Rating the Cabinet in 2009

efb

I would like to see how boarsies rate the cabinet and an explanation for each)

Cowen: 3 weak when it matters, seemed to have succumed to Lenihen
Coughlan: 0 I have no explanation for her remaining in the cabinet
Lenihen: 9 Faceddown the unions, grew a pair and delivered a strong budget to fix Ireland Inc
Martin: 10 Lison, Sharon Tobin, The man didn't seem to put a foot wrong. The man will be Taoiseach after Kenny
Aherne: 6 strong, sometimes bull headed
O'Dea 4: FF stalward no big mess
Harney: 5 Steering a steady ship in Angola. Good Budget managemnt for DoH
O'Keefe: 3 Climbdown over fees. Poor mgnt of budget for Education
Gormley: 5 good renagotion peogram for Govt
Dempsey: 4 Mixed messages seems at odds with cabinet decisions
Ryan 6: Good performer no real development in dept thiough
Hanifin: 7 Good performer. delivered harsh SW reform
O Cuiv: N/A pointless dept
Cullen: See O Cuiv

Agent Smith

What about willie "pistol"o dea?

efb

Fixed

imme

efb wrote: »

I would like to see how boarsies rate the cabinet and an explanation for each)

Cowen: 3 weak when it matters, seemed to have succumed to Lenihen

why does that make me laugh?
I can't agree with you on Harney efb. I don't much leadership of health policy coming from her.

I can't agree with you on Ahern either. It's interesting to compare him to McDowell, one of his predecessors. McDowell was constantly in the headlines (well partly to do with his 'style' and need for attention) as Min for Justice, Thornton Hall, new Criminal Courts Complex, Garda Reserve, cash in transit robberies etc, but Ahern is the most invisible Min for Justice I can remember. I laughed when he was made Min for Justice, he said he had a lot of family 'in the law' and was glad to be made Min for Justice, seemed so childish/amateurish. In a recent interview he said he was only still in politics because he hadn't been voted out. One of his big policy acheivements seems to have been the Blasphemy laws, what a guy, eh?

Maebh

efb wrote: »

I would like to see how boarsies rate the cabinet and an explanation for each)

Cowen: 3 weak when it matters, seemed to have succumed to Lenihen
Coughlan: 0 I have no explanation for her remaining in the cabinet
Lenihen: 9 Faceddown the unions, grew a pair and delivered a strong budget to fix Ireland Inc
Martin: 10 Lison, Sharon Tobin, The man didn't seem to put a foot wrong. The man will be Taoiseach after Kenny
Aherne: 6 strong, sometimes bull headed
O'Dea 4: FF stalward no big mess
Harney: 5 Steering a steady ship in Angola. Good Budget managemnt for DoH
O'Keefe: 3 Climbdown over fees. Poor mgnt of budget for Education
Gormley: 5 good renagotion peogram for Govt
Dempsey: 4 Mixed messages seems at odds with cabinet decisions
Ryan 6: Good performer no real development in dept thiough
Hanifin: 7 Good performer. delivered harsh SW reform
O Cuiv: N/A pointless dept
Cullen: See O Cuiv

Cowen: 1, weak in all areas.
Coughlan: 1, pathetic in general
Lenihan: 0, the man is bad, through and through. "Tough" does not equal "good"
Martin: 2, used to be better than he is now, I think he's somewhat redundant as a TD
Aherne: 2, no sense of justice, and the man's supposed to be in the know in that area.
O'Dea: 1, I just cannot trust such an imbecile.
Harney: 0, for the sheer fact that she does not seem to understand "Health"
O'Keefe:1, couldn't run a playschool, let alone the department of education. there needs to be someone in charge of education who actually seems educated.
Gormley: 1, Hypocrite. No really a Green
Dempsey: 1, Well, have you seen the transport infrastructure in this country?
Ryan: -10, doesn't know what broadband is, and gave the NBS to 3, no more need to be said.
Hanifin: 0, happy to cut social welfare while remaining on her plush salary.
O'Cuiv: 1, Has evil eyes (lol, joking). can't see much good or bad in him, don't see much point in him.
Cullen: Well, I care about the Arts. He doesn't seem to. 'Nuff said.


Overall, I'd rate 'em an 'F', but give them 5% for trying.

thebman

Maebh wrote: »

Cowen: 1, weak in all areas.
Coughlan: 1, pathetic in general
Lenihan: 0, the man is bad, through and through. "Tough" does not equal "good"
Martin: 2, used to be better than he is now, I think he's somewhat redundant as a TD
Aherne: 2, no sense of justice, and the man's supposed to be in the know in that area.
O'Dea: 1, I just cannot trust such an imbecile.
Harney: 0, for the sheer fact that she does not seem to understand "Health"
O'Keefe:1, couldn't run a playschool, let alone the department of education. there needs to be someone in charge of education who actually seems educated.
Gormley: 1, Hypocrite. No really a Green
Dempsey: 1, Well, have you seen the transport infrastructure in this country?
Ryan: -10, doesn't know what broadband is, and gave the NBS to 3, no more need to be said.
Hanifin: 0, happy to cut social welfare while remaining on her plush salary.
O'Cuiv: 1, Has evil eyes (lol, joking). can't see much good or bad in him, don't see much point in him.
Cullen: Well, I care about the Arts. He doesn't seem to. 'Nuff said.


Overall, I'd rate 'em an 'F', but give them 5% for trying.

^this.

I'd add that public transport costs are going up and so are car running costs to encourage to use the over used public transport that needs to be improved but they won't do it. Won't do it when they have money or don't have it as the cash from cars is too appealing to them and deep down they know most people would rather drive and its an unpopular move to make people use public transport.

Still many would switch if there was the choice but its the same crap hole of poor existing services (in every way from routes, time to location, standing for hours after paying large ticket prices and delays) and roads being the only way to get to many places.

Anything involving infrastructure the government can be given a low mark on IMO. If they are doing well in an area on infrastructure, I'm sure its by accident :pac:

FlutterinBantam

Cowen: -1 No leadership, no direction, poor
Coughlan: 1 out of her depth
Lenihan: 7.. At least seems to me in charge of something and prepared to make some decisions
Martin: 4... Wishy washy
Aherne:4... Reasonably competent.
O'Dea: 1, Just an attack dog
Harney: 3.. Nobody can run health
O'Keefe:2, Desn't seem to be in charge of his brief. Nunan will scald him.
Gormley: 1, Hypocrite. Waffler
Dempsey:2 When you start something finish it Noel.
Ryan: 1 Innefective
Hanifin: 5, Way too smug for my liking but made a few hard decisions..
O'Cuiv: 1, Knows everything does little of any other than local importance.
Cullen: 1.... Chancer of the highest degree

Roche 2... If it was kudos for waffling he'd get a 10

Sleepy

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

O'Dea: 1, Just an attack dog

First time I've ever heard of an attack corgi!

Dr Galen

Cowen: 1 - complete lack of leadership. even if i didn't agree with him, i could respec the fact that he at least appeared to be trying
Coughlan: 0 i have no words
Lenihen: 7 - he's not the messiah that some claim, but appears to at least have a backbone and a brain. he also gets a bonus point for buying me a pint once
Martin: 6 - has been quite quiet, but I've always liked him. seems relatively calm and collected
Aherne: 5 - a few mixed up priorities but has improved
O'Dea 4 - i have difficulty recalling anything good or bad about the guy tbh
Harney: 2 - HSE is a mess, passed the buck to Drumm, seems to have lost the will to do anything anymore
O'Keefe: 4 - a lot fo hot air and posturing but nothing of substance,
Gormley: 2 - sold his soul for power imho, still a hippie and I dislike the Greens
Dempsey: 4 - God loves a trier, and he does try,
Ryan 6 - despite my dislike for the the Greens, he does his thing, some small but good initiatives. I could see him returning as leader some day post meltdown
Hanifin: 6 - a grower, she looks like she has the balls needed to get things done, SW reform is slow but complicated and not before time
O Cuiv: N/A - what does he actually do
Cullen: N/A - again totally off the radar, which seeing as I think he's an incompetant fool is probaby a good thing

walshb

Cowen for me has been a complete flop; and to think of the ****ing hype and furore surrounding him when he was about to be appointed. Jeez, they were making him out to be the greatest ever. Absolute nonsense and totally unwarranted.

Het-Field

Cowen 1. Absent. No "State of the Nation Address". Responsible for that 12 Days deal, until Lenihan told him to shut up. He has badly ahndled the Murphy and Ryan reports (flipflopping on responsibilities). His reaction to those who were flooded was a sight to behold. He performed poorly during the locals and euros, culminating in double meltdown on 2004, with the loss of a EU seat. Worst leaders speech at an Ard Fheis this decade. The party is divided under him. Has no moral mandate to lead. This has all occurred in the period after his economic dealings brought Ireland inc to the brink of disaster.

Coughlan 0. Worst Tanaiste ever. Worst Enterprise,Trade and Employment Minister ever. Totally out of her depth. Her Texas tyrade to Michael Dell has become the stuff of legend. Clearly no ability to think outside of the public purse vis-a-vis jobs. Clearly only there by virtue of her friendship and support for Biffo

Lenihan 7. Articulating competently the scale of the crisis. Pulled no punches in a dubiously beneficial budget. His ability to deal with jobs is hindered by the ability of his Tanaiste. His first budget was a joke. The ajustments were laughable. This budget highlights his willingess to hit the crisis hard.

Ahern 4. He is legislating, just legislating poorly. He is more intersted with optics, then dealing with Ireland's criminal problems, and is over-classifying those who should fall under the remit of relevant legislation (namely the Surveillance Act). He has increased the nanny state, and makes me miss McDowell all the more. Not bad, but certainly not good.

Martin 8 Best performer in the cabinet. Highlights a collaborative ability. Played a blinder during Lisbon, and has been open when discussing the crisis. He would be my choice to replace BIFFO.

Harney 7 Striving for reform. I remain impressed by her agenda, and the incremental process by which it is getting done. Equally, with a vastly reduced budget, and her desire to reform the monstorous HSE (oversized thanks to Bertie) by cutting the numbers heavily, we could see some real reform early in 2010.

O'Dea 0 An annoying little antagoniser, who has not articulated one idea which could be beneficial. His lipservice to the potential success of the social partnership highlights his nature as bluffer.

O'Keefe 5 He put a key issue back on the table, and has re-openend the 3rd level fees debate. However, he rolled back on it when times got tough

Gormley 2. Ignored any sort of collective cabinet responsibility, and would like to suggest that the Nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank, NAMA, and the reticence to get the public finances in order have nothing to do with the Green Party. More optics vis-a-vis Copenhagen, and has condemned the lower socio economic element of society to a flat tax on fuels to satisfy his "carbon reduction" penchant.

Ryan 2 See Gormley. They are in cahoots.

Dempsey 3 All over the shop, but still had enoguh time to articulate the parochial nature of his politics. His pre-Taoiseach speech at the Ard Fheis was a disgrace. He sat in the cabinet which created the crisis.

O'Cuiv N/A His department could be amalgamated at any time

Hanafin 5 Articulate and able. Still stifled somewhat, and left in the "demotion" portfolio.

Cullen 0 Have not seen sight nor sound of him in months. The man is definately for the Ministerial chop at the next re-shuffle.

ROS123

Lenihan 7 he has defintely grown into the job.
Ahern 5 he gets on with it
Martin 7 the most consistent maybe even honest (is that possible)
the rest, not even worth mentioning

jmayo

efb wrote: »

I would like to see how boarsies rate the cabinet and an explanation for each)

Cowen: 3 weak when it matters, seemed to have succumed to Lenihen
Coughlan: 0 I have no explanation for her remaining in the cabinet
Lenihen: 9 Faceddown the unions, grew a pair and delivered a strong budget to fix Ireland Inc
Martin: 10 Lison, Sharon Tobin, The man didn't seem to put a foot wrong. The man will be Taoiseach after Kenny
Aherne: 6 strong, sometimes bull headed
O'Dea 4: FF stalward no big mess
Harney: 5 Steering a steady ship in Angola. Good Budget managemnt for DoH
O'Keefe: 3 Climbdown over fees. Poor mgnt of budget for Education
Gormley: 5 good renagotion peogram for Govt
Dempsey: 4 Mixed messages seems at odds with cabinet decisions
Ryan 6: Good performer no real development in dept thiough
Hanifin: 7 Good performer. delivered harsh SW reform
O Cuiv: N/A pointless dept
Cullen: See O Cuiv

Out of 100 is it?
Must be green or ffer who is trying to desperately look on the bright side. :rolleyes:

Surely can't be out of 10 :eek:
Ehhh a few issues with your synopsis.

Cowen: 3 weak when it matters, seemed to have succumed to Lenihen
Ehh 0, ZERO, NOUGHT.
Can't lead, won't step down, can't see that HE made mistakes that got us here.
Still praying for a miracle.
Still up the ar** of the bishops and Vatican God bless him. :rolleyes:

Lenihen: 9 Faceddown the unions, grew a pair and delivered a strong budget to fix Ireland Inc
Give him a 1.
He has cost us billions while he grew into the role for which some people now praise him, so doesn't deserve anything else.
He delivered NAMA, a life sentence for most people and will be mill stone around my kids' necks.

Grew a pair of what ?
He has allowed the top two banks chose their own to take over, oh wait he got them to take the limited salary :rolleyes:
BTW the budget should have been even stronger and should have been done earlier in the year. I suppose third time a bit lucky would sum up his budgets.

Martin: 10 Lison, Sharon Tobin, The man didn't seem to put a foot wrong. The man will be Taoiseach after Kenny
Give him a 5.
The one dept where you can't fu** up too much now that NI isn't a warzone.
Didn't know he single handly got Lisbon passed :eek:
But 10 out of 10 for anyone from ff is being overly generous

Aherne: 6 strong, sometimes bull headed
Give him a 3. He hasn't done too much damage.
Oh wait he introduced a blasphemy law that Parkistan want to copy.
Glowing year and great contribution. :rolleyes:
He even did a Gerry collins begging the guards not to go on strike.

Harney: 5 Steering a steady ship in Angola. Good Budget managemnt for DoH
Give her a 0 for not having decency to be gone years ago.
Useless bint who likes spending taxpayers money.

Obviously you don't use our health service if you think it is a steady ship.
More like the Bismark, rudderless going round in endless circles while the officers and captain enjoy plush surroundings.

O'Keefe: 3 Climbdown over fees. Poor mgnt of budget for Education

Which O'Keefe ?
Can't be Ned since he only looks after education of those who vote for him.
Must be Batty, well 3 sounds about right.

Gormley: 5 good renagotion peogram for Govt
Give him a 1, people who are disengenous deserve little respect.
Must thank him for new taxes that will save the planet, now that the Yanks and Chineese are doing shag all.
Also like to thank him for keeping ff in power.

Dempsey: 4 Mixed messages seems at odds with cabinet decisions

Give him a 1, after all I don't own a filling station in Castledermot or get lift in the helicopter to Ashbourne GAA club.

Ryan 6: Good performer no real development in dept thiough
Give him a 1: see Gormley.
Oh must thank him for the rollout of high speed braodband :rolleyes:

Hanifin: 7 Good performer. delivered harsh SW reform
Good performer ?
It's not the ex factor and if it was she would be gone.
Average and likes to talk down to people as if she is still teaching.

As for the rest ?
Don't deserve comment as they are all part of the sorry inept bunch that are supposedly our government.

Kudos for Jackie Healy Rae, Michael Lowry for making sure their own areas benefit while the state goes down the swany.:rolleyes:
True patriots :rolleyes:

jmayo

Sleepy wrote: »

First time I've ever heard of an attack corgi!

Suuposedly corgis are viscous little bast***s.
Sums up dille o'wea

imme

didn't think this justifies a thread of its own,
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1221/odeaw.html

gives one a good laugh:D

Sleepy

willie o dea vicious? I'd put good money on my 14 month old daugher flattening him tbh...

imme

Sleepy wrote: »

willie o dea vicious? I'd put good money on my 14 month old daugher flattening him tbh...

he's a mouth Sleepy, a mouth;)
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1221/odeaw.html

efb

Can see ratings change now

efb

My Cabinet Ratings 2010

Cowen, B. 2
Coughlan M. 0
Lenihan B. 7
Aherne D. 8
Martin M. 8
Dempsey N. 4
O'Keefe B. 3
Harney M. 4
Gormley J. 4
Ryan E. 5
O' Cuiv E. 5
Hannifin M. 6
Smith B. 4

jmayo

efb wrote: »

My Cabinet Ratings 2010

Cowen, B. 2
Coughlan M. 0
Lenihan B. 7
Aherne D. 8
Martin M. 8
Dempsey N. 4
O'Keefe B. 3
Harney M. 4
Gormley J. 4
Ryan E. 5
O' Cuiv E. 5
Hannifin M. 6
Smith B. 4

8 months on you resurrect this sh**.
See post 13 but deduct 3 points off my previous scores and you have it.

BTW are you gearing up for election ?

PeterIanStaker

Cowen, B. 0
Coughlan M. 0
Lenihan B. 0
Aherne D. 0
Martin M. 0
Dempsey N. 0
O'Keefe B. 0
Harney M. 0
Gormley J. 0
Ryan E. 0
O' Cuiv E. 0
Hannifin M. 0
Smith B. 0

Laminations

efb wrote: »

My Cabinet Ratings 2010

Cowen, B. 2 (down 1)
Coughlan M. 0 (cant get worse)
Lenihan B. 7 (down 2)
Aherne D. 8 (up 2)
Martin M. 8 (down 2)
Dempsey N. 4 (unchanged)
O'Keefe B. 3 (unchanged)
Harney M. 4 (down 1)
Gormley J. 4 (down 1)
Ryan E. 5 (down 1)
O' Cuiv E. 5 (new entry)
Hannifin M. 6 (down 1)
Smith B. 4 (new entry)

Cullen (gone)
O'Dea (gone)

So comparing your ratings from last year - to summarise, the government are doing a sterling job, and you I think are being generous

efb

Less than half the cabinet got higher than 5, how is that a ringing endorsement???

Laminations

efb wrote: »

Less than half the cabinet got higher than 5, how is that a ringing endorsement???

Sorry I was being sarcastic (ironic because on another thread I was criticising the uber sarcasm of another poster). I'm saying that they weren't doing a good job in your eyes last year and its only gotten worse according to your recent ratings. But I still think some of the recent ratings, while not a ringing endorsement, are overly generous. D. Aherne getting 8 for example?

efb

Two of his bills I was impressed by
Civil Partnership
Home Protection
I was v impressed his stint in the seanad facing down opposition to the civil partnership bill from Mullen and his cohorts

efb

jmayo wrote: »

8 months on you resurrect this sh**.
See post 13 but deduct 3 points off my previous scores and you have it.

BTW are you gearing up for election ?

Thanks for the glowing ref to my topic. Charmed I'm sure. Wanna rate the opposition?

efb

D Aherne is my minister of the year btw!

evenmicheal

Brian Lenihan is the only one with any credibility, rest are only making up the numbers

Rebelheart

efb wrote: »

I would like to see how boarsies rate the cabinet and an explanation for each)

Cowen: 3 weak when it matters, seemed to have succumed to Lenihen
Coughlan: 0 I have no explanation for her remaining in the cabinet
Lenihen: 9 Faceddown the unions, grew a pair and delivered a strong budget to fix Ireland Inc
Martin: 10 Lison, Sharon Tobin, The man didn't seem to put a foot wrong. The man will be Taoiseach after Kenny

I've great meas for Mícheál Martin but his honouring of Charles McCreevy in the past month or so made me physically sick. I think he would make a fine taoiseach. Nevertheless, it's seriously bad politics to associate himself with somebody of McCreevy's questionable ethics.

efb

that was 09, he dropprd two this year imho