Government Dirty Tactics
Dishonest government actions are perhaps not a reason for building the stadium in Belfast or abandoning the Maze plans, but it certainly doesn’t instill faith in the motives of those behind the Maze plans that they are afraid to be honest and upfront about what decisions they have made and, more importantly, why they have made them.
Despite supposedly being bound by the Freedom of Information Act, the Strategic Investment Board have repeatedly fended off requests for information made by concerned sports fans and, in fact, didn’t even confirm what information they had. One excuse used was that releasing the information “would be likely to prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.” This was even though the decision to build at the Maze had, supposedly, already been made and government were telling us it was “the only show in town.” In response to a subsequent complaint, it was revealed that the likely reaction of supporters to the information was part of the reason for keeping it under wraps.
Is it too much to ask for members of the tax-paying public to see the justification for spending nearly £100million of tax-payers money? Is it too much for sports fans to be told why the government are planning to move Northern Ireland’s sport to a sub-standard venue?
So that’s what the government haven’t been telling us. Meanwhile, we’ve been getting all sorts of rubbish, misinformation and downright lies as they attempt to justify their decision.We’ve a short list of some of the Myths and Lies right here at SFB.
Recently we’ve also learned what we suspected all along; that the government are blackmailing football into supporting the maze using the storm damage at Windsor Park. The government delivered the IFA an ultimatum that it will cover the cost of repairs to the roof at Windsor Park, keeping it safe for home internationals, if the IFA commit publicly and finally to using the Maze.
This stinks of the government trying to manipulate its citizens, when they’re supposed to work for us.