Irish politics discussion thread

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

eh, i think that is part of this larger trend of only expressing facts in opposites, so the more articles you read like that the more u kno we are doomed.

Cowen is going ahead with 3bn cuts to the public sector, cuts that cannot be avoided.

We're throwing 22bn away into a bank guarantee that is only necessary in order to protect the investing classes.

Employment will take 10 years to return to height levels, if it ever does.

Growth will be export-led and is due to our increased competitiveness.

To translate-

You will get fewer and poorer public services. You don't have a job. If you have a job, you will get paid less and have less power in negotiations with your employers. Your employers will be making all the money. The wealthy will have been protected from the worst of it.

This is Fianna Fáil's idea of 'things are looking up'.

Cowen is going ahead with 3bn cuts to the public sector, cuts that cannot be avoided.

This re-affirmed, btw, at the black tie IBEC conference at the Mansion House, last night- equivalent, roughly, to calling the big bad wolf into the parlour over tea to explain to him how you're scaling back security plans at the three little pigs' residences.

The IMF also said Nama should dispose of property assets it has acquired in an orderly manner to reduce the overhang of property in State hands and said these sales could kick-start the stalled property market.

The organisation praised the Government for its measures to stabilise the banking sector and cut spending.

“Through assertive steps to deal with the most potent sources of vulnerability, Irish policymakers have gained significant credibility,” it said.

“These actions have reassured the global policy community and international financial markets. Over the past months, Irish sovereign bond spreads have tended to rise significantly on the days of intensely adverse international market sentiment but otherwise Ireland has been accorded the space to pursue its planned policy trajectory.”

Go fuck yourselves, IMF

this is all terribly sad

it's effing disgraceful

It's official- Ireland is 'technically' out of recession.

Presumably this is why the most pressing matter left for our legislators is dog-breeding. A matter that has caused more consternation amongst govt back-benchers than any of the financial or political scandals of the past ten years.

Say no to puppy farms!

I do, I do. Now can I please have my economy back?

I think there should be a NAMA for puppy farms.

We've already been sold enough pups, don't you think?

I honestly don't know where to put this. Actually printed in the Irish Times today, they must be on a wind-up

Madam, – There have been some doubts shed on Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion polls recently as to their accuracy and freedom from bias.

This is of particular importance in relation to democratic poll-taking on the Catholic Church, which is by its nature an authority of God. This does not seem to affect The Irish Times, which appears to be an organ of revolution, destruction and the chaos which would come about by the disintegration of the Catholic Church’s authoritarian state. The enemies of the Catholic Church do not favour spilling blood because the devil knows that the food of the church is the blood of martyrs. But they will go a long way in an undermining role if they can.

The trouble with Irish Timespolls are that they are taken from “Catholics”. That means that those giving their democratic judgment do not accept the full story, and are in effect “Catholics” by birth register only, and are quite happy to see the Catholic Church sink into oblivion via all sorts of distortions and half-truths, along with their spiritual allies in the Masonic lodges. In fact, a number of “Catholics” are sworn Masons and live thereby in chronic mortal sin.

So when The Irish Timestakes the next opinion poll on the failures of the hierarchy (actual, perceived, and spurious), let it carry out a parallel opinion poll which will be the litmus test of these “democratic Catholics”. Ask each one if they are Catholics; (if not, it’s none of their business); then ask them do they accept the Catholic Church’s teaching on Humanae Vitae, the ban on the use of contraception. If they do not, then eliminate them from the result as apostates who hate the church anyway. Do not rely on those coming out of a church, as there are a number of “Catholics” who go to Mass, deceiving themselves.

This should narrow things down a bit and eliminate the worst aspects of diabolical democracy. – Yours, etc,

there are a number of “Catholics” who go to Mass, deceiving themselves.
there are a number of “Catholics” who go to Mass, deceiving themselves.
there are a number of “Catholics” who go to Mass, deceiving themselves.
there are a number of “Catholics” who go to Mass, deceiving themselves.
there are a number of “Catholics” who go to Mass, deceiving themselves.
there are a number of “Catholics” who go to Mass, deceiving themselves.
there are a number of “Catholics” who go to Mass, deceiving themselves.

you can certainly read that a number of ways.

The enemies of the Catholic Church do not favour spilling blood because the devil knows that the food of the church is the blood of martyrs

^ got this far before i was really taken aback

didn't the irish times used to be seen as a church of ireland paper? see w/o being entirely clued-in to this stuff, i'd guess that's a 4 real religious lunatic

another possible shibboleth might be 'the disintegration of the Catholic Church’s authoritarian state' but most of it seems unironic and sentimentally consistent fundie catholic shit

No, that is a for-real, you-don't-see-these-guys-printed-that-often, frothing at the mouth raving madman.

IT was always the Protestant, Middle/Upper Middle paper AFAIK, but really these days its just the only decent paper in the country

Spoken like a Mason

Can I be both a Mason and a wannabe Tory? Or is that actually mandatory? Sometimes my grasp of these things isn't what I'd wish tbh

tory and wannabe mason is how it works iirc

Which is the one with the funny handshakes, bent cops and cutting the tongues off snitches thing? I always mix them up.

hrc&a church iirc

T get back to this- is it maybe not a good thing that shit like that gets printed? i don't think i've ever read something like that in the IT before, it seems an undesirable kind of development when the editor of a reputable paper is basically trolling her own letter readers.

I'd considered a flann o'brien vein shit-stirrer, but really i'm not sure that's the tone i'm getting

I would expect the editor of even a local evening paper to give pause before printing that kind of thing, yes.

It's pretty difficult to follow, for a start.

there's an argument that giving this delusional shite coverage further undermines the catholic church, after all amidst the luridness, this -

The trouble with Irish Timespolls are that they are taken from “Catholics”. That means that those giving their democratic judgment do not accept the full story, and are in effect “Catholics” by birth register only, and are quite happy to see the Catholic Church sink into oblivion via all sorts of distortions and half-truths

is a common ratzinger trope, religosity is only confirmed by utter adherence to doctrine

imo it's pretty lucid, considering the probability that the author was dictating it while chained to a wall and being whiped by the home-help

common ratzinger religious trope

yeah exactly, it's a common feature in qutbism etc too

The main tenet of Qutbist ideology is that the Muslim community (or the Muslim community outside of a vanguard fighting to reestablish it) "has been extinct for a few centuries" [3] having reverted to Godless ignorance (Jahiliyya), and must be reconquered for Islam.

Qutb outlined his ideas in his book Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq (aka Milestones). Other important principles of Qutbism include:[citation needed]

* Adherence to Sharia as sacred law accessible to humans, without which Islam cannot exist
* Adherence to Sharia as a complete way of life that will bring not only justice, but complete freedom from servitude, peace, personal serenity, scientific discovery and other benefits
* Avoidance of Western and non-Islamic "evil and corruption," including socialism and nationalism
* Vigilance against Western and Jewish conspiracies against Islam
* A two-pronged attack of 1) preaching to convert and 2) jihad to forcibly eliminate the "structures" of Jahiliyya

Jahiliyya's a pretty sweet deal imo

there's an argument that giving this delusional shite coverage further undermines the catholic church, after all amidst the luridness, this -

The trouble with Irish Timespolls are that they are taken from “Catholics”. That means that those giving their democratic judgment do not accept the full story, and are in effect “Catholics” by birth register only, and are quite happy to see the Catholic Church sink into oblivion via all sorts of distortions and half-truths

is a common ratzinger trope, religosity is only confirmed by utter adherence to doctrine

Anyway, the real thrust of what he's getting at, imo, is that those that aren't "real" catholics don't get to have a say on the issues being polled.

issues, as far as my guess goes, including

who d'you want educating your kids, then?
should child abuse be really, properly considered illegal and a prosecutable offence if a bishop has decided otherwise?
(not unrelated to either of the above) church interference and influence- what's all that about then?

i say i have issues about cranks getting letters published, but tbh it's not exactly stopped me continuously wumming rafa benitez defenders on football365 or anything so maybe there's a balance we should all look for in our daily lives etc.

tbf to yr crazy man, maybe he'd be more at ease w/ declared nonbelievers than so called 'catholics' who eat steak on friday or have qualms about the systemic cover-up of child rape etc etc

no, what he's saying is that nobody that doesn't meet his standards of catholicism should have a say in church affairs, church affairs to legitimately cover such areas as education, healthcare, crime and just about everything else.

suppose i shd bow to yr superior wisdom here

Catholic Church’s authoritarian state = everything?

when The Irish Timestakes the next opinion poll on the failures of the hierarchy (actual, perceived, and spurious), let it carry out a parallel opinion poll which will be the litmus test of these “democratic Catholics”

just seems very clear to me, tbh.

these polls do cover the likes of the issues above, so he's making a pretty direct reference to the powers he doesn't expect the 'hierarchy' of the church to be questioned on by unqualified catholics.

i wouldn't expect his type to hold non-practicing catholics/atheists in any greater regard, tbph

xp

the Catholic Church, which is by its nature an authority of God.

i'm not sure he's coming across as the type to put limits on the authority of God in re: state matters