Irish politics discussion thread

All of them, DMac, all of them. We're not a century into it and we've serious issues with inherited seats. Look at Enda and Childers: neither have skills and are there because of their antecedents (father and grandfather respectively). It's not like it would be unusual for the left either. Look at the Springs.

I don't think Quinn was bad. I just don't think it's appropriate to hold on until next generation can take over family firm.

no, i'd agree with the general point, but in the specific i think there's no case for getting rid of him- he's as good a minister as labour have.

Rabbitte determined to not go quietly into that night!

Poor old (though young or whatever hype machine was going on about) White, that was fairly decisive.

Higgins on banking inquiry is welcome but a pity at cost of one of few qualified TDs.

Also Hogan for Europe seems inevitable. Lord love the poor interpreters on that one...

I also don't have axe to grind with Quinn apart from Long career and intended nepotism. He seems alright and not too self-regarding.

what do ye make of this coming budget?

i dont rly

its taking the outside of the bend and looking for momentum i guess

usual interest groups will bewail as always what else point for the cunts

already tales of breakfast meeting gnashings from financial consultant giants of unfairness to the high income earners reaches our ears

reports are heard from the lower streets of the town that poverty campaigners with interests in poverty campaigning that no doubt include an increase in their budgets the better to campaign against poverty until getting the job they want lobbying someone for something may have complained that this budget will not solve poverty and may even have worsened it from the point of view of the country's wealthy getting more from it than a smithfield junkie

as far as i can personally deign from the irish times calculator and the cast innards of a rat i found in the hotpress my water charges can be offset over a year against the 4ish odd quid returned to my gaping pockets, i though it not much until a fellow philosopher supposed twas like noonan coming down twice a week and buying me a coffee but only not coming down to do it himself maybe leaving a standing tab for me somewhere as suited my own location at the time and looked at like that tbh i guess id rather he stayed doing his job for we mightnt even get on if he were to call in, though i think we probably would.

jesus man

ikr, i blame the long days im at of late

i made up the bit about the rat im not gone pure demented or anything relax

Water. What the hell is going on? Okay - I'm against the PPS number, I think that's a little bit too much but I'm okay with paying for it if they fix the pipes. I'm not sure they're going to fix the pipes though! I also am slightly worried that the privatisation of water will go as badly as the bins.

Whole thing a sorry mess.

Also: The arts. Did anyone see the stories about the massive cuts in funding? I found Fintan O'Toole to be absolutely OTM in this one.

As an aside. I really liked the second letter here.

Jackie Healy-Rae has died.

Michael currently trying to work out how to claim the funeral back on expenses, I'd assume.

The king is dead, long live the king I suppose...

He was very energetic to the end. Really focused on dynasty.

In other news WTF @ SF stunts. They managed to bury Cahill issue if latest figures to be believed which is unbelievable in the context of what the IR4 AND 4D4MS were alleged to have done.

fuck rte's piss poor weak moderation and willingness to defer to the same rentabigot fucks

that said, I wish that the yes side would bother to go for the jugular in these events. just for the fuckin craic if not to sway the few who'd like to see waters et al take the kicking they deserve in front of the nation

I take it back after this past fortnight I wish the yes side would just fuck off away from my sight

obv voting yes tomorrow regardless but Jesus, it's like an irish guardian bloc metamorphosed around it

They have been a bit overbearing

as always I'm.venting more than anything else, and tbf its really difficult to argue that anyone should have the right to vote no, but eh the yes side have eh yeah overbearing is the right word I guess.

reading uh other politics threads its struck me that I have no idea how ilx would rate the work of this govt

I may get near a more suitable keyboard later to further pursue this, but uh how does ilx rate this govt, is what I'm asking guess

gah fuck it. i should be doing some work and writing but i felt compelled to respond to a couple of yer posts on the eurozone thread, darragh.

the chastening of syriza has an element of serious local benefit over here wrt the decreasingly credible spectre of sinn féin

this is applicable just as much for AAA and various independent TD's too and i see them taking a chunk of the SF vote in the next election. a lot of hard lefties turned off from SF

pushing out repayments while opening lines of credit does seem to have worked reasonably well here

has it really? Govt. keep crowing about it but im skeptical. Dublin is back on its feet but the rest of the country is still in the doldrums. HSE is completely fucked too. also whatever about FG, Labour have been a massive dissappointment.

good! I'm interested to know tbh. as a power worshipper meself I blindly take it all on faith obv.

there was asnippet in the it yesterday re the factions that were aligned to syriza and the credibility hits they might take, pure speculation but worth a look maybe.

agree that labour might have done more, would be surprised if fg did not cede a decent amount to them in interest of keeping the coalition stable in the leadup to march next year

Dublin/country divide is a huge infrastructural and network issue that was papered over under ff and was in no way addressable in recovery under current lot, I'd guess

and I moved to get a job, mind you, so I've skin in that game.

No doubt either that a Greek debt writedown would make Noonan and co. look bad (esp in the run-up to an election) hence they were strongly against it

well, firstly I think they believe that theyve done the right thing for us in their dealings with ecb and IMF et al, so clearly they lean that way in either case.

secondly, yes obviously politically no fiscally conservative/euro-co-operative sitting govt wants to see syriza triumph (or possibly not even survive) while they themselves take hard medicine at home with eager hecklers on their own left ready to claim at any stage that it was all unnecessary and they could and would do better.

I moved to get a job, mind you, so I've skin in that game.

y'see thats the same "im alright jack" attitude that got us into this mess in the first place....

it's absolutely not, in fact I feel sure you've just misread me there man- that was a complaint.

its me saying that I've no love for the idea of a wasted rural ireland. I'd much rather be at home if the jobs were there. but I don't think that it's realistic to pin that on the current govt, nor maybe even the next one.

im just joshing really. but yeah rural/urban divide has been ingrained long since the new lot.

im still undecided over the issue of water charges. wasnt tax money already going to maintaining waterworks? the govt dealt with it appallingly and will lose the election because of it

it was handled terribly, as was household charge

and yeah the q of where's the money going that was supposedly paying for it already comes up, but tbh its more that water (in fact, local authority in general) funding has been a shambles for decades and addressing it has been a legit new cost.

just, as we said, handled terribly

i though it not much until a fellow philosopher supposed twas like noonan coming down twice a week and buying me a coffee but only not coming down to do it himself maybe leaving a standing tab for me somewhere as suited my own location at the time and looked at like that tbh i guess id rather he stayed doing his job for we mightnt even get on if he were to call in, though i think we probably would.

― local eire man (darraghmac)

jaysus hes done great things to that tab

Its election time!!!
http://s17.postimg.org/hu5ourp1b/simpsons.jpg

Those votechecker smartvote sites are bullshit huh

Is there an alternative that isnt an idealist nonsense or a tantrum

Social Democrats?

Right

Calling it

FG Labour returned

Polls all wrong

FG/FF i reckon

Not this time, they must let a govt fail before playacting a disappointed but inevitable union.

I cant see Labour getting enough votes tho

No. The predicted big push from fg to shore labour up never came.

Still think middle Ireland will have more votes in them than the polls are showing.

Kinda welcome whatever at this stage, more varied and interesting political landscape than I can recall.

gombeen men

trigger warning: flat caps, priests, dog bothering and shotguns featured

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=111&v=63XaJdZF9cU

Transfers are gonna be huuuge, right

^

Day might be salvaged yet on them imo

Enda looking a bit crestfallen + weird scab on his upper lip

Michael Lowry ffs

And McGrath with it

Yeah Enda looks run down

Well advised to take the first dignified exit before varadkar makes a move.

mattie mcgrath was 7th fav in tipp a few days ago. Man of the people shur.

Predictions putting fg at 53, ten more than predicted on exit polls.

Predicting from exit polls is so fuckin dumb in our system and partic in this election

Just struck me that it's v likely that president, leader of fg, leader of lab v likely to be gay in next while

leaves only michael Martin, seeing as how Mary Lou has been in a loveless mock relationship with a beard for years now

Lol at kelly, lolololol

Corollary

Discussion and side-discussion in uk politics thread yesterday about the necessity of proper dirty left wing extremists (fagvo extreme or what-have-you) to counter ukip or the tory rump or the bnp

and (forgive me im more than unusually slow in many spheres) it struck me that we don't really acknowledge that we have these guys here, in fact they in many ways occupy that unthinking white working class rage reaction political space over here.

And if anything, theyre fuckin worse in a lot of ways. They whip up the usual damaging froth politics that block or stymie good political progress, and hey as a bonus they kill or support the killing of public servants and they enforce on behalf of a particularly powerful gang culture.

Am i overthinking it or does this explain a certain variance btwn the political cultures where the uk cru react ahah a little intemperately to suggestions that their worldview of the guaranteed progressivism of the left is a little ahah naive?

or is it more that theyre the privileged remnant of an invading culture that have the luxury of guilt and crumpets.

Cant decide. Irish answers only please.