Roskov, Book 8, page 18
Phil began, ‘You seem to have secured a few large deals for Northern Ireland, the news there is reporting…’
‘At my hotel in France I sometimes meet rich people, we get along, we become friends, and some of those people … I’ve asked them to get involved in Northern Ireland.
‘The Swedish company interested in a dry dock there, I asked a favour, the owner of the company very happy to assist me because I carried his wife and daughter off the crashed plane in Italy.’
‘Reason enough to want to help you, yes,’ Phil agreed.
‘So I have contacts in Sweden and France, and I’ve asked them to help … but without wasting money, this is not about throwing away money on fake jobs or temporary jobs.
‘One very large French group, their owner wanted me to assist him with his charitable work since he was very old and very sick, and instead of making simple donations I asked that he make some money – or at least break even – on investment projects in Northern Ireland.
‘That French company will build apartment blocks in Belfast Docks, so there’d be plenty of construction work for a few years, and the investor’s team lands in Belfast today to make a start - and to sign contracts I hope.
‘That team will also visit Londonderry, tomorrow, to look at investing in the waterfront there, a similar project, apartment blocks but smaller ones, not to damage the skyline of the waterfront.
‘That project in Derry will go ahead, and soon, apartment blocks to be started, many of them.
‘As for the charitable money, we aim to offer money to medical students in Belfast’s teaching hospital, both doctor students and nurse students, as well as some money for the teaching arm of the hospital.
‘On a personal note, I’ll be sponsoring novel writing contests in Northern Ireland, good cash prizes, and a few people have suggested that a small film studio there might be a good idea.’
‘When do you start filming with Spielberg and Harrison Ford?’
‘I’m not sure, they’re still finalising the script. But none of my scenes will feature Harrison Ford anyhow, his character died sixty years before I was born. He’ll film in Canada, I’ll be in Virginia I think, a set for the plane crash.’
Donna asked, ‘You still meet with the survivors?’
‘Yes, when I’m in Stockholm or Milan, and most attend my club in Stockholm.’
‘You opened a new club, in Copenhagen…’
‘Yes, the Danish Prime Minister there with his team for the opening. It’s in the business district, three floors, a wine bar with food on the ground floor, a dancefloor on the second floor, a good quality restaurant on the third floor, a good view of the city, but in Copenhagen they don’t allow tall buildings. Four floors would be the limit I think.
‘It was sold out for the Friday and Saturday opening, money collected for my charity, and we’ll see how it does across a year. But I figured I’d open a club in Belfast as well.’
‘A bit of a risk?’ Phil asked.
‘No, because they don’t bomb the businesses like that, and the IRA have made a promise not to target local businesses or local politicians. I’ll be looking for a location soon.’
Donna began, ‘And the club in Stockholm is busy?’
‘Full four days a week, yes, and people like to attend in company groups, play some of the games like golf and poker, then have some food and a drink. Poker is popular there, hard to book a table sometimes.
‘And we’re now looking at opening clubs in Berlin or Munich, a few other cities.’
‘Here in the States?’
‘I … have been avoiding visiting here, crazy women accusing me of rape. I carry a special pager -’ I lifted it up. ‘- and it securely records my location 24hrs a day, and my phone is tracked as well, so it’s like George Orwell’s 1984, only the difference is that I want to be tracked, my movements known.’
Donna noted, ‘If you’re famous or rich you’ll always get a few idiots making up stories, it goes with the territory I’m afraid.’
‘Well if anyone makes a claim about me … the FBI can pinpoint where I was at the time, to within sixty yards, and I have an FBI detail with me as well.’
‘You speak to President Clinton often?’
‘I’m in touch with his team often regarding Northern Ireland, and they sent money towards the computers in Northern Ireland, the first batch due to be delivered today.
‘We then need to sort the teachers, not that many teachers of computer studies available in Ireland, and your government will send some, so too the Europeans, and the London Government has recruited a few teachers.
‘And the aim here is to give the next generation of school leavers a head start with technology. Back after the Second World War, girls in Britain were taught touch-typing before they left school, and these days people need to know word-processing and spreadsheets to work in an office, so we’ll help with that.’
‘And the peace process, what are the demands of each side?’ Donna asked.
‘Well, the demands oppose each other, in that the Catholics would like to be part of a united Ireland and the Protestants never want to be part of a united Ireland, so … if the talks are about that they’ll get nowhere.
‘But the IRA seem to be saying that they can live together if the job situation is better, and if there’s some sort of local representation, London taking a back seat to things … and that seems like a good idea, and practical.
‘If the jobs situation is fixed … then the main cause of discontent is removed, and if the violence stops then the Protestants will just plod along, power sharing being acceptable up to a point.’
‘Up to a point? Phil asked.
‘The Protestants, I think, will elect local officials, so too the Catholics, and when it comes to a new road bypass in Belfast they can sit down and debate it without London – and without shooting at each other.
‘So there are many things that they can do without shooting at each other, and jobs is the No.1 issue for the region.
‘The question then remains of … what happens after a peace is achieved, do the Catholics push for a united Ireland? They’d fail, because if a referendum was held then sixty percent would say no.
‘I don’t think the Catholics would try for that referendum till they’ve figured they had the vote, and without the vote then Southern Ireland and the European Union would oppose them.
‘And London would never make a move till such a referendum was conclusive, and that’s a long way off. In the meantime we can try and improve the housing, the jobs, and agree on a local peace formula - and that means a formula without London and Dublin involved.’
‘Would the vote ever reach the threshold?’ Donna asked.
‘No, because some Catholics would not want a united Ireland, they get better housing benefits and pensions with the British. For the next twenty years or so … the threshold would not be reached, and they know that.
‘If the IRA want to bomb their way to a united Ireland then Dublin would be against it, so too the European Union, so … there would be nothing to gain.
‘So we have the situation where the two sides are stuck with each other for now, and it’s down to how we make the most of it, starting with education and jobs and … making the province a successful business zone.
‘A united Ireland may not come for a long time, and the power sharing that the Catholics want may not come in the form they want, but they can enjoy a boosted labour market in the meantime, better housing, better education and opportunities.’
‘But the Protestants will practise job protection…’ Phil broached.
‘The Titanic was built in Belfast, and no Catholics worked on it – the docks was Protestant only, a closed shop union. If that attitude continues … then there’ll never be any peace or prosperity, and that harms the Protestants as much as the Catholics – and their kids, the next generation.
‘I won’t advise businesses to avoid Protestant areas or closed-shop unions, but I will spend a few million on legal action, since job protection is against British law, European law, and the laws of Southern Ireland.
‘So I’ll bankrupt a few Protestant companies if their workforce is 100% Protestant. They may build the new apartment blocks, but they’ll end up bankrupt afterwards.’
‘They’re open about the protectionism?’ Donna asked.
‘Yes, and they know it’s illegal. That aspect has to change, or we’ll get nowhere in the province.’
‘Will you assist Harland and Wolf?’ Phil asked.
‘No, no plans for that at all, they have a long history of job protectionism. I aim to work around the politicians and the established companies, they’re part of the old problem not part of a new solution.
‘But if Harland and Wolf want to change their attitude and practices, maybe I could try and find them some business.’
‘You have shipping companies lined up…’ Phil nudged.
‘I do, yes, and a fleet of twenty-four ships to service annually, but that business will probably go to a Swedish company, and they’ll recruit local men based on skill, not on religion.
‘If there are no suitable Catholic applicants, fine, but I will check. If most of the skilled men needed are Protestants then they can take the jobs, but I aim to train Catholics to do the jobs as well.
‘What I’ve discussed with the huge French company … is that we create a company in Belfast Docks that teaches oil rig scuba diving, metal cutting underwater, first aid, general oil rig work.
‘Men could then go and work in the North Sea or the Gulf of Mexico, or in Belfast Docks itself, and if the people applying for the training places are seventy percent Protestant that’s OK, so long as the places are available to others if they want them.
‘If jobs are advertised fairly … and few Catholics apply, then no one can complain about laws being broken, we just need that level playing field – which the laws in Europe demand anyhow.’
‘We still have a few militant unions here in the States, especially in concrete and construction,’ Donna noted. ‘You crashed a wedding in New York…’
‘Not quite uninvited, Jenny Patrick had been invited, but the rest of us had no invites. But they welcomed us well enough.’
‘You gave a speech that left them all in hysterics, it’s been seen on Fox.’
‘I was asked to speak, and … I went off-topic with details of our troublesome hotel stay in Barbados. That stay was not bad, and not the fault of the hotel, a certain aging lady actress, American, went outside the hotel and brought back in thirty cats and kittens.’
‘I’d murder her if I had paid for a good room there!’ Donna put in.
‘You don’t expect ten crying cats on your balcony in a five star hotel, no,’ I said with a smile. ‘But I have a habit now of crashing weddings; they always have free food and booze.’
‘Any more plans for hotels?’ Phil asked.
‘I now have a tie-up with a French company, the one assisting in Northern Ireland, and they’re based in Corsica – their boss stayed in The Gun Room in my hotel. That company has many hotels and restaurants and we’ll do something together for sure.
‘The holiday village I’ve created will have about twelve luxury villas, but I hope to start work soon on a three-phase nursing home in Corsica, on a slope, and each room will have a sea view.
‘We’ve started on one in my home town, and when ready and producing statistics for us we’ll roll out the idea around Europe, the cost savings evident.’
‘What are the key factors?’ Phil asked.
‘You have three joined buildings next to each other. An old or sick person can buy or rent an apartment in block one, which is just like a regular apartment block other than the fact that you can get carers and nurses quickly.
‘There’s also a doctors’ surgery on the ground floor, a pharmacy, a shop, so residents don’t need to venture out.
‘When those elderly residents get to the point where they need a wheelchair or regular care, they move next door, Phase Two. They still own the apartment, they’re independent to some degree, but they have the care available.
‘If they need constant care, they move to the third building, the nursing home -’
‘So someone signs up to Phase One when they feel old age coming on,’ Phil cut in.
‘They plan for it. If your doctor warns you that you’ll need a wheelchair next year, or more care, you buy an apartment in Phase One, and if you live there for ten years – fine, the apartment goes up in value anyhow, and if you die there your next of kin gets it.
‘If you move to Phase II it’s a straight swap, you still own an apartment, furniture moved over, more care available. But each phase has communal areas, gardens, shops and cafes, swimming pool, massage and sauna, and they’re all very safe, no outside access.
‘I see your retirees in Florida in nice tall apartment blocks, but they still need to go outside for services. With the Three-Phase you have all the services you need in the building.’
‘A cost saving,’ Donna noted.
‘Yes, and that was my first concern, but my first design was for a Three-Phase facility for poor people in Britain. The first incarnation of that will not be for poor people, but I hope to use it as a testbed and for cost analysis.
‘So when the analysis is in … the British Government can look at creating a few, but for poor people, a huge costing saving for the Government.’
‘How much of a cost saving?’ Phil pressed.
‘At the moment, in Britain, elderly people live in their own homes, spread right across a town, and the local authorities send people out in cars to visit them, or they send an ambulance to fetch the old people for some day care – a huge cost.
‘If those same old people all lived in the same block … the cost saving would be huge, a doctor on the ground floor, pharmacy next door. The sick older people don’t need to call an ambulance, they press a button and a nurse comes to them, or a doctor.
‘In Britain, we waste a huge amount of money because the hospital is not close to the patient - the services are spread right around the city, a great deal of travel time wasted.
‘And the simple fact is that the old people themselves will be happier, my charity in my home town now fully utilised in looking after them and making them happy by sending people out to check in on them, spread right around the town.
‘Imagine that they all live in the same street. If they did we’d save a great deal of time and money visiting them.
‘I’d hope that … within two years, I’d see a large facility in my home town, a thousand old people in it. We’d then do the cost analysis and show that it saves a huge amount of money.
‘And in Britain we have a great many hospital beds taken up by old people that could be better off recovering in their own homes but with visits by a nurse a few times a day.’
‘Sounds very practical,’ Donna noted. ‘So why is your government not doing that?’
‘Good question, and I don’t know why. Maybe they’re too busy … to see what needs to be done. I saw what was needed aged fourteen.’
‘You were the school president…’
‘Yes, and when I heard about old ladies being broken into and robbed we formed up teams of kids to patrol around the neighbourhood … and some of the boys would sleep on the sofa to help protect the old ladies living alone.
‘That led to a charity getting involved, and now that charity covers all of my home town, and no old lady lives alone without getting two visits a day, on top of whatever the local health services are doing.
‘And … it was shocking to see how lonely they were, no one to talk to and … some old ladies just sat in a chair and slowly starved to death.’
‘Starved to death?’
‘They just gave up and never left the chair. Now, today, I won’t let that happen, we check in on them.’
‘My god, how awful.’
‘Here in America, old people living alone are found dead months after they die. Your health services suck.’
‘They’re OK if you have the money,’ she scoffed. ‘Some of the cities have poor care, the small towns are better, neighbours to watch over you. But people in apartment blocks don’t check in on other apartments, you might get a gun in your face.’
‘At least we don’t have the gun crime, not yet, it’s just me that people shoot at in Britain,’ I quipped.
‘Does it affect you?’she asked.
‘Yes, I feel like quitting all the time, at least I used to, but now that my parents have left the UK I feel better, and I now have more money and better security.
‘I was not so much worried for myself … as my family and friends, and I … had a guilt that my crusade was risking them, and that they had never signed-on to the dangers.
‘I was nineteen years old and taking on the establishment, the police and rich men, and it was a hell of a thing to do, to take the risk like that.
‘Now I’m better equipped, more assets to call upon, and I’ll stay in the fight for justice in Britain and elsewhere.’
‘You get threats?’
‘We get mailed letters, death threats, and now a few people think I’m Jewish so we get the hate mail against Jews.’
‘British people don’t like Jews?’
‘We have a small Jewish population, mostly in London and usually no problems, but there are plenty of racists in Britain. I get ten threats a day.’
‘You have a staff opening letters?’
‘Yes, and they sometimes get complaints from people who provide a return address, so when my staff are bored they write shitty letters just for fun.’
Donna and Phil laughed. Donna commented, ‘Something I’d love to do but can’t. So … when are you getting married and having kids?’
‘Well, I’m still young and I need to make some money first, kids are expensive I hear.’
‘They are,’ Phil agreed. ‘But I think you have enough money.’
‘The twins come from a long line of twin girls, and they’d produce more twin girls, so that would be four daughters at the same time.’
‘A loud house,’ Phil noted. ‘But you can’t marry both twins.’
