Crossword play in the Dail

Elmo

Ok perhaps this is mud flinging on my part. But ye be the judge.

Should The Minister for Justice be doing a crossword in the Dail?

Weather the RTE report correctly or incorrectly I amn't sure you be the judge. Perhaps a throw away remark from the report.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0322/justice.html


If it was a court of law would a Barrister completing a crossword be in contempt?

Strange to say the least.

Wishbone Ash

They've devoted all of Liveline to this boring 'much ado about nothing'!

Elmo

They've devoted all of Liveline to this boring 'much ado about nothing'!

Indeed I have pick up on that, lol.

I think McDowell must agrees, this dail lark whats it all about. Now back to 4 down.

The_Minister

Watch the Dail live sometime and you will understand why. I'd say more than half the speaches in there are pointless, and half of those worthless. On the news headlines it looks great, because they only show the spats, but most of the time the Dail is horrifically dull. There's no comparison between a barrister in court doing it, and a TD in the Dail. The barrister in court has to listen carefully to all the evidence, and be ready to trip the opposite number up, by objecting or finding a hole in their arguement. A TD has to listen to pointless waffle from media-starved deputies, desperate for some airtime

stipey

A TD has to listen to pointless waffle from media-starved deputies, desperate for some airtime

...or should that be listen to the opposition deputy pose a question about the state of Health/Roads/Justice/Education/Homeless (delete as applicable or add your own) and then, when answering, completely ignore the question that was aksed and reel of figures and statistics to prove that in fact, everything is tickety boo and we are all wrong

The_Minister

stipey wrote:

we are all wrong

"we" meaning who?

Stargal

A lot of the coverage is because it's McDowell; if it was some random FF minister, it would just be seen as boredom and nothing would have been made of it. However because it's McDowell it's seen as arrogant and somewhat pretentious, and makes for a way better story.

Wow that's a little scary. I'm half-defending McDowell /shudders

stipey

"we" meaning who?

Meaning "we the citizens".

Has it been edited out of am I just not seeing it?

Stargal

Myth wrote:

Has it been edited out or am I just not seeing it?

stipey wrote:

...or should that be listen to the opposition deputy pose a question about the state of Health/Roads/Justice/Education/Homeless (delete as applicable or add your own) and then, when answering, completely ignore the question that was aksed and reel of figures and statistics to prove that in fact, everything is tickety boo and we are all wrong

You're just not seeing it

cast_iron

This is hardly a "General Election 2007" topic? Better suited to "Politics" forum, I would have said.

Elmo

A lot of the coverage is because it's McDowell; if it was some random FF minister, it would just be seen as boredom and nothing would have been made of it. However because it's McDowell it's seen as arrogant and somewhat pretentious, and makes for a way better story.

Didn't a FFer fall asleep once? At least I remember someone falling asleep I would be surprised if it was the CC. lol he always looks like he about to fall asleep.

I think it's not just because it is McDowell it's the fact that he is the Minister for Justice and not just a random TD. He has a "60 hour" job to listen and anwser all of the questions put to him. The same goes for any minister. If your not interested then you should at least pretend.

Now what is down 20.... mmmmmmm.

This is hardly a "General Election 2007" topic? Better suited to "Politics" forum, I would have said.

Just throwing the mud, its good for an election. As you can see from my other post regarding Pat Rabbitte and the UDA.

No fun if your only going to talk stats.

The_Minister

Elmo wrote:

Just throwing the mud, its good for an election. As you can see from my other post regarding Pat Rabbitte and the UDA.

No fun if your only going to talk stats.

Some of us like to keep it slightly above mere mudslinging. And not very good mudslinging at that.

oscarBravo

cast_iron wrote:

This is hardly a "General Election 2007" topic? Better suited to "Politics" forum, I would have said.

Barely suited here either, but definitely not GE2k7.

Elmo

If you are going to move this post you better move the post about Pat Rabbitte too.

It also not really GE 2007.

oscarBravo

Done, and merged with the existing thread.

FYI: you're not allowed to use quote tags in your sig.

johnnyskeleton

The_Minister wrote:

Watch the Dail live sometime and you will understand why. I'd say more than half the speaches in there are pointless, and half of those worthless.

The house of commons is a much better show. But then again, that's a big budget BBC production, while ours seems to be made by some film studies students.

Was McDowell doing the simplex or the crossaire?

Laika

Laika wrote:

You're just not seeing it

Ah, I didn't actually realise it was in the video report.

InFront

I'm definitely no McDowell/ PD fan, but this does seems more like a manifestation of public frustration with the guy rather than a real problem of respect for the institutions of Government on his behalf.

He's been responsible for far more serious blunders than this one; this just gives people some sort of 'anger relief', I think. Like smashing ice. As someone else said, if it was a more innocent figure, I'm not sure there wouldd have been any problem.

Then again, I'm not sure anyone else would do it.

Akrasia

Perhaps if we had a functioning democracy then he wouldn't be so bored.

The "debates"in the dail are a complete joke. There is never enough time to ask questions of the people who are in a position to answer them (the Ceann Comhairle sees to that) and when questions are asked, there is never a compulsion for the respondent to genuinely attempt to answer them (and again, the ceann comhairle dutifully fulfils this role also)

Reading out boring long winded prepared speeches designed simply to take up time is unacceptable for college students in a debating society, it is absolutely disgraceful for the government of our country.

InFront

I agree, I watch PM's Questions on British TV for both knowledge and general interest/ political entertainment. I watch proceedings from the Dail simply because it's good to keep up to date, but it's an effort. You know you can just catch everything (with added wit) from Miriam Lord the next day anyway.

This is the thing about politics: some people dismiss the ability of politicians to motivate as unimportant. But I'm not even talking about generating interest from the public, but really engaging with their opponents and actively debating with them in serious exchanges. That's got to be better for politics than the long winded, head down, note shuffling monologues that most of our politicians engage with, and apparently laze through.

LostinBlanch

I agree with Akrasia about the ceann comhairle being disgracefully partisan. He's actually becoming more of a hindrance to democracy in this country by stifling proper debate and reducing peoples respect for the Dail, leading them to see it as a useless talking shop. That is if they didn't already.

Seth Brundle

Laika wrote:

A lot of the coverage is because it's McDowell

He is the Minister of Justice who is trying to push through a Criminal Justice Bill. It was during a debate on this bill that he was doing the crossword. Surely his attention (however boring the speeches are) is better served listening to views on his bill.
Did his elevtorate vote for him to ignore other peoples views?