Fine Gael's 100,000 new jobs

NUIG_FiannaFail

Where are these going to come from? I heard Simon Coveney and some other blueshirts talking about it on radio. Essentially they just said they would sell off the rest off the family silver to their mates in the private sector and somehow 100,000 new jobs would magically appear. Sounds like a load of BS to me. Coveney doesn't know what he is on about.

chughes

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

Where are these going to come from? I heard Simon Coveney and some other blueshirts talking about it on radio. Essentially they just said they would sell off the rest off the family silver to their mates in the private sector and somehow 100,000 new jobs would magically appear. Sounds like a load of BS to me. Coveney doesn't know what he is on about.

I presume, NUIG, that you feel that the only people who can get us out of this mess are the very people who got us into it.

Sounds like a load of BS to me.

ei.sdraob

i know we could get the banks to lend again and build more shoeboxes that no one wants :rolleyes:

NUIG_FiannaFail

chughes wrote: »

I presume, NUIG, that you feel that the only people who can get us out of this mess are the very people who got us into it.

Sounds like a load of BS to me.

This is a thread about "new era" and Fine Gael. FF might have made mistakes but FG would have done the exact same. The fact is FG have no solutions to our problems.

chughes

I think you are underestimating things when you say that FF might have made mistakes. We are currently living with a litany of FF mistakes.

I don't know if FG would do any better but I'm prepared to give them the opportunity to govern at the next election. I suspect many more feel the same.

NUIG_FiannaFail

chughes wrote: »

I think you are underestimating things when you say that FF might have made mistakes. We are currently living with a litany of FF mistakes.

I don't know if FG would do any better but I'm prepared to give them the opportunity to govern at the next election. I suspect many more feel the same.

FG are just the poor mans version of FF. They are the exact same as FF except they have people of lesser ability in the party.

ei.sdraob

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

FG are just the poor mans version of FF. They are the exact same as FF except they have people of lesser ability in the party.

i see

lesser ability to destroy the country
and be less corrupt?


where do i tick the box?

chughes

I've met enough staunch FFers in my time to know that debating politics with them is a futile exercise. I would imagine that between now and the next election FG will be denigrated as have no experience at governing etc. I would liken this to the sting of a dying wasp.

FF are heading for the opposition benches after the next election and this may actually be good for your party in the long run. By this I mean that if FG do make a mess of the next Dail and FF sort out their candidates by getting rid of the dead wood, You may walk back into the following Dail.

Dannyboy83

chughes wrote: »

I've met enough staunch FFers in my time to know that debating politics with them is a futile exercise. I would imagine that between now and the next election FG will be denigrated as have no experience at governing etc. I would liken this to the sting of a dying wasp.

This has applied in the past, but FF had leaders like Lemass or Lynch, or even Haughey had a way to get things done!

But this time people will be comparing what comes to what has immediately preceeded and is fresh in the mind.
And that is the failureship of Brian Cowen - the worst, most incompetent Taoiseach in the history of this country.

I think FG could probably go to sleep for the first year if they wanted and nobody would be complaining because we would be so relieved at just not stumbling from scandal to scandal.

So if FG have no experience in governance - what does that make Brian Cowen - the anti-governor?

If you would call what we've seen for the past 12 years "governance", then "lack of experience in governance" is A-OK by me.

fuelinjection

Typical Fianna Geal propaganda.

Pure bull****. They don't do the maths before making statements like this.
It's nothing new, George Lee did the maths side of things and he is out now so they can come out with nonsense like creating jobs for free with no pay-cuts or balancing the books.

I don't believe Fianna Gael will win the next election as Irish peeple are not stupid.

Piratez

100,000 jobs ?? Sounds great but I cant see anything short of a miracle to create these jobs even in the good times...

I would love to hear their proposal for where these jobs are coming from

Dannyboy83

fuelinjection wrote: »

Typical Fianna Geal propaganda.


I don't believe Fianna Gael will win the next election as Irish peeple are not stupid.

?????

Serious post or satire?

Dannyboy83

Piratez wrote: »

100,000 jobs ?? Sounds great but I cant see anything short of a miracle to create these jobs even in the good times...

I would love to hear their proposal for where these jobs are coming from

http://www.finegael.org/upload/NewERA.pdf

Why don't you read and find out for yourself?

tl;dr version

New Investment: €18.2 billion will be invested in Energy, Communications
and Water infrastructure over four years to boost long term competitiveness,
significantly enhance energy security and eliminate the “digital divide”.

New Jobs: 105,000 new jobs will be created. Although NewERA’s investment
programme will largely be funnelled through semi-State companies, most of the new jobs will be created in the private sector through sub-contracting.

Old Assets for New: NewERA will actively manage the portfolio of State
companies to make the sector as a whole leaner and more focused. This will
include the divestment of some non-strategic assets. We will look to sell ESB
International, Bord Gais and ESB PowerGen & Supply, when market and other
conditions are appropriate. We have learnt the lessons of Eircom and will
retain key infrastructure in the ownership of the State, i.e., the electricity and gas networks, and the hydro power stations which are so vital for flood
control. The proceeds from the sale of non-strategic assets will be re-invested in NewERA through a new portfolio of State companies.

New Financing: In addition to the sale of old, non-strategic State assets,
NewERA will be financed through: 1) New commercial borrowing by key semi-
State companies, which will not count as Government expenditure; 2) Funding
from the European Investment Bank (EIB); 3) An injection of funds from the
National Pension Reserve Fund; and 4) A NewERA Recovery Bond which will
be offered to the Irish people.

105,000 jobs doesn't sound too optimistic at all.

Unemployment is running at 13.2%, 425,000 people on social.
By the time FF eventually get run out of office, it'll probably be closer to 15%, even tho 35,000 people are emigrating per year.

A small bit of investment in the right places and getting the banks lending would easily see 100k jobs created.
It's a testament to Brian Cowen's incompetence that the unemployment rate is still even growing.


Besides, I would rather take the chance that FG aim to create 100k jobs and only create 50k, than to continue the following:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/our-economy-has-fallen-off-a-cliff-2114878.html
- 127 companies a week, or 12,049 in total, have been forced to close since Mr Cowen became Taoiseach.
- If 127 companies have closed for each of the 97 weeks Mr Cowen has been Taoiseach, it works out as 18 a day.

Worst case scenario, FG will give us the infrastructure that FF have spent 12 years promising/lieing about.

In fairness to FF tho, there is sod all money for infrastructure when your busy giving all your pals golden parachutes.

Piratez

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

http://www.finegael.org/upload/NewERA.pdf

Why don't you read and find out for yourself?

Thanks for posting that up will do.

Head The Wall

New Jobs: 105,000 new jobs will be created. Although NewERA’s investment
programme will largely be funnelled through semi-State companies, most of the
new jobs will be created in the private sector through sub-contracting.

This is the part I have a problem with, in general anyone doing work for semistates or the govt overcharges because they know there is lax controls and people making decisions don't give a crap about the final bill as it's not their own money.

You only have to look at the cost overruns on the major infrastructure projects over the last few years. In general the contractor is given a deadline and gets penalised for going past it but that's not good enough for the government. They have to sign a contract that lets them run past the deadline and charge the govt for it so there is no incentive for the contractor to finish on time or on budget.

It's a simple clause really but those clowns couldn't see it. These same clowns will be in charge of making these decisions again regardless of who is in Government.

I appreciate FG's thinking but I still see this as a major stumbling block to the plan working out.

At least they're coming out with tangible ideas though so I would give it the thumbs up if it was implemented properly

The_Honeybadger

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

Where are these going to come from? I heard Simon Coveney and some other blueshirts talking about it on radio. Essentially they just said they would sell off the rest off the family silver to their mates in the private sector and somehow 100,000 new jobs would magically appear. Sounds like a load of BS to me. Coveney doesn't know what he is on about.

Thats a bit rich from a FF supporter.

Dannyboy83

Head The Wall wrote: »

This is the part I have a problem with, in general anyone doing work for semistates or the govt overcharges because they know there is lax controls and people making decisions don't give a crap about the final bill as it's not their own money.

You only have to look at the cost overruns on the major infrastructure projects over the last few years. In general the contractor is given a deadline and gets penalised for going past it but that's not good enough for the government. They have to sign a contract that lets them run past the deadline and charge the govt for it so there is no incentive for the contractor to finish on time or on budget.

It's a simple clause really but those clowns couldn't see it. These same clowns will be in charge of making these decisions again regardless of who is in Government.

I appreciate FG's thinking but I still see this as a major stumbling block to the plan working out.

At least they're coming out with tangible ideas though so I would give it the thumbs up if it was implemented properly

This is a good point.

But the current government have taken this approach to everything and it was also policy; part of their scheme of inflation because the overruns were so huge and so frequent.

Definitely something to think about tho.

I think you should make a new thread about it.

The_Honeybadger

Why not incentivise the people in the Dept's approving these contracts to get value for money through a bonus scheme of some sort (they get a bonus for bringing a project in on time & budget), or get experts from the private sector to look over tenders, paying them well so as to avoid the temptation for backhanders and corruption. And penalise contractors severely for overruns, (as long as it is their fault and not caused by unforseen events outside their control).

saywhatyousee

having enda kenny as taoiseach sends shivers down my spine,labour are a pile of communits no altertnative than FF im afraid, and besides the devil you know is better than the devil you dont

ocokev

1. A few thousand jobs could be created in the following areas.
Build 6 new Islands off the east of Ireland to house Neuclear Power Stations. The islands will have to be built so that nobody can complain that it interferring with people around them and not in my back yard type situtations.
They will have to be on the East coast because the prevaling winds come from the west.
These power stations will output enough energy for Ireland while the surplus can be sold to Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.
With all this power, we can reduce our oil consumption greatly hence decreasing our carbon emmisions.
2. Mine all the gold and other minerals out of Croagh Parkrick Co Mayo.
http://www.mindat.org/loc-62240.html
This would create valuable jobs and revenue as long as we dont sell the mining rights to a foreign company like the Shell to Sea campagin.
Thats just 2 projects that the new government could and should take on.

Head The Wall

mickeyk wrote: »

Why not incentivise the people in the Dept's approving these contracts to get value for money through a bonus scheme of some sort (they get a bonus for bringing a project in on time & budget), or get experts from the private sector to look over tenders, paying them well so as to avoid the temptation for backhanders and corruption. And penalise contractors severely for overruns, (as long as it is their fault and not caused by unforseen events outside their control).

Why should they be incentivised, it should just be their job to get the best price and terms available. It's standard practice inmost companies and organisations

ocokev wrote: »

1. A few thousand jobs could be created in the following areas.
Build 6 new Islands off the east of Ireland to house Neuclear Power Stations. The islands will have to be built so that nobody can complain that it interferring with people around them and not in my back yard type situtations.
They will have to be on the East coast because the prevaling winds come from the west.
These power stations will output enough energy for Ireland while the surplus can be sold to Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.
With all this power, we can reduce our oil consumption greatly hence decreasing our carbon emmisions.
2. Mine all the gold and other minerals out of Croagh Parkrick Co Mayo.
http://www.mindat.org/loc-62240.html
This would create valuable jobs and revenue as long as we dont sell the mining rights to a foreign company like the Shell to Sea campagin.
Thats just 2 projects that the new government could and should take on.

Unless you have a portable active volcano this ain't going to happen. Artificial islands are usually built close to land because the ground is shallower and needs less material to build. How would you propose to build an island in water that is a few hundred feet deep. Offshore drilling platforms wouldn't suffice either. Too risky and unstable for Nuclear power plant

ocokev

Head The Wall wrote: »

Unless you have a portable active volcano this ain't going to happen. Artificial islands are usually built close to land because the ground is shallower and needs less material to build.

I,m not talking miles off shore. The Irish sea along much of its coast has a depth of approx 30mtrs hardly an insurmountable depth.

danman

You only have to look at the cost overruns on the major infrastructure projects over the last few years. In general the contractor is given a deadline and gets penalised for going past it but that's not good enough for the government. They have to sign a contract that lets them run past the deadline and charge the govt for it so there is no incentive for the contractor to finish on time or on budget.

I'm probably wrong, but I thought that new infrastructure projects are awarded on a design and build basis.
The contracts are for a fixed sum, and any problems with design, resulting in overruns, are placed at the design/contractors door.

This is probably the reason that many roads projects over the past 2/3 years have finished before time. The quicker they are finished, the less cost to the contractor.

In my personal experience, the OPW aren't very good at looking after the design stage of such projects. Inadequate planning at the design stage is usually the cause of overruns. Making the contracts design and build puts the pressure on the winner of the contract.
This leaves the OPW with the reletivly easier job of supervising quality of workmanship and signing off the design.

murphaph

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

This is a thread about "new era" and Fine Gael. FF might have made mistakes but FG would have done the exact same. The fact is FG have no solutions to our problems.

Doesn't actually matter if FG are the exact same as FF (and I don't agree they are but anyway).

The reason it doesn't matter is because if the parties are in fact clones of each other, then we can change that, how? Well, firstly we punish bad government (like FF's for the last decade or so) by booting them out with a comprehensive landslide for FG at the next election.

FF will scratch their heads and realise that (lo and behold) the electorate does have the power to change things and FF will start upping their game. If FG rule badly, then we boot them out and bring FF back in from the cold to see have they learned any lessons and we keep repeating this process until both sides have upped their game sufficiently to say that we have a functioning democracy.

This is how it happened everywhere else...the UK didn't just flick a switch and have politics with some integrity (and it does over there, if someone is caught with their hand in the till, they will walk the plank, if a sitting Prime Minister was hauled before a tribunal of Inquiry in land zoning irregularities etc. they would likely resign, we are a long way from such levels of integrity but we can have it if we want it).

The biggest problem is either we throw our hands in the air and say "sure they're all the same, I'll vote for the devil I know (the incumbents) despite their cock ups" or worse, total apathy and a failure to vote. We do have real power as the electorate, we just haven't discovered how to use it yet.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

murphaph

danman wrote: »

I'm probably wrong, but I thought that new infrastructure projects are awarded on a design and build basis.
The contracts are for a fixed sum, and any problems with design, resulting in overruns, are placed at the design/contractors door.

You're not wrong. The likes of the NRA learned a LOT of lessons early on and unfortunately for them the myth persisted that they went over on everything they touched, when the opposite was usually true.

The contractors invariably foot the bill nowadays for overruns, so roads come in on budget and often early as sometimes an early completion bonus is awarded. Check out the M7 problems in the infrastructure forum...the contractor has serious problems on their hands with a sinking motorway, but it's their problem, not the taxpayer's.

deise blue

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

FG are just the poor mans version of FF. They are the exact same as FF except they have people of lesser ability in the party.

Lesser ability than the likes of FF luminaries like Champagne Charlie Haughey , Bertie " I won it on the horses " Ahern , Beverley Flynn ( who enabled Tax evasion when working for NIB ) or the two jailbirds Lawlor and Burke ?
God I hope so !

Sleipnir

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

FG are just the poor mans version of FF. They are the exact same as FF except they have people of lesser ability in the party.

Good. It's time the poor man got a fair shake. The rich man's party has only one interest; keep the rich man rich.

I'm amazed that people still think FF have the answers to get us out of this mess when they can't even admit that they had a huge part in getting us into it.

CoalBucket

saywhatyousee wrote: »

having enda kenny as taoiseach sends shivers down my spine,labour are a pile of communits no altertnative than FF im afraid, and besides the devil you know is better than the devil you dont

I brought my car to be serviced about 3 years ago and the following day the engine fell apart. It's been back to the same mechanic over and over again and it's still in ****e. But hey, better the devil you know.

By the way If you are gonna call the labour party communists at least learn to spell it. And despite that you can't spell it you obviously don't know what a communist party is.

The reason the country is in the position it is in is because people believe the ****e from Fianna Fail that nobody can run the country cause you got to have the experience of f***ing it up first. I'll vote for anybody else over the people who made a balls of it in the first place.

NUIG_FiannaFail

So essentially Fine Gael are saying they are going to get private business people to invest in the economy? Well why didn't anyone think of this before:rolleyes:

And it's not €18.2 billion to be invested. It's only €11 billion because the rest of the money includes money diverted away from the National Development programme. Fine Gael are talking out of their arse.

murphaph

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

So essentially Fine Gael are saying they are going to get private business people to invest in the economy? Well why didn't anyone think of this before:rolleyes:

And it's not €18.2 billion to be invested. It's only €11 billion because the rest of the money includes money diverted away from the National Development programme. Fine Gael are talking out of their arse.

Just a quick question for you.

Do you think, on balance, that FF have done a good job managing the economy over the past decade or so?

A simple yes or no please.

ocokev

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

Fine Gael are talking out of their arse.

Fine Gale may be talking out their arse, FF have shat us all down the toilet.

ocokev

murphaph wrote: »

Just a quick question for you.

Do you think, on balance, that FF have done a good job managing the economy over the past decade or so?

A simple yes or no please.

If i can just say, Its never a simple yes or no with FF.
There has to be some thought put into the answer so it can be swung towards the opposition.
It could contain both yes and no and obvisiouly going forward.

NUIG_FiannaFail

murphaph wrote: »

Just a quick question for you.

Do you think, on balance, that FF have done a good job managing the economy over the past decade or so?

A simple yes or no please.

This is a thread about Fine Gael. Just because you think FF have made a few mistakes it doesn't mean you should start supporting that crowd. Fine Gael have always been bad for Ireland.

patmar

murphaph wrote: »

Just a quick question for you.

Do you think, on balance, that FF have done a good job managing the economy over the past decade or so?

A simple yes or no please.

Yes

bijapos

A couple of questions

1. Is the €18.2 billion to be invested in Energy, Communications and Water extra investment or is this investment money which has already been started by the government(essentially Green Paty policies)?


2. Selling the likes of the ESB and Bord Gais makes no sense. Essentially our energy prices will be determined by private companies, whose main interest is making profit. Makes it more laughable that we are investing €20bn + in our energy infrastructure over the next few years. Crazy idea to bring money short term into the economy.

3. Regarding "New Financing": 1. Means more borrowing. 2. EIB means more borrowing 3. Please stay away from the Pensions Reserve Fund. Its ours, not FG's. Seem to remember Bruton and Kenny critiscising Cowen about raiding the reserve fund fairly recently.



You can correct me on the above Dannyboy83 but they are either a rehash of existing government policy or very short sighted. Selling off the energy providers would in itself be a huge mistake.

The_Honeybadger

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

This is a thread about Fine Gael. Just because you think FF have made a few mistakes it doesn't mean you should start supporting that crowd. Fine Gael have always been bad for Ireland.

THINK they have made mistakes :eek:!!!

They have made a mess that is scarcely believeable, they mismanaged the finances of the country so badly that they have had to nearly double our debt commitments in a short space of time, cut the pay of public servants, cut public services such as sepcial needs assistants and community centres among other things. All the while they have feathered their own nests with bumper pensions and state cars. If you can honestly say with a straight face that they have managed our economy well then there may very well be a role for you as finance minister in a few years time. The ability to convince yourself that it is somebody else's fault and that "we are where we are" through a mixture of Lehmans collapse and hard luck seems to be a prerequisite for the job.

Sleepy

I can think of an easy means of creating 100,000 new jobs at roughly no cost to the exchequer:

According the cso, there were 360,900 public sector workers in Ireland in Q3 of 2009.

Cut their paybill by 1/3rd distributed fairly across the sectors based on productivity and ensuring no-one's salary goes beneath minimum wage. Hire 100,000 extra teachers, teachers assistants, nurses, guards, street cleaners etc.

Simples.

chughes

murphaph wrote: »

Just a quick question for you.

Do you think, on balance, that FF have done a good job managing the economy over the past decade or so?

A simple yes or no please.

Can someone set up a vote for this question ? I'd be very interested to see the result.

samsemtex

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

This is a thread about Fine Gael. Just because you think FF have made a few mistakes it doesn't mean you should start supporting that crowd. Fine Gael have always been bad for Ireland.

A few mistakes? A few? Are you actually for real? What planet are you guys living on? Do you not realise what an utter hash of the economy you have made? You have ruined the country. You and your party are utterly incompetent. This isn't an opinion. Its a fact.

People like you should be shot.

And you never gave him his answer. I take it that means you just dont want to admit you know they made a balls of the country.

The_Honeybadger

I have come to the conclusion that our friend NUIG_FiannaFail is not affiliated to the party at all, and is merely on here to take the p**s, there is simply no way anybody could be daft enough to believe some of the stuff he has posted in the last few days.

Nehaxak

I still can't determine if there's an actual answer in amongst all the 1920's style bickering to the question posed by the OP...

Can someone quiet simply outline the answer please as to where the proposed 100,000 jobs are to come from according to FG ?

Tim Robbins

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

Where are these going to come from? I heard Simon Coveney and some other blueshirts talking about it on radio.

I'm glad you have shown your debating standards in the first post. This makes it clear what people are getting themselves into if they enter this one.

murphaph

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

This is a thread about Fine Gael. Just because you think FF have made a few mistakes it doesn't mean you should start supporting that crowd. Fine Gael have always been bad for Ireland.

Even when they established the ESB and forged ahead with the Shannon scheme? People at the time said building a hydro plant at Ardnacrusha (at that point the largest civil project ever undertaken in Ireland, and would remain so for decades) was the ultimate in folly as it would generate more electricity than the entire country could use! Was it folly to push ahead with electrification of the nation my friend, or was it folly to attempt to hinder the birth of the ESB (as your party's former leader, DeValera attempted to do)??

You sir, are talking through your hole. BOTH parties have made mistakes, but to state that "FG have always been bad for Ireland" is quite frankly, bollox, as the still operational Ardnacrusha and the ESB prove

Educate yourself

NUIG_FiannaFail

murphaph wrote: »

Even when they established the ESB and forged ahead with the Shannon scheme? People at the time said building a hydro plant at Ardnacrusha (at that point the largest civil project ever undertaken in Ireland, and would remain so for decades) was the ultimate in folly as it would generate more electricity than the entire country could use! Was it folly to push ahead with electrification of the nation my friend, or was it folly to attempt to hinder the birth of the ESB (as your party's former leader, DeValera attempted to do)??

You sir, are talking through your hole. BOTH parties have made mistakes, but to state that "FG have always been bad for Ireland" is quite frankly, bollox, as the still operational Ardnacrusha and the ESB prove

Educate yourself

In the whole existance of Cumann na nGaedheal that's probably the only positive thing they did. And they treated the workers like slaves and made 100s of them live in wooden shacks for months. It was Fianna Fail who set up industry in the state in the 30s.

Dr_Phil

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

Where are these going to come from?

From the Lisbon treaty.. Didn't you see posters "Vote 'YES' for jobs"?

NUIG_FiannaFail

Dr_Phil wrote: »

From the Lisbon treaty.. Didn't you see posters "Vote 'YES' for jobs"?

Unemployment would be even higher if we voted No. We would have been in unknown waters and business confidence would have dropped.

Dr_Phil

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

Unemployment would be even higher if we voted No. We would have been in unknown waters and business confidence would have dropped.

Fortune teller?

murphaph

NUIG_FiannaFail wrote: »

In the whole existance of Cumann na nGaedheal that's probably the only positive thing they did. And they treated the workers like slaves and made 100s of them live in wooden shacks for months. It was Fianna Fail who set up industry in the state in the 30s.

Luckily for FF, FG had given them the electricity to do it

So anyway, your original statement that FG "have always been bad for Ireland" is obviously wrong, as you have just admitted the formation of the ESB and the building of the Shannon Scheme was a positive thing.

NUIG_FiannaFail

murphaph wrote: »

Luckily for FF, FG had given them the electricity to do it

So anyway, your original statement that FG "have always been bad for Ireland" is obviously wrong, as you have just admitted the formation of the ESB and the building of the Shannon Scheme was a positive thing.

Fine Gael was only established in 1934 as an authoritarian pro-rich party. And Cumman na nGeadheal only built Ard na Crusha so that the rich business owners would have electricity. It wasn't till the 50s that electricity was expanded to the poor.

zootroid

chughes wrote: »

I've met enough staunch FFers in my time to know that debating politics with them is a futile exercise. I would imagine that between now and the next election FG will be denigrated as have no experience at governing etc. I would liken this to the sting of a dying wasp.

FF are heading for the opposition benches after the next election and this may actually be good for your party in the long run. By this I mean that if FG do make a mess of the next Dail and FF sort out their candidates by getting rid of the dead wood, You may walk back into the following Dail.

Agree completely.

As for some of the points the OP has made about FG looking after their friends, I hardly think a Fianna Fail supporter should be making statements like that. People in glass houses should not throw stones.

As for Fianna Fail, I hope the party is decimated in the next election after the way they have managed the economy over the last decade.