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Irish Politics

cyberman

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FF put out a statement saying it wasnt real work and got deleted pretty sharpish.
The coalition is a disaster
 

Shane88

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I don't see what the issue is, to be honest. I'm sure the applause in the Dáil back in March was intended for those student nurses also. Is that not enough for them?


In all seriousness, they are rancid cnuts. How long will it be before they give themselves another raise?
 

Pogue Mahone

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Mind you, reading the details the issue being voted on wasn’t as straightforward as Twitter warriors would have us believe.



-immediately reinstate the payment of student nurses and midwives who are in placements during the Covid-19 pandemic at the HCA rate;

— urgently engage with student nurses and midwives and their union representatives to establish a bursary or payment system that will fully acknowledge the work they do in our health service and will cover the costs of travel and accommodation for the length of their placements;

— abolish all fees for students who are training to work on the frontline of the health service in order to stem the ‘brain drain’, and allow the Health Service Executive to recruit a sufficient number of staff to run our health service at safe and adequately staffed levels; and

— ensure parity of pay, conditions and esteem for nurses and midwives with all other paramedical graduates, including the 37-hour week.”
First bullet would have probably got through, no problem. It’s the fourth one that looks like the most difficult to implement. Third bullet could also have all sorts of implications. Free fees for some students but not others? Seems a bit unfair.

Bit sneaky creating headlines about student nurses pay during covid when what’s being voted on is way more complicated than that but seems to be the way politics is done these days. Voters don’t have the attention span for boring stuff like details.
 

Eyepopper

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And the greens, every single one of the pricks.
Student nurses don't need a pay rise, they all have hoards of vegetables harvested from their lockdown window gardens.

Unless their window gardens went to seed during the months of double shifts.

Meh, they should have made provisions to have their windows gardens tended to.
 

caid

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Mind you, reading the details the issue being voted on wasn’t as straightforward as Twitter warriors would have us believe.





First bullet would have probably got through, no problem. It’s the fourth one that looks like the most difficult to implement. Third bullet could also have all sorts of implications. Free fees for some students but not others? Seems a bit unfair.

Bit sneaky creating headlines about student nurses pay during covid when what’s being voted on is way more complicated than that but seems to be the way politics is done these days. Voters don’t have the attention span for boring stuff like details.
Its pretty cynical but at the same time ... the government could pay student nurses if they were inclined to and whatever about normal service they really, really should be getting paid now. Its an easy win for the opposition
 

Charlie Foley

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No issue with them turning down the Oscar Traynor proposal but the attitude towards property tax in Ireland melts my head, especially from left-wing parties who should be in favour of it.
Aidan Regan’s podcast is a fantastic listen by the way. Especially if you’re somewhat left leaning, but I’ve sent it to more conservative friends who have enjoyed it too.
 

Pogue Mahone

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Its pretty cynical but at the same time ... the government could pay student nurses if they were inclined to and whatever about normal service they really, really should be getting paid now. Its an easy win for the opposition
They could - and they definitely should during this pandemic - but that’s not what the vote was about. Not just that anyway.
 

cyberman

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Mind you, reading the details the issue being voted on wasn’t as straightforward as Twitter warriors would have us believe.





First bullet would have probably got through, no problem. It’s the fourth one that looks like the most difficult to implement. Third bullet could also have all sorts of implications. Free fees for some students but not others? Seems a bit unfair.

Bit sneaky creating headlines about student nurses pay during covid when what’s being voted on is way more complicated than that but seems to be the way politics is done these days. Voters don’t have the attention span for boring stuff like details.
But this is a bit different. Student nurses were treated like real employees due to the pandemic and were thrown right into the coalface. This is the entire reason why we lose our nurses to the NHS and why Leo was begging them to come back last March.
They also pay off student fees of certain courses without any problems? Students of culinary arts were pointing out on Reddit that they had their fees paid off without the Country burning down.
Gardai in training get 3 meals a day and paid accomodation so allowances can be made, they just didnt want to.
 

Pogue Mahone

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But this is a bit different. Student nurses were treated like real employees due to the pandemic and were thrown right into the coalface. This is the entire reason why we lose our nurses to the NHS and why Leo was begging them to come back last March.
They also pay off student fees of certain courses without any problems? Students of culinary arts were pointing out on Reddit that they had their fees paid off without the Country burning down.
In my opinion, they should he paid during the pandemic (and maybe after?) Removing fees is a big move and maybe that’s worth doing too. But should really be in the context of student fees in general. Perhaps we should incentivise kids to study to work on the healthcare frontline. But what about the scientists who will develop and manufacture future vaccines?

As I said, though, the last bullet point is the doozy. Apart from anything else, what does it even mean? How do you ensure “parity of esteem”? And surely there are some paramedical graduates who deserve to earn more than nurses? Actual paramedics, for starters. Now that is an absolutely brutal job.
 

Conor

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But this is a bit different. Student nurses were treated like real employees due to the pandemic and were thrown right into the coalface. This is the entire reason why we lose our nurses to the NHS and why Leo was begging them to come back last March.
They also pay off student fees of certain courses without any problems? Students of culinary arts were pointing out on Reddit that they had their fees paid off without the Country burning down.
Gardai in training get 3 meals a day and paid accomodation so allowances can be made, they just didnt want to.
As said, getting rid of the fees makes it a different vote than just 'pay nurses', re: your example, Gardai can't just leave the country once they've graduated, so it's a different situation really(I've no idea about the culinary arts thing, to be fair). Not that I would be against getting rid of the fees, but why just nurses? Seems a lot more complicated, and hence maybe not a clear cut 'yes'. SF can just vote yes on all these things, happy in the knowledge that they won't pass, and they can go on about it on social media until the next thing pops up.
 

Pogue Mahone

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As said, getting rid of the fees makes it a different vote than just 'pay nurses', re: your example, Gardai can't just leave the country once they've graduated, so it's a different situation really(I've no idea about the culinary arts thing, to be fair). Not that I would be against getting rid of the fees, but why just nurses? Seems a lot more complicated, and hence maybe not a clear cut 'yes'. SF can just vote yes on all these things, happy in the knowledge that they won't pass, and they can go on about it on social media until the next thing pops up.
Exactly. It was the same shit when we had all the recent hysteria about the Tusla database. Thousands of tweets about why the government was deliberately concealing evidence when, in reality, what was really being voted on was some extremely complicated (and boring) nuances of the data protection legislation.

Everything we hear from the opposition in Ireland these days is over emotional populist and simplistic bollox. So long as it gains traction on Twitter that’s all that matters. What makes it even more annoying is that there has been some genuinely good work done by some of the opposition (Pearse Doherty, on insurance, for example) which the government deserve to be held over the coals for. But if you can’t express your outrage in 140 characters or less (“pay the student nurses!” “they’re covering up the death of children!”) nobody is interested.
 

Conor

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Exactly. It was the same shit when we had all the recent hysteria about the Tusla database. Thousands of tweets about why the government was deliberately concealing evidence when, in reality, what was really being voted on was some extremely complicated (and boring) nuances of the data protection legislation.

Everything we hear from the opposition in Ireland these days is over emotional populist and simplistic bollox. So long as it gains traction on Twitter that’s all that matters. What makes it even more annoying is that there has been some genuinely good work done by some of the opposition (Pearse Doherty, on insurance, for example) which the government deserve to be held over the coals for. But if you can’t express your outrage in 140 characters or less (“pay the student nurses!” “they’re covering up the death of children!”) nobody is interested.
I experienced the full might of SF's bandwagon approach recently, mistakenly getting a letter through my door that declared their support for a completely nonsensical 'discrimination' claim being made by social housing tenants. They will seemingly just jump on whatever they can, with very little research on what is actually happening(or more likely; they are aware of, and don't care about the facts), all in the name of point scoring/vote grabbing. I have to say, my opinion of them has changed a lot in the last while, after seeing how they operate.
 

caid

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In my opinion, they should he paid during the pandemic (and maybe after?) Removing fees is a big move and maybe that’s worth doing too. But should really be in the context of student fees in general. Perhaps we should incentivise kids to study to work on the healthcare frontline. But what about the scientists who will develop and manufacture future vaccines?

As I said, though, the last bullet point is the doozy. Apart from anything else, what does it even mean? How do you ensure “parity of esteem”? And surely there are some paramedical graduates who deserve to earn more than nurses? Actual paramedics, for starters. Now that is an absolutely brutal job.
They can put forward a motion tomorrow and just remove the last objectionable point. They can put forward whatever they like. They're having a group set up to discuss it in a years time so they can ignore it and avoid doing anything. Sinn Fein are cynical, lying shitbags but its a fair criticism of the government, opposition are just doing their job (in the most cynical manner possible).
 

Chairman Woodie

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I agree. I doubt Shatter will ever fully vindicate his reputation.

Shatter is owed an apology from Fine Gael and certain opposition members. Also SC Sean Guerin. And some journalists too.
 

caid

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I agree. I doubt Shatter will ever fully vindicate his reputation.

Shatter is owed an apology from Fine Gael and certain opposition members. Also SC Sean Guerin. And some journalists too.
I was kind of surprised and disappointed at the time. I thought he was one of the better politicians. Was very easy to be cynical and think he was just a shit at the same time.
Not entirely sure what to make of him now.
 

JakeC

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Just realized that David Quinn still has me blocked on twitter.
 

Chairman Woodie

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I was kind of surprised and disappointed at the time. I thought he was one of the better politicians. Was very easy to be cynical and think he was just a shit at the same time.
Not entirely sure what to make of him now.
Despite his flaws, I still think Shatter was one of the better politicians.

Yeah, Shatter is disliked by the media and by his once colleagues. But that doesn't mean he deserved to have his reputation destroyed.

Despite the O'Higgins Commission and the Supreme Court judgment, David Quinn is one of the very few voices in the Irish media to recognise Shatter is owed an apology by his once colleagues and some journalists.
 
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Pogue Mahone

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What are the facts? So many cnuts on Whatsapp sending complete bollocks.

Did he attack the shopkeeper? Did he do it with a knife? I can't find the video of the incident.
Broke the jaw of someone behind the till in a Spar, then pulled out a knife at a post office. Has a history of mental illness so probably not well. Very sad situation. Being used for political capital by arseholes.
 

spontaneus1

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What are the facts? So many cnuts on Whatsapp sending complete bollocks.

Did he attack the shopkeeper? Did he do it with a knife? I can't find the video of the incident.
According to the Irish times he did assault the shop keeper. That image of the lad with his face slashed open going around was proved false though.
 

Withnail

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Broke the jaw of someone behind the till in a Spar, then pulled out a knife at a post office. Has a history of mental illness so probably not well. Very sad situation. Being used for political capital by arseholes.
The whole thing is tragic but it's very sad to see what's happening.

It seems there's agitators on all sides politicising it. Of course the far right love this type of thing as it creates division so I expected it of them but there's so many hot takes coming from the left as well which are riling people up when they don't know the full facts.

I saw some nonsense going round that he only had a butter knife and a lot people seem to think you can subdue a knife wielding man who has resisted being tazed and pepper sprayed purely by having 15 Gardaí present.
 

DJ Jeff

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Seeing tweets with 50+k likes completely misrepresenting the situation. Some people are doing their absolute best to import American political narratives into Ireland.

Sad for the guy that it had to come to that. It does sound like the Gards tried pretty hard not to have it come to that, but sad when anyone dies in such circumstances with obvious mental illness.
 

utdalltheway

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How many black folks are there in Ireland now? When I was a kid there were very few. More were to be seen in Dublin, understandably.

I realized there were a lot more than I would have thought when I saw some videos of a bunch of black youths that allegedly were from that incident when the JCB broke in through the roof of the Lidl during “the beast from the east” a few years back. It was my bro-in-law, who’s from Dublin, that shared the videos with me.
Tbh I didn’t know how he was feeling on it; was it because he saw a lot of young black lads or was it the damage itself....?
 
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Withnail

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Seeing tweets with 50+k likes completely misrepresenting the situation. Some people are doing their absolute best to import American political narratives into Ireland.
This has been a major issue with social media over the past few years.

It's not only the far right doing it but I've seen a few people who used to be friends go way into conspiracy theories and far right nonsense and they're spouting all this imported american political rhetoric that doesn't fit with the Irish socio-political landscape at all.
 

Shane88

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Some people are doing their absolute best to import American political narratives into Ireland.
This is it.

So many people spend so much time consuming American shite on Twitter that they find the lack of that insanity in Ireland boring. So when something similar happens here they lose their fecking minds.

The racists get to say "See?! See?!"

The twitter brigade portray the Gardaì like American police when it couldn't be further from the truth.

And they all get to be a little more Yank.
 
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Some interesting info from the top posts on the Reddit megathread. And when I say interesting, I mean pretty fecking horrifying.




His brother was also the source of the 'shot for having a butter knife' claims.

 

DJ Jeff

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Some interesting info from the top posts on the Reddit megathread. And when I say interesting, I mean pretty fecking horrifying.




His brother was also the source of the 'shot for having a butter knife' claims.

Pretty insane. Considering the wall to wall coverage the anti mask nutters got its very surprising to see neither the Times nor the Independent covering any of these aspects of the events, particularly in the context of our hardest lockdown yet.
 

Pogue Mahone

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This is it.

So many people spend so much time consuming American shite on Twitter that they find the lack of that insanity in Ireland boring. So when something similar happens here they lose their fecking minds.

The racists get to say "See?! See?!"

The twitter brigade portray the Gardaì like American police when it couldn't be further from the truth.

And they all get to be a little more Yank.
I think this is what’s happening. With life under covid riling people up even more than usual, looking for any excuse to cut loose.

A good example on a smaller scale was the young fella on the promenade in Salthill over the summer completely losing his shit about “police brutality “ in a FB live video when the cops were lifting a teenager who was out of his tiny mind on drink/drugs, for his own safety. The video he made was depressing enough but the vile racist abuse he got on social media was even worse. The whole thing becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
 

spontaneus1

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I've seen a video of his brother floating around where he claims there where 35 gardai at the scene and they shot him when he was on the ground.

It's really a strange hill to die on for people who are serious about fighting racism in Ireland.
 

Shane88

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I've seen a video of his brother floating around where he claims there where 35 gardai at the scene and they shot him when he was on the ground.

It's really a strange hill to die on for people who are serious about fighting racism in Ireland.
I've seen his brother too and to be honest, he seems like a fecking idiot. This video will quickly evaporate sympathy from a lot of people.


"I want them dead, whoever it was that shot him. I want him terminated, I want his contract terminated. I want him finished. And when we find him....yeah?"
 

Conor

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Given the facts stated so far, it just seems like a tragic event, not sure what else could have been done in the situation. The protests and all the nonsense on twitter is unwarranted, and will only serve to damage the cause of fighting racism in Ireland. As said above, this is not America.
 

Pogue Mahone

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I've seen his brother too and to be honest, he seems like a fecking idiot. This video will quickly evaporate sympathy from a lot of people.


"I want them dead, whoever it was that shot him. I want him terminated, I want his contract terminated. I want him finished. And when we find him....yeah?"
He’s grieving and he’s angry. So we shouldn’t take what he says very seriously. Fecking horrible the way social media takes shit like this and uses it to inspire hatred.
 

Conor

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There is a difference between grieving and flat out lying about what happened, to try and incite violence. He claims there were 35 gardai there, and that they shot him when he was on the ground. There are videos that clearly show none of these things are true. Calling for a garda to be hunted down and killed, on a megaphone, to an angry mob is just outrageous.
 

Massive Spanner

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And when you consider incidents like this, you can understand why a young black man might feel his brother was treated more violently than necessary by the guards on the basis of his skin colour. Even if that wasn’t actually the case.
That's a weird one to give as an example, the guy in it isn't even black, that I can see. Or am I missing something?
 

Pogue Mahone

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That's a weird one to give as an example, the guy in it isn't even black, that I can see. Or am I missing something?
He isn’t black, he’s wielding a knife and the police subdue him without even threatening him with a gun. You can see why that might be perceived as double standards if your brother - who is black - gets shot dead in a similar standoff.