt/ Frankfurt BKK flight.  Enjoyed Frankfurt stop-off for a few cold German beers before the second leg of the journey.  Lufthansa flight food was really poor.  I expected more from a Gernam airline. There is absolutely no excuse for producing food of this low quality for long haul flights. The inflight media entertainment was also limited in its choices.

Qatar and Etihad,  who also fly this route daily, are streets ahead in nearly every department – quality of jet used, ambience, comfort, efficiency and friendliness of staff, inflight entertainment choices includingfood and drink.

The only reason I flew Lufthansa was the competitive price and the expectation that German standards would be high.   They were barely sufficient.

I left Dublin at 18.00 hours and arrived in Bangkok around 14.30 (8.30 am Irish time) so the trip took 12 hours.  After a mere five hours in-flight sleep,  I ended up stuck in a massive tragic jam in downtown BKK and didn’t check into the hotel until about 17.30 hrs.

Exhausted, I sleep, shower, eat and more sleep again into Sunday morning.  Sunday is taken up with Skyping and Emails finalising arranging for the Ho Chi Minh city start of the trip.

My main concern is Monday down at the Vietnamese Embassy.  I have been granted a work visa from theVietnam Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and have a letter from them to that effect.  However I must have my visa stamped before I can enter the country so I’ve a 7.00 am start to get across town  in heavy traffic. (I’m staying in Banglampoo along the river on the north west side but the embassy belt is over by Lumpini Park along Wireless Road).  I want to be first in the queue.  With memories of the queuing at the Dublin Passport office this could be a difficult day.   I’m first in the door only to be told the stamp will be ready on Wednesday.  “Too bad”, I said.  “My flight to Ho Chi Minh City leaves at 7.00 am in the morning.”  “Well then come back between 3.30 and 4.00 ”, she replied.

I  arrive back at 3.30 pm on the nail and go up to the same woman I met earlier with my docket to Window 3.  There are 3 numbered glass windows, all within a couple of feet of each other – one for tourists, two for business, three for special trips.  She looks at me blankly, waves the docket back at me and sternly tells me to go to Window 1.  I move two feet to her colleague at Window 1 and hand him the docket.  He breaks into a broad smile and tells me to move back to Window 3.  I take a few  steps back to Window 3 as the colleague hands the docket back to the woman.  He’s in stitches while she stares at me blankly then looks down at my application and passport which is lying face up on her desk.  There is absolutely no communication.  She leaves me standing as she flicks through folders, writes two receipts and each time very slowly and deliberately inserts a sheet of carbon paper into two differently coloured  receipt books.  Finally after what seems like an interminable wait, she turns to me blankly, stares through me and hands me MY STAMPED PASSPORT.  I move a few feet back to her colleague and ask:  “Is it always like this on Mondays?” He breaks into a huge grin.

The whole day has been spent focused on getting the passport stamped.

I celebrate by heading to a nearby bar for a cold Singha.  Its all systems go for Vietnam.

US Army soldier spraying Agent Orange