Irish politics discussion thread

implication etc yeah, but realistically how much steering can the royals do or did they do wrt the irish question?

iirc my leavin cert history twas yer gladstones etc did all the running from 1870 onwards, which is when our curriculum started anyway.

I dunno had we any dealings with ye at all before that tbh

they have no discernable influence themselves, but they are employed in a tactical/polemical fashion when on their quadi-diplomatic gladhanding trips

i mean obv we fell out with ye over land in the 1600's but we're irish, you're the neighbours, it's what we do isnt it

ya i mean it's not like there was any enmity

wtf of course there was jesus

Just no more than usual

how are your neighbours atm anyway?

sending yr landlady round 400 years later is a bit petty tho imo

they are absentee tenants atm, which is a new twist on an old favourite

triffic bunch of lads

he showed up in a taxi for five mins yesterday after not being seen for a fortnight. I asked him for further info but it wasnt forthcoming i dunno

well, i stuck my head out the window and roared 'what the fuck you doin back?' but still

can we turn this into a discussion of neighbours?

above: mark, tottenham hotspur fan, have fairly stilted discussions often, nice to know a neighbour i guess, a DECENT GUY. attractive gf.

below right: angry man who you hear roaring at wife and later praying/chanting. unpleasant, doesn't say hello.

below left: somalian man who works in dry cleaner locally, friendly.

adjacent: swedish girl and rotating cast of flatmates, she is friendly. flatmates frequently hot.

above left: the queen of england. annoying. away a lot though. flatmates frequently ugly.

lol

it's weird being here in dublin while the queen is visiting, we're staying downtown and we were told that there would be all these cops everywhere and checkpoints and blah blah blah

so far no queen at the paramount hotel breakfast bar tho

i feel yr implicit criticism of thread drift is unfair however, my neighbour situation not only parallels the uk question rather neatly, it also raises questions on the property market, encapsulates the breakdown in social order as a result of the tiger's demise, definitely ropes in the question of what to do with the lower orders, etc

nah i wasn't criticising, genuinely wanted a neighbour discussion.

x-post you're in dublin? cool...say hello to everyone i know.

cead mile failte dr3w i'm sure

Ur a bitter little man local garda, and i'm not gonna talk to yeuh if ah dint want teuh

i was serious!

well can you post some pics of yr neighbours pls, as a gesture of good faith

the swedish ones obviously

don't have any...the really beautiful one doesn't live there anymore. had to destroy the photos of her after that.

that's fair enough i suppose. I suppose.

nuthin on yerman mark's girlfriend i take it?

cmere now this is nonsense and it'll stop

How are fg doing at all at all? When are they going to hammer the public sector like needs doing? Will they sort out the banks will they?

no the girl who lived adjacent was like a film star, every hello was like winning the lottery on a sunny day. neighbour above's gf is v pretty. i'm conscious i sound like a man who drills holes in the roof/walls now. i do not do this.

x-post is tide already turned against new gov? i've seen some rumblings but obv only reading certain things...

nah there's been a lull, they got a good honeymoon period in fairness.

It's prob about time things got hairy for them though, they've a couple of shifts put in at this stage.

I was a bit disappointed not to be cavity searched on my way to work.

just cos you're public sector or for the queen thing?

just cos he is a dirty vicar and likes to be touched

GF's sister on security in Dublin yesterday:

"there were Gardai in every hole".

Pretty sure she didn't mean it like that, but lol anyway.

oh the filthy mare

heard they were working overtime alright

moonlighting

in other news, Morrissey has condemned the Queen's visit to Ireland: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0517/1224297120594.html

sure he's always falling out with queens

oh hey look morrissey thinks something

does he issue a press release or is there some sad bastard somewhere who phones up Morrissey every week and asks him about what's in the news?

It's Hot Press so it was probably closer to the latter

lol

re public sector wages etc, while we're not on the topic, i'm gonna take my p60 this week and check out getting medical card, rent support, etc, cos tbh 400 quid isnt doing much for me week to week this past few months.

Recession biting anywhere else, or do i just need to learn to budget?

is biting here...not even a fucking job to apply for let alone not get.

I'm living like a king on 188 euro a week

yeah i know it's prob weak to be complaining about a 35hr a week income

just checkin round how we're all doin i guess, who's the fatcats of the irish ilxia

I imagine i'm the poorest seeing as i forgot to sign on this month so i haven't had money for two weeks.

oof

Also, i'm typing this from my flatmates laptop cos mine fell off the coffee table on Saturday and now the hard drive is banjaxed. This is me right now
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TDhFeXYJEr0/R_k3dyiY6-I/AAAAAAAAA5Y/KavEsX05XNE/s320/Dublin%2BFamine%2BCloseDSC_0395.jpg

Fuck the Queen. Apropos of nothing.

absolutely fuck the queen.
a few weeks ago I was ambivalent about this visit, altho dreading the inevitable horseshit from RTE/the Irish Times about maturity etc.

i'm now actively annoyed - first off by the ludicrously OTT security operation - there are snipers on the roof of the Spar on the corner by my work. FFS. if they're actually that worried maybe it's not actually the right time for her to visit? not to mention the fact that we didn't have any of this crap for 30 years of troubles when people were being shot/blown up every day, 100 miles down the road.

second off, it's annoying but far from surprising how quickly we switch into police state mode. obv eirigi are headcases but the complete quashing of dissent, including ripping down every one of their cheap little posters, is thoroughly depressing.

Independent editorial yesterday:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-a-visit-that-will-test-how-far-two-countries-have-come-2284676.html

Our relations could still be better, and would be, if in this country we paid more heed to the horrors visited on Ireland in Britain's name, and if everyone in Ireland was willing to let go of the past.

Incoherent sentiment overall, but the scale of that last clause is fantastic.