Comments

ET – go home — 31 Comments

  1. I think they are from the planet “Do not really give a sh*t”. At least as far as FF are concerned as the party faithful will almost certainly vote for them and usher them in to one more government!

    It is annoying and exasperating as well that people vote for the party not the policies. The “I will vote for FF because our family always did” brigade and even worse are the ones who say “Sure, wouldn’t you do the same yourself if you were in government” when talking about the Berts wheeling and dealings.

  2. It would be an interesting exercise to wipe the brains of the electorate and then present them with the facts without any pre-conceived notions. As you say – too many people vote for a party “because they always have” or “because their family always did”.

    And what about the policies? Looking through them, they are all pretty much the same. The only thing that varies is minor differences in the figures.

  3. Mars, obviously (mostly being men)!!!! The woman amongst them have had to adopt Martian methods and “mores” to fit in!

    Joking aside, they are from the planet “Get Away with It As Long as You Can”. I’m not convinced that the alternatives will do a much better job – we need far more radical change than any political party has the guts for – but i believe they have more honesty and integrity. I pray we get a break from the eFFers for a while – i am sick of the sight of that fella Bertie and his affected innocence and simplicity (didnt his own mentor CJH call him “the most cunning and devious of them all”!).

  4. Monique – you are reading my mind and expressing my sentiments again.

    I see Bertie reckons he is going to be Taoiseach, no matter who gets in [because “all the parties know he is the best leader”]

    God give me strength!

  5. Of course it could be argued that Bertie considers himself as the best leader because he believes in his convictions and there are unfortunately too many people out there who like him for it.

    The rest of us who seem to be reasonably sane can see it for what it is and that is arrogance.

    Sadly though we appear to be in a minority. But maybe next week things might be different but somehow I doubt it.

  6. I see Gerry Adams is saying Sinn Fein is the “only real alternative”. What i don’t like at all is that that is uncomfortably close to the truth… Not in this election, nor the next…. but maybe the one after that! The old African saying “Softly, softly, catchee monkey” comes to mind… I dont like the direction this country is going in, i think serious trouble lies ahead, and i think SF can see that and will be in place when the time comes (oh yes, “tiochfaidh ar lar”!!).
    I’d plan to retire in France only now Sarkosy is in we’d better wait and see what happens!! (Anyone know the way to Utopia???)

  7. I believe in Bertie’s convictions too. I just wish they’d carry out the sentence.

    Monique – stop depressing me. On second thoughts – you teach French?

  8. As I read the comments here I kept checking the URL to make sure I wasn’t on an American political site. Change the names and the complaints remain the same. I get very angry sometimes at people (read my brothers ans sisters) who vote a single party because they always have and their parents did.

  9. And they call it Democracy.

    I call it the sheep herding instinct. And we are being led by a shepherd and his crook [well – leave out the ‘shepherd’ bit].

  10. Oh but Bertie is a dote – sure what else do you need to run a country? Seriously – how the hell do they constantly get away with everything?

  11. By the way I love how the flag appears next to your name when you leave a comment. It makes me feel like I am giving the votes from the Dutch Eurovision jury. Or something less embarrassing and cooler.

  12. Every single day, walking to and from Belfield, and to and from the RDS to my exams, I have to look at that ugly bastard McDowell. I tell you, that man could crack mirrors when he smiles.

    Just for that reason, I hope he loses his seat.

    Also, he’s a shit politician and a UCD alumnus. What are the chances?

  13. I agree with Brian, if I hadn’t known it was Ireland I would have expected Chicago politics. It just goes to show that a politician is a politican and a politician by any other name is still a politician.

  14. Hard to say. He’s so far up Bertie’s backside that only his toes are showing now. None of the other parties will touch him [would you touch anything that had been up there?].

    So he can only get a position if Bertie wins, and the PDs have enough to make up the numbers. And their ratings are dropping fast too.

  15. Yes. See under Fianna Fáil [with a couple of minor tweaks, just to say they are different].

    Welcome Annie. I think the time is nearly ripe for the Revolution.

    Anyone?

  16. Yeah, the Greens’ slogan is It’s Time. Expect to see wooden tanks powered by Trevor Sargeant’s love for the enviornment rolling theior way towards Leinster House any day now …

  17. Grandad, re whether I teach French: ometimes! Group tutoring in basic conversational skills can be arranged – i know someone else who has just got a foothold in France (i.e. bought a wee place for under 100,000 euros!) and needs help with the above. Let me know if you and Granny are interested!

  18. Here are the results from the People’s Jury -according to the latest poll commissioned by Irish Independent newspaper…. (Hey guys, note what i was saying about Sinn Fein: they are way ahead of the PDs and only 3 percent behind Labour!):

    Fianna Fail has dropped three points, to 35pc, since April, while support for Fine Gael has jumped by the same amount to 26pc during this three-week period. Labour is up one to 13pc; the PDs are down one to 3pc while the Greens are down 1pc (to 5pc) and Sinn Fein are up 2pc to 10pc. Independents and others remain on 8pc.

    The poll also shows a Fine Gael-Labour coalition is becoming increasingly popular as a preferred government after the election.

    Support for Fine Gael-Labour has increased from 35pc to 39pc, while Fianna Fail/PD has dropped from 42pc to 38pc. The poll also reveals, for the first time, that the payments controversy is damaging trust in the Taoiseach.

    Some 47pc of those surveyed said they had less trust in Mr Ahern as a result of the revelations about the money he received in the early 1990s. Just 7pc said they trusted him more and 41pc said it did not change their view.

  19. We could easily be tempted!!

    The trouble is that politicians and weather apart, we like it here. Sad, but that’s how it is..

    🙁

  20. I’ve ranted about the green party before on my own blog a good while back and I really, really cannot take them seriously as a political party.

    Sure, they might be attractive to some as an alternative option that is different to the incumbents but at the end of the day they are only seriously interested in the Leinster area and Dublin in particular.

    All you have to do is just look at their manifesto to see that although it is similar to those of the other parties. Nonetheless I do seriously believe that under the greens we would be paying €5 per litre of petrol and about €10 for a plastic bag in a supermarket.

    Their promise on taxation is laughable. There is actually very little wrong with taxation in this country and you only have to experience taxation in other countries to see how well we have it here. Okay it is almost criminal here that the wealthier you are the less or no tax you pay but for the average person it is not at all that bad. For example in my own experience with Austria I would have been paying over €25,000 a year tax compared to about €12,000 per year here. Some might try to justify that by claiming that they have better healthcare than here (which of course they do.) but most of them in and around Vienna still travel to Hungary or Slovakia for major treatments. The cost of living over there is almost identical too with perhaps rent the only thing that is cheaper. In all it did wake me up to see how nice we have it here.

    But of course a big problem here is stealth taxes and yes they should be an important issue to tackle for any prospective government but you could almost bet that under the Green party there would be enormous stealth taxes imposed for anything whose use or manufacture involves carbon which of course is almost everything. No amount of income from stealth taxes in the next 5 years could possibly match their policies on public transport (which has indeed inproved greatly in the last few years anyway! Still needs more improvement though.)

    Any future government should realise that incentives for a cleaner environment and not “stealth taxes” are the way to get things done. The issues of fly-tipping as a result of the introduction of pay by weight refuse charges is a prime case in point.

    Phew! This is a rather long comment so thank you if you have read this far!

  21. I like it here too, Grandad. I even like the weather! And I’ve lived half my adult life in other European capitals so can take the broader view. Main concerns long-term would be: the health service, crime & anti-social behaviour, and the economy when the bubble bursts (as it inevitably will). And if the first two items are bad NOW, what will they be like when government coffers ain’t so healthy and unemployment returns to 1980’s levels. Ok Grandad i hear you saying it (“shut up with this depressing stuff”) – only sometimes i wonder do i live in one great Ostrich Farm…. so many heads in the sand!!!!! Our economy is built on things that are ephemeral. We are massively dependent on factors outside our control. We are horrendously NON self-sufficient. My vote goes to anyone who can begin to change that!!!

  22. isn’t it stealth taxes or real taxes? that’s the way it seems to work. we have low taxes of course. so we pay a lot of money by proxy.

    i don’t see tax cuts as the way forward. i would say the greens are the only ones taking a mature, rational line on taxation – we aren’t going to get smaller class sizes and better public transport by reducing the amount of money coming in (granted this is ABC economics but you see where im coming from).

    i think you should take them seriously as a political party of the Left. we don’t have a lot of that in ireland so a welcome any expansion of our political dot/spectrum.

  23. @pillionpassenger

    Some rather interesting points there. I whole heartedly agree with you that any expansion of our political spectrum is indeed very welcome.

  24. Grandad,

    Just to depress you more, doing some back of envelope calculations (sadly the envelope was empty), I would agree with those who are calling the result as a hung Dail. Neither of the present alignments will muster enough votes to form a Government, so we look back to 1992.

    I did hear the suggestion that Labour will demand Bertie’s head as the price for coalition. How about Cowen for Taoiseach and Rabbitte for Tainaiste?

    (I did politics at the LSE for my first degree – it became a spectator sport after that!)

  25. RTE Prime-Time “Leaders Debate” just ended. McDowell both looked and acted like a cornered rat. Trevor Sargent made a lot of sense & came out extremely well (and Pillion Passenger, i agree it is time to take the Greens seriously as a party of the Left). Pat Rabbitte was solid as ever (IMO), and Gerry Adams….see previous posts! Will definitely move Sinn Fein in to fill the gaping void on the far left of the Irish political spectrum. First time i EVER saw him look even slightly discomfited though, was when McDowell switched from Cornered Rat to Bulldog and wouldnt let go of him on the IRA-Farc deal (guerrilla training in exchange for Colombian drug money, for those of you who may not know!). This is definitely the most interesting general election in a hell of a long time. Readers, if you know people who are half-hearted about exercising their franchise, please get them out to vote for change!!!
    Lastly, to Ian: the idea of Brian Cowen for Taoiseach makes me feel ill…. dear God please no!!!

  26. politics is politics,I feel like given up fighting the machine.Of course i am having a bad day,and getting drunk.Wish i had a play station to trade.

  27. Damn these timezones . . .we’re pre-election also. With just 2 parties to choose Libral/National Coalition and the Labor Party but they’re sooooo . . .similar, as is the rhetoric.

  28. @Ian – Thank you very much for that. You have cheered me up immensely [*heads off for the Prozac bottle once more*]

    @Monique – I didn’t see the debate, but it had to contain the master soundbyte of the election, when Rabbitte called McDowell a “menopausal Paris Hilton“. That is brilliant!!!

  29. It was delightful. Also enjoyed Rabbitte telling him to calm down: “you are too energised by that pole you climbed up in Ranelagh earlier, Michael”. (Sargent fielded McDowell’s attacks very well, succeeding in catching him every time he put a spin on Green policies.) But no, “menopausal Paris Hilton constantly looking for notice” will not be forgotten easily!! :). Folks, can we bear it…. Bertie and Enda head-to-head tonight after Prime Time?

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