Irish politics discussion thread

lol wtf is that

what are they thinking...

lost my third life trying to jump joan burton btw

her nasal siren song saw me crash against the rocks of her craggy oratory

THA PEKKKKKKPLE OF DIIIIIIIIS CCCCCCCCOOOOOOOOOOUUUNTTTTTRYYYYYYYYYY

jesus.

i found some site that takes your answers to a couple stock questions and tells you what party you're closest in policy too. i am 'hardcore labour', but she terrifies me as part of any potential govt.

was also 'strongly sf' fwiw. news to me, prob based on a fiersh opposition to the IMF deal.

i fucking can't stand her. she can't speak, it really offends me when politicians are crap speakers. her post budget speech was horrendous, reading awful "jibes" off notes and pausing midway through in befuddlement at her own lines.

can only see her and ring scrapping it out for a social protection sub-ministry, tho i've a feeling that labour be looking for er to get a decent front bench position

labour's best performers really are quinn and rabbitte though, gilmore and burton always strike me as the league cup front two while the two stars watch from the sidelines, hoping they don't have to come on to recover a fuckup at halftime

loking more and more likely that FG get 4/5 in mayo, btw, tho it seems to me that the last seat could go any way really. FG (Mulherin)/IND (Kilcoyne)/LAB (Cowley) and maybe even the SF lead candidate (Conway-Walsh) could surprise on transfers.

yah p much all my friends have left by now and are royally pissed off to realise that they have no vote anywhere now

dont worry they'll get their own david mcfuckingwilliams subcategory out of it sher

great

I love how people are surprised to discover that you cannot vote if you are not resident in Ireland. It brings me back to the early 1990s when people were always going on about this. Next thing we will be having Larks in the Park and having remakes of the Commitments.

Who's on for Feile?

I happened to be home for the last election, didn't really consider it this time though.

we'll soon be back to the three bed semi for forty grand too, fwiw

strong zing

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0223/breaking36.html

Anyone willing to predict a result? Consensus seems to be FG not quite at a majority, but as in the last UK election it all depends on how close they can get. I expect the FF vote to be higher than the polls suggest.

Everyone is suspecting that the FF vote will be higher than polls suggest, but I have started wondering if this is just because people cannot get their heads around the idea of a once dominant party being completely flattened.

for what its worth I elsewhere posted this prediction yesterday*: http://westerneyes.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22#p207
I am starting to think that FG will get more and FF less, but only because one of my brainy election obsessed friends has said so.

*note subtle plug for new internet message board

If Ming the Merciless does indeed get elected I'll laugh heartily.

maniacally would be more appropriate.

I'm in agreement abt FF- I've the gut feeling they'll be higher than all evidence suggests. But to estimate seats, impossible really.

Hoping FG need LAB. I think it's the likeliest outcome.

Also think FG/LAB is most likely but I think on balance I would actually prefer FG-only (with or without gene pool independents).

Don't think Labour in govt will make any significant difference in terms of policy - it's CON/DEM all over again except without so many clear manifesto promises to renege on (although mind you I'd put money on a reversal of the minimum wage cut as a pre-condition for Labour entering govt.) Plus Labour would be the biggest party in opposition and for the 1st time ever we'd have something like a right/left split in the Dail.

PLUS, presumably the next govt is going to oversee swingeing cuts, continued recession and eventual default on the deal and consequent humiliation. Why not let FG take those hits?

Ain't gonna happen but I'm just musing here.

d'you know, if we look at it from the point of view of who'll actually do what after the election, there's nothin to look fwd to in any outcome. As well to let ff stay in power, except that their priority continues to be the protection of the failed investor classes.

Sf getting in and vetoing the imf deal is the only vaguely interesting, if purely theoretical, govt manifesto.

xp - It's not quite CON/DEM redux in the sense that Labour are to the left of the Lib Dem leadership and presumably wouldn't be so happy to go along with FG's austerity mania.

not sure that austerity is negotiable, given the parameters.

Lucinda creighton, eh?

yah seems like labour as strong opposition leaders could really establish themselves instead of just being fgs scapegoats for a couple years

Exit poll:

According to the poll, Fine Gael is on 36.1 per cent, Labour is on 20.5 per cent, Fianna Fáil has slumped to 15.1 per cent, Sinn Féin is on 10.1 per cent, the Green Party were on 2.7 per cent and Independents and Others were on 15.5 per cent. The poll of 3,500 voters was carried out yesterday. The margin of error was 2.5 per cent.

Looks like FG/Lab coalition is the outcome.

Twitter is really struggling with this...

Ming is going to be elected!

Some classic posters from his pre-makeover heyday:

http://www.roscommonhistory.ie/Misc/PoliticalEphemera/mingflanagan/posters/ming12.jpg

http://www.roscommonhistory.ie/Misc/PoliticalEphemera/mingflanagan/posters/ming06.jpg

http://www.roscommonhistory.ie/Misc/PoliticalEphemera/mingflanagan/posters/mingposters.htm

A great political dynasty:

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6180/dv2ki.jpg

God bless all here

A grand night

A grand night indeed

fucking hell...ming.

The partiless

If Ming the Merciless does indeed get elected I'll laugh heartily.

Are you now laughing in an evil and maniacal way?

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Yes.

In case anyone has an hour or two to spare, a documentary on the great man:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADUUDjbqu3M

lol recounts...good to see my home county of Wicklow getting in on the game.

dick roche isnt bitter

The last minute of this is my favourite election-related thing ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRjjs2ZoU-M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tTu-h7zR5Q

what about this catalogue of 'distressed properties' then?

Any pref on whether lab do the right thing and lead a true opposition (and kill civil war politics) or sell out for meagre power and the right to get blame for it all in three years?

Or they attempt to actually do something about this country's problems rather than just sit on the opposition benches looking disappointed.

well yes i was framing it rather narrowly i admit.

Any govt that won't reconsider the bank guarantee can't really 'do' anything about the next 7 years, though?

Simplistic, i'm sure, but i'm only trying to initiate discussion here.

don't see any facial reaction in that vid of noonan? keeping in mind i know the man...

ah cmon there's a twitch

at what precise second?! he has quite a serious face if he's not smiling, family trait.

its more about him looking around like that, its in his eyes

well this is great craic. It's like the first day of second year so tis.

hup mayo

Enda kenny elected by the largest majority ever

Looks like ministerial roles will be heavily weighted towards dublin/east which, frankly, disappoints

At least ring is going to lose out. He's an odious little fucker.

what does the ILX jury think of politicians who begin every speech with cupla focal as Gaeilge?

Don't mind, unless it's Gerry, because his Irish is atrocious - bet no one can ever tell him though.

Oldest cabinet ever, and oldest collection of party leaders in Europe, probably - compare Kenny (60), Gilmore (56), Adams (62) and Martin (late 40s) to the sprightly Cameron, Clegg and Miliband youthquake.

Well I hate young people, so this at least is good news.