The Trojan House
'Beware of geeks chairing grifts'
‘Sing, O goddess, the avarice of Robert Troy, (former) Junior Minister for Trade Promotion, and of the government that brought countless ills upon the Irish people.’
The former Fianna Fáil Junior Minister’s future career in politics can now surely only be likened to the fall of the great mythical city of Ilium, brought down by the great Achaeans with whom Ilium had once had a strong, happy, and prosperous relationship. With this Troy however, it is not Greeks that have brought about its fall, but Greed. This greed did not sneak in inside of a giant wooden horse. It has been roiling and festering inside of this government from its very inception. The tale of greed and corruption inside the Irish political system truly is Epic in proportion, but it is a tragedy for our population that this news is what we have come to expect from our elected representatives.
If you haven’t already heard, the (now former) Irish Junior Minister for Trade Promotion, TD for Longford-Westmeath, and former County Councillor for Westmeath, Robert Troy, was revealed this week to have failed to declare his full business interests in the Register of Members Interests in line with the standard obligations of a TD. It was discovered that he had previously sold a property to Westmeath County Council in 2018. Subsequently it emerged in an interview that took place with RTÉ on the 23rd of August 2022 that in all, he had 11 properties, nine of which he was renting out; he admitted he had failed to properly declare a property business he was involved in; and he was in receipt of income under the state-funded Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) for two properties at a time when he was regularly using Dáil debates to call for more money for the scheme. Troy As I currently write, even more information is coming out about Troy’s dodgy dealings. On the 23rd of August it was revealed that Troy was pursued by Dublin City Council for not seeking planning permission for a development at one of his investment properties. Despite claiming in an interview with RTÉ that all of his properties are compliant with every single regulation that they must be, it emerged on the same day that he had also failed to obtain a fire safety certificate for the same property.
This is a lot of information to swallow in one go, so let’s summarise. Robert Troy, an elected TD who *by law* is meant to declare every year any business interests that he might have, failed to declare those interests in full. Robert Troy, a landlord who *by law* has to register all of his rented out properties to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), failed to register several of his eleven owned properties. Twice in the last two weeks Troy gave interviews on RTÉ. On both he claimed to have resolved all issues pertaining to his property empire. Both times, within 24hrs, he had to issue further statements as it emerged he clearly had not.
And now after all of this, Robert Troy has resigned! Oh wonderful, we’ve discovered in Ireland that our elected representatives need to be held accountable to the same laws that everyone else in our nation is accountable to! I guess I better just end this informative piece here so.
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What’s that?
He only resigned from his position as Junior Minister…?
He’s still a TD…?
Our Taoiseach Mícheal Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar defended him to the hilt and described him as ‘top class’? Josepha Madigan said she had full confidence in him? Nobody in the government called for his resignation and they actually tried to convince him not to resign? He’ll face no other actual consequences? Just being demoted to a meagre salary of €96k (Plus up to €50k in expenses)? He’ll be able to continue gouging tenants for €1,500 a month in all 11 of his properties?
‘So what?’ some of you readers might say (especially if you're a member of his constituency). ‘He made some mistakes, he didn’t kill anyone!’. The thing about making genuine mistakes is that some favour you, and some don’t. Sometimes mistakes work out for the better, sometimes they make your life worse. In the case of Robert Troy, all of his “mistakes” work out in one direction, all to his benefit, each one reducing his exposure to scrutiny and enabling an accumulation of wealth without witnesses.
On the night of the 24th of August, Troy released a statement explaining his actions and trying to defend himself. In the final section of this defence, he stands up for the lowly, downtrodden landlord:
Woe is Robert Troy. That poor man. He worked hard every day to be able to afford those Eleven houses! He didn’t have a silver spoon in his mouth at any stage of his life! He just went to a boarding school, got a managerial role in a bank straight out of secondary school at the age of 17, walked into a role as the Postmaster of his family’s business when he chose to move back to Westmeath to contest the council elections, and in this time was able to buy Four of what eventually would become Eleven homes that he would own. This witch-hunt needs to end! This is a hardworking man who devotes his life to housing the poor for €1500 a pop, saving cats from trees and making the world a better place! Who among us hasn't walked into a managers role in a bank, at the age of 17, with diddly squat in qualifications? ‘I am acutely aware of the sensitivities of the housing situation which is why I think telling you all I bought a house aged 20 will endear me to you all somehow. I hit working age during the Celtic Tiger and was gifted a high-paying job because of the people my family knew so I could earn a shed load of money doing literally nothing, allowing me to purchase my first home and pay off a chunk of the mortgage.’
The Robert Troy issue isn't just about him, it's about a housing crisis being overseen by people like him who profiteer from the basic need for shelter while they sit in charge of the policies that decide who gets to have a home. So, besides paying his TD salary, expenses & pension, we've also bought Robert Troy Landlord TD at least 7 houses during a housing & homeless crisis. And he gets to vote on housing legislation for the rest of the population. Instead of building state owned public homes, a decent transport system, fixing the health service or subsidise energy, tax money is being spent paying people like Robert Troy ten grand a month to fuel the housing crisis. There are literally thousands of people across Ireland who have worked their entire lives “for all they have” and will never own a house. That’s the entire problem.
Currently in Ireland, 77 out of 209 of our Elected representatives are landlords. That’s 37% of our politicians. These are the people that vote down every single positive motion brought before them that might benefit the renting population of this country. They are the reason that college students across Ireland are being forced to drop out and ruin their futures because they can’t find somewhere to live this year. They sit there on the benches of the Dáil over €100k a year in salary and expenses, telling you that you should be grateful for the Tax Breaks they’re going to give landlords in the next budget, just for landlords to raise the price of rent as much as they possibly can year on year. The corrupt scum that lead us have no fear when they make “mistakes”. They face no consequences. ‘One rule for us, another for them’.
Sadly, I find it hard to have confidence the anger over the Fall of Troy will go anywhere. “Fall” may be a bit generous here, stumble is probably more accurate. While our planet is in flames and our nation burns and crumbles around us, the journalists in major publications will be contented by a small resignation here or there that truly changes nothing in the end. Instead of a swell of outrage from the people, we’ll be presented with writers shilling out and defending the government in the hope they might get a special advisory role with one of the top ministers. It seems that every time something like this happens I sit down and write “It’s time for the Irish people to stand up to the constant lies and deceit, and the clear disdain that our government holds for our society”. I still believe that. I wish only that our spirit and fury would drive us to hack the meat of this leadership away and eat it raw for the things that they have done to us.
Robert Troy will top the polls at the next Election. His political, property and business careers will not suffer. Myself and my friends will never be able to afford a house. That’s our fate as it stands. ‘And fate? No one ever alive has escaped it, neither brave man nor coward, I tell you - it’s born with us the day that we are born.’ Yet we must tell ourselves, like noble swift-footed Achilles was told by his Sea Nymph mother Thetis, that we can have two fates. If we hold out here and let corruption reign, our chances of living fulfilling and safe lives dies. If we make voyage towards the land of change and keep up the pressure on those we have appointed to represent us, the effect it has on the future of our nation may never die.