Irish politics discussion thread

It's about time Labour started to consider just going it alone without either of these fucking packs of jokers, tbh.

Yes, because Labour will certainly be able to win a Dáil majority at the next election.

had a few exited convs. about this in the last couple days

xp-

Will FF?

Will FG?

i dunno, no matter what ppl say, the go ahead and vote FF

u kno urself

So pissed off at FG right now. Gilmore would want to be renegotiating the terms of any agreement, because Kenny is a poor alternative Taoiseach.

xp yeah, there's a big element of truth there, but FF core vote can't be more than 20%, and FG are doing absolutely nothing to convince the other 80% that they're any better.

Dont think i could deal w/ listening to enda kenny anyway

Srsly. A sound man, an awful sound man, but ........

I wonder will he go back to the teaching.

Richard Bruton sacked s FG Deputy leader.

"Asked if he believed Richard Bruton would be the next Fine Gael leader, Green Party leader Gormley said: 'I would have my doubts. The timing of this is a bit strange, frankly.

'They seem to be jumping to the media agenda - which is always a dangerous thing to do. And I would expect Enda Kenny to continue as leader, because he has come out fighting, as I expected he would.'

Asked about the timing of the front bench meeting tomorrow, Mr Gormley added: 'I don't understand this from a political tactic point of view.

'It seems to be quite stupid frankly. But that's a matter for the Fine Gael party and I don't want to intrude into their... It's up to them to choose whoever their leader is.

'But as I've said, Mr Kenny has come out fighting and I would expect he would continue as leader.'"

John Gormley OTM

OK

Bruton has been paid a large amount of cash by FF backers to do this, right?

Nothing else makes any fucking sense.

xp-

Will FF?

Will FG?

No. My point was that if Labour want to be in Government they will have to go in with either FF or FG. If they don't want to be in Government then they don't need a coalition partner, though one would have to ask why they are bothering to contest elections.

If Labour actually does come first in seats and/or votes next time, it does change the dynamic a bit. Instead of Labour propping up some other party, the other party gets to prop up Labour. In that situation they might even get away with coalescing with the otherwise toxic FF.

Not sure I'd take Gormley's advice on political tactics tbh.

But still, I had no idea this was going to happen. At this point, I think the best outcome for FG is that Bruton takes over and manages to bring the party with him. What is most likely to happen is that the front bench supports Kenny out of loyalty, FG lose their most able spokesman and the papers go mad with the "what's the point of Fine Gael" trope they're so fond of.

If Labour actually does come first in seats and/or votes next time, it does change the dynamic a bit. Instead of Labour propping up some other party, the other party gets to prop up Labour.

Well, yes- that's the strategy they should be pursuing, is what I was getting at. Stated in my usual muddled manner, of course.

Bruton is great, their most able spokesman, all of that, but this is a move so pointless from him that it would really make me question his judgement on just about everything else.

Kenny has the party. He's not going to lose this vote, and it won't even be close- in fact, had a challenge come from someone less vital to the party's immediate future, it would have been a nice little reinforcer for Enda, a shit-or-get-off-the-pot moment. But coming from Bruton it will not only be more divisive, it'll of necessity come at the extra cost of their most dynamic front bench presence.

I still don't see how Bruton has weighed this up as being a move of any benefit to himself.

Pretty much agree there.

Irish Times has a rather pro-Bruton editorial: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0615/1224272513279.html

Yeah, that's the colours nailed to the mast there alright. Harry McGee's piece today is a good one from a more detached POV I think.

Leo Varadkar is an odious little shit, apropos of nothing.

does anyone have a sub for the irish times online?

― plax (ico), 31 May 2010 17:24 (2 weeks ago) Bookmark

I didn't see this, sry

I don't, but i've never been asked for one, tbh, if it's just articles you're looking for.

i dunno, no matter what ppl say, the go ahead and vote FF

― plax (ico), 14 June 2010 10:27 (Yesterday) Bookmark

and yeah there's no way FF won't poll half again of 17% in an election.

that is probably true - they got way more than their polling level in last-year's locals, for instance.

Quite a meeting of the FG front bench this morning, by all accounts.

Jesus, busy day.

Croke Park deal goes through. Fuckem.

Bloody Sunday, Cameron and all that.

FG Fiasco continues. Varadkar still a little shit- if that's the future of FG, may the whole lot of em just drop off the face of the earth, tbh.

And in the background, Cowen stays.

The margins involved in all three of the vote/numbers issues have kinda ruined my day.

Aw Enda, Enda what the fuck? You clown.

"Limerick TD Kieran O’Donnell, who Mr Kenny named as Mr Bruton’s replacement as finance spokesman, today declared support for the challenger. Mr O’Donnell said he told Mr Kenny of his intentions this morning. “I feel that Richard Bruton is the most viable option to lead the party.”"

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

If you wrote that in an RTE sitcom it'd be rejected as dumb satire of the lowest order, I mean really though.

Meanwhile the Cóir people are still warning FF that if they do not stop nourishing sodomy they will be in big trouble.

Well FG did a fair bit of fucking from behind the weekend past themselves.

On another note, Anglo Irish are trying to sneak in under the radar with the news that the 22bn sunk into them so far will not be recovered. Letting the fuckers hang, is, of course, simply not an option. Not sure why.

Meanwhile the Cóir people are still warning FF that if they do not stop nourishing sodomy they will be in big trouble.

― The New Dirty Vicar, Wednesday, June 16, 2010 2:57 PM (3 hours ago)

where can i sign up w/ these guys srsly

nourishing sodomy- great band name imo

Enda in

enda keepin his enemies closer

Not much he can do, really. Most able spokesman on finance in the times that's in it.

Also, all the waffle about unity and no rift, can't see that Inda has much choice .

Things are gonna get hairy later on this year, according to those criticising the unilateral bank guarantee- dozens of billions of those debts mature before october, with not much prospect of the bond markets taking on much of it.

ie- add it to the national/govt debt, another (maybe) 58 bn.

jumpin this sinking ship

my serious advice 2u- do so. once my gf has her master's finished next year, i can't see us staying (and i'm in the council ffs)

oh i mean the only thing that would hold me back is turning into some diaspora type but i mean, i can get over that

I'm not sure that the current generation of economic exiles will have that habit- it was all well and good giving it the aul ochone ochone for caitlin ni suilebhán when it was the dirty brits that meant we had to leave. given that this time it will have been our own political classes and, to an extent, the property-mad middle/upper middle class over 40 that led to the trouble, there's not really the impetus for a ringfenced eireannach mentality to form.

also, the fact that instead of sending money home to build a country from scratch, we'll be moving to avoid paying massive taxes to cover the gambling debts of privileged fucks- tbh i'd not be be expecting too many emigrants under 35 to celebrate the cod-irishness in the same way that eg builders in london in the 60's did.

wondering how kerrygold can use this

kerrygold irish bitter

remember sally o'brien and the way she used to look at ya, the teasing bitch. like the banks, she never put out either

returning home to an electric blanket yr old ma had switched on for you, cut to subsequent punishment beatings administered to the poor dear by the viper when she can't pay the bill.

"im sorry but you have already eaten all the kerrygold"

"maybe you should have gone easy on it a little"

"also we cannot cover you for conditions related to cholesterol buildup under the new halthcare regime"

AAARGH STFU STFU STFU