Irish Politics

cyberman

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MM loses his head when facing SF and now he’s gone over the edge. That’s honestly disgusting
 

caid

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Yeesh.

Is there anyone actually good to vote for if there's an election? I never thought i'd consider voting SF cause they're a bunch of spoofers but i've almost reached the point where i'm "anything but FFG".
i definitely cant vote FFG next election.
I think if i was put in charge of wiping FF out of Irish politics i couldn't do a better job than their TD's have been doing recently. Just farcically bad and out of touch. I dont see myself voting SF either, current plan is to vote for parties who can and will go into coalition with SF. Get enough of them in and they should keep things relatively sane.
 

Massive Spanner

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i definitely cant vote FFG next election.
I think if i was put in charge of wiping FF out of Irish politics i couldn't do a better job than their TD's have been doing recently. Just farcically bad and out of touch. I dont see myself voting SF either, current plan is to vote for parties who can and will go into coalition with SF. Get enough of them in and they should keep things relatively sane.
Yeah, I quite like Soc Dems but not sure Shinners would go in with them
 

caid

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Yeah, I quite like Soc Dems but not sure Shinners would go in with them
I dont think SF will be at all picky. Social Democrats and Labour I think would be far less enthusiastic about that coalition.
I'll probably skip them because i dont trust them not to prop up another FFG government.
 

Green_Red

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Yes there is a supply issue. Vulture funds are buying up blocks of mortgages as well as properties. My mortgage was sold from under me to some nebulous Canadian company. And the ONLY reason they invest here is that there is profit to be had. I'm not sure people are being as fussy as you think. Half the people I know and went to college with live in city center apartments, and a lot of their neighbors are tenants of multinationals. Corporate investment in the market is huge and growing, and that will always be the case without regulation.
There should be a law that limits the ownership of property in Ireland by non nationals, individuals and corporations alike. For a country with a history of absentee landlordism it is hard to believe Irish politicians would allow this situation to evolve, throw in 2008 and all the NAMA stuff and it even more surprising. There were a lot of people who marched in the streets about covid jabs, will the same people march for changes to laws about property ownership? Probably not.
 

moses

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I have no idea either, yet.
There should be a law that limits the ownership of property in Ireland by non nationals, individuals and corporations alike. For a country with a history of absentee landlordism it is hard to believe Irish politicians would allow this situation to evolve, throw in 2008 and all the NAMA stuff and it even more surprising. There were a lot of people who marched in the streets about covid jabs, will the same people march for changes to laws about property ownership? Probably not.
Why differentiate between nationality and not usage? An Irish landlord or a foreign landlord, what's the difference?
 

Green_Red

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Why differentiate between nationality and not usage? An Irish landlord or a foreign landlord, what's the difference?
True. But if the issue is foreign vulture funds its easier to stop them. You're the one that pointed that out. You can't put limits on ownership of property for citizens. What the government could do is allow people to have a second home but then tax the feck out of them for every additional property owned, regardless of use.
 

moses

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True. But if the issue is foreign vulture funds its easier to stop them. You're the one that pointed that out. You can't put limits on ownership of property for citizens. What the government could do is allow people to have a second home but then tax the feck out of them for every additional property owned, regardless of use.
Ah while I hate the vulture funds its just as awful if the speculators are Irish. Taxing property for profit stops both.
 

Pogue Mahone

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https://www.independent.ie/world-ne...cd-over-colleges-ukraine-stance-41398114.html

Tutut. UCD being very weak on the invasion, possibly due to links with China.

Thought it was worth posting but not worth a thread so I've put it in here.
Seems like he’s being a bit of a drama queen? The statement could maybe have been worded better but that’s a hell of a leap to interpret it as somehow minimising or endorsing the invasion.
 

Charlie Foley

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Seems like he’s being a bit of a drama queen? The statement could maybe have been worded better but that’s a hell of a leap to interpret it as somehow minimising or endorsing the invasion.
He is still teaching at the school according to his replies from this tweet
 

caid

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Seems like he’s being a bit of a drama queen? The statement could maybe have been worded better but that’s a hell of a leap to interpret it as somehow minimising or endorsing the invasion.
Theres been a fair bit of dispute about the Confucius Institute in particular for a couple of years at least. This isn't a once off with one person
 

caid

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Sure. Presumably that’s the reason he’s desperate to pick holes in their statement. I still think he’s making a big fuss about not much.
I really dont know any details about it beyond the people running the college being hideously unpopular.
 

Pogue Mahone

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I really dont know any details about it beyond the people running the college being hideously unpopular.
I know literally nothing about it until the kerfuffle about that statement today. I do know academics can be massive drama queens though. My old man worked in a university most of life (not as an academic, not at UCD) and they drove him up the wall.
 

caid

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I know literally nothing about it until the kerfuffle about that statement today. I do know academics can be massive drama queens though. My old man worked in a university most of life (not as an academic, not at UCD) and they drove him up the wall.
Yeah definitely true. My brother doesn't work at UCD but they've gained a bad reputation in recent years. They seem a bit infamous with academics at the moment.
 

Eyepopper

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Alan Kelly gone as Labour leader, that went well for him.
 

moses

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I have no idea either, yet.

Why the feck are FG doing their best to provoke Russian hostility towards us for absolutely no gain except making a vague tribute to our american masters?
I rarely agree with FG but we should do all we can for Ukraine. We built our national identity on fighting invaders, it kinda sickens me how we have forgotten that lately. We have been allowed into the big boys room now and have forgotten that we are the world most famous immigrants.
 

DJ Jeff

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I rarely agree with FG but we should do all we can for Ukraine. We built our national identity on fighting invaders, it kinda sickens me how we have forgotten that lately. We have been allowed into the big boys room now and have forgotten that we are the world most famous immigrants.
I absolutely do not agree that we should be be agitating a nuclear superpower on behalf of the USA who would abandon us like they have Ukraine the second shit kicks off

If Ukraine was going to be helped by foreign military assistance it was going to be from the USA who by the Ukrainians own statements have all but ditched them
 

moses

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I have no idea either, yet.
I absolutely do not agree that we should be be agitating a nuclear superpower on behalf of the USA who would abandon us like they have Ukraine the second shit kicks off

If Ukraine was going to be helped by foreign military assistance it was going to be from the USA who by the Ukrainians own statements have all but ditched them
I wouldn't take a piss on behalf of the USA never mind agitate anybody, but also the Ukrainian people need help.
 

Massive Spanner

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I absolutely do not agree that we should be be agitating a nuclear superpower on behalf of the USA who would abandon us like they have Ukraine the second shit kicks off

If Ukraine was going to be helped by foreign military assistance it was going to be from the USA who by the Ukrainians own statements have all but ditched them
Why do you keep saying it's on behalf of the USA?
 

DJ Jeff

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Why do you keep saying it's on behalf of the USA?
Because 10,000 people have died since 2014 in Donbass without a word from our government. We are absolutely a client state in foreign policy terms of the USA right down to conducting extraordinary renditions in Shannon Airport and arresting anyone who said boo.

I do not like our government picking and choosing when things are catastrophic and demand intervention, even less so when it so clearly comes down from above.
 

moses

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Because 10,000 people have died since 2014 in Donbass without a word from our government. We are absolutely a client state in foreign policy terms of the USA right down to conducting extraordinary renditions in Shannon Airport and arresting anyone who said boo.

I do not like our government picking and choosing when things are catastrophic and demand intervention, even less so when it so clearly comes down from above.
Yes ideally we would be arming lots of 'insurgents' but by your logic we shouldn't in case we piss off the Saudis/ US/ China/ Israel?

So do you think we should be just keeping our head down and playing ball? Because that's what Shannon is? Are you for Shannon as a US base then, because that keeps us safe and a US client? Or against because that makes us a target for terrorists? Are all your politics from the perspective of your own self-interest?
 

DJ Jeff

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Yes ideally we would be arming lots of 'insurgents' but by your logic we shouldn't in case we piss off the Saudis/ US/ China/ Israel?

So do you think we should be just keeping our head down and playing ball? Because that's what Shannon is? Are you for Shannon as a US base then, because that keeps us safe and a US client? Or against because that makes us a target for terrorists? Are all your politics from the perspective of your own self-interest?
I do not want us doing anything that endangers us because we are absolutely not a major player on the world stage no matter how many seats Bono campaigns to get us. I believe needless hostility with Russia, who btw we have no ability to influence nor resist, is simply reckless endangerment of Irish security.

If we had a chance of stopping the war in Ukraine, of stopping Putin, of ending the humanitarian crisis? Fine, absolutely no problem. But we don't. Nothing we as a nation do will influence that one iota. So for our politicians to be taking to the public stage to demand we militarily involve ourselves, yes I find that abhorrent, I think that's a signal to people overseas rather than here.

And no I find the usage of Shannon for torture fecking abhorrent and the fact that people were arrested for protesting even worse.

If Neale Richmond wants to go fight, let him. I do not want Irish politicians demanding we enter military hostilities against a nuclear superpower who do not care about us, have shown themselves to be aggressive thugs, and who could destroy us in a second if the need came to them.

I understand your point RE: self interest. I would love for us to be a nation capable of acting outside our self interest, i.e. being a nuclear superpower who can demand swathes of other nations in your sphere of influence play ball. But we aren't and never will be. We are a small island nation and our Government should be focused on our self preservation, so desperately fought for and achieved a century ago, not throwing out declarations of military intent willy nilly for twitter likes. That really annoys me.
 

moses

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I have no idea either, yet.
I do not want us doing anything that endangers us because we are absolutely not a major player on the world stage no matter how many seats Bono campaigns to get us. I believe needless hostility with Russia, who btw we have no ability to influence nor resist, is simply reckless endangerment of Irish security.

If we had a chance of stopping the war in Ukraine, of stopping Putin, of ending the humanitarian crisis? Fine, absolutely no problem. But we don't. Nothing we as a nation do will influence that one iota. So for our politicians to be taking to the public stage to demand we militarily involve ourselves, yes I find that abhorrent, I think that's a signal to people overseas rather than here.

And no I find the usage of Shannon for torture fecking abhorrent and the fact that people were arrested for protesting even worse.

If Neale Richmond wants to go fight, let him. I do not want Irish politicians demanding we enter military hostilities against a nuclear superpower who do not care about us, have shown themselves to be aggressive thugs, and who could destroy us in a second if the need came to them.

I understand your point RE: self interest. I would love for us to be a nation capable of acting outside our self interest, i.e. being a nuclear superpower who can demand swathes of other nations in your sphere of influence play ball. But we aren't and never will be. We are a small island nation and our Government should be focused on our self preservation, so desperately fought for and achieved a century ago, not throwing out declarations of military intent willy nilly for twitter likes. That really annoys me.
Right, I'm not sure what doing the morally correct thing has to do with the USA or Bono. The idea that helping the Ukrainians is a needless hostility also does not make any sense.

We do have a chance of stopping him as a global collective, which a contribution of military hardware from us could be a part of.

I also disagree that you have to have the power to obliterate to do the right thing. In fact I couldn't disagree more and history provides many many examples.

The idea that you see helping Ukrainians as just a token gesture for Twitter likes is mental when there is an actual war on with children being killed.
 

DJ Jeff

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Right, I'm not sure what doing the morally correct thing has to do with the USA or Bono. The idea that helping the Ukrainians is a needless hostility also does not make any sense.

We do have a chance of stopping him as a global collective, which a contribution of military hardware from us could be a part of.

I also disagree that you have to have the power to obliterate to do the right thing. In fact I couldn't disagree more and history provides many many examples.

The idea that you see helping Ukrainians as just a token gesture for Twitter likes is mental when there is an actual war on with children being killed.
I don't really understand your tone or why you seem to think I don't care that children are being killed or this implication that I would rather we supported Putin.

Do you know people in the Irish army? Do you know how absolutely terrible and underfunded it is, how many former service members have to sue for any reason they can find just to have a few bob when they go? Is this an army that can aid militarily against a nuclear superpower?

The Ukrainians are already receiving far better hardware than our trinkets from numerous allies. More than they can distribute to their civilians. I simply do not see why you would want us to get involved and potentially invoke the ire of Russia. What is it you think we can do that others are not already doing?
 

moses

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I don't really understand your tone or why you seem to think I don't care that children are being killed or this implication that I would rather we supported Putin.

Do you know people in the Irish army? Do you know how absolutely terrible and underfunded it is, how many former service members have to sue for any reason they can find just to have a few bob when they go? Is this an army that can aid militarily against a nuclear superpower?

The Ukrainians are already receiving far better hardware than our trinkets from numerous allies. More than they can distribute to their civilians. I simply do not see why you would want us to get involved and potentially invoke the ire of Russia. What is it you think we can do that others are not already doing?
Well children are being killed and you are opposing arming those defending them because you think the motive for helping them is for Twitter likes. So I think a scathing tone is well deserved? Unless I have misunderstood you?

I do know people in the military, but what does this matter? I do know how underfunded they are but what does this matter with regard to sending arms we have?

Why do we have a military? Look at it's history, helping Ukrainians fits the remit.

60 rocket launchers could be the tipping point in defending a small town, they are not trinkets if they save even a few lives or domiciles.
 

sullydnl

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I rarely agree with FG but we should do all we can for Ukraine. We built our national identity on fighting invaders, it kinda sickens me how we have forgotten that lately. We have been allowed into the big boys room now and have forgotten that we are the world most famous immigrants.
Agree.

Other "neutral" countries have had no issue sending this sort of aid to Ukraine. And few have the geographical and geopolitical advantages we do that make any sort of millitary relatiliation against us at this point extremely improbable. In that context, god forbid we do the morally correct thing.

Also in terms of potentially invoking the ire of Russia, not sending weapons hasn't stopped us already being placed on the Russian list of "unhelpful countries" right alongside all those other EU countries who have sent weapons. The fact that we've already made it clear that we're in no way politically neutral in this conflict was enough.
 

moses

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Agree.

Other "neutral" countries have had no issue sending this sort of aid to Ukraine. And few have the geographical and geopolitical advantages we do that make any sort of millitary relatiliation against us at this point extremely improbable. In that context, god forbid we do the morally correct thing.

Also in terms of potentially invoking the ire of Russia, not sending weapons hasn't stopped us already being placed on the Russian list of "unhelpful countries" right alongside all those who have sent weapons. The fact that we've already made it clear that we're in no way politically neutral in this conflict was enough.
Yeah, our neutrality is a sham, and I imagine Russia knows that.
 

Withnail

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Why the feck are FG doing their best to provoke Russian hostility towards us for absolutely no gain except making a vague tribute to our american masters?
Do you honestly think the Russians are going to bomb us?

Besides they already we're the centre of anti-Russian feeling over a bit of paint according to the ambassador.
 

DJ Jeff

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Do you honestly think the Russians are going to bomb us?

Besides they already we're the centre of anti-Russian feeling over a bit of paint according to the ambassador.
I think if we'd had a history of making statements of military intent against Russia or Germany pre WW2 things could've gone very very bad for us and destroyed the nascent independent state, and it isn't a certainty that this current invasion doesn't spiral into something far worse across the continent

That's my concern for these kinds of statements, coupled with the fact that they're already being armed by the USA far better and far faster than we could ever remotely match so it isn't like they'd be some consequential factor in the war if we sent a few javelins