New Irish Political Party, Amhran Nua

honesty101

Hello, my first post on the infamous Boards.ie, and apologies to the
mods and members if this is in the wrong place. I'm working with a new
group which has been founded recently to help address the problems
raised by the government and political parties in Ireland, and encourage
a growth in the real economy.

The fruits of our labours can be found here:

http://amhrannua.com/

The site contains policy concepts, arrived at by discussion with
affected members of the public. Any opinions on any of these, or
suggestions for amendment, or new ideas are warmly welcomed!

The main platform of the party is one of accountability and transparency
in public office, which is needed as a counterpoint to the cronyism in
Irish politics; problems have their roots at the top, and at the top is
where they must be tackled first. Of course it doesn't end there, there
are a broad base of policies that are aimed at renewal and growth in
Ireland, and these are entirely based upon realistic expectations of
what can be achieved, while being far reaching and wide ranging. We are
not associated with any existing political party.

At this time it isn't an officially recognised party, we're a political
group until we get the required few hundred signatures and a TD to
accept it as such, which shouldn't take long.

Thanks for taking the time to give us a look!

General Zod

Where do you stand on bears?

kmick

Could you kend me some money? I'll work tirelessly for your group beating up political opponents, framing enemies and collecting money via "legitimate" means.

FearDark

General Zod wrote: »

Where do you stand on bears?

Normal bears or Bear Jews?

drunkmonkey

Where do you stand on Happy Hour?

Dancor

I for one welcome our new political overlords

Kalashnikov_Kid

You had me...until

The overwhelming success of such displays as Riverdance underline the enchantment which Irish culture holds for many around the world

Damn Flatleylovers

Wazdakka

Although AH probably has one of the highest traffic levels of any Forum on Boards, it is not really the place to go for anything you want to be considered seriously.

The Politics forum is Here.. You might get a better response there.

genericguy

The shortfall in expenditure is some €20-odd billion this year

this kind of vague shyte won't fly.

mike65

Looks like a dancing at the crossroads (motorway interchange?) party for the 21st century.

meditraitor

FearDark wrote: »

Normal bears or Bear Jews?

Thanks man, best laugh this week...:D

Quazzie

Whats your views on the inconsistency of Mary Harney's bowel movements?

And can you comment on the inconsistency of texture and regularity.

General Zod

meditraitor wrote: »

Thanks man, best laugh this week...:D

Here's a question for anyone who's seen that Ingourious Basterds, how long did it take you to get the image of Eli Roth wide eyed and firing his sub-machine gun out of your head?

Morpheus

I love your policy on defence or lack thereof.

Kalashnikov_Kid

So what caused the recession? The recession is something you can't get away from these days, in the press, on the internet, on television and the radio. But what caused it exactly?

In short, much of the growth of the last ten years was paid for with IOUs, and now the time has come to repay them. The problem is a lot of people can't repay them, and the banks don't know who can and can't repay, so all of their loans are suspect.

To get the longer version, we need to go back to the US before 2000. For decades, financial institutions and banks had been lobbying for the removal of something called the Glass Steagall act (1933), which was put in place during the last depression to prevent another great depression. What this act did was to stop banks trying to sell investments to its customers, seperating deposit and investment banks by law. A mere nine years after the repeal of the act, against a background of increasingly lax banking regulation, we find ourselves once again in a depression.

In simple terms, a loan for €1 was sold on to another bank for 95 cent, who sold it on for 90 cent, who sold it on for 85 cent, and so on, until the original loan was now leveraged from €1 to €50, only €1 of which was actually real.

A further issue which arose, was that banks securitised their loans, basically packaged them up into instruments so complicated that even the banks themselves couldn't comprehend them, and sold them on to pension funds and investment groups. When many of these loans ultimately turned out to be bad, the banks not only didn't know which loans were good or bad, they had immense difficulty tracking where these loans actually were.

So of course, most of the English speaking world followed the lead of the US, leading to the situation we have today. In Ireland this was actually made worse by government policy intended to inflate the property market, the main vehicle people put their money into and took out major loans for. These property loans didn't create any value, or any wealth, they simply built properties that added nothing to the economy, removing productive wealth from the country.

And those, essentially are the causes for the recession in Ireland.

I would give that a C-

uprising

Same old [EMAIL="cr@p"]cr@p[/EMAIL], different name, so you want to be part of europe and keep all power, won't work.
#

Best of luck, you'll need it,

If you were a revolutionary party, ready to tell europe to feck off, tell shell to feck off, get our exports up to capacity, reap what we sow, drag members of the dail out by the hair and chop them up with samarai swords i might be interested but it's like a school project your doing, not running a country.

meditraitor

uprising wrote: »

Same old [EMAIL="cr@p"]cr@p[/EMAIL], samarai swords .

They banned these yesterday, my neighbour is a samarai and he is awfully upset. What is a Samarai without his Sword

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0901/justice.html

honesty101

Given the stage we are at at present we welcome constructive criticism. Any thoughts or opinions on the way forward are welcomed. We also welcome new members who are annoyed, like us, as to the way we are being treated by this government. Maybe I am being very naive or too idealistic but i was brought up with the idea that if one had nothing positive to say then they should keep their mouths closed.
If our policies are found to be wanting then give us your thoughts. Are political parties/pressure groups not supposed to be the voice of the people? Politicians are supposed to bring the consensus of their members to the attention of government.
We are obviously not being listened to at present and the country does need new blood. Now is the time to start making a difference. Every one involved with Amhran Nua is doing so on a voluntary basis. If we were all to sit on our asses going 'here we go again' then nothing would get done.
Criticism is welcome but only constructive ones please!

O'Morris

honesty101 wrote:

If our policies are found to be wanting then give us your thoughts. Are political parties/pressure groups not supposed to be the voice of the people? Politicians are supposed to bring the consensus of their members to the attention of government.

Do you have a policy on immigration? It's an issue of concern for many Irish people and yet it's ignored by all the other parties.

ei.sdraob

honesty101 wrote: »

Given the stage we are at at present we welcome constructive criticism. !

ok so here goes


http://amhrannua.com/irish-politics-policy?page_id=24

With that in mind, we propose a postponement of a new Lisbon referendum until the country is no longer in a state of duress which might affect the democratic process, in other words until the country is relatively stable economically again.

very bad timing for yee to put that up with 1 months to go, it wont happen and will also turn away alot of NO and YES voters

so pick a side and go with it, thats politics you need to get hands dirty

also yee can use Lisbon to gain awareness of your existence, case in point Libertas last year

O'Morris wrote: »

Do you have a policy on immigration? It's an issue of concern for many Irish people and yet it's ignored by all the other parties.

please O'Morris dont drag yet another thread into your xenophobic fantasies, immigration is not a big issue, main concerns now are Lisbon and Economy

Quazzie

honesty101 wrote: »

We also welcome new members who are annoyed, like us, as to the way we are being treated by this government. Maybe I am being very naive or too idealistic but i was brought up with the idea that if one had nothing positive to say then they should keep their mouths closed.

There is a severe flaw with that statement. You want people who have nothing positive to say to stay quiet, but you also want people to complain

Euro_Kraut

ei.sdraob wrote: »

http://amhrannua.com/irish-politics-policy?page_id=24

very bad timing for yee to put that up with 1 months to go, it wont happen and will also turn away alot of NO and YES voters

so pick a side and go with it, thats politics you need to get hands dirty

also yee can use Lisbon to gain awareness of your existence, case in point Libertas last year

+1 The referendum is happening. There is no point wishing that it is not happening. Thats not a 'policy'.

In any case, I don't its acceptable for the rest of Europe to postpone ratification of the treaty until Ireland comes out of resession. (Could be 2 years, 5 years? Who knows?)

ei.sdraob

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

+1 The referendum is happening. There is no point wishing that it is not happening. Thats not a 'policy'.

In any case, I don't its acceptable for the rest of Europe to postpone ratification of the treaty until Ireland comes out of resession. (Could be 2 years, 5 years? Who knows?)

i think Amhran Nua have not decided which way they will lean when it comes to this Treaty

hence they are using a cop out

but as i said that doesn't do this party any favors

people need to see what the policy are and where they stand on issues (and Lisbon is a big issue now) saying "we want to stay out of it" and trying to claim middle ground doesn't do them any favors and makes the appear as either:

* not capable of making decisions
* populist
* not willing to commit themselves as the referendum may go each way and theres a ~50/50 chance they loose potential members

994

genericguy wrote: »

this kind of vague shyte won't fly.

But the Dept. of Finance saying "NAMA will cost 60 to 90 billion euros, we'll pay about 60% or 80% or whatever. Just trust us, we've never led you wrong before..."

994

Quazzie wrote: »

There is a severe flaw with that statement. You want people who have nothing positive to say to stay quiet, but you also want people to complain

I think what he means is, no empty whinging "It's a disgrace, Joe": if you're going to criticise something, suggest an alternative along with it.

ei.sdraob

994 wrote: »

But the Dept. of Finance saying "NAMA will cost 60 to 90 billion euros, we'll pay about 60% or 80% or whatever. Just trust us, we've never led you wrong before..."

and FF have no hope in hell of ever being voted in again (unless voters are really stupid or have short memories or both)

does this new party want to follow such footsteps

they are asking for positive criticism, and its being provided

* they cant sit on fence about important issues such as Lisbon, Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall...

* they cant offer vague policies

r0nanf

Interesting that there is no postal address and not one contact name or number. Its like a giant RSS feed of other people's news.

Together we can make a difference.

Who? Who can make a difference? I'm all with you that we need new faces but we have to be able to see them!

honesty101

Thanks ronanf. Please also see our facebook campaign
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=138502126203
This was just launch yesterday. Join here or in the website preferably. Given that we are quite small as yet we are just seeking out people who think the same (probably a lot of people out there like us who are annoyed!) we just need our name to get in front of them.
We welcome opinions on our policies from everyone. We will also be approaching academics for their perspective.
Thanks for your interest.

honesty101

As for our position on Lisbon, while it may seem that we are incapable of making decisions even at this early stage we have decided on our position simply because we do not want to appear to be a front for either the yes or no campaign.
Without wanting to be dismissive of the Treaty we sincerely believe that it serves at this point as being only a distraction from the work the government should be attending to.
We welcome feedback on our site through here or through the various forum on our site.

meditraitor

honesty101 wrote: »

Without wanting to be dismissive of the Treaty we sincerely believe that it serves at this point as being only a distraction from the work the government should be attending to.
.

I was dismissing your posts for a while but you hit the nail on the head with that one..... I might have another read of your posts:)

General Zod

General Zod wrote: »

Where do you stand on bears?

Let the bears pay the bear tax.

Cork Boy

Fair play - looks like a half decent effort so far but please publish who the founding parties are before ye start to look like another dodgy Libertas.

Quick read through some policies and have some constructive criticisms...

1. A three term limit for any TD... what if we have a series of general elections in a short space of time? How do TD's gain experience if the first two terms are in opposition? What if we have a really good TD? Perhaps you meant only 3 terms as a minister?

2. Restriction of free labour within EU. This is just plain wrong. Ever heard of the Bosnich ruling? Or is this your stance on immigration?

3. Property tax on second, third, fourth homes... not bad, i'd like to what figures ye have in mind.

4. Justice. Parental responsibility - YES!!! More details on justice though please? Do ye agree we need more prisons? Fo ye agree with automatic 25% remission of custodial sentences? Where do ye stand on sentences runnig concurrently?

And finally, i cant stress enough how badly ye need to publish who the founders are, and who they were, what experience they have (in policitcs, in business, in whatever...). CV's of the core founders would be ideal.

Cheers

honesty101

Thanks Corkboy. I am a fellow Corkonian! The webiste will be update in the coming weeks with details on the core contributors. Personally, I have no political background. I am motivated by pure anger and given my demographic i believe that i have no choice but to voice my opinions. i was going to go down the independent route until i cam across Amhran Nua. Energy and passion are the names of the game here. The government are lacking both and spending to much time applying the CYA rule and you'll never guess who taught me that less a long time ago....a bank branch manager!!

Cork Boy

so now we play the waiting game...

ps. - Rebels Abú

honesty101

the wait would be a lot shorter if u joined...:)

bill_ashmount

Hi,

Do you have an immigration policy? I can't find it.

Cheers.

honesty101

It is near the bottom of this page:
http://amhrannua.com/irish-politics-policy?page_id=4

bill_ashmount

honesty101 wrote: »

It is near the bottom of this page:
http://amhrannua.com/irish-politics-policy?page_id=4

Thanks, found it now.

akaredtop

Good idea! But change the name to english.A lot of people associate the old irish language with the past (christian brothers, child abuse, catholic church, peig sayers)

honesty101

The Irish culture is very important to Amhran Nua. Please see:
http://amhrannua.com/irish-politics-policy?page_id=23

O'Morris

honesty101 wrote:

As for our position on Lisbon, while it may seem that we are incapable of making decisions even at this early stage we have decided on our position simply because we do not want to appear to be a front for either the yes or no campaign.

I read somewhere that your party is opposed to any further handover of our sovereignty to the EU. Is that correct?

honesty101

Our policy re Europe is as follows:
http://amhrannua.com/irish-politics-policy?page_id=24

Grudaire

akaredtop wrote: »

Good idea! But change the name to english.A lot of people associate the old irish language with the past (christian brothers, child abuse, catholic church, peig sayers)

Ironically I see the lack of Irish on the website as an insult... sin a bhfuil!

honesty101

happy to take any Irish translations you wish to offer.

Grudaire

honesty101 wrote: »

happy to take any Irish translations you wish to offer.

I must apologise, but my political heart lies elsewhere! I do like the overall gist of what you're policies, but at times I feel that the idea's lack planning, and thoughtoutedness (ehm, best word I can think of:o) which is why I'm not jumping on board.

Perhaps if your apparent enthusiasm for the Irish language was real it would manifest itself in the form of a bit of effort using focal.ie . I never got why so many politicians think that they can decree things like 'more interest in the irish language' without caring for it themselves.

See here for a well layed out set of plans

ei.sdraob

honesty101 wrote: »

Our policy re Europe is as follows:
http://amhrannua.com/irish-politics-policy?page_id=24

you honestly think the referendum can be postponed with less that a month to go

come one grow some balls if yee want to be taken seriously

DoireNod

akaredtop wrote: »

Good idea! But change the name to english.A lot of people associate the old irish language with the past (christian brothers, child abuse, catholic church, peig sayers)

I associate the Irish language with Ireland past, present and future. It's not like some stigma from the past.

honesty101

ei.sdraob wrote: »

you honestly think the referendum can be postponed with less that a month to go

come one grow some balls if yee want to be taken seriously

This policy has been on the website for quite a while. It is obviously not going to be postponed at this stage given that FF have started its official campaign yesterday. For me personally I still think the govt have done a bad job in selling this again. They are not succeeding at their jobs.....looks like they would not survive in the real world either!

ei.sdraob

honesty101 wrote: »

This policy has been on the website for quite a while. It is obviously not going to be postponed at this stage given that FF have started its official campaign yesterday. For me personally I still think the govt have done a bad job in selling this again. They are not succeeding at their jobs.....looks like they would not survive in the real world either!

i agree with you

FF are useless and the Greens sold out

i would love an election myself

while i broadly agree with your policies, and think its great that yee are taking initiative (fair play lads!) i dont think leaving any vagueness or wriggle room in the policies reflects well on yee as i mentioned earlier

but yes good job we need alternatives in ireland

honesty101

ei.sdraob wrote: »

i agree with you

FF are useless and the Greens sold out

i would love an election myself

while i broadly agree with your policies, and think its great that yee are taking initiative (fair play lads!) i dont think leaving any vagueness or wriggle room in the policies reflects well on yee as i mentioned earlier

but yes good job we need alternatives in ireland

Thanks for the encouragement! Should there be any 'vagueness or wriggle room' in our polices then we welcome feedback to keep the naysayers at bay when we do go public. Needless to say we expect to be dismissed as probable 'headbangers' from day one! That being said how many of the existing parties have their policies open for public scrutiny and more importantly for suggestions.
I believe there was 30/40 private submissions re Nama and its alternatives. Do you honestly think that we will hear about any of them even though the answer may lie within.
We should come back to basics remembering what the jobs of public respresentatives are, ie to serve their constituents and in this case what policies are in the best interests of the country.
There is too much 'party politics' and not enough time spent discussing the problems. Do they even know where to start? The country will continue to flounder until there is an injection of energy and passion into this government. Amhran Nua has come into being purely through necessity. Given that we are not politicians we hope to use our own personal experiences for the betterment of this country. We will make these 'difficult decisions' that are required to be made.
Bottom line is, if we don't stand up and be counted who will we blame next time? Are you that confident that FG/Labour will pull us out of this mess?

jmayo

honesty101 wrote: »

This policy has been on the website for quite a while. It is obviously not going to be postponed at this stage given that FF have started its official campaign yesterday. For me personally I still think the govt have done a bad job in selling this again. They are not succeeding at their jobs.....looks like they would not survive in the real world either!

Do you post regularly on politics.ie ?
As I said to one of your parties posters on that forum a lot of your policies look like GP reguritated.
Of course somebody had to take up their policies since they dropped them :rolleyes:

On defence ...
BTW we don't have any fighter aircraft to be replaced by drones and how exactly would your special forces deploy ? Bicycles perhaps ?

This new branch of the gardaí will be a full paramilitary force such as CRS, Guardia Civil I presume ?

On your energy policy...
Where the hell did you get that we are the only unique ones with storng and steady winds all due to the gulf stream, an inter-cert geography book ?
(For those of you youngsters it was an exam replaced by that new fangled junior cert and just like the old leaving cert was probably harder )

Coming from a county that gets pi**ed on most fo the year due to said gulf stream, I can tell you you don't get constant winds, well unless the lad down the road was on the guinness and onions the other night :rolleyes:

Actually some of your policies such as ones on agriculture are fanciful.
Do all farmers start growing flowers since the ar** has fallen out of everything else.
It would suit a few farmers I know since they are right tullips

As for transport ...
"Develop continuous bus lanes between city centres, major suburbs, roads to commuter towns"

We have two lane roads, not even dual carriageways between our major towns and cities, and you want a permanent bus lane. :rolleyes:
Has whoever that came up with that doosey ever left effing South County Dublin ?

Introduce road rates for one off housing :mad:
Yeah lets make sure we go after the urban vote and screw the cuchies policy.
Oh do know that people in the countryside pay things like car tax etc.
Also going rate for planning permission in Co Wicklow is 12,000 to council.
This would be to build a hosue that doesn't use any council services :mad:

Sorry but most of these polices are delusional even by GP standards.

PS you need to fix your website it doesn't display properly in IE6, the righ panel colour is ballsed.
A website should be viewable in most common browsers.